A couple suggestions. First, regarding potty training in general, you might check out my file, housebreaking.txt, in the files section of the group's homepage. It may contain some tips you can use. I strongly, strongly suggest positive reinforcement ONLY.
Second, you might try *washable* potty pads instead of disposables. They're more work, but your baby can't tear them up nearly so easily. Third, it sounds to me like Eddie is getting pretty darned bored. I don't know the size of your kennel, how long he's being left alone, etc., but a chihuahua, particularly a puppy, confined to a small space for hours on end IS going to get bored, restless and probably very destructive. If I were you, I'd strongly consider using baby gates to confine him to a larger space, perhaps a tile-floored kitchen. Stock the space with *plenty* of his favorite toys, and leave a TV or radio on. Check out the Kong toys that have a cavity in the middle where treats, peanut butter, etc. can be used as a filler to keep him entertained for a while. What you really need is someone to check in on him at least once during the day, change his pee pads and play with him for a while. If you start crating him for so long every day, he'll start eliminating in his crate, having no choice in the matter, and that will badly undermine his pee pad training -- plus, you'll have to clean the waste out of his bedding and, probably, off of HIM instead of the floor. The other thing that concerns me is the poop tracking. It sounds to me like his poop must be pretty soft, if he can track it around. Pardon the question, but is Eddie having diarrhea or rather liquid-y poops? They should be solid and decently firm, and therefore very difficult to "track" around. If you feed Eddie a very, very high-quality dry food, such as Innova EVO, he'll poop less frequently and they'll be more solid and smaller. Cheaper foods contain grains as a filler. Chihuahuas digest grains very poorly, and grain-filled foods will cause much more frequent, much softer stools. If a chihuahua's stools aren't firm enough, the anal glands are not expressed when the chihuahua eliminates. The anal glands can become blocked and impacted, requiring a vet or groomer to express them. So there's a few good reasons right there to perhaps movie Eddie to a high-quality grain-free food. Anne ----- Original Message ----- From: Stefanie Brannan To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 11:09 AM Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] hlpe running out of ideas Hi Noelle. Maybe you could try just plain newspaper instead of the wee pads. My Chi, Cricket doesn't chew her wee pads, so I guess I am lucky in that aspect. Maybe Eddie would be less likely to tear up paper than wee pads. As far as stepping in the poop, I don't think there is much you can do about it since you aren't home to clean it up before he steps in it. Maybe he will grow out of stepping in his poop as he gets older. Or, maybe you could expand his space so he has more room. For instance, put a baby gate up in the kitchen so he has the whole kitchen. And put the wee pads or paper on one side and his toys, bed and food/water dishes on the other. I guess this would depend on the size/shape of your kitchen, but that is what I would try. I, personally, wouldn't crate him for a full work day unless you hire a pet sitter to come during the day while you're gone. You should never crate a dog for more than 4 hours at a time. Stef noellebachand <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Eddie is about 5 months now and is doing well on his wee wee pads. i work full time during the day so when i got him i decided not to crate him. i got him a nice kennel and put his wee wee pads in, blanket, bone. He is fine when he is in it, but he will poop and then walk in it and get it all over the palce or shred them to pieces. i just dont understand. I am tired of cleaning it and i cant yell at him because i have no idea what time of the day it happened and plus he is sooo cute when i get home from work. Should i start crating him??? What is my next step? I have tried the litter box with litter, litter box with wee wee pads. i have even taped them to the ground. He doesnt care he goes and then walks in it and i have to clean it when i get home. We say he likes to do the cha cha. Any tips would be so great. thanks Noelle ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.
