Your welcome, and am glad if the info helps others.
Peggy & The Girls
-------Original Message-------
From: jules
Date: 4/2/2012 3:34:24 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Chihuahuas] Re: Housebreaking A Dog! Ann
Thank you. Very interesting and excellent advice
Jules xx
--- In [email protected], Peggy & The Girls <phrpg5@...> wrote:
>
> Ann,
> A common mistake that a lot of people make in trying to housebreak a small
> dog is to put everything in the crate.....food, water, bed, toys and wee
> pads or newspaper. A dog in the wild would make his den, and eat, and
sleep
> in it. They would never poop and pee in the den. They go a distant from
the
> den because they like a clean den and going a distant from the den keeps
the
> smell away from predators so they can't be found. We humans wouldn't want
a
> toilet bowl next to our bed, and dogs are the same way.
>
> By putting papers in the same area that a dog sleeps we are going against
> the dogs natural instinct and it is very confusing for them. Unless your
> dogs area is a good 6or 7 feet long, you are never going to succeed in
> having a perfectly housebroken dog without any accidents, unless they are
> sick. A dog should be able to hold it in for 8+ hours a day if it has to.
> That is basically the same length of time at night when they sleep. That's
> not to say that I feel it is okay to make a dog hold it in that long all
day
> but if a dog is perfectly housebroken, it will hold it for that long if an
> emergency ever arose and you couldn't get home on time. When I had an
> emergency and the ambulance came, poor Princess had to hold it in for
almost
> 10 hours before my sister could go to my house and take care of her. I was
> so worried about her, but she did it and I have had other dogs through the
> years that have done the same thing. That is a real housebroken dog. Not a
> dog that is most of the time housebroken, but has so called accidents.
> Accident dogs are not housebroken dogs, they will do again and again again
> through the years.
>
> It sounds like since they were kept mostly in the bathroom with bed, food,
> and papers, they had no choice but to go on the papers. That is not the
same
> as being housebroken when they have freedom. They are confused, and it
> sounds like you will need to start from scratch and housebreak them the
same
> way you would as if they were puppies.
>
> You must have a perfect schedule to start. Dogs must be kept in the crate
> all the time with only their bed, toys and water. Feeding must be on a
> schedule, no free feeding, and feed only in the crate. Select a permanent
> area that you want to use for doing their business. My personal choice is
> the bathroom. Buy a large tray, and put the paper on that, it will save a
> lot of extra cleaning on the floor, and the dogs will identify with the
tray
> as their place. If you can't use the bathroom as there place, then block
in
> a small area where the papers are, but far from the crate area.
>
> Considering they are two years old, if they should pee anywhere in the
house
> after they have already gone on the papers, then they are just marking
> territory and the scent is not out of the carpet or place where they have
> peed before. That scent has to be removed, or it will repeatedly draw them
> to that spot. The dog should be shown the spot and reprimanded and then
put
> on the paper and told in a calm voice that the paper is good, wait a few
> minutes and then put him back into the crate for awhile. Personally, I don
t
> believe the old myth that a dog forgets and doesn't understand at a later
> time that it did wrong. They have the brains to remember basic word
commands
> and actions that go with them, then they also have the brains to
understand
> and remember a reprimand and action that goes with that too.
>
> The whole idea of housebreaking is to keep a good schedule during the
> training period, that includes feeding time and leash walking to the paper
> time, and free time, and crate time. A 2yr old should only have to pee 4x
a
> day, and poop 1-2x per day. They should be leashed and walked to the paper
> in the morning 2x, once when waking and then after breakfast, then once in
> the afternoon, then after dinner and before you go to bed. If the dog does
> his business at any one of those times then he is allowed to be free, as
> long as you can watch them, If not, then crate them. If they don't do
their
> business when you leash walk them to the paper then back to the crate and
> try 15 minutes later, and repeat doing that until they go when you want
them
> to go.
>
> Using a leash to walk them during the training period to the paper, is the
> same principle as if you were walking them outdoors, plus you will be able
> to catch them if they should suddenly stop and try going on the floor.
Once
> they are housebroken, you won't need the leash. A lot of dogs will tell
you
> when they have to go on the paper, much in the same way a dog tells you
when
> it wants to go outside to do his business, and then you just have to have
> him follow you to the papers. A gate in the doorway, can save you time
from
> standing there and waiting, once they are housebroken. Others learn just
to
> walk to the papers on their own. Gigi does both, sometimes she comes to me
> and I know she has to go, so I will have her follow me to the bathroom
where
> her tray is and close the gate. Other times she just walks in there on her
> own, but when she does that she always comes back to me all excited like '
> see mommy, I am a good girl!'' and wanting a treat. You need to get clued
> into their body language when they 'talk' to you. Never use their names
when
> training a dog, unless it is for the 'come' command. Be in control of your
> voice and only use one word to associate it to a action. When I trained
Gigi
> to go on the pad, I used the word 'paper' and 'good girl'. When I trained
> Princess to go outside, I used the word 'out' and 'good girl' It helps to
> speed thing up by giving a treat when they do their business. Once
> housebroken you can always stop the treats if you want to.
>
> If you stick to a good schedule and keep them in a crate at night and when
> ever you can't watch them, and the only time that they are allowed out of
> the crate is after they do their business then they should be trained
within
> 2-4 weeks for dogs their ages. Once completly trained then they won't need
> to be crated. Princess is free all the time, she is never crated. Gigi was
> perfectly housebroken until she started having seizures, it did something
to
> her brain and she forgets sometimes. So when I go out she has to be crated
> Most nights she is free as long as she pees before I go to bed. If she
doesn
> t pee before I go to bed then she is crated. It's not her fault and you
can
> see that she has some minor brain damage from the seizures that she had.
> Neither of them have ever gone into the garbage or chewed things that they
> aren't suppose too. They were trained for all of the that during the first
> couple of months that I got them, so in my book there is no reason to ever
> have to crate any dog, regardless of their size unless the owner never
> trained them correctly to begin with.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
> From: annmarshall4429
> Date: 3/31/2012 5:45:31 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [Chihuahuas] Really Need Potty Advice!
>
>
> Situation: I adopted two Chi's about two weeks ago, each is 2 years old.
One
> male, one female. Neutered, spayed. They are not siblings but very bonded.
> Their wonderful rescue mom was very good to them, but she had a lot of
dogs
> to care for. They were either in a group of Chi's outside or they were in
> the extra bathroom. In the bathroom were their beds and newspapers. She
says
> and I believe her, that they are paper-trained.
>
> They currently have the run of the house, although they tend to stay
mostly
> in the extra bedroom, where their little 36x36 inch nighttime enclosure is
> The enclosure is only big enough for their bed (they sleep together), a
> water dish and papers.
>
> They do not use the papers, choosing to use the bedroom carpet. I have
tried
> putting their pee on the papers to encourage them, etc, but nothing works.
I
> know that each time they use the carpet it is a reinforcing experience to
> them. They do go outside in the morning to pee, and I try to take them
> outside as often as I can. They will nap in their enclosure, wake up, and
as
> soon as they are let out (whenever that may be) pee on the carpet. Also,
the
> female is a poopeater. All advice would be appreciated! Ann
>
