Big house training problem!

[Zoidberg]

My 3 year old lil toy chi hasn't pooped in the house since we adopted him, he seems to understand he shouldn't pee on the carpet anymore but he did pee in his bed. I did not see him do it and I think I might have made a mistake with being as stern as I was, I raised my voice and took him to the backyard to finish (which he didn't). Now the poor little guy is scared of going outside. Actually he was more scared before, I'm not sure why, but I know I just made the situation worse What can I do so he doesn't think he's being punished when I put him outside?

On a side note, I don't feel like I have it in me to be stern with him again. He just looked so sad to me. The downside of having such a cute dog, when they give you the eyes it just destroys your heart. I really feel terrible

 

[lizzybeth727]

What can I do so he doesn't think he's being punished when I put him outside?

Go outside with him, and just play and hang out. Spend a lot of time outside and he'll figure out that that's where you guys go to play.

Play also stimulates dogs to have to potty.

On a side note, I don't feel like I have it in me to be stern with him again. He just looked so sad to me. The downside of having such a cute dog, when they give you the eyes it just destroys your heart. I really feel terrible

That's ok, there's no reason to be stern with him. Remember that every time he has a potty accident, it's your fault - you didn't let him outside when he needed to go, you weren't supervising him closely enough, you haven't established a reinforcement history for pottying outside, etc. If you're going to be stern with somebody, be stern with yourself (but don't let your dog see it, he might think you're directing it toward him).

 

[Paige]

Agreed. If the dog is generally good about it too there is no need to think its anything but an accident. Doesn't sound like he's even marking. Just had a woopsie. Happens to Bandit once or twice in a blue moon and it's totally my fault for not watching him/letting him out for a tinkle.

 

[Zoidberg]

I understand, I'm just having a hard time getting him to play and be active (outside or in) and I can't really tempt him with treats because he doesn't go for that yet. I've been looking at him very closely and I'm having a hard time seeing any signals that he needs to go, so I take him out very often but he doesn't seem to go unless it's the morning. And yeah I did take it out on myself, felt awful, unfortunately he saw so I'm really messing up more here. I'm learning him slower than he is me, I'm sucking pretty bad at this so far.

 

[Gempress]

Don't be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes with our dogs. Fortunately, dogs are very forgiving of our fumblings.

I'd give you some advice, but I don't have experience with a dog that's shy of the outdoors. I'm thinking that might be the problem: he knows to go outside, but he's still unsure of your yard so he tries to hold it as long as he can to avoid going outside.

Just had another thought: how cold is it where you live right now? Chihuahuas can be very sensitive to cold. It may be that he's trying to avoid the winter weather. Dogs can go through amazing lengths to avoid going outside in weather they hate. Mine will hold their bladders for seemingly the entire day when it's raining outside, LOL. Perhaps a dog coat or something would help him?

Hopefully someone with more experience in this area will chime in sometime soon.

 

[smkie]

My pointer is the only dog I ever had that wet the bed, very rarely, but drip by drip he did. A couple times he had to go so bad when he woke up he couldn't hold it. So I had to make sure I pulled the water at 8 pm and he out grew this by the time he was a year old. I agree, cold weather can have them holding it too long too. I always go out with mine so I know how much and when they go, you might want to do that if your not already until you have no more accidents. I would also want to rule out any health reasons, specially if it wasn't happening before.

 

[lizzybeth727]

Just had another thought: how cold is it where you live right now? Chihuahuas can be very sensitive to cold. It may be that he's trying to avoid the winter weather. Dogs can go through amazing lengths to avoid going outside in weather they hate.

VERY good point, I didn't even think about that. Luna hates going outside when it's cold, anything below about 60, especially if it's windy or rainy. She usually only goes outside twice a day if it's really cold, but I still have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't pee inside.

 

[Zoidberg]

In this part of the country it never gets that cold but by our standards I suppose it's colder than usual. I bought him a lil doggie hoodie lol I'll try it out tomorrow morning and see if he does any better. Thanks for the replies, I'll be sure to update!

Question, I've heard dogs that are his age (3 years) can hold their bladders a fairly long time but I've also heard small dogs (toy chi) have small bladders and can't hold as long as bigger dogs. What should I be expecting of him?

 

[lizzybeth727]

In this part of the country it never gets that cold but by our standards I suppose it's colder than usual. I bought him a lil doggie hoodie lol I'll try it out tomorrow morning and see if he does any better. Thanks for the replies, I'll be sure to update!

Make sure you try the hoodie on him before trying to take him outside with it on. A lot of dogs don't like wearing sweaters and it might make the problem worse if you try to force him outside in a hoodie he doesn't like.

Question, I've heard dogs that are his age (3 years) can hold their bladders a fairly long time but I've also heard small dogs (toy chi) have small bladders and can't hold as long as bigger dogs. What should I be expecting of him?

How long he can hold it really depends on him individually; there's no mathematical formula that will really help here.

If he's just running around the house hanging out with you, I'd take him outside every 30-60 minutes. If he's having accidents in the house then you know you stretched it too long and you'll need to do a shorter period next time. If he's in a crate, he SHOULD be able to hold it overnight (8 hours) and during the day if you're at work and the house is quiet he should be able to hold it in his crate for 6-8 hours. In a crate he's more likely to sleep and less likely to have an accident.