pet owners.

[landonsmother]

hey everyone! i recently got a puppy. he's a chihuahua terrier mix. he's a little over 2 months old. i got him when he was a week short of turning 2 months old so i'm basically like his momma, training him & taking care of him & such.

he is so adorable & very playful & i couldn't imagine my life without him. i'm totally attached to him but there's one problem. a huge one. i can't really train him on how to go the bathroom. i know it takes time but there are times when i get really frustrated. i live with my boyfriend & his parents & since it's not my home, whenever he pees on the floor or carpet they get mad.

i've been doing a great job by catching him trying to pee & poop on the floor or carpet & before he makes a mistake, i carry him over to his pad so he can urinate there. then i reward him with a treat for "going" in the right area. i've googled on how to train pups to use the bathroom & i've done everything that they've said but i'm not having the best of luck right now. i look for signs to see when he needs to "go" but i totally miss them.

so to all you ladies & gents who has had or have dogs that live in your home, how did you guys train them & how long does it approximately take for the dog to catch on that he needs to "go" in the right area?? my BF parents are on the verge of kicking my puppy out of the house to live outside & i don't want that to happen

he sleeps with us in our bedroom & he's really good about "going" on the pad we have in our room. it's just that when we take him out in to the living room, he has accidents all the time. he is a smart puppy. i trained him how to "sit" in 2 days & he knows the use of the pad in our room but i don't get that he just "go's" wherever he wants when we're in the living room. someone, please help.

*edit*
here's a picture of him btw. just thought that i'd add one

world............meet NISMO!

 

[aimee]

dont give up
really youre doing it right catch him bring him to the bathroom
and then give him a treat
my co worker got a dog and it took her about 8 1/2 months to train the dog to pee and poop at the right place haha

 

[aimee]

maybe hes confused because its another pad you know i would just use one pad

 

[DirtyHarriet]

definitely use one pad. puppies usually are very faithful to their pee spot. also, keep in mind that small dogs usually take longer to house train than large dogs.

also, you may want to keep him in your room at all times. when he's unsupervised kennel him. allow him to adopt a kennel into his 'den'...it's a natural dog behavior...if you don't have a kennel...get one that is small...it needs to feel cozy like a den...and to get him to like his kennel throw treats in there and toys, so if he goes in there when you're home he's surprised pleasantly with a treat...also, bribe him to enter his kennel...don't just throw him in there. dogs don't pee where they sleep, so he won't go in his kennel.

by keeping him in your room all the time (at least you're walking him etc), you'll make his world a little smaller, and hopefully clear up any confusion.

patience patience...and lots of repetition...and you'll get there...

as for your family...make sure you're very vigilant about cleaning up after the puppy...also, offer to have the carpets if there are any, cleaned professionally when it's all done...

a small dog is not an outside pet...so don't let them move him outside...if worse comes to worse, you may have to put your puppy up for adoption...which will be much better for him than making him live outside...

i have A LOT of dog experience...both with my own dogs, and the 50+ dogs i have house sat while in grad school...so pm me if you have any more questions!

 

[stacylynne]

Only use 1 pad. If he has an accident pick him up & put him on the wee wee pad. When he goes on the pad, praise him &/or give him a treat (don't give him a treat everytime).

The little ones are sometimes hard to housebreak. I have 2 malteses, trust me I know.
Just remember to keep with it & don't give up.

 

[landonsmother]

thanks for all the replies. i really appreciate it. i will definitely look into that kettel thing. having my puppy live outside or putting him up for adoption is out of the question. pets are just like your kids. you wouldn't kick your 3 year old out if he was to pee his pants on an accident right?

 

[charlie2504]

Please don't mind if I'm making some mistakes, as english is not my first language ...

But as a dog owner, my advice: Be patient! He's only two months old, he don't have a total control on his bladder and his intestins so it's possible that he know he have to go on his pad but can't reach it on time...Usually it takes few weeks, months, to have a dog house trained. The kennel is a good idea, puppies usually don't pee/poop where they sleep. A hint: puppies pees right after waking up, so bring him on it right after his nap.! Good luck!

 

[Distinque]

hey lisa! I have a total of 3 dogs and 2 of them are maltese so they're inside dogs. Just use one pad like everyone is suggesting and once he pees change it immediately. I noticed that my dogs don't like to pee on a already soiled pad. I also take my dogs out to pee because my boy doggie isn't fixed so he likes to be a man and mark his spot. When your dog does use the pad properly give him a treat and make a huge thing about it like "goood boy!".

Hope this helps

 

[xsnowwhite]

your puppy is ADORABLE! I agree with the others, be patient, it can take a long time.

 

[xtiffineyx]

He's adorable! And yes, it takes A LOT of time and A LOT of patience! I know it's frustrating since you have the pressure of his parents too, but you're just going to have to tell them that it takes time and eventually he'll get it. I highly recommend kenneling. It helps A LOT with training. If you've never kenneled a dog before you need to do a lot of research on it before you do it. You want it to be his "safe spot" so never ever ever put him in there as punishment, I can't stress this enough! It's one of the biggest problems I see with people when they're trying to train their puppies.

You'll be able to find a lot of info on the web, but here's a great link:
Crate Training | The Humane Society of the United States

Goodluck & keep us updated! =)

 

[iluffyew769769]

try training him on those doggy potty pads. They sell them at petco and petsmart and target. They are inexpensive and work really well. That's how we trained my chihuahua

 

[DirtyHarriet]

your puppy is ADORABLE!! keep us posted on his progress!

and yes, i agree with you completely...dogs are definitely part of the family!!!

 

[CantAffordMAC]

Im sorry i have no advice. But I had to tell u that ur dog might be the cutest thign Ive ever seen...ever. How could anyone get mad at that face?????

Good luck!

 

[TDoll]

I have owned 2 Yorkshire Terrriers and have trained one myself.
I agree with some of the above posters about the one pad. When you do change to a fresh pad, rub some of the pee from the other one onto the new one. Do it sneaky too. I swear dogs are detectives. Mine would notice when I'd change the pad if he saw me doing it.
If he's peeing on it in the bedroom, it's probably because he feels safe and calm. When he's in other parts of the house, he's probably getting excited and confused. Are there a lot of people around? He may also be a "happy pee-er". Which means he's getting so excited about all the people around or seeing new people or just happy to get attention and then pees. He may be getting so excited that all his pee pad knowledge goes out the window...lol. Ours definitely has "happy pee" issues and we're still working on that.

Also, my belief is that you cannot use a pee pad forever. Use it to train him, then when the pad is gone, he'll know that he cannot pee in the house at all because there is no "spot" for him. Start taking him outside on a regular basis. Keep him on a leash so he knows he's not out there to run around. All throughout the day, right before bed, and early in the morning. Keep him out there until he pees. Or try to use a word over and over that he'll associate with doin' his, um, business. Our words are super dumb, but we say "pee pee" or "stinky"...lol. He understands that if he's out there too long and he hears the word, he needs to get down to his business. Just establish a routine and be patient. If you're consistent, he'll learn easily. He'll start to understand that when he has to "go", he'll do something like stand at the door or grunt at you. And always reward him with a treat when he comes inside. Only if he "goes" though.
Good luck with him and keep us updated!

He's ADORABLE by the way!

 

[aimee]

oh you added a picture
sooooo cute im in love with your little dog

 

[*KT*]

It can be so frustrating when they're that little because they really don't have much control and often don't have much of a signal if they even have one at all. Sometimes it feels like the moment you turn your head is when they're going to do it. When mine was a pup, he had to go after playing, after eating, after napping... outside.

Crate training was so helpful as we couldn't watch him 24/7 with both of us working. Did he pee in his crate? He sure did when he was a puppy because he just couldn't hold it in any longer. But tossing his fleece blanket in the wash was a lot easier than finding "find the accident" would have been around the house. They say a puppy can only hold it 1 hour per every month they are old. We went home on lunch to let him out so he'd only have to hold it for a few hours at a time. Some days he'd make it to lunch, other days he wouldn't.

I had to talk my husband into the crate training thing because it was new for both of us. We're SO glad we did it. Both ours are crate trained and it's a comfort know that both our house and our dogs are safe when we're not home. We call our dogs "velcro dogs" because they usually don't go more than 1 room away from us... but whenever one of them 'disappears' it's usually to find some quiet time in their crate.

If you do decide to crate train, rather then spending tons of money on pet beds that don't wash up well/easily, I highly recommend going to a local fabric store and buying some fleece. Depending on how thick you want their "bed" in their crate, just buy a piece 2-4 times the size of the crate floor. I'd recommend buying a few pieces that size, that way if one gets soiled, you don't have to wash it immediately to give them their bed back.

Besides washability, the pup can't get bored and "destuff" a fleece like they can most pet beds. We have a couple pet beds around the house, but it's always been fleece in their crates because they like to destuff toys and it wouldn't take long before they'd figure out that they could do the same to a whole bed. Not to mention I wouldn't want them eating all the stuffing/cedar chips.

Good luck to you. It will get better!

 

[Mizz.Yasmine]

omg hes adorable

my lil doggie took about a year to totally stop having ''mistakes'', it was a pain in the butt at times so remember to stay patient! if u yell at them too much they stress out and eat their ''mess'' to get rid of it so u won't see it! i know that sounds disgusting but it happens.

 

[SmileyfacedPen]

One important thing to remember is that it takes time for pups' bodies to develop to the point where they can hold it in. One of my dogs was able to hold it until she could get outside when she was five months old, and never had another accident. My younger one, who will be two years old in September, can't always hold it until someone gets home, so we have one square of newspaper on a rubber mat in the corner of the computer room. If she has to pee and she absolutely can't wait, she will go there. Sometimes she misses the paper a little bit, but I really don't think it's a big deal.

Dogs all develop differently and yes, there are some dogs who are never completely housetrained. I doubt that I will ever be able to completely get rid of the newspaper for my youngest dog, so I simply watch her and when she's asking to go out, I let her out.

Try to set up a schedule with feeding. I don't recommend free feeding (leaving food out all the time) when housetraining, because the dog will sometimes just pick at the food. Feed at specific times, and take your dog outside a few minutes after he's finished eating. Just like people, dogs often have to pee when they wake up after a sleep, so take them out then too.

I find it a lot easier to help dogs with their bathroom habits, especially male dogs, after they've been neutered or spayed.

When you're going on walks, it's a great time to practice positively reinforcing his bathroom habits. Terriers are active little buggers (my oldest dog is a terrier mix) so depending on how active he likes to be, you will either need to take him on one long walk, or a few shorter ones each day. I like my dogs to go once we pass an alley or an empty spot, so that they're not peeing on people's lawns.

Carpets need to be cleaned very, very often, because the urine will soak into the foam underneath. We just ripped up all the carpet, and really, it was disgusting under there, and not just from having dogs who peed there when they were pups. If the owners of the house don't want to rip up the carpet, then you have to watch him when he's in a carpeted room. Cleaning up bodily fluids is not that big a deal regardless, but it's much easier to just wipe up a hard floor.

Don't get frustrated! If you just keep trying, and are patient, things will work out. He's trying his best to go where you want him to, but since he's so young, it's likely he hasn't developed to the point where he can hold it well. Things will get easier!

You can also ask your vet for tips, and they will be happy to help.

 

[landonsmother]

thanks ladies!!!!!!

sometimes, i think that he's getting the hang of it then all of a sudden, he just "goes" in the wrong spot. LOL. but when he does "go" in the correct spot, i praise him, give him treats or pick him up & give him hugs

i'm sure it'll take a while but i think i can manage

my BF mom is always irritated though & that irritates me!!!

 

[PolyphonicLove]

I always take Bailey outside - he likes running around! But when he goes potty in the house [super duper no no; he peed in one spot in the old house so much, we couldn't get our deposit back], we put him away in his little gated section inside until its time for him to go potty again. It takes LOTS of time but since he's young, he'll catch on soon!