Rebecca, sorry you are still having a hard time with him. Princess peed and pooped in her crate when I first got her, all the time. So I knew it was her way of saying she hated being crated. I then loaded the bathroom floor with newspaper (she refused the wee pads too), gave her a bed, water and chew toys and gated her in while I was at work and at night. To my surprise she never went on the floor for 3 days and nights. I really wasn't trying to train her to use the pads or paper, I was trying to housebreak her to go outside, but in the beginning she was messing up the carpet all over the place, and that is why I resorted to crating, only to find out that she is not an inside dog. She will only go out side and will protest if crated. It seems that it only took 3 days and nights of gating her in the bathroom, after that she has never, ever gone in the house anymore. One time when I got sick and had to go to the hospital, my sister couldn't get to her until the next day. She held it in for 12 hours and as soon as my sister leashed her and opened the door, she immediately peed on the path in front of her. That is a true, 100% housebroken dog. She is still like that years later. She considers the whole house her den and will not mess in it. By the way, I did not feed her in the crate, or in the bathroom, she was fed in the living where she originally was peeing. I did that with Gigi to and I think it helps their natural instinct to realize this is my den and I don't want to mess in it.
I resorted to this method of gating Gigi in the bathroom too and had the same results as to compared to crate training her in the beginning. She was perfect for almost 3 months until she started to have seizures, then it was retraining her all over again. That was last year. Now, if she doesn't go on the paper, which she seems to prefer over wee pads, before I go to bed, then she is crated. This time the crate worked, as she really likes to sleep in the bedroom with me. She has done a lot better, even when I go out, I will tell her 'no floor' and she seems to understand that, as she hasn't had an accident in months. She does ask me to put her in the bathroom sometimes much like a dog that ask to go outside. Other times she walks into bathroom on her own. I have a plastic tray on the floor and the newspaper is on top of that. It seems to be working. So, all I can say is that it sounds like he is an outside dog, and resents crating and wee pads. If he is walked as soon as you get up, then fed, wait 30min, then walked again, until he pees and poops, then he should be okay until you come home. Try blocking him in a larger area, using newspaper and a bed and a small amount of water. Walk him as soon as you get home, then feed, wait 30 min, walk again, and then walk two more times, the last walk should be just before you turn the lights out. Don't open the door to let him go, put him on a leash all the time and walk him. He needs to have his built in clock set to only peeing and pooping at certain times. Keeping a rigid schedule for a week should do the trick, then test him out, by enlarging his area space. If he doesn't go on the papers until you come home then he probably won't do it at night either. Also consider that they are bored when you are at work, so a good 30 minute walk at night stimulates them and relieves that boredom feeling that they felt all day. It is also is a good exercise for them and helps to give them a good nights rest where they don't want to get up and pee, until the morning. Hope these ideas work for you. Peggy -------Original Message------- From: Rebecca bate Date: 7/20/2012 11:41:47 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Some help pretty please!!!! In the house while he's out running about he will ask to go out. He has a few accidents. It's in the crate at night!! He either pees or poos in it every night! Or while we are out and he is in it.. That's for the help guys! Rebecca Bate Sent from my iPad On Jul 20, 2012, at 9:02 AM, Pam Dean <[email protected]> wrote: Yikes. Pees and poops in his crate too?? I know you are praising and treating him like crazy if he gets it right..How much does he go outside?? How often does he go inside?? as far as frequency?? The only other thing I can think of is belly bands and leash training. Both a pain but desperate measures. Is he restricted to his pen and crate all the time?? If not, leash him and keep him with you and take him out frequently. Some dogs just dont take to wee pads..my rescue Tino does not like them but he has used them once in a while cause he sees the others do it.. But he will ask to go out and I am home to let them out a lot. If they haven't learned yet to recognize their potty signals and won't use a wee pad, it can be tougher. Frustrating to the max I know. From: Rebecca bate <[email protected]> To: Chi <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 12:53 AM Subject: [Chihuahuas] Some help pretty please!!!! Diego still isn't fully house broke, I am losing my mind. I've never had a dog I couldn't house break! Please guide me He is crated, pees and poops in it. So I tried small room with puppy pads, tears them up and drags them to his bed. Litterbox is only about 10% successful...he usually just pees on the floor. Please help! I know he's delayed because of the knee surgery, but I think it's time he got it. Rebecca Bate Sent from my iPad =
