Hi,
She is in the tiniest kennel box available for her bed. I don't know how much
tinier I could make it.... She has room to lie down and stand up, but thats
about it. She pretty much fills up the whole thing. She still pees every night
in it and when she poops, she somehow takes it and kicks it to a corner and
smushes it all underneath her towels. This masks the smell a bit for us humans
and by the time I get to change out her bedding, it is stuck all over the towel
and stuck in the corners of her kennel. It's gotten to point where if I even
smell a hint of dog pee (like while dumping it into the washing machine) it
just makes me want to gag. It really sucks when I don't know the poop is in the
folds of the towels and chunks of it fall into the bleach water and then I have
to fish it out.
It's a huge, unsanitary mess and it amazes me that she has no compunctions at
all about sleeping in it. The main issue is she has no distinction at all
between "bed" and where to go potty. She pees and defecates in all the places
she sleeps/naps and then some - one day she even pooped in the back seat of
rental car we were using! She's also pooped at other peoples houses, RIGHT in
front of everyone. One time she pooped right at my feet while paying my bill at
the local feed store....a big ole stinky steamer! So the problem goes even
beyond the confines of her house...
Last night, I guess she needed to poop and we didn't see the signs fast enough
so she went into her kennel bed and pooped there. The potty box was RIGHT next
to her bed! I knew she did it right away. As we were getting ready to go to bed
she walked up to us, looking guilty, and had her tail tucked and head down, so
I know she knows she did bad.
While I am super frustrated, I'm not trying to be whiny with my posts, and I
apologize if they do seem that way - just trying to get the point across as to
how bad this issue (and her disconnect)is. I can deal with accidents once in a
while, but this is every day, sometimes several times a day even tho she gets
regular potty breaks. I'd say about 50% of the time we take her out for potty,
she does not go- probably because at some point she snuck into her kennel to do
it. If I close the kennel off, she will go somewhere in the house, tho her
potty box is always available.
Thanks for letting me vent and thanks for taking the time to answer my
questions. I will take all suggestions into consideration. Feeling really
bummed out and hopeless about it right now tho. The problem seems so bad and
has gone on so long, that I almost feel it is beyond me to fix her at this
point. If I find another home for her, then I feel I failed this little dog,
but maybe she would be better off with someone who knows little dogs better
than I. I've never given up on an animal before and have always been with them
since day one and was right there with every single one when they crossed the
rainbow bridge. :(
Kelly
--- In Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com, "Joan" <joan_croft@...> wrote:
>
> Can your husband make something where the front part is low and small - just
> big enough for her bed and barely high enough for her to walk. Then make a
> doorway from that to a bigger box where she can stand up and has enough room
> to circle before poopy. Then you need to keep her enclosed in that until she
> goes potty and then a piece of her kibble. She can't potty if she can't
> stand up and have enough room to move - Right?
>
> --- In Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com, "K. Ritchie" <kkritchie@> wrote:
> >
> > Her bed should only be large enough for her to lie down in. Â Cut down a
> > small box. Â
> >
> > Tell her once to potty. Â By repeating the command over and over is like
> > telling a teenager to clean their room five times. Â They learn that you
> > don't really mean it until you've said it five times and ignore the first
> > four.
> >
> > Find a treat that will work for her and her tummy. Â A piece of rice cake,
> > popcorn, her food and have it in your hand ready to give to her when she
> > goes. Â They only need a teeny tiny piece of something they see as the $500
> > bill (something they really, really like.) I was told that their is 3
> > seconds to treat. Â After that they have moved on. Â If she just looks at
> > you don't look at her, that is a reward in her mind. Â Walk around slowly
> > without looking at her.
> >
> > You might even have to start out by taking her on a walk and treating her
> > for going. Â I don't know a dog yet that won't poop/pee on a walk.
> > Â
> > Kay Â
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: skyforme1970 <skyforme1970@>
> > To: Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 8:06 AM
> > Subject: [Chihuahuas] Re: At my wits end.....
> >
> >
> > Â
> > Thank you, Gloria.
> >
> > This is the method I am trying too and not having much luck with it. I
> > cannot even get her to use the pottybox - I feel the few times she DID use
> > it was a fluke. When she did go pee in there one day, I was so happy I
> > shouted "Thank you, Jesus!" and my kids and I were nearly dancing with joy.
> > This celebration of course scared her and she ran off and hid somewhere
> > thinking she was busted, so I'm sure that set her back a bit.
> >
> > I know I've made mistakes with her too. I have never had a puppy, a
> > chihuahua, or a female dog before. Always been grown (adopted)male Boston
> > Terriers. Which are WONDERFUL dogs by the way! :)
> >
> > When I take her outside for potty I always tell her "go potty" and if she
> > has to, she will. I thought she understood what "go potty" meant as I say
> > it a LOT when waiting for her to do business so she'd learn the phrase. I
> > tell her this when I have her jump into the pottybox, but she just tilts
> > her head and looks at me like I'm crazy. She has a very "want to please"
> > personality so I'm confused as to why this is so hard for her to get. She
> > has been scolded for peeing and pooping in the house in the past, so I am
> > thinking maybe this is where some of the confusion is coming from. How can
> > I get her to STOP peeing in her bed?
> > Kelly
> >
> > --- In Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com, twopenns@ wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > As a baby, I trained Emiliano to use a litter box, lined with newspaper
> > > onto which I had sopped on some of his pee. He used it almost
> > > immediately. Then if I was going to be at home for the day, I started
> > > taking him outside, when he got up, after he ate, and before he went to
> > > bed and a few times inbetween. I would tell him to go potty, stayed and
> > > watched him until he did, then praised him and brought him inside and
> > > gave him one of his favorite treats. Some people told me he was going to
> > > be confused using the litter box and going outside as well but he never
> > > was. To this day, he uses the box if I am going to be gone all day and
> > > goes outside when I am at home. At four years of age, he can hold off
> > > having to go for most of the day, often I come home to find the box has
> > > not been used but he runs outside immediately when I get home and does
> > > his business.
> > >
> > > Gloria
> > >
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: skyforme1970 <skyforme1970@>
> > > To: Chihuahuas <Chihuahuas@yahoogroups.com>
> > > Sent: Wed, Nov 28, 2012 5:06 am
> > > Subject: [Chihuahuas] At my wits end.....
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I have a nearly 2 year old spayed female chihuahua mix. She is only about
> > > 5 lbs and very sweet. She came toddling up our driveway one rainy
> > > afternoon when she was only about 3 months old. No one claimed her so we
> > > took her in knowing nothing about chihuahuas. From what I heard from the
> > > neighbors, she was a litter mate escapee and the people who had her never
> > > let her or the other pups in the house, so they all stayed outside in the
> > > backyard.
> > >
> > > No matter what I do, I cannot seem to house train her. We had to lock her
> > > in her kennel at night so she would not tear the house up as we slept. As
> > > a result, she had gotten used to peeing and sometimes pooping in her bed
> > > since (I assume) she could not hold it all night. This is without fail
> > > every single day. She will pee anywhere she sleeps (her round cloth bed,
> > > her kennel bed and the kid's beanbags). She also has no issue with peeing
> > > on tile or rugs or carpet RIGHT in front of us all while innocently
> > > looking us in the eye. It's like she has NO concept whatsoever that this
> > > displeases us greatly even tho she has been scolded for it more times
> > > than I can count.
> > >
> > > It does not matter if we take her outside for potty right before bed or
> > > withhold food and water after 3 pm. She has no problem letting us know
> > > when her water or food bowl has gone dry or to alert us for her other
> > > wants and needs. Just the potty thing. I kept thinking she'd grow out of
> > > it, but she has not at nearly 2 years old. (born in Feb 2011)
> > >
> > > As a result, since she is so tiny (and smart, I think) I got the bright
> > > idea to try and litter box train her. I've tried using kitty litter, then
> > > a pee pad, then even cutting iceplant from outside and putting it into
> > > the box for her to pee on since that is what she usually does on it when
> > > we take her out for a potty break.
> > >
> > > I call the litter box her "pottybox" thinking it was best to give it a
> > > name she might identify it with. She has used it a grand total of twice
> > > in the last 6 weeks of trying to train her. When she has an accident, I
> > > take the soiled towels and put them in her pottybox so she
> > > knows/smells/sees what it is there for. I also tell her "go potty" like I
> > > do when she is outside.
> > >
> > > Recently we moved her to the laundry room at night and use a baby gate so
> > > she can still see out into the house. I now leave her kennel bed open so
> > > she has free access to the pottybox, but she still prefers to sleep in
> > > her own waste.
> > >
> > > She has no issue with jumping into the potty box, and will do so just by
> > > us telling her to, but she will just sit down and look at me like "what
> > > do you want me to do?"
> > >
> > > She is ruining our house and I've never been closer to giving up after
> > > two years of this constant messing with no end in sight. I cannot keep
> > > her outside as we live in rural area and she would not last an hour out
> > > there so a house dog she must be.
> > >
> > > I am not a quitter, especially when it comes to animals, but this (and
> > > her constant "glee peeing" even when seeing the SAME people over and over
> > > but that is another story) is turning in to a real deal breaker. I have
> > > never had such a high maintenance, and frankly such a PITA dog in my
> > > life, but we love her very much.
> > >
> > > I'm sure this has come up a million times, but if anyone has some
> > > suggestions that might help, I'd appreciate it. We are very low on money
> > > so buying yet more "training aids" is not possible right now. Plus, I
> > > feel that I have spent enough on all this and she has what she needs,
> > > except the message I am trying to get across to her. Breaks my heart to
> > > think of giving her up, but if we can't resolve this, I will have to
> > > re-home her to someone who understands the breed better than I do. Thanks
> > > for any help you can give us for this sweet little girl.
> > >
> >
>
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