GOOD GRIEF...help..

[MyLilly1]

I joined yesterday so i have some where to gush over my Lilly Potter, she's my 6 week old Chihuahua (I know she is young it was an emergency give away) need some help....
Last week I had an accident, black eye, bruises and torn tendons in my knee so I'm in a metal knee imobilizer for 2 weeks, then I will have knee surgery. I am home alone all day while the kids are at school so i am not able to take Lilly out, before the accident I had almost finished potty training, she is so smart. During the day I have to just clean up her mess the best I can and when my hubby gets home he takes her out for the rest of the day. Now, the problem.......she sleeps in her own bed right by the head of my bed (she is very attached to me) at night she has been getting up and going in the living room to sleep on the couch, she can climb up the couch but she can't get down so she is pottying on the couch! I know its not her fault, its mine. Crate training is NOT an option, I tried that when I first got her at 4 weeks old and she is terrified of it so i will not put her back in. Any advice would be great, this little girl is the love of my life I swear it feels like my hubby and i have another child and she is spoiled rotten LOL:rofl1:

 

[Kat09Tails]

You need an X pen. Put it around her bed at night.

 

[~WelshStump~]

X-pen, or, could you just shut the bedroom door? (assuming you have one) That is what I do with my girl now, the kennel just got to be too much for my room, so she has a bed in one corner and I just shut the door. If she is let to roam at night, she likes to get up around 4 AM and bark out the windows down stairs.

 

[MyLilly1]

I think I will try shutting the door and using a night light...I'm just worried about that b/c Lilly is a teacup...very very tiny (although she has the personality and additude of a great Dane) she is also SOLID BLACK so i worry that if my husband or I get up during the night we could step on her

 

[Saluki-Sue]

Put a baby gate in your bedroom door. But for her safety you should get an X-pen for her to spend time in for the times you can't be home with her.

 

[ihartgonzo]

I would use an x-pen and cover it with potty pads... it's much better that she has an accident on those than on the floor or couch. Once she gets that hang of them you can put some by the door, to signify that's where she should go when she needs to potty.

 

[Kat09Tails]

I think I will try shutting the door and using a night light...I'm just worried about that b/c Lilly is a teacup...very very tiny (although she has the personality and additude of a great Dane) she is also SOLID BLACK so i worry that if my husband or I get up during the night we could step on her

This is the part where I tell you:
A crate isn't a bad thing
A X pen is a good investment
Vet bills due to stepping on a toy size dog are very expensive compared to the minor inconvenience of crate training or spending $50-100 on a X pen.
Your puppy is six weeks old - if you think peeing on the couch is the worst thing she will do without reasonable confinement prepare to be astounded.

 

[SevenSins]

Crate training is NOT an option, I tried that when I first got her at 4 weeks old and she is terrified of it so i will not put her back in.

Of COURSE she was. She was 4 weeks old, and removed from her dam and siblings much too early. Every puppy cries when you first crate them. Every puppy. You need to IGNORE them, and let them cry it out; They eventually get over it and learn that the crate is a good thing, unless you bend to their every whim and let them out when they so much as make a peep. Your puppy only weighs a few ounces and yet this tiny dog is already walking all over you - you allow her to crap all over your floor, and couch, because you don't want to listen to her cry in a crate after trying it .. maybe once?

 

[Laurelin]

I would get an x pen or a large crate and put a bed and a pee pad in it for the time being. Crating/containing a dog is not a bad thing. It's something that is going to have to be done.

 

[adojrts]

Yep Crate Training, you can do Crate Games (DVD), lots of excellent info to help.
As for being 'very attached to me', be careful of that. You have the recipe for creating a separating anxiety dog.

 

[MyLilly1]

I'm doing the best I can. I know she is young, her mother passed away after birth

 

[SevenSins]

SevenSins
I am NOT letting her "crap" all over my couch and floor

During the day I have to just clean up her mess the best I can

she can climb up the couch but she can't get down so she is pottying on the couch!

What would you call that? If not doing anything to stop the behavior, then the behavior is being allowed.

your language is a bit harsh.

Sorry, but as an adult, I'm going to opt out of using toddler terminology. The word "crap" is exactly no more and no less offensive than the word "poop."

Did you miss the part where I am hurt at the moment? I have a metal knee brace and a cast on one foot, it would be a bit hard for me to take her down the steps of the front porch or bend down to get her in and out of the crate

Unfortunately, as pet owners, we're sometimes forced to use unconventional methods and/or make sacrifices in order to take care of our responsibilities. Hard != impossible. For starters, can the crate not be put on a table so that you don't have to bend so far over to get her out of it?

 

[Barb04]

Put a baby gate across the door.

Mine only liked the vari kennel that is the plastic type crate. You can put a blanket over the top of a regular crate to make her feel safer. Keep the crate next to your bed so she feels like she's next to you.

I understand how you can't get up to let her go potty during the day. I had the same problem with my back when I first got a puppy. Can you put some newspaper or potty training pads in a corner of the room so she could at least go on that.

 

[Greenmagick]

Yes, crate training is something that would help immensely here. Personally, I dont do the sick em in and let them cry it out method, I do make the crate the best thing on earth method (though to be fair, I dont really use crates anymore as with danes they are freaking huge lol, I gate off a small hallway and use is like a crate).

You are definitely in a tough situation, but she should not be able to be anywhere loose at all at this age. Either tethered to you, in a crate (for short term) or an x-pen with a potty pad (or I prefer a box of dirt/grass) for long term.

 

[Beanie]

You could always put a potty pad out on the porch and just let her potty on the porch if you can't go down the steps to the yard. We have had some very foul weather before (several feet of snow) and it was impossible to get Auggie out into the yard with snow piled up over twice his size. The deck was able to be shoveled clean, however, and he pottied on the deck for a day or so until we were able to shovel parts of the yard clear so he could get out there and potty.

I would also work on crate training, make the crate a wonderful thing. It will be very useful in the future, especially if she has to have surgery (like a spay) and needs to be contained and kept from running around.

 

[Maxy24]

At six weeks old I don't think she can hold it through the night...so I actually wouldn't crate her or else she might be forced to mess her crate (though I would work on crate training her for short periods through the day). I would get an x pen, put her bed/crate and some chew toys on one side, some puppy pads on the other. You really don't want her getting in the habit of going on the floor/furniture or else you're going to have a real hard time ever fully housebreaking her, believe me.

 

[Doberluv]

I'd recommend at least using potty pads and training her to those. Show her. When she potties on that, she gets praise and a treat.

You can crate train her painlessly. Start feeding her in it. Don't put the food all the way to the back....put it close to the front so she can just stick half her body in to get it. Periodically, toss a highly tasty food tid bit in there or a toy if she's into toys...just part way and gradually get it so she will go further in. Make going in after a ball or wiggly rope toy a game. Don't close the door and leave her for a long time all at once. You can do this in baby steps...lots of reinforcement for small successions. When she's tolerating that, keep feeding her in it, but push the bowl back further. When she's comfortable with that, close the door on the crate for just 1/2 a minute, then increase that. Don't ever, ever let her out while she's in the midst of crying or throwing a fit. Always wait for a lull.

I think an ex-pen with a crate inside would be the best thing. Dogs learn to love their crates. Mine go in all the time and I just leave the door open but my dogs are adults now and long since house broken. But a crate is a great training tool. And one day your pup may need to spend time in such a box...at a vet's or someplace else. It's a safer way to travel in a car for a dog. You may find yourself needing to take her on a plane. It's best if she gets comfortable with a crate now, not put her through a shock at those times in the future where she'll already be stressed out.

I agree with what other posters cautioned regarding the potential for creating big problems with things like separation anxiety if you cater too much to her every wish. Be careful to do things she wants ONLY following behavior that you want. If you can't take her out frequently and don't use a specific place like a pee pad inside and a place to confine her at those times you can't watch her or take her to go potty.... if you let her continue to pee anywhere she wants, you will wind up with a disaster on your hands. Once they think it's okay to pee and poo any ole place, it's extremely hard to undo that. You CAN teach an old dog new tricks. But that isn't one of them....at least not without extreme difficulty and even then, it's rarely solid and reliable. A Chihuahua has a very small bladder, even for their size, so I think at her age, going all night without a pee break isn't reasonable to expect. You might need to set your alarm one time and take her to her pee pad or your husband can take her outside. You don't want her to feel a need to go in her crate. Usually, they'll avoid that if possible. Make sure it's not any bigger than needed for her to turn around, stand up right, stretch out flat when she lies down or she may wind up using part of it for her toilet.

I hope you can become comfortable confining her when she can't be supervised and taken to her potty place. One indoor place for the pads, (if you can't take her outside) one place outdoors. One place period...outside would be optimum though. Consistency and preventing accidents is the only way she'll ever learn. Lots of praise and treats for going in the desired place.

I sure hope your injury heals up nicely and in short order. It sounds like a very painful one. I'm very sorry. And I hope things will get sorted out with your new pup. She sounds really cute. I hope you'll post some pictures when you can. Chihuahuas are the cutest little things. That's why I have two of them. lol. It's too bad about her mom.

 

[Kristen1980]

I agree with the other posters.. a potty pad and an Xpen. My chi's trained on a potty pad and then eventually got the hang of going outside. It can be done!