A lot of people ask me how I litter train my puppies. 

I start out when my puppies are about 3 weeks of age.  They need to be able to walk pretty good to get into the "Litter Box".  I start out with a Pyrex glass Lasagna pan.  Then I add a piece of that perforated/rubberized shelf liner so the puppies do not slip around on the glass.  Then I put a very thin layer of Yesterday's News Cat Litter on top of the shelf liner.  This litter is the size of rabbit pellets.  You can see that I have a piece of my fleece cut of the corner of the puppy pen so the litter pan is recessed down lower and easier for them to get into it.

In about 10 days the babies will have grown so much that a larger litter box is needed.  Here is how I transition them.  I move the puppies into a Super Yard XT play pen and add a 2nd litter pan, which is a donut tray I bought at a local restaurant supply house.  The material is non-absorbent so it can be sanitized as needed and the sides are very short which gives them ease of access.  The super Yard XT is set up in an "L" shape with the litter boxes in the smallest spot.  That gives the puppies room to play without having the litter box in the way.  And it is also separate from their sleeping/eating area.

This photo was taken the year I tried the Feline Pine litter but it does not work as well as the Yesterday's News Litter.

This photo shows them using the next size box which is the middle of 3 sizes that Purina made for use with their Second Nature Dog Litter which is a bit larger that the Yesterday's News in size.

This is the smallest of the Purina Second Nature Litter Pans. 

         It works best with just 1 or 2 puppies using it.

This is the largest size Litter Box Purina made.  You can see I still have the puppy pen set up in the background and use the larger litter pan for when the babies are out playing.

I also have 2 other litter boxes.  They are made by Potty Park and the one is really great for older dogs.  I keep one of these set up in my office and another in my family room by the patio door.  If I'm not handy to let the older kids out, they use the Potty Park. They are about 4" high so older dogs can get up on it quite easily.  You can see them at www.PottyPark.Com  The photo below shows the removable tray that collects the urine.  It slides in under the grass and collect the urine.  It is all made with anti-microbial material and works great.  I pick up any poop if they do that and flush it down the toilet. 

I just purchased their model called "Happy Dog" and will try that with my next litter to see how it works. It has about an 1" side so it is much shorter and should work well with babies.

How do I Litter Train my puppies?