It probably happened about 20 months ago when I found out I was pregnant the second time. But what little sanity I still had left I'm afraid is rapidly fleeing. Why for, you ask?
Well, this weekend, we will be bringing Evie and Elly's new puppy home. Little Maiko, as we're naming her, is 6 weeks old this Thursday. She'll be going to get her shots then and Friday night she'll be coming home with us. So this will be a busy weekend I'm sure.
I'm also strongly considering litter box training this puppy. No. Really.
This is going to be a small dog. Right now she weighs less than 2 lbs. I'm hoping she grows minimally and stays tiny. But she'll probably max at around 10 lbs. Maybe 12 if she gets big.
So, you're probably thinking "what the...?" right. I know. It seems more than a little perverse to litter box train a dog. I mean, that's a cat thing after all. And it's kinda icky. I mean, it is an animal pooping and peeing in your house. Even if it is in a dedicated, odor-eliminating sort of area.
But there are a lot of great reasons to litter box train a puppy. And apparently it can be done.
Here are some sites detailing it:
http://kturby.com/litter/litter.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Litter-Train-a-Dog
http://isabellasnow.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Litter-Box-Train-Your-Puppy
http://tracy-rose.suite101.com/litter-train-your-puppy-a16448
This will not mean our puppy will not be going outside. I hope that she is well behaved and will go outside with us and hang around and play in the yard. I'd like for her to learn to go outside and use the potty once she's bigger. But this just seems like a brilliant notion!
First off, as a tiny dog, taking them outside to potty when they are a puppy seems a bit ridiculous. I mean, this dog isn't even tall enough to see through the grass! She's teensy. How overwhelming is it going to be to drop this lil thing out in the grass? Then I expect her to relax and go potty? I have house broken NUMEROUS dogs. This is an exercise in frustrating. You take the puppy outside and you stand around waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And nothing happens. So you finally go inside and the moment you set them down they pee in the floor. Outside it was big and scary. But inside is warm and familiar and cozy. I certainly don't like to pop a squat out in the middle of a big field where who knows what might be. So I don't know why I expect the dog to be different. Heck, we coddle and cozen to our children when potty training them. But expect a house dog to be so much different!
Next, as a small dog she will have a small bladder. Like, needs to pee every couple of hours (once she's grown and able to hold it!) kinda bladder. So, trips to Walmart, car rides, etc all have to be catered to this need. It's a constant problem with Mushu. He can hold it only so long. So if we're gone too long and he's left inside then we risk him having an accident. And if we leave him outside we risk something happening to him. I mean, the lil man weighs 9 lbs. A hawk could scoop him up if it was determined. So litter box training would mean if we wanted to go out to supper or a movie or something we could without worrying about the dog messing in the floor.
Also, having a dog with two toddlers is going to be a challenge. One that I fully understood and was prepared for when I committed to take this poor homeless mongrel into our home. (haha! Like my arm was twisted!) But doing litter training would make the whole thing much simpler. I wouldn't have to worry about leaving my girls to take the puppy out. It might help reduce some of our accidents. And from some of the blogs and what not I have read, it seems like it will be pretty easy to do. Easier than house breaking one to go potty outside. So maybe it will make the whole process less stressful.
Am I crazy? Yeah. Probably. Now that I've been convinced I need to talk my husband into it. Then I need to fix something up to use as a puppy litter box. But I've already got some ideas.
I think I might actually be more excited about the girls' new puppy than they are! haha.
Happy Monday every one!
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