What is the best method to use when potty training a chihuahua?

Question

I can't seem to potty train my three month old chihuahua. I have tried spanking, scolding, putting him outside, but he doesn't seem to get it. Does anyone have the answer?

Answer 1

Good lord....I do hope you are kidding when you say spanking and scolding?

Those type of 'nethods' are extremely 'old school' and are very, very discouraged now by vets and breeders alike.

It is NOT the way to go....not only does it confuse and frighten the poor dog, but they will not go to the toilet infront of you anymore. They will also hesitate in general when going to the toilet, as they are afraid.

There are many other, far 'better' methods of toilet training your chihuahua.
Many have been mentioned.

Personally, I watched where my chihuahua would go to the toilet for about the 1st week when we had her.
There were a few places where she would go back to when she needed to pee or poop.
I placed about 2 sheets of newspaper in these areas, and she went back to only these places, all on her own, and went to the toilet there.
Slowly, I removed some of the newspaper, until the only bit left was in the laundry in this 'around the corner' place.
She started going to only that one place for the toilet.
ive since replaced the newspaper with a small try, which has absorbant (both texture and SMELL) litter inside it.
So all I do is take out the tray at the end of each day, lift up the top layer which contains the litter and pee and poop, rinse it off and put on another small layer of litter.
Takes about 2 mins....and there is no mess or smell at all.

But having said that, I know I have been incredibly lucky as many people struggle.
I suppose it really comes down to your own individual dog and what they best repsond to.

For interest purposes....
I got my little chihuahua when she was approx 8 weeks old.
It took about 2 1/2 weeks for her to become used to the laundry space for toileting.
She is now about 16 weeks old.

Answer 2

I just asked this question a couple of hours ago because I am trying to potty train my chihuahua too. The best answer I got so far was to crate of course. The thing with my puppy though is that he is out of his crate for most of the day and then will go in the house when he wants. Then someone mentioned to put him back in his crate when your too busy to watch him. I didn't really think of that because I'm home, why crate him. It makes sense though. I'm not sure what your situation is, but I think we are giving him too much freedom too fast. He needs to earn it by doing good, and we just haven't been doing that.

Answer 3

I have a chorkie. I've only had him for about 2 months and he's 3 months now and he's potty trained! He was the worst dog in the beginning...biting me all of the time, eating carpet, eating the walls, but now he's a sweetie. Anyways, I don't work right now so I had all the time in the world to potty train him. I tried putting him in the kitchen with a puppy gate because it's easy to clean if he had accidents, but he knew how to climb the gate and got out. I tried crate training him, but he knew how to open the crate, so I had to buy a lock for it. The crate training thing didn't work for me because I swear I would be gone for 1 hour ...longest was 4 hours and he would still be crying and he would be soaking in his saliva. He has/had extreme separation anxiety but he stops barking now that he's potty trained and allowed to roam the house while I'm gone, so I guess he hates crates? The best method I found to training him was the fact that I was home all day, so I took him out every hour..sometimes twice in an hour if he drank a lot of water (because he had several accidents in which he'd peed outside and 30 minutes later he'd peed inside the house too) I would take him out every 3 hours for poo. And praise him like crazy when he peed or poo'd outside. I would also give him a treat for the poo. I caught him several times doing it inside, so I would tell him NO and ignore him and he knew he had done something wrong. Now he goes and barks by the door to poo and for peeing, he sits in front of the door. And I can leave him alone for at least 4 hours w/no accidents. This was 2 straight months of taking him outside every hour every day! It was exhausting, but worth it.

Answer 4

The best way to train a puppy is using the crate method. When using this method you have to make the crate the puppy’s home and safe area. If you put a bed in the crate with a blanket he will learn to love it. If you are not using a crate now, he will probably cry when placed in there at first. Make sure you feed him in the crate and put plenty of toys in there and within a week he will love it. Take him out of the crate every 2-3 hours and take him immediately outside UNTIL he uses the bathroom. It may take time for himto figure it out but a dog will naturally not use the bathroom where they sleep so this is absolutely the best method. When you take him outside do NOT play with him. Wait till he goes then take him back inside. After about 5 minutes you can take him back outside to play but DON'T play with him immediately before or after going. He must know he is to go to the bathroom. Also when you take him out to go, use a command over and over until he goes like, "POTTY". He will quickly learn that when you say "potty" he is to go. Then he goes back into the crate until you take him out again. After about a week or so, he should be getting the idea of going outside. You also don't want to carry him to the door unless you intend to do that for the rest of his life. Walk him to the door so that he learns the door is where you go when you want to go "POTTY". It's really not difficult, just time consuming. All puppies take time and dedication in any learning. They will have accidents because they are babies but Chihuahuas are very smart dogs and your baby should learn quickly.

Answer 5

well none of those will work! negative reinforcement doesn't work for potty training. try litterbox training him. chihuahuas have a bladder the size of a walnut. set him up with a crate on one side and a safe potty spot on the other. make him sleep in his crate. take him out once or twice a night and put him on his potty spot. he's not old enough for proper bladder control yet. he'll be old enough in a few months to hold his bladder a lot longer.

Always praise him when he goes on his potty spot. If he misses or squats outside of it, say nothing and clean it up. or if you catch him in the act. before he is able to go, just take him calmly from where he was, and put him on his potty spot. if you praise him whenever you see him go on his potty spot, he'll understand.
use a command word like "go potty" or "hurry up" when he goes into his prepotty pattern.

i suggest using purina's second nature dog litter box. it's easier for small dogs with such small bladders.

Answer 6

Try crating him. Use a crate that is large enough so he has room to turn around, sleep, etc but not so large that it becomes irrelevant. Feed him in the crate only at designated times - in the morning and at night for instance. (he needs fresh water all the time) Then put him outside immediately following his meals. You may want to 'observe' his potty habits for awhile so you get an idea of about how long it takes for him to 'go' after eating. Whenever you're not with him, put him in the crate. Crate him at night and when you are at work. It is not cruel so long as you use it as a tool and don't just leave him in there all the time. I crated both my dogs (and no joke, my cat too!) We haven't used the crate beyond potty training/establishing schedules but I understand that some animals always sleep in their crates - it becomes like a little cave for them. Good luck!

Answer 7

It's important to understand exactly what needs to be done and in what order to have your child fully potty trained. Check out this method http://pottytraining.toptips.org

Answer 8

my friend had a chihuahua and trained it to go in a litter box ! he said he used some scent you can get from the pet store to make them want to go, but also after the dog eats put it outside or in the box until it goes, praise it, etc. also he said you could use some of those wee-wee pads then gradually move them outside or in near then in the box then remove them and the dog will go then. good luck, chi's are great little dogs, if i didn't have to travel so much i would get one.

Answer 9

Take him out every hour and praise him when he goes. Dont spake him, but if he goes in the house, try to catch him when he is in the middle of the act, then pick him up, say NO or BAD BOY in an aggressive voice, then take him out. And take his water away at about 7 pm so he doesnt mess in the night.

Good luck

Answer 10

Understanding how to train your dog and how to correct bad behaviours is very important. That's why I suggest to follow a good training course. There are plenty of books and training material. One online course I recommend (I like it because it has hundreds of videos) is http://www.goobypls.com/r/rd.asp?gid=572

It helped me a lot.