Where should I keep my dogs!?

Question

I have two chihuahuas, one is a year or so old, the other is about seven years old; both males.

I used to let them in the house while everyone was gone, but they pee on everything, so we have been keeping them in a little cage by the dog door so they can be inside when it's too hot or too cold, and also be able to go out back and relieve themselves. The problem with the cage is, it STINKS, it takes hours to clean, and it looks incredibly ghetto behind our sofa. My Dad usually locks them in the cage so they can't go outdoors and bark at night, so they always pee and crap back there making it discusting. I'm definitly not keeping this cage idea around. Besides, it seems cruel to keep the poor mutts back there.

Is there a way of training them not to pee indoors?
Or should we just keep them outside when everyone is at work and asleep, and ditch the cage?

It takes so long to clean because they pee on the back of the sofa, it gets on the carpet, on the back door, the blinds, their bed, the food gets knocked over, they shed hair all over their bed and blanket. So, in order to have it nice and clean you have to scrub the stains out of the carpet, the back of the sofa, clean the dry piss off the windows and blinds, vacuum up dog hair and spilled dog food.... it takes longer than a routine cage cleaning should.

They know to pee outside, but they like to mark territory in the house.. I was pretty much asking how to discourage that...

By the way, I do know how old my dogs are. The youngest is a year and three months. The oldest is six years and eight months. When I refer to them as "mutts," I mean nothing by it. Just a different word I use for dogs.
I didn't expect such hostility for asking a simple question either..

Answer 1

if you have ha dthe dogs a while, it's time for you to start bathroom training them. do this by simply correcting them when they pee in the house. let them know you are mad but dont hit them because you wont get anything out of that. this will take time and patience but you have them for a reason. about keeping them in a cage, that is cruel. when you're not home leave them in the back yard or in a room in the house if it is raining. when you are there let them free play with them n get to know them so that when they do something you dont want them to do, they will know. i had the same problem when i got my dog but this wasnt such a problem since ive always had a nitche for training and understanding animals.
after a while my dog stood by the door when she wanted to pee.. it;s cute.
just be patient and persistent.
hope this helps.

Answer 2

Well it sounds like you already screwed yourself by not training them earlier. It is not cruel to keep a dog in a cage if that is the way to train them. What kind of cage is this that takes hours to clean? I can't imagine such a thing. Sounds pretty gross.

Answer 3

they might be pissing in the cage because its too big for them, a kennel should be just big enough for the dog to be able to turn around, any bigger and the dog will be able to piss on one side and sleep on the other. They are pretty small dogs so there digestive system works pretty fast. As for housetraining, thats on you, you have to have the time and energy to train a dog to piss outside.

Answer 4

Well if you have a dog door let them sleep in the house but go outside to go to the bathroom. And u dont seem very reasonsible calling your dogs "mutts" and you dont even know how old they are!! And wow ghetto??

Answer 5

They are able to be house trained. It will take more time and effort now than it would have if you had started at the beginning but it's possible. Google Housetraining. And chihuahuas aren't meant to be outside dogs.

Answer 6

with the dogs being that old there is not a very good chance of house training them. your best bet would probably be to ditch the cage. and throw em outside if your not gonna be there for awhile.

Answer 7

while you are trying to house train them you could use belly bands. they go around the dogs abdomen over the penis and that way if them dog does decide to urinate or mark, the belly band blocks the urine.

Answer 8

If the cage smells clean it. Use soap disinfectant and a water hose and CLEAN it.

Answer 9

You can get male diapers...

http://www.petdiapers.com/acc/malewraps/index.html