It worked for Emiliano because he was litter pan trained first, and most importantly you kept a rigid schedule, and was tuned into his body language so you knew when he had to go and caught him in time to show him where to go The confusion can come from when people during the course of a day, make them go in the box and then latter that day they go outside. Training from my experiences goes a lot quicker if for the first couple of weeks, if a dog is trained just to use the litter pan first and then outside, or vice versa, but mixing the two within the same day and at different times of day and night can confuse them.
Training also has a lot to do with your life style as well. People that live in an apartment, can't just open the back door and let them out into a yard that fast. By the time they put their coat on and harness the puppy, and walk down stairs and then into the street, it's to late. Puppies aren't fully inoculated when we first get them, and walking them on a public street isn't suggested. So the best thing for that life style is to litter pan during the inoculation period and then walk them later. Of course the age of the dog has a lot to do with training as well, and whether you get the dog during the summer months or snowy winter months. There are a lot of variables with housebreaking and a person has to decide which course of action to take first according to there lifestyle, and the age of the dog, and climate before they even try to start the training procedure. Besides all of that, we know that Emiliano is one of those smart chis and gets things right away. Some chis are just plain stubborn. LOL! -------Original Message------- From: [email protected] Date: 9/2/2012 4:57:37 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Re: New adoptive chi parent :) [1 Attachment] [Attachment(s) from [email protected] included below] At 8 weeks, I trained Emiliano to use a litter box. I lined the box with newspaper onto which I had sopped some of his urine. I had him in his x pen and put the litter box in there, when he acted as if he were looking for a place to go, I put him in the liter box. The very next time he had to go, he walked up to the box, sniffed around and walked into the box by himself. On the days when I was not at work, I did take him outside, upon waking up, after eating, in between time, and before he went to bed. Some people think this is confusing to a dog but it didn't seem to be to Emiliano. When I wasn't at home or when it was pouring rain, he used the litter box. All other times, he went outside, did his business, was praised and given a treat. After he was older and given the run of the den (his part of the house), I put the litter box close to the back door. Emiliano will be 4 yrs old in November and mostly waits to go outside but once in a while, if I am gone a long time, I do come home to a litter box that's been used. Gloria
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