French Bulldog Puppy ~ Litter Box Training and Safe Place

1.

Choose an area in your home to set your puppys "room" up in. This should be a central place where the puppy can feel "part of your pack". We recommend using an ex-pen (exercise pen), we have them in stock here for your to purchase with your puppy.

You can locate the ex-pen anywhere in your house on any type of flooring by laying down a tarp that you can purchase from Lowes or Home Depot. You may think tile is acceptable, but please remember that if you do not have a complete seal on your tile floor, the urine can seep into the grout.

The Ex-Pen can be set up in various shapes, (octagonal, oblong, triangular) our favorite is a 4x4 square (16 square feet).

The ex-pen is portable and can be used in the warmer months too as an outdoor playpen area in the shade of a tree of course.

2.

Use puppy's crate (door taken off) or a covered box with a nice bed in it for puppy's "bedroom". The bed can be fancy or plain, just make sure it is comfortable and washable. Puppy will need this private area for naps, sleeping at night or just plain relaxing and getting away from stimulus.

3.

Always make sure there is fresh water and dry puppy chow for puppy available AT ALL TIMES, unless you are doing at least 4 timed feeding per day for a new puppy.

4.

Spread wee-wee pads or newspapers and set litter box at the farthest point from the bed as possible.

This for two reasons-

It will give surface for puppy to discard any litter that has carried out on his feet, and If puppy is not 100% successful at first and has a near miss, it will be absorbed and keep your puppy's room sanitary until you can strip and throw away the newspaper.

5.

Litter box should be only about 2 inches of litter, and not too tall for puppy to jump in and out of. As puppy grows you may need to graduate to a larger pan, also you will want a larger pan if you have more than one pup using it. Scoop and / or replace litter as often as needed.

6.

Puppy should stay confined to this area at all times in the beginning UNLESS you are directly supervising 100% and can take puppy to it when you see behavior that indicates puppy needs to potty.

Gradually enlarge the area puppy can roam in by using the baby gates(s) until puppy has run of the whole house!

7.

REMEMBER TO USE CONSISTENT CUES AND COMMANDS WHEN TAKING PUPPY TO THE LITTERBOX THEN IMMEDIATELY (NO MORE THAN 5 SECONDS AFTER THEY PERFORM) GIVE A HEALTHY TREAT FROM YOUR POCKET AND PRAISE, PRAISE PRAISE!!!

TIPS:

Recycled wood products or paper products seem to work much better in the pelleted litter than do plant derived litter pellets.

Also the size of the pellet seems to make a difference with how successfully the pups take to it.

* DO NOT EVER USE CLUMPING OR CLAY CAT LITTER PRODUCTS. There Is a danger of intestinal blockage.

Cost is not a factor in using this system! We purchase a recycled wood pelleted animal bedding product from our farmer's co-op that comes in a bag.

An altered Large or Jumbo Plastic cat litter pan works well for one small puppy A litter scoop is under a buck!

Just remember- it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive, it just has to be clean and consistent!

ULTIMATELY the success of any potty training system is the responsibility of the human moms and dads involved.

YOU are in charge of setting your puppy up for success in ALL things and sometimes you need to look at things from their point of view to do this!

Good luck and should you need encouragement or help with any litter box or French Bulldog questions, please do not hesitate to call us anytime!

ACCIDENT CLEANUP TIPS:

No matter how well you plan, there will be accidents with potty training both puppies and dogs.

Try to avoid getting upset when these situations occur, and simply have the necessary equipment to clean them up on hand.

Cleaning soiled areas as soon as possible is very important, both to prevent discolorations and smells in the fabric or surface areas, as well as preventing your dog from returning to the same spot at a later date.

Commercial cleaners may be able to clean even deep-set stains but often the continuing problem will be odor. Be cautious using fabric deodorizing products, as this may eliminated the odor for humans, but the keen nose of a dog will still be able to tell that urine is present in the area.

Cleaning products to avoid when trying to remove stains and odor are anything with bleach. Bleach contains the compound ammonia, which has the same properties as urine and may, in fact, cause the dog to return to the spot to urinate again.

One of the best ways to avoid soiled carpets and fabric is to remove the dog from those areas when you are not able to supervise. Crate training or a dog room or pen, or putting the dog outside or in a kennel when you cannot monitor them is one of the best options.

This is the ONLY product we recommend for ODOR and STAIN removal (it is not marketed for stain removal, but so far we have not found any new or old urine, feces, blood or vomit stains, whether new or old that it would not remove!)