Hi Karen, First, I have to say it is very difficult to house break a dog just during evening hours. Dogs are not nocturnal animals, so for working people, and keeping a dog in a crate almost 10 hours a day, can take twice as long, as oppose to a person that is home all day,especially with the toys breeds. The feeding schedule is very important. I worked full time once too, when I had a couple of malteses that I had to housebreak during the morning and evening hours.
The other important thing is if she is going on the same spot then that is because the smell is still there and it is drawing her to it. You will need to get a good urine remover, and maybe for a couple of days try to fence in or cover that spot when she is out of her cage. I can understand you not wanting to crate her at night, but to be honest, it is going to be the only way to re-train her. Once she is re-trained, then she should be able to be free again. Keep her on a rigid schedule, don't wait for her to tell you when she has to go, that will come naturally after she is housebroken. In the morning walk her and then feed her (no free feeding) and then half an hour later walk her again. One trick that I learned when I was working and a dog was stubborn, was to work with their instinct. A crate is a den to a dog so they should be fed and have water in a crate, but for a stubborn dog, you can keep moving the food dish a little at a time all around the room where the crate is. You are trying to get her see that the entire room is her den, and dogs don't like to mess in their den. Start by feeding in the crate for a couple of days, then move the dish outside the crate. Each day move the dish further away from the crate, until you have covered the entire room and the dish is in front of her cage again. Finally, put the dish on that spot where she has been peeing, but only do that after you have the smell out of the carpet, and use that spot for her feeding area for several days, then you can put her dish back in the crate. When you come home at night, walk her immediately, then feed and again, half an hour later walk her again. She must do her business each time you walk her, or put her in the crate, and try again 15 minutes later. After she has had about 2 hours of free time, walk her again, if she goes, let her be free, otherwise crate her and try again 15 minutes later. Now about half an hour before you want to go to bed, walk her again, bring her in and give her some free time and then crate her for the night. If you get her to do her business 2 times in the morning and 4 times at night, in about a week you will have her peeing on a schedule, then you can stop the walk, right after she eats, and only have to walk her 3x when you come home. Keep that schedule for another two weeks. Now that she is finally peeing on schedule, she should be housebroken so you can leave her free at night. But don't wait for her to tell you when she has to go, stick to the schedule for an entire month, and then most dogs will tell you and usually it around the same time that you originally set up the schedule. You are training her built in clock when to pee and poop. As far as the lab goes that is still a chewer, you should know that being confined to a crate for long extended hours is very hard on large dogs bones and he is a perfect candidate for arthritis and rheumatism before his old age sets in, so if there is any way that you can block them in a larger area so that they can move around doing the day, I would do that. Those loveable labs are known for being avid chewers for the first couple of years. When he is free and you are home, and you catch him chewing something that he is not suppose to, take the object away from him and reprimand him, but immediately replace it with a toy or a chew and tell him he is a good boy. If he doesn t get it after 6x of showing him that, then when you replace the chewed object with his toy, lure him into the crate, tell him he is a good boy, and keep him there for half and hour and then release him, and again tell him he is a good boy, Do that a few times, and they usually learn to tell the difference between what is acceptable to chew and what isn't. Lots of luck! Peggy & The Girls -------Original Message------- From: april6830 Date: 4/8/2012 7:44:20 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Chihuahuas] Re: Mocha Prggy, I also have a border collie and a lab mix, one female, one male. Mocha is also female. The two big dogs are very good about letting us know when they need to go out at night. We make Mocha go out at this time also. The two big dogs will usually need to go out once during the night. We crate them during the day because the youngest, the lab mix, still likes to chew. We don't use pads in the crates they just hold it. --- In [email protected], Peggy & The Girls <phrpg5@...> wrote: > > What type breeds, sexes, and how many other other dogs do you have? Does > Mocha and the other dogs have pads in there crates, or do they all > hold it in until you come home? Do any of the other dogs potty at night? If > the other dogs hold it in all night, then why do they have to be crated > during the day? > > I have reasons for asking this, so I can determine the best way to help you. > > Peggy & The Girls > > > > > -------Original Message------- > > From: april6830 > Date: 4/6/2012 8:01:16 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Chihuahuas] Mocha > > > Hello, > > My name is Karen and I have a 6 yr old chihuahua named Mocha who refuses to > be completely potty trained. I use the word completely because she is mostly > potty trained, but at night rather than trying to get our attention she will > just do her business on the carpet. We have had her since birth and have > tried to no avail to break her of this but nothing seems to work. We've even > consulted with a profressional trainer who basically was no help. I have > raised several different kinds of dogs over the years and have never had > this problem. I'm sure the obvious solution is to crate her at night but my > husband and I both work and our dogs spend the majority of the day in their > crates so we like for them to have their freedom when we are home. She is my > first Chi so any advice or suggestions will be welcomed. >
