I start them with litter boxes as soon as they are well up on their feet -- probably about 3 weeks. It is important to make the introduction early, before they start considering every new thing to be toy. Most of my 3x3 puppy pen is covered by interlocking tiles similar to dri-deck -- usually 7 out of 9 square feet. I put a piece of newspaper in the other 2 square feet, weighted down by the edges of the tile. As soon as they have soiled the newspaper a couple times, I put it in the bottom of the litter box and cover the paper with a thin layer of Purina Second Nature litter. (I know people that have puppies more frequently; they use a more economical wood chip bedding in their litter boxes -- it's called Woody Pet, but I have only used paper-product litter so far.) They usually start using it on their own -- no further training required. I use a guinea pig/rabbit litter box for a couple weeks, then switch to the small one made by Purina. For a large litter of cavaliers, you might need the medium size, but the small size was ok for a litter of four.
I tried another puppy litter (the name escapes me at the moment) that is sold as small white pebbles of paper. I have found that the pebbles get scattered around a lot more because they are a lot lighter in weight than the tootsie-roll-sized Purina litter. One "pro" for the white pebble litter is that it is discolored when soiled, so it is easy to know which litter to remove. A "con" for the Purina tootsie roll is that it is dark colored and looks more like puppy feces from a distance -- not a good thing if you are having company. I still like Purina the best, though, both because of its weight and the fact that it seems to have a better deodorizer. (important for me because puppies are usually next to my computer, and soiled litter can become odiferous) The paper litter is sort of expensive if you use a lot; a 14-pound bag can run $6-$9, depending on where you find it. But for me, it is well worth it -- I am not fond of cleaning puppy pens, and I think it assists in their housetraining, particularly if it is a winter litter of Chin puppies that can't be outside for 2 or 3 months. I sold a couple Chin puppies to a breeder of another toy breed recently; she told me that they were the tidiest puppies she's ever had. Leanne ----- Original Message ----- > > Speaking of puppies, I remember a thread awhile back about using special > litter boxes with pups and a few list members seemed to have some success > with them ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 1999 by its original author.
