Maria contacted me with this problem:
“I have a 19 month old chihuahua mix and a 5 month old chihuahua. My 19 month old was already potty trained but since we got the 5 month old she has picked up the pup’s bad habits. Now they both leave their mess all over my kitchen,dining room, and living room. In the mornings we take them outside to do their business and pick up after them. I also do for lunch and dinner. What is it that we are doing wrong because my husband is getting fed up with them and i do not want him to leave them in a shelter?”
I asked her for a little more info about where they slept, how much freedom they had in the house, what the walking/exercise regime is and I got the following extra information
“We take them out in the mornings,afternoon, and evening. They usually have half of the house when we are home. When they are alone i put them inside their gate. That’s also where they sleep at night,have their food,water, and their potty spot”
By the looks of things, Maria is doing everything she should here, so I will have to offer a couple of different suggestions to try out. more…
Patty posted a follow up question about het malti-poo:
“Thank you for the advice on getting my malti-poo to eat. It has helped and today she ate almost all of her breakfast! I have one other question, When you take the puppy outside to go potty on her normal routine, I say “Go potty”. She will pee and then just walk around, try to play with leaves, etc. How long do you wait for her to go Poo? I repeat over and over again “Go poopoo” sometimes if she has to go right away it’s simultaneously, other times I can sit there for 20 minutes and nothing. So now I’ve missed the opportunity to tell her what a good girl she is for peeing, because I’ve waited so long for her to poo! I can’t find an answer that addresses this specific issue. I hate for her not to know how proud I am that she went pee the first time. I bring her back to the crate afterwards and then I have to go to work. So if she really does have to go???????????
I look forward to your answer.
Patty” more…
Lots of readers seem to have similar problems with house training their dogs, most of which I have dealt with in previous posts and in my Squidoo lenses. Here are a couple of questions posted recently:
“i have a 4 months old golden..got it one week ago..tried to train her by confining her to the kitchen..and placed newspaper with doggie scent sprayed on it..but didnt work.. more…
Patty has recently got a puppy and asked this question:
“I have a 9 week old maltese/poodle mix who is very smart and is holding her bladder all night as long as she’s in her crate. My problem is getting her to eat! she is sweet and loves to be held and cuddled. My husband and I work all day so we have a kennel outside with a crate inside for her to nap in and I leave her a dish full of food and water. However when we get home her food has hardly been touched. After snuggling her for awhile after I get home, if I put some food in my hand she will nibble alittle. But thats it! we have tried different brands-even cat food. she is very healthy and active and drinks alot of water. When I make supper she smells the people food and I know she would eat that in a heart beat, but I told my husband no we weren’t going to start that! Do you have any tricks or suggestions? I worry that she will get sick eventually. Do small dogs (2or3 lbs) only eat a tablespoon at a time?” more…
Marcia asked for help about her 6 month old Labrador:
“We think our 6 mos old lab is having separation anxiety. Every morning when it is time for the last person to leave the house we go outside with the dog to walk around so that she can take one last “pee” break. She will not go to bathroom (just sniffs around) and as soon as we get back in the house she will either run away from us and immediately urinate on the floor (or the couch as it was this a.m.) or she will wet in her kennel as soon as we put her in. On weekends or other times when someone is home, she does not do this. Help please! Thanks.” more…
Angie posed this question:
“I have a 4 year old chihuahua mix that weighs about 25 lbs., is it possible that she cannot hold her urine or bowel movements the entire day being a small dog? The problem is that we take her out in the morning and she won’t do anything because it seems like she’s always more worried about what the squirrels are doing and then she ends up going in the house, this even happens at night, she does go outside sometimes and is usually good on the weekends when we’re home with her but during the work week she goes back to going on the piddle pads in the house. My Boyfriend refuses to use a newspaper on her but then we rarely catch her in the act either. I am also 7 months pregnant and was wondering if she can sense this and that might be making her make a mess as well. I don’t want her doing this when the baby is here so I could really use some help in the matter. Thanks!” more…
Kristina emailed for advice regarding her 4 year old Siberian Husky, who has recently started messing in the house after previously being very good at staying clean indoors. The vet is going to test for any problems. The dog is walked once a day and occasionally tethered in the garden for short periods. The yard where she is tethered is not currently fenced in, but the family use an ‘invisible fence’. One of the main problems is that she seems to ‘hold it in’ when outside then pee when she gets in, often near the cat litter box. Here are my suggestions: more…
One of my newsletter subscribers emailed asking for help with his Shi Tzu who has a small behavioral problem:
“HI, I need your help I have a small ShiTuz love her to death. My problem I am having with her is she runs to anyone who comes and start biting their feet as well of mine when I come home.
I tried spanking her but she still does this, I am afraid she will make someone trip & fall since I’m elderly & so are of lot of my friends.
Please tell me & help me brake her of this habit looking forward to help. Homer” more…
Kathy has just gor two new puppies and is experiencing difficulties:
“We just got two 7 week old puppies – on is a Shih-Tzu and the other a Yorkie. I am having a hard time crate training them. We are putting them each in a “kennel taxi” at night with a towel, a toy and a wind up clock. The Yorkie doesnt make much noise but the Shih-Tzu will whimper off and on during the night. I check each of them atleast twice each night and they both poop in their crates. I know they are puppies, but what can i do to help them understand they cant sleep in their poop? We will be having to leave them alone during the day and dont want them to be sitting in their poop all day. We also put their crates out in the day time for them to get use to them, but they would just go inside and poop. Are we using the right kind of crate? HELP!!!!” more…
Craig is having trouble with his English Cocker Spaniel puppy:
“We Have a 51/2 month old english cocker. She does well in here crate at night and during the day. But a lot of times when we go away even for a couple of hours she makes a big mess in her cage. Any suggestions”
You may find the help you need in these earlier posts: Dachshund Soiling Crate, Toilet Training Cocker Spaniel and Labrador Peeing in Crate
It seems from what you have said that she is OK when you are at home but not when she is home alone. You could try making a recording of you and your family going about their daily business and leave it playing quietly when you are not there, or leave the radio on. Another factor is that there should be no fuss when leaving or returning, as this will increase any anxiety your dog is feeling.
