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I have a 5 month old Chihuahua-Terrier mix and for the life of me I cannot get this puppy potty trained. Tried it all he
I have tried the crate, puppy pads, treats, nothing is working
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Guest 483277
on Nov 13th 2008
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in Crate Training
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Answers
Take him outside. Walk around with him. Keep saying "go potty." It may take several tries. If he doesn't do his business, then just don't say anything to him. When he does, praise him, clap, get him excited and give him a treat. He will finally get it.
BAILEY
answered on 11/13/08.
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Also keep in mind that the average amount of time for a small-breed dog to be potty trained is a year.
Something I always tell people is that if you are at home, put her on a leash and tie her to your belt loop so she's with you at all times. Then take her out every 30 minutes. A hassle? Yes, but so is cleaning up the messes in your house.
Bam-Bam, CGC
answered on 11/13/08.
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You need to pick one method and stay with it. Changing only confuses a dog more. When he potties in the house, clean it immediately with a good quality cleaner designed for pet messes or try white vinegar-this works great for me. Soak up the pee with a clean cloth, put the cloth outside where you want him to go and show it to him, make him smell it. Same with the poo (scoop it with a poop scooper, though). This has always worked well for me with all my critters. It may sound gross, but it is worth the effort if it gets him trained.
If you can catch him in the act, make notations of the general times when he goes and make sure he is outside at those times if possible. Can also try one specific toy that he really likes and designate it as the potty toy, he only gets to play with it if he potties outside.
Dexter
answered on 11/13/08.
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By changing what you are doing is only going to confuse him even more. Puppies don't naturally figure things out - they need assistance. I will tell you how I have potty trained ALL of my puppies, and I typically have many in my home at any given time.
I always use a crate to keep them in when I cannot supervise or when I am not home. This will assist you in potty training because your puppy won't typically want to go potty where he has to lay. If you have trained him properly, he will only whine when he has to go potty. He is only 5 months old - remember that a puppy can only 'hold it' (in hours) half the number they are in months - so your puppy can really hold it for about two and a half hours, give or take. He needs to go out after naps, meals, drinking water, etc. When you take him outside, put him in the grass, or whatever you have that you want him to potty in. I tell my puppies 'go potty' but you can use whatever command you want. If they wander outside of where I want them to go, I tell them 'no' and put them back in the grass and tell them 'go potty' again. They will eventually go, so be patient and don't get frustrated as they are only learning. When he does finally go potty, praise him, make it SO exciting for him so he can really understand what you are asking. Do the same thing every time. Dogs are creatures of habit, so the more you are consistent, the better your puppy will get.
Please message me if you have ANY questions and let me know how he does.
Sergeant
answered on 11/13/08.
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My method may get critized but it has worked very well for me. Of course I do this as soon as I bring the puppy home but you could still try it. I have a small area that the puppy stays in. Such as a bathroom, a laundry room. I have a nice warm bed on one side with their food and water bowl and on the other side I have puppy pads or you can use newspaper. They are always in there and I let them out only with supervision. I have it enclosed with a baby gate. When I let them out I watch them very closely and as soon as I see them sniffing or squating etc. I immediately take them to their papers and then when they go I praise them and reward them. I also reward and praise them when they go on the papers when they are in their area. Dogs are creatures of habit. Before you know it they will want to go there all the time. My yorkie has behavior problems but she learned this in a very short time and has freedom almost all the time and has only had 4 accidents and this was when she was ill.
Sadie
answered on 11/13/08.
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You've gotten some great answers so far! The main thing is to supervise your puppy ALL the time. That's why having a leash attached to you is such a great tool. If you can't watch him put him back in his crate.
Be sure your pup's crate is not TOO big. It should be big enough for him to stand up, turn around, & lay down in comfortably. Any bigger leaves room for him to potty in, making crate training much harder.
Another thing to do to make his potty needs more predictable is to establish & stick to a regular feeding schedule. Put his food & water down at the same times each day. Leave it down for 10-15 minutes and then remove any un-eaten portion. Your puppy will have to eliminate about 15-20 minutes after eating, so take him to where you want to go potty at that time. Be patient. As you've already read, praise big time when your pup goes potty!
Consistency & patience will be the key to your pup's success. Good luck! He can definately do it!
Macy, FMch
answered on 11/13/08.
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I disagree on crate training and puppy pads. The puppy pads tell them they can go on anything that may be on the floor( newspapers, carpets, towels, ect...) As for crate training, I tried crate training and got no where. My Beagle would squat as soon as I headed towards her cage. She also hated her crate. She will now run the other way if I have a laundry basket, trash can, trash bag, and even a large mixing bowl. It also took a week for her to use a dog house almost 3 years later. She just didn't trust it. It took me 10 1/2 months to house train her. I always praised her during and after the act outside. I do agree that they can only hold it for a short time, so I took her out EVERY 3 hours. After about a month and a half of her being on a steady schedule, I let her sleep with me on the bed. She made it thru the night. I would then pick her up and take her out in the morning. SHE NEVER TOUCHED THE GROUND UNTIL SHE WAS OUTSIDE. This went on for about 2 weeks and shes been fine since.
Guest 156967
answered on 11/14/08.
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