So you want that 8 week old, tiny, cute, take them out to go potty every 30 minutes, can't leave them alone for an hour, adorable, cuddly, puppy. You bring sweet little Puppy home and the reality of puppy training begins....
It's not too bad during the day because, after all, you want to spend every minute you can with your new little buddy. Going outside for potty breaks every 30 minutes becomes routine; just one more thing to do with Puppy. But......after a few nights of getting up several times to take Puppy out to go putty, you are really going to be tempted to train Puppy to go 8 hours every night without taking a potty break. Please do not ask your puppy to hold it overnight. I know, I know.....you really need your sleep. I get it! However, puppies should not have to hold their urine for 8 hours until they are at least 16 weeks old, which is when their bodies have developed enough to safely hold it without causing stress to their system and possibly causing health issues. Are puppies able to hold it for 8 hours before 16 weeks? Yes they are, or I should say, some of them are. However, just because they can, doesn't mean it's good for them. Let me offer you an alternative; Litter Training!
Litter training is a new puppy family's answer to nighttime potty training. At Montana Skies Labradors, we use litter boxes for all of our puppies as soon as Mama is no longer cleaning up after them. It takes some time, but it is fairly easy to teach puppies to use the litter box. There are some great videos online showing how to do that so I won't go step by step here. I will give you some personal tips that I learned with my puppies.
Make sure your litter box is big enough for your puppy to use until Puppy is 16 wks old.
Find a place to put Puppy's litter box where you will not have to move it and Puppy can easily access it. We had to move ours a couple of times and each time it was like starting over. The puppies didn't at first connect the box with potty, they connected the place with potty. Obviously, the litter box will be in Puppy's sleeping area. We used an exercise pen with just enough room for the puppies to sleep and the litter boxes. It is not a good idea to use a litter box in a crate because you don't want puppy to associate the crate with potty.
Reward Puppy for using the litter box just like you would reward Puppy outside. If you teach Puppy to use the litter box during the day, Puppy will begin to use it at night too. You should also continue to take Puppy outside for potty breaks during the day so that transitioning to outside won't be a problem when puppy is old enough to hold it.
You can use pee pads to start, but don't be afraid to do away with them if they don't work for your puppy. Our puppies quickly learned that pee pads made the best toys. They are easy to drag around, thus enticing your litter mates to chase you. And, they are so satisfying to shred.
Use something in the litter box that will not harm Puppy if eaten. Puppy will eat the litter, or, at least taste it. We used organic alfalfa pellets because I knew if the puppies ate them, they would do no harm. Plus it smelled good. Well, it did until it was time to replace it. Which, amazingly enough, for two washing machine trays used by 9 puppies, wasn't that often.
Litter boxes can be a game changer when raising a young puppy. Eight weeks is a long time to get up in the night for potty breaks. If you are interested in exactly how to litter train your puppy, check out the video below. It may just be the answer you are looking for.
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