Day Three Hundred and Sixty Six - Toilet Training

It does seem a bit crazy to say that we have started the toilet training so early in the piece.  It is certainly something I have never attempted before while they are still in the whelping box.  But late in the week I attached the "toilet annexe" to their box.  It was part of the design I had my Dad make for my new whelping box (I'd decided my old one was a bit too small, and it is certainly true that Emmi has appeared far more comfortable in the new one), with an extension piece which has an open door way into it, which was sealed during the first few weeks.

While their normal space has their comfortable dry bed, the extension is lined with paper and/or puppy pads.  The idea is to keep their bed as clean as possible, and encourage them to toilet in the other area.  To do it properly it does generally require more bedding changes and intervention than is possible while I am at work, but I thought I would still give this approach a go.  Hopefully if I can get them paper trained and a little more discriminatory about where they relieve themselves at a really young age, it will make the transition into the "big room" a bit easier for me to manage.

The pups are still a bit hit and miss (I have still found a few wet patches on the paper lining the box underneath the dry bed), but I think they are getting the idea, and I have caught them few times now wake up and wander into the right area to have a wee.  We'll see if it works.