h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have had animals all my life and have gotten very good at traing them these are some general rules I have found to help make it easier on both you and them.

Rule 1. NEVER hit your animal 2. If you pet has an accident and you are not there don't yell at them or punish them after(they will not know why you are angry) 3. reward them for doing good (if they go outside/in the box) 4. have patience

Most animals will not go to the bathroom near thier food if you are having a problem with your pet always going in one spot try moving thier food to that spot.

Another thing to keep in mind is if your pet is trained and suddenly starts going in the house or outside of the baox it could be an infection so you should not jump to conclusions and think they are just acting up. Also if your pet is angry at you for not spending anytime with them they may also go were they are not supposed to.

Courtney sorry to be long winded

I totally agree with these points. Start early and be patient, your puppy (or other pet) doesn't come armed with the instinct to ask you to go outside. It will take some time and just when you are starting to think they will never learn, they do. And just when you think that you can't possibly keep going outside every hour to see if they want to go, they learn control!
Also remember that if you have been busy and not done your duty in giving them access to outside, you cannot be angry with them if they make a mess inside - it is your fault, not theirs. Just arm yourselves with lots of kitchen roll for a while!

I've just inherited two cats and they use the litter tray except when they're stressed or sometimes if it isn't empty .
What I really want is to get them to go outside and do it instead. At their previous home they were in and outside cats, also they were scared when they were first here and lived completely outside for a couple of weeks- but now they've come in they NEVER go out at all!

Can I get them to at least go out rather than use the litter tray?

Thanks Min so someone else got my rambling?

Tech When it comes to cats they are very strange, most (not all) cats would rather be inside than out. (Its also bad for them to be out because they could get hit by a car get flee's or ticks or other parasites) My siggestion is to let them go inside when they want (thats why kitty litter was invented) Its a mess job but someone's got to do it

If they are going in other places around your house try a putong thier food were they most often frequent.

If there's somewhere dry outside where you can put the tray and it's still near the exit to the garden, cats will ofetn use the tray outside. The next step is to remove the tray after a few days and then the cat will find some place to go in the garden.