Hello, Your message was very familiar to me. My male, Desi Lou, would pee anywhere he was...if he was playing he would be playing and peeing at the same time. I was so frustrated...constantly cleaning the carpet and scolding him and he would just look at me and tilt his head back and forth as if to say 'I did something wrong?' As I was cleaning up after him, and scolding him, thinking that I was teaching him 'no!' he was seeing that all as attention and these little ones are so darn happy if you give them attention...they think they are pleasing you. However, Desi would use the puppy pads sometimes. After several months, I put him outside and watched through the window until he did what he was supposed to do. It took 20 minutes the first time, and wasn't much quicker the next day. Finally after about a week of him having to be outside by himself, he learned. Is there a way that you can put the gate around the potty box and maybe something along the other sides...and just put her in that little area and wait and wait and watch. When she does potty in there give her tons of praise and a little 'cookie'. Do this several times a day...you should know her pattern of when she goes potty. Pretty soon she will have to go potty and run to the potty box to go so that she can get her cookie. Then, you need to give smaller cookies and then once in a while you just walk away without the cookie like you forgot. Unfortunately, Desi Lou has totally ruined my carpet (which is only in the bedrooms) so I am having to take the carpet out of the master bedroom and put tile in there. He is a male and he will mark sometimes if he is being ignored or if my female, Dolly Dee, makes him upset. So watching for those signs also would be a good thing. Good luck.
--- In [email protected], "skyforme1970" <skyforme1970@...> wrote: > > Hi, > > I have a nearly 2 year old spayed female chihuahua mix. She is only about 5 > lbs and very sweet. She came toddling up our driveway one rainy afternoon > when she was only about 3 months old. No one claimed her so we took her in > knowing nothing about chihuahuas. From what I heard from the neighbors, she > was a litter mate escapee and the people who had her never let her or the > other pups in the house, so they all stayed outside in the backyard. > > No matter what I do, I cannot seem to house train her. We had to lock her in > her kennel at night so she would not tear the house up as we slept. As a > result, she had gotten used to peeing and sometimes pooping in her bed since > (I assume) she could not hold it all night. This is without fail every single > day. She will pee anywhere she sleeps (her round cloth bed, her kennel bed > and the kid's beanbags). She also has no issue with peeing on tile or rugs or > carpet RIGHT in front of us all while innocently looking us in the eye. It's > like she has NO concept whatsoever that this displeases us greatly even tho > she has been scolded for it more times than I can count. > > It does not matter if we take her outside for potty right before bed or > withhold food and water after 3 pm. She has no problem letting us know when > her water or food bowl has gone dry or to alert us for her other wants and > needs. Just the potty thing. I kept thinking she'd grow out of it, but she > has not at nearly 2 years old. (born in Feb 2011) > > As a result, since she is so tiny (and smart, I think) I got the bright idea > to try and litter box train her. I've tried using kitty litter, then a pee > pad, then even cutting iceplant from outside and putting it into the box for > her to pee on since that is what she usually does on it when we take her out > for a potty break. > > I call the litter box her "pottybox" thinking it was best to give it a name > she might identify it with. She has used it a grand total of twice in the > last 6 weeks of trying to train her. When she has an accident, I take the > soiled towels and put them in her pottybox so she knows/smells/sees what it > is there for. I also tell her "go potty" like I do when she is outside. > > Recently we moved her to the laundry room at night and use a baby gate so she > can still see out into the house. I now leave her kennel bed open so she has > free access to the pottybox, but she still prefers to sleep in her own waste. > > She has no issue with jumping into the potty box, and will do so just by us > telling her to, but she will just sit down and look at me like "what do you > want me to do?" > > She is ruining our house and I've never been closer to giving up after two > years of this constant messing with no end in sight. I cannot keep her > outside as we live in rural area and she would not last an hour out there so > a house dog she must be. > > I am not a quitter, especially when it comes to animals, but this (and her > constant "glee peeing" even when seeing the SAME people over and over but > that is another story) is turning in to a real deal breaker. I have never had > such a high maintenance, and frankly such a PITA dog in my life, but we love > her very much. > > I'm sure this has come up a million times, but if anyone has some suggestions > that might help, I'd appreciate it. We are very low on money so buying yet > more "training aids" is not possible right now. Plus, I feel that I have > spent enough on all this and she has what she needs, except the message I am > trying to get across to her. Breaks my heart to think of giving her up, but > if we can't resolve this, I will have to re-home her to someone who > understands the breed better than I do. Thanks for any help you can give us > for this sweet little girl. > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
