Shih Tzu Litter Box Training Advice

The Shih Tzu is probably one of the most stubborn and arrogant breeds of dog you will ever come across and they very much prefer their way of doing things even over your way whether you like it or not.

So do not be surprised when tasks like housebreaking seem to take forever because remember that you are on the dog’s schedule and not yours. This is probably why some people resort to Shih Tzu litter box training as opposed to waiting for their dog to be housebroken.

Even in the best case scenario a Shih Tzu can take up to six months to learn how to go where you want it to, so if you are only a couple of months into the process and it does not be working you need to be patient. You are going to want to try everything you can to housebreak your Shih Tzu, and allow it all of the time it needs, before you even think about a litter box.

Due to their behavioral patterns it is very much worth repeating that you may want to develop patience with a Shih Tzu in regards to housebreaking before you resort to using a litter box. A Shih Tzu will look at your entire house as a territory and if you let it know that it is okay to relieve itself in the house anywhere then it may not always associate that activity with the Shih Tzu litter box training. It is still much more beneficial to get the dog to understand that, for bathroom needs, outside is good and inside is bad.

If you have a full size Shih Tzu then it may be too big for a litter box. While the Shih Tzu does display the traits of the other toy breeds it can grow to sizes of fifteen inches or more to its shoulders and that is way too big for a litter box. You may want to contact your breeder, or your vet, for advice on whether or not it is a good idea to litter box train your Shih Tzu for its size.

If you really want to start Shih Tzu litter box trainingthen place a large litter box in the part of your house that your Shih Tzu has been soiling the most. Praise it profusely when it uses that litter box. but do not punish it when it does not use it.

Litter box training is not housebreaking and it may actually cause more problems than it could ever solve. Be sure to have the same dedication to litter box training that you had to housebreaking because litter box training could take as long, or longer, than housebreaking and may not give the results you wanted.

A litter box is not the answer to housebreaking and it can more than likely undo old housebreaking training and prevent any further housebreaking. Use the litter box as a very last resort but have the same dedication to litter box training as you had with housebreaking because this process may take a lot longer than standard housebreaking.