Help with puppy potty training?

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

Okay so for past two weeks Czar has done great with his potty training. He runs to the door and whines if he's on the couch and can't get to the door. But the past few days, he's really gone downhill. I still take him out a lot without him asking and he sleeps in a kennel at night. He's had plenty of accients today and I've been taking him out lots. He just hasn't been going when he's outside or telling me he needs to go when he's inside $:\$ I never get mad at him if I don't catch him in the act. If I do catch him, a firm "NO!" and poke to his side normally makes him walk away from me in submission. Whenever I do take him outside and he goes, I praise him and pet him. I always tell him"go potty" and take him to the same/around the same area each time. Soon I'm going to start taking treats outside with me so that he associates relieving himself in the right place with yummy food and lots of praise. I can always tell he's really happy when he goes outside because he gets really hyper. Anyway, are there any good tips anyone can give me? I've potty trained dogs before but I don't want him to start having a lot of accidents and thinking it's okay and then it's really hard to get him out of it.

Frostbight8 · September 2011

Oh, dear god. I hate potty training, but I've dealt with it for a while. XD I have a stubborn Shih-Tzu, which may just be the world's hardest breed to potty train, I sware. They do not lie. Nothing peeves me off more when you bring them outside, they do nothing, then you come in the house and they go. A little trick I learned is that exercise gets them to go (number 2). As silly as it sounds, and as silly as you'll feel doing it, if think that he should have to go around that time, run around the house with him once or twice. Then take him to your designated spot. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try, right? As for pee.. I don't have any tips. We never had any problems with it. My dog just found a spot she really liked and always goes there, three years and counting. With asking, we taught my dog to ask by everytime we took her out, encouraged her to stand near it and cry. When she finally did, we took her out.

HuntersGATHERING · September 2011

Feeding schedules helped me a lot when potty training my dogs. What ever you do don't get puppy pads, they make potty training worse. Do you takehim out 20-30min after he eats and drinks?

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

Frost: We have a Shih-Tzu mix too and we got her at 4 months. Potty training was a bad experience with her!

Anywho, thank you for the tips, very helpful! Dog Paridise: I will never buy puppy pads, I'm totally against them! I try to take him out about 40 mins. after he eats because most of the time he won't go otherwise. Sometimes he won't until an hour or so afterwards. He eats lots during the morning and evening and a little during the afternoon. I'm always worried that he won't be getting enough food for his growing body. xD

Kazuko · September 2011

A rule of thumb: Take them out after EVERYthing. xD When they wake up, even from a short nap. Potty time. After a walk, after playing, after eating, after drinking water... The last two you can wait 30-45mins. Also, when he's outside and you see him get into posture for pottying, give him a command like 'Go Pee' or 'Go Potty' or 'Business Time' or something like that. Only say it once, and praise him a ton. This will help a lot. And remember to clean the pee/poo spots indoors with pet stain/smell remover, otherwise, even if you clean it with regular soap and water, he'll be able to smell it and he'll consider that his potty-spot.

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

Thanks, Kaz!

Mileysmybaby · September 2011

Puppy pads is what we use, or those cute little doggy diapers,never tried the diapers cause the puppy pads worked but I would think they would work at night and whatnot for now. xD

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

I don't like puppy pads. He stays in the kennel at night and when he whines or whimpers, I take him outside. Sometimes twice a night, the times range from 1am to 5am. xD I don't want him to think it's okay to go inside, even if it's on a certain/specific surface. I feel like I'd be working backwards.

Garnet · September 2011

I have that three month old pit you may remember xD I went to the local library and checked out potty training books xD

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

Yes, Faythe? (: How's her potty training going?

Garnet · September 2011

Good so far

she has a few accidents when we go to town and can't take her out or excited pee haha but otherwise she's doing great!

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

Awesome. (: I find bigger breeds are so much easier to housebreak than little breeds. xD

Garnet · September 2011

omg i know D= my chihuahua still has accidents in the house =(

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

So does my female shih-tzu mix. Only when we're not home, but it's still frustrating!

I'm hoping Czar will just get it one day and not have accidents ever again. xD He's pretty smart, he should get it eventually. Chihuahuas are known to be harder to train as they get older though, so let's hope it happens soon!

Garnet · September 2011

I knoooow! Omgosh heaven is so stubborn these days xD

EmmeZoec · September 2011

I think it is harder with little dogs because they have a smaller bladder. Try and control ALL the food and water in the house, if you have other dogs then put their water where they can't get it. Take him out with in 30 minuets after eating or drinking. Get a timer that goes off every hour and set it to one hour after each potty time, take him out when ever it goes off no matter what. Do you have a crate? What size is it? For a Chihuahua puppy it should be basically the smallest crate they have including the cat crates. Put him in the crate whenever you cant watch him. Keep him on tile or wooden floors like in a kitchen, no rugs, beds, or couches he could lift his leg on or jump up and pee on. Once urine gets into a couch there is almost no way to get it out they will always smell it. If you want to make him a little play pen in leave his crate in with him and some toys in a small area, not so big that he can eliminate in one spot and continue playing in the other. Leave some chew toys in with him and make sure that he has gone out very recently. When he is out side don't talk to him, pet him, touch him, move or anything that will distract him from what he is supposed to be doing. Just wait until he he finishes his business. If you want to give a command you can give it right before he goes or preferably right when you want him to start searching. After he goes do not praise him, HAVE A PARTY. Act like you just won a $100 billion lottery. Give him tons of cookies and make him feel like "hey, what I just did there in that spot, it was great, I was great, This seems like a great thing and I should do it more often!" Then give him his command to go what ever he didn't and become uninteresting again. Good luck and be persistent

Garnet · September 2011

I do the alarm thing on with my puppy. I have it set every two hours to take faythe out. and i have it set every time i need to feed her and set for 15 minutes after she eats so i can take her out again.

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

Emmezoe: I wouldn't think the fact that they're smaller would mean that their bladders are smaller. I mean, yes, of course, but they eat and drink much smaller amounts then bigger dogs so their bladder control should be around the same. Smaller size, but smaller proportions. Anyway, I always leave food and water for him down because I'm worried he won't be getting enough for his growing little body. (Just paranoid, I guess). He has made his own eating pattern, however, and whenever he's around his food, I'm always watching him and how much he has. He eats lots in the morning, a little in the afternoon, and lots at night. When I was reading up on puppy feeding schedules, this sounds very normal and healthy. He doesn't drink very much, mostly only after he plays really hard or while he's eating (makes it convenient when it comes to taking him outside to go potty). I always keep him restrained if I can't watch him. When I'm on the computer and he's playing with his kong or some other chew toy, he's always tied up to the desk with only about 4 feet of freedom on the leash. When I'm the shower, I put him in his kennel (and yes, his kennel is a cat kennel, only big enough for him to stand up/lay down/sit/turn around/etc. in and not enough room for him to want to eliminate inside of it. (: ) We're looking into getting him an x-pen soon. Would he be able to have an x-pen with his kennel inside of it without wanting to eliminate somewhere within it? I don't plan on having it a huge area. I have a feeling he'd consider his kennel his "den" and find a corner inside the x-pen to go potty, so I'm thinking of just losing the kennel altogether when I get an x-pen and have him stay in one of those while he's left unsupervised for short periods of time?

MuckyDuckBrendon · September 2011

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

Emmezoe: I wouldn't think the fact that they're smaller would mean that their bladders are smaller. I mean, yes, of course, but they eat and drink much smaller amounts then bigger dogs so their bladder control should be around the same. Smaller size, but smaller proportions. Anyway, I always leave food and water for him down because I'm worried he won't be getting enough for his growing little body. (Just paranoid, I guess). He has made his own eating pattern, however, and whenever he's around his food, I'm always watching him and how much he has. He eats lots in the morning, a little in the afternoon, and lots at night. When I was reading up on puppy feeding schedules, this sounds very normal and healthy. He doesn't drink very much, mostly only after he plays really hard or while he's eating (makes it convenient when it comes to taking him outside to go potty). I always keep him restrained if I can't watch him. When I'm on the computer and he's playing with his kong or some other chew toy, he's always tied up to the desk with only about 4 feet of freedom on the leash. When I'm the shower, I put him in his kennel (and yes, his kennel is a cat kennel, only big enough for him to stand up/lay down/sit/turn around/etc. in and not enough room for him to want to eliminate inside of it. (: ) We're looking into getting him an x-pen soon. Would he be able to have an x-pen with his kennel inside of it without wanting to eliminate somewhere within it? I don't plan on having it a huge area. I have a feeling he'd consider his kennel his "den" and find a corner inside the x-pen to go potty, so I'm thinking of just losing the kennel altogether when I get an x-pen and have him stay in one of those while he's left unsupervised for short periods of time?

First ill say, Emm, He should NOT be in a cat crate! He should be in a medium crate, big enough to walk about 3-5 paces back and forth. I have been working with dogs for about 7 years. I have potty trained (not single handedly haha) 4 of my own dogs and helped train about 15 of other peoples dogs. One of which was a chihuahua. Top advice would be to take him out ALL the time. You might be thinking "Im already doing that". I mean ALL. The. Time. every 15 minutes. if he goes while he's out then maybe increase it to 25mins. and if he doesnt go again decrease it to 15mins, You know what i mean? It is time consuming, Even if he's sleeping, Wake him up and take him out, He's a puppy and he will find it easy to fall asleep again when he gets back inside. Also. Dont leave food down all the time. You think you're doing him good but then you look after another dog or family looks after him and he just leaves the bowl expecting it to be there all day, When you feed him, check the back of the pack, if it says his size needs 400g a day and you feed him 4x a day then give him 100g and leave it there for 15mins. he will soon realize its not down all day and eat when it is put down. Also grazing can be a contributor to accidents throughout the house (my old mate had a 2 y old female who grazed and still pooped and peed in the house.) Also, dont walk him every time you take him out, I looked after a dog who would -only- pee when she was on a walk. She ended up hurting her foot and couldnt be walked for 5 days, She didnt pee once in that unwalked period. Good luck!

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

Thanks, Mucky! And his crate is going to be upgraded soon, for now he only sleeps in it anyway and only needs room to stretch out when he's tired. (: I have been taking him out frequently and monitoring his food better (it's a 3x a day thing, morning, afternoon, evening) and he eats all of his food and drinks all of his water during this time and it's created a better bathroom schedule. It's working quite well and he's started going to the door when he needs to eliminate now, and even starts whining too. He still wakes me up 2x a night to go potty but it really doesn't bother me, knowing he's a puppy.

Mileysmybaby · September 2011

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

Thanks, Mucky! And his crate is going to be upgraded soon, for now he only sleeps in it anyway and only needs room to stretch out when he's tired. (: I have been taking him out frequently and monitoring his food better (it's a 3x a day thing, morning, afternoon, evening) and he eats all of his food and drinks all of his water during this time and it's created a better bathroom schedule. It's working quite well and he's started going to the door when he needs to eliminate now, and even starts whining too. He still wakes me up 2x a night to go potty but it really doesn't bother me, knowing he's a puppy.

We took turns every night, but then we had 9 puppies lol.

DiamondPuppy0809 · September 2011

That's a lot of puppies. xD

Mileysmybaby · September 2011

Garfieldz Gal wrote:

That's a lot of puppies. xD

Hahaha yeah it is, and we had just found out my dog was pregnant like a month or so before they were born. xD One was still born though

(we named it Sam cause its a boy or girl name and we figured s/he deserved that much.)and we have no clue where all the puppies are cause my stupid sister didn't keep track of them for me.

Then the mom got hit by a car 6 days after they were born.

She was one of the best dogs I've ever had. Then we also had the dog I currently have and her sister as puppies and they worked out great, me and my dog have a great bond.

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Help with puppy potty training?

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