Litter Pan &

Doggy Door Training

You will hear many people say Papillons (as with many toy breeds)
can be difficult to potty train. As the general public hears this time and again
it can alter their decision to own one of these lovely Papillons and thus miss
out on a wonderful breed. We have always felt if proper training was started
from day one perhaps our babies would never fall under the
"toy breed potty training curse".
Apparently we were right in our thinking. If you read through our
testimonial page you will not find any complaints on training our babies.
In fact, we seldom hear back from anyone with regards to
training problems of any kind.

In order to be successful we have developed a system that teaches
our babies potty belongs in a special place from the earliest days they can remember.
From there it is only a matter of continuing the training in your own home.
We offer a ton of information and guidelines to help you continue the valuable
training we have started and to this day we have been very successful.

**We start all our puppies out in a whelping box where we can
monitor their temperature and are sure they are never
too far from their mother.

**From there they are moved to a playpen at around 3-4
weeks of age. This is where their intial litter training can begin.

**From there they are moved to a play area with access
to a doggy door. The age this begins is dependent on their size,
maturity and the current weather conditions, but it usually
begins between 12-16 weeks on average.

**Once they have the idea potty either belongs in the litter pan
or outside, from there you only need to teach them how to let you know they
need out. We have even know people who tied a bell on the door knob
and have taught their pup to ring it to let you know it needs out.
The key to housebreaking any puppy is consistency and never
let them run free in your home without constant supervision
until they have learned the rules.

Below shows our training routine in sequence and complete with photos.

The Whelping Box:

All of our babies are born into a whelping box where
temperatue and distance from mom can be controlled
until they are stronger.

The Playpen:

The playpen offers more space for mom and babies as they grow.

The Litter Pan:

The litter pan is introduced around 4 weeks of age
and they are usually taking to it by 6 weeks.
(Note: The size of the pan must increase as the pups grow)
This helps keeps their playpen area clean and dry
and begins their potty training.

Doggy Door Training

The Doggy Door teaches them potty can belong outdoors.
It also gives them an idea they must go through a door of some sort
to potty outside. We begin with the doggy door propped open
until they understand to go through the hole in the wall
so weather can be a factor in the timing
for this training to begin.
Once they are going through it we close it
then use treats and our fingers to coax them through it.
They often learn to go out it before they learn to come back in
so do not leave them unsupervised while learning.
Also double and triple check your fence because
Papillons are master Houdinis.

Over-all we feel the Papillon is everything you could want
in a dog and more (visit our Versatility Page to see what we mean)
so don't let training rumors deter you from owning one of
these special butterfly babies.

Visit our Testimonial Page to read testimonials from people living with Papillons.

Here we would like to share a few thoughts and quotes from some of our puppy buyers. Thoughts from our puppy buyers... 4-20-11 Brandi, I just wanted to take a moment to say that you couldn't have picked a better puppy for me. Rowdy is the most amazing puppy I have ever had. The litter box training made it super easy to start potty training, even while I was away at work. He is so fearless and outgoing during new experiences like tagging along at dog shows, stores and at friends houses for socialization. Rowdy is almost finished with puppy kindergarten and is the star of the class (although I'm probably a little biased). He is so intelligent and picks up things extremely quickly that he makes learning all his manners look easy. On a couple occasions I have had people in my puppy class ask me how I got Rowdy to perform behaviors so quickly and reliably. I told them, "a lot of love, a little bit of work, and a great breeder." Thanks for matching me up to my happy, healthy Rowdy puppy. Have a great day and God Bless. Sincerely, Jennifer, Paris, Kasey and Rowdy (IL, USA) Tyler has hit the ground running! We got home and set him up in his pack and play but he was ready to play and visit. We have let him set his own pace. He is happy with his tail wagging and kissing everyone. Playing with his toys and even fetching the ball. He is a little spit fire!! He is eating. He has used the litter pan and has done well with that. He did very well last night and I didn't hear him after the initial 5 minute whining. He did potty during the night in his pan. LOVING the litter pan!! I am telling you he is handling every situation like a trooper! and yes, I could certainly see him prancing around with his proud self in the show ring. Very nice puppy for sure! Thanks so much for this little guy! Tish (GA, USA) I just wanted to send you a quick note and let you know that I am incredibly happy with Pepe (Formerly Tazer). Your litter training method is incredible, he has free range of my relatively small kitchen here in Mexico while I am at work and he almost always goes on the paper. If he is relaxing with me in the house he goes to the door to let me know he needs to go bathroom, and this is without any training by me, in fact he trained me the first time he went to the door and all I could think is what is he doing. Needless to say I learned fast! We are working on sit for now and even though his energy levels make keeping focus hard he seems to be picking it up very fast. 3 days in and he already seems to get it 30-50% of the time. I will say you made a great choice based on what I told you I was looking for. Rob (NY, USA & MEX) This is one of the main reasons I wanted Bella from Braylor's. I knew she was potty trained to a litter box, which impressed me. Bella has never had a problem with potty training. She came from Braylor's very well trained and now she goes on either potty pads or outside. The litter box training makes using potty pads so wonderful during bad weather, on a plane, in a hotel, etc. We travel a lot with Bella. On planes I have put the potty pad down in the small bathroom and said "go potty" and she goes on command. We take her with us to many places in her stroller. She lets us know when she needs to go potty. But, there are times when the places we take her do not have a grassy area. So, we put down the potty pads and she goes potty. We never have to rush outside to take her to go potty in bad weather and late at night. So, this training is priceless. I had very positive reactions to the information contained on this page. It is very informative and shows the progression of the training which is very helpful to actually visualize. It also shows that you treat your puppies as pets and they are not off in some over crowded breeding pen. I sure wish I could have a couple more paps. Greta (VA, USA) I had no trouble transitioning Titus from the box to the outdoors – he was the easiest dog I have ever had and he has no accidents in the house. Additionally, he is able to do both things on command – which comes in handy in bad weather or at an Agility Trial – I use names for everything we do, and he is so smart that after a few repetitions he knows what I mean. I now require a sit for certain occasions like putting on the harness for walks or feeding and Titus knows to offer that behavior without me saying sit. When he sits, I tell him he is a very polite man. He knows if I hold out a treat that he is not meant to take it until I say OK – Of course I could go on and on, he may be the smartest dog on the planet, or he may be the average for a Braylor’s Papillon. Barbara (FL, USA) The litter box has been an absolute MUST for us!! It has saved our bacon, so to speak, with Brodie and it would be a must with a new little one as well. We agree about the timing of the litter box. It has worked out so well with Brodie (we had him neutered a little earlier), and he still squats to pee, or barely lifts his leg. Amanda (TX, USA) What a joy Sunset has been in our home!! She is lively, confident, excited about new discoveries and has adapted to our routine very quickly. She loves to ride in the car and goes with us whenever possible. She is using both the grass and litter box to do her "boxy" most of the time which I am very pleased about. It has been the best for traveling. We just pop the litter down and say go and she does. Dea (TX, USA) Note: There are more pages available from the homepage. Copyright Notice: All photos and content are the property of Braylor's Papillons.