Minnow

We recently adopted a chihuahua-dachsund mix. Skipper's 3 years old, and the cutest thing! He needed a lot of work when we got him from the shelter the day he was scheduled to be euthanised. He was super skinny, unneutered, and had fleas and scabs. He's healthy and neutered now, and very affectionate, but there's one problem- he poops! We take him on tons of walks every day, we praise him when he poos outside, and we scold him when we catch him in the act of pooping on our carpet, but he still does it! We're having the carpets cleaned tomorrow, and we obviously don't want this to continue. Any advice?

p.s. Here he is with his squeaky seahorse toy

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kieley

find something he really hates and use that to scold him.. example: spray him in the face with water when he does it or shove his face into the poop when he does it... hes kind of old to retrain maybe you need a proffesional trainor?

Lucy

Lucky Skipper to have such caring people. He's really cute with his squeaky toy.

I hope you find a solution. It sounds like you may have to follow him around like a puppy and catch him when he's ready to do his business and rush him outside till he gets the hang of it.

Shawnie

unfortunately, small dogs HATE to go outside...they do make pee n poo pads tho and you can get him to go in one area....winter time will be a killer...I wouldnt EVER rub any dogs face in their poo..it does nothing to train them....I have a chi and I gave up on training except for the pads which I keep in the bathroom so he uses the loo just like the rest of us and I clean them up daily..sorta like a litter box for small dogs LOL

he is adorable !! and around here, we call them chaweenies

Minnow

I've heard them called Chiweenies, too. I'll look up the pads, but I think if we end up using them, it will be as a last resort. It sounds like a hassle to clean, and it would probably smell. I remember having to clean out the litter box, back when we had cats. I'd rather not go through that again!

Kieley, we've thought about calling a professional in, also. We'll probably wait to see if we can train him ourselves, but I'm sure if we can't, someone can!

MissMTS

Have you thought of crate training him? We have used the crate training method for potty training two of our dogs and it works great. Once the dogs get in the hang of going outside to go to the bathroom, we don't use the crate anymore.

aquariumnewbie

Same problem as me. My puppy pees and poops around the house. Now I managed to only limit him to an area for him to pee and poop.
I used vinegar mixed with water about 1/3 of vinegar to 2/3 of water. And use it to mop the whole house. Somehow, he now only pee and poop on the walkway outside the toilet. Only occasionally he pee at other places.

gremlin

Do you feed him at a certain time everyday or does he always have food available? Usually they need to go poop about 30 minutes after they eat, so If you take him out before he needs to go, and keep him out till he goes, and limit the times he eats so you can monitor his poop times better, it may help. Crate training is also a wonderful tool. When you can't watch him to take him when he starts to poop, keep him in his crate. Dogs don't like to make a mess where they sleep. Just be sure to get a proper sized crate. It should be large enough for him to stand up and turn around in, but not so big that he can sleep in one end and poop in the other. You may also consider a doggie diaper, although that can be as difficult as a litter box to deal with. Fortunately, a dog is never too old to learn something new, all you have to do is figure out the best way to teach the dog what you want him to learn.

Shawnie

the pads are made for this...they dont smell or make a mess as long as you dont leave it around for days....its like a diaper kinda material....my boy is almost 2 and during the day, the pads arent down and I take him out once an hour..at night, he uses them ..is your pup fixed?

MM how do your chi's handle the bathroom situation? shes a pro with these dogs...my rottie is great and all my bigger dogs are fine..its this small ankle biter that get me

MinxMermaid

Little dogs have to pee and poo when they first wake up, when they're excited and after running. If i want spike to poo at a specific time, i just take him to the park, let him run the lenght of the park and guarantee he'll poo outside. we have problems with him pooing inside only if we're gone all day and no one takes him out.

good luck! he sure is a CUTIE!!

Jess

Gremlin's post is what I would do.
Feed, walk, and Watch.
When you aren't with him, limit to small area or kennel/cage. I think its true that smaller dogs are more challenging to house train. They think the whole house is the great out doors. So you really have to keep a super close eye until he gets it. Also a squirt bottle or a can with coins to shake to startle him should help him stop his unwanted pooping. (Don't put his face in it.) I trained my dog to go on command. So when its miserable and wet outside. You can get it over with in a hurry for both of us.
Remember to give lots of praise when he goes outside. I mean over do it. Lots of love.

sirdarksol

Some good advice here.
I want to point out that punishment for going in the wrong place generally doesn't work. It is believed that the animal associates being punished with you seeing it go to the bathroom. This just means it will try to find a place out of sight, and may mean that the animal won't go to the bathroom when you're walking it (because you're within sight).
My cats firmly believe that they belong on any surface in the house, as long as my wife and I aren't in sight. They'll get down if we tell them to (they recognize the phrase "get down" very well), but if we're not around, they'll curl up on table or counter, if it suits them. In the end, we're okay with this, because it keeps them off of the tables when guests are around.

gremlin

Yes, you do have to be careful about the punishment. Dogs do not associate cause and affect quite as well as people do. If you find their poop and then scold them, they think you are scolding them for finding the poop so they will do it where you can't see. You have to be careful with the squirt bottle and the can of coins though. You don't want the dog to be afraid of water, and as for the can of coins, my sister tried that once with one dog who, after one single shake of a soda can with three pennies in it, became so afraid that it took her nearly a year to get the dog to not be afraid of everything. Her dog was not afraid before that, only after. It is better to use a sharp "eh-eh" to interrupt bad behavior. It is not enough to scare a dog, but it does distract them. Then loads of praise when they do what you want them to do.

sirdarksol

Yep. Praise is the way to go. That's why the cats understand "get down," actually. We praise and pet them when they listen.
There are, of course, certain cases where a sharp word or a spritz of water is necessary. If two dogs are fighting, dousing them with water is about the only safe way to separate them. Better to simply interrupt (I like that word, gremlin) the bad behavior and focus on the good.

gremlin

Fighting/arguing dogs definitely need the water spritz. That's just about the only safe way to interrupt them. Just that personally, I would not use the pennies/rocks in a can because it makes such a loud sound that it can be too frightening for a dog, even one that is not normally timid or shy. That's why I like the eh-eh. Besides, you always have your voice with you, you don't always have a can of pennies or a bottle of water in your hand...do you?

sirdarksol

Not a fan of the artificial noisemaker either. That's why I said "sharp word" (my wife's family's sharp word was "dutke")

Minnow

Wow, thank you all for the advice Gremlin, your advice about feeding was really helpful; we feed at certain times, but leave the food out until it's eaten. I suppose that was a big part of the problem. We'll be more careful about that from now on. Very good advice, thank you! I'll tell you all how things work out.

Fish Addict

I just got a puppy... I think there is a certain spray you need to use so they can't smell where they've gone to the bathroom. Otherwise they may just go there again..
I actually heard someone trained their dog to ring a bell whenever it had to go to the bathroom, by just putting it near a door, and everytime they'd leave, they'd ring it...