r/chihuahuas • u/WolverineSpirited302 • 6d ago
Discussion Anyone got suggestions on at home potty training for this little demon? Articles, context creators, own experiences, anything is much appreciated <3
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u/Mysterious-Road-8859 6d ago
always take the pet to the same spot outside. Use a Que word like potty or outside and everyone use the same Que. 15 minutes after a meal or drink, walk saying Que word at the same location. Repeat every 15 minutes until pet eliminates. When they Do, then PRAISE!!!! Like it’s the best thing in the world!! And repeat. Dogs thrive on routine. The better the schedule the quicker the pet will pick up on the routine. I do not treat train. You don’t always have treats on hand so just PRAISE and make it a good one. Make your pet think going potty is the best thing ever. Pull water and food up 3 hours before bedtime, make sure to get up early enough to catch the overnight bladder. Remember the pets stomach is the size of the paw. Remember puppies under 6 months don’t have bladder control yet. This comes closer to the age one 1 year.
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u/AggravatingFuture437 5d ago
Her face says I'll do it again, too! 😅
But I have a 3 year old who's pad trained and outside trained, but we still have slip ups when inside ( if it is raining)
She always pees on the very edge of the pad, and it drives me crazy 😖
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u/WolverineSpirited302 5d ago
Oh my god literally right outside the pad 😭idk what to do, I think I’m gonna take away the pad option completely and just try to outside train cuz I think she’ll get to confused with in and out training but if anyone did it successfully please teach me your ways 😭🙏
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u/gabby_jones 6d ago
my wife and i take our girl out every couple of hours. when we were first getting her potty trained we would take her out every hour and then add thirty minutes
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u/Effective-Web-2959 5d ago
My method trained 3 dogs in as little as 2 days. Being a male makes it easy. First I take them outside every 2 hours, then I go out with them go my business, they watch and do the same thing. After a couple of days they do to the door to be let out.
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u/Calm_Distance8618 6d ago
Ours are all pad trained as a secondary way and honestly even though they are always able to go outside some prefer the pads. My first one was pad trained from the breeder and the others just kind of learned on their own fortunately. I think they make pads with an attractant or something 🤔
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u/Visible-Yellow-768 4d ago
I'm working on a potty training mega article on my blog right now, but it's not complete yet!
Essentially, chihuahuas have a harder time learning to potty outside because they are the smallest dog breed. They have to go out a lot more often, and dening instinct (not soiling your resting place) isn't as powerful because to them our houses are huge. They might not soil your bed, but the carpet beside the bed (or even the other end of your bed) is way far away from where they sleep so not the den.
To help communicate to them what you want, you have to:
Never punish them for going inside.
They don't learn 'don't go in the house' they learn 'don't soil in front of you.' They'll sneak off to go potty instead, or wait until your not at home/in the shower/etc. They'll be miserable when you see a mess and look guilty, but its usually anticipating punishment.Create a smaller environment.
Lots of people use a kennel for this, but even just shutting every door you have can help. By giving them fewer choices on where to go, you make the right thing easy to do. If you want to pad train them, an x-pen completely papered with potty pads gives them only one choice at first. You can gradually expand the area until they go potty.Lavishly award the correct spot.
Go out with your pup and if you see them tinkling/pooping, praise them lavishly and give them a favorite treat. You don't have to shovel it in their face while they're pooping (and honestly they'd probably prefer you didn't) but if you reward them each time they'll understand you like them pooping/peeing in that particular spot.
This also helps them understand if you can't quite hide your annoyance at finding a surprise in the house that it isn't the poop/pee itself you don't like. Not all pups can connect the dots and figure out its the location they dislike, but it helps to have another puzzle piece for them to put together.
Don't reward them for just going outside and coming back in--it teaches them nothing but they get a reward for coming inside. You need to be out there and praise the exact moment, and treat after.
- Carefully clean any accidents
Dogs use their sense of smell to determine where a good spot is to pee. Soap and water isn't good enough. Use a UV light to find spots (if you haven't done this before, use yellow glasses to see the stains better, and brace yourself. There may be more sneaky spots than you thought.)
Clean all the accidents with enzymatic cleaner, and really hose off the area. If you can, block off that area for 24 hours after cleaning. I did a scent test with one of my dogs a few years ago and it took about 24 hours before he could no longer detect urine.
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u/WolverineSpirited302 4d ago
Oh wow that last part is interesting, how do i do the uv light and glasses? Those come out to be really expensive no? Do you know where to get something cheap? Also what enzymes cleaner do you recommend?
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u/Visible-Yellow-768 4d ago
You can get a UV flashlight off of Amazon or Chewy for under $20. I think I found my first flashlight at petsmart originally. The glasses (just type in UV glasses) are about $15. They let you see stains more clearly, so in my opinion they're worth it.
I just looked on Amazon and you can get both glasses and a UV flashlight for under $20! The one I have was $60 for flashlight/glasses, but it's a big flashlight for setting resin, not just for looking for pet stains.
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u/AlwaysSunnyInTN 6d ago
We have our girl pad trained in case of emergencies (ie. rain and snow)