Without any doubt, the single most frequently asked question from new Poop Schoolers is what to do when puppies void outside of the litter box.

There are a variety of reasons why this might be happening.

The MOST likely cause is the immaturity, physical and mental, of the puppies. We have to accept that infant puppies are going to make mistakes and going to have mistakes. This is normal, and our goal should not be to prevent this. Breeding is hard enough without setting unrealistic unattainable standards for ourselves and our puppies.

Some particular litters seem to be “messier” than others, even full siblings from previous breedings, and that is normal too.

And some litters just take longer than others, some breeds take longer than others too.

None of those things warrant action on our part, other than sticking with the program.

Now, for the things we can consider changing or modifying.

Are the puppies avoiding the litter box? This might be because they can’t easily get in it, or because the substrate is difficult for them to walk on.
Are the puppies unwell? Or bingeing on water?
Is there space too constrained? Or too large?
Are they too warm, and using the toilet for a cool place to rest?
Is the toilet too small, too crowded, or getting to dirty?

These five things we can change without much overall impact on the muscle memory action to going towards the box to void. Remember, only change a single thing at a time, and never more than one thing per day.Remember, if your puppies are unwell most commonly if they are processing giardia or coccidia they will have poor quality poop and lots more of it, during these days I stay very near the toilet to clean it as frequently as possible and I will sometimes expand the toilet to there is just more room for poops. These are difficult days but if you work with your vet and stay on top of treatment and prevention there will hopefully be few of them.

In most cases we will just “stay the course” and give the puppies the time they need to mature.

The Single Most Frequently Asked Question.