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…
Tracy contacted me via my Squidoo housetraining lens:
“I have a seven month old Boxer and I can’t get her potty trained. She doest seem to care if she soils where she sleeps and she gives no signs of needing to go out. I take her out every time she wakes, plays or eats, sometimes she goes outside and then within a few minutes she goes in the house. I have a four year old great dane so i thought she’d learn from him, but she didn’t. I’m really at my witts end so if you have any ideas please let me know. Thank you “
Here is the assistance I was able to offer… more…
