Welcome! My male, Desi Lou, was a nightmare to train. He would go potty on top of his toys, anywhere he was playing he would go instead of on the puppy pads. When he was in his area, he would use the puppy pads, but otherwise he would go wherever he was and/or wanted. I got to the point that I put him out in the back yard and told him to go potty. I watched from the inside window and he walked around out there for about 20 minutes before he actually went potty. I then opened the door and gave him a treat. The next day it took him almost as long, and then I gave him the treat. The third day he walked around for about 15 minutes and then stepped off the concrete to the rocks and then ran to the door.close he knew he was getting a treat for stepping in the rocks but didn't remember the going potty part. It took over a week for him to actually go right to the rocks and find a place to go potty and then run to the door for his treat - he is very food oriented!
I had my neighbors dog here for the last week and he started peeing on the toys. I think he was trying to mark them as his so that Mandy wouldn't play with them. I didn't see him doing this, but found it after the fact. Joan, Dolly Dee & Desi Lou From: Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of cattailmeadows Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 2:22 PM To: Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Chihuahuas] New to Group and Need to know Hi All! I'm new to this group...I just got my first Chihuahua pup a month ago (well, her mom is a Chi and I'm guessing her dad was a Chi/Doxie mix). She is now 4 months old, and I LOVE her to pieces! Marlee has a wonderful personality and gets along well with my other dogs and cats. I have even been doing "Puppy Kindergarten" training with her to socialize her and teach her good manners (sit, down, stay, etc.) and she's doing pretty well. HOWEVER...she (WE) cannot seem to make progress with housetraining, and I'm wondering if it's just me, or if Chihuahuas in general, have difficulty with this issue. I have tried following my dog trainer's advice to a tee, and have researched advice on the web, but we still aren't making much progress. She is crate trained at night (does very well for 8 hours or so), but during the day, she just goes anywhere she wants. I have tried confining her to a puppy playpen with pee pads and her toys and crate, and she sometimes uses them and sometimes just has a great ol' time shredding them! I always praise her for doing good, and sternly tell her "no" if I see her going inappropriately, but have never really gotten angry with her (I really try the "positive reinforcement" method and rewarding good behavior with treats). I take her out every half hour (set a timer to remind myself) and make sure she goes in her "potty area" outside, but then 15 minutes later she will go again in the house. I really can't trust her for even a minute. I hate keeping her in her crate all the time, when I can't sit and watch her, but she shreds her pee pads in the larger pen, so I'm pretty frazzled right now (pee pads are kind of expensive toys!). I would love to hear anyone's suggestions, or would at least like to know that it isn't just me...are Chihuahuas often difficult to housetrain? Thanks for any advice! Laura
