Anyone have good ideas on how to potty train a puppy?

Question

We have a new puppy at my house. She is a teacup chihuahua.
We are working on potty training, but it does not seem to be going as well as I think it should.

Answer 1

Well, since the "teacup" puppies are bred to be smaller than standard, they are considered to be poor quality dogs. Many are produced by over-breeding and in-breeding, as well as breeding runts to runts, thus producing puppies that have the potential for serious health issues. (You may not see then now, but they may show as the dog gets older.)

If you are having problems with potty training, take the puppy to the vet and make sure that there is no physical problem for the issues. I hope for the puppies sake, that she is just a slow learner, and does not have one of the major health issues that this type of poor breeding causes.

Answer 2

It is important to be consistant for the puppy. After the pup eats or drinks take to the potty area within 5 minutes. If you watch the pup you will notice it looking around, it needs to go. Take to the potty area.
If there has been an accident on a carpet, clean it with a water/bleach solution. The puppy will smell the urine and will continue to go there because it smells urine.
If you can crate train it is so much easier, a dog will not go where it sleeps.

Answer 3

First of all, there is no such thing as a teacup chihuahua. Chihuahuas are suppose to be the smallest breed in the world; for the show ring they have to be under 6 pounds but there is no minimum weight requirement (mine for instance are 3 and 3/4 lbs and 5 lbs).

That being said, housebreaking any dog takes lots of time. Chihuahuas are as a rule very smart and easy to housebreak, but as with most puppies they get busy and forget until the moment they have to go. Bring her out every couple of hours to the same spot, when she does urinate/defecate praise her; make it seem like the most incredible thing in the world. Secondly, do not give her free access to the entire house. Start by giving her access to one room or part of a room. As she gets better about going outside, expand the area. Anytime she messes up, decrease the amount of area she gets.

Do not scold her for going in the house unless you catch her in the act. If you catch her in the act, tell her no and bring her outside. As soon as she goes outside, praise her like crazy. If you scold her but did not catch her in the act, it has no meaning. She will not make the association between scolding and defecating/urinating outside.

Thirdly, do not leave her loose and unattended. As with small children, she can get into trouble or go in the house if you are not supervising her. When you are gone either crate her or contain her in a smallish area- you can expand the area when she's an adult or potty-trained.

Lastly, my are both paper trained and housebroken thus do not have to go outside in below 0 weather- it also makes them easy to travel with. Some people I've known have litter box trained their chihuahua. But keep in mind, potty training take time and consistancy. It is not an overnight process.

Answer 4

Hang a small bell from the doorknob leading outside, the bell should be at nose level for the dog. Keep a close eye on the dog, when it starts to go in the house, yell and scold the dog. Then take the dog to the door, ring the bell with the dog's nose and praise, then take it outside. When it goes, praise some more. Keep this up. If the dog gets curious and hits the bell, immediately put it outside. Soon the dog will associate ringing the bell with being let outside. And the dog will learn that going inside results in a scolding. You'll be surprised, in no time the dog will be ringing the bell to go out and do its business. And soon after that, you can take away the bell and the dog will simply bark and whimper at the door when it has to go.

Answer 5

Remember that puppies don't have conscious control of their bowels or bladder until they're about 4 months old... so very young pups will have accidents even while being trained.

Like babies, puppies do best on a regular schedule. Take your puppy outside frequently, at least every two hours, and immediately after she wakes up from a nap, after playing and after eating.

Praise your puppy lavishly every time she eliminates outdoors. You can even give her a treat. You must praise her and give her a treat immediately after she's finished eliminating, not after she comes back inside the house. This step is vital, because rewarding your dog for eliminating outdoors is the only way she'll know that's what you want her to do.

Choose a location not too far from the door to be the bathroom spot. Always take your puppy, on a leash, directly to the bathroom spot. Take her for a walk or play with her only after she has eliminated. If you clean up an accident in the house, take the soiled rags or paper towels and leave them in the bathroom spot. The smell will help your puppy recognize the area as the place she is supposed to eliminate. While your puppy is eliminating, use a word or phrase, like "go potty," or “potty outside”, that you can eventually use before she eliminates to remind her of what she's supposed to be doing.

If possible, put your puppy on a regular feeding schedule. Feeding your puppy at the same times each day will make it more likely that she'll eliminate at consistent times as well. This makes housetraining easier for both of you.

Don't give your puppy an opportunity to soil in the house. She should be watched at all times when she is indoors. Watch for signs that she needs to eliminate, like sniffing around or circling. When you see these signs, immediately take her outside, on a leash, to her bathroom spot. If she eliminates, praise her lavishly and reward her with a treat.

Don't punish your puppy for eliminating in the house. If you find a soiled area, it's too late to administer a correction. Do nothing but clean it up. Rubbing your puppy's nose in it, taking her to the spot and scolding her, or any other punishment or discipline, will only make her afraid of you or afraid to eliminate in your presence. Animals don't understand punishment after the fact, even if it's only seconds later. Punishment will do more harm than good.

Cleaning the soiled area is very important because puppies are highly motivated to continue soiling in areas that smell like urine or feces. Use a product like “Nature’s Miracle” (available in most large pet stores) to help clean up and eliminate the odor.

Don't use wee-wee pads; they teach the dog to potty in the house; you want the dog to learn to go potty OUTSIDE.

Answer 6

The best way that we trained our dog it only took a less than a week but if you take the puppy out every hour so they know that they have to go to the bathroom

Answer 7

you don't need to buy pads, its a waste of money, use good old newspapers, once the puppy pees on it in one area that you choose she will keep going back. If you have a cage use that until she is big enough to hold it more than 2 hours, which depends on the age, you can figure 2 months old can hold it for 2 hours, small dogs, small bladder. Do not give her water before bed, and make sure you take her out before you put her in for the night, if at all possible keep her near you at night, she will cry to get out, dogs don't like to relieve themselves where they sleep. You don't have to give her a treat when she pees, telling her she is a good dog its enough for her, with small dogs it easy for them to get overweight with treats. You can also use any word you want when she pees, she will catch on to it in 2-3 weeks, and then you can get her to go on command with the trigger word, yes it works!

Answer 8

There are TONS of books on dog training. Go to your local library and look it up. Puppy Preschool helped me (it's a book). Good luck!!

Answer 9

well it depends if u want to train them inside or outside. for inside u should buy the pads that u could just lay down and sooner or later it will train itself to go on the pad after u put it down and put the dog ther to let it smell

Answer 10

You could get puppy pads a pee stick and you have to be consitant on taking the dog out. You should write down what time you take your dog out one day at take the dog out at the same time the next day.