At my wits end... toileting in the house!

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SophieLiz

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Hiya, ive got a 2 yr old chihuahuaXyorkie, who i love to bits and she is such a good girl in sooo many ways but she keeps toileting in the house. She is the first dog ive had from a puppy and was a nightmare to toilet train as a puppy we bought her from a farm where all the dogs were kept in kennels and basically she had been kept in a crate with her mum and her litter and didnt come out of it and she had non of the 'not pooing where she sleeps' concept. it took us a good 6 months to get her there but she did get to a point where i totally trusted her in the house at anytime, she never barked to go out so i always have to keep my eyes on her but she would go to the back door when she needed to.

This is when the weather is good! however she hates the rain, or even when the ground is wet! everytime it rains she goes back to doing it where ever she likes. I take her out regularly, if i take her out on the garden she just stands at the back door begging to go back in... and if I leave her begging for more than 10 mins she starts to shreak like Im trying to kill her, whether im out with her or if shes out on her own. She always used to refuse to go on walks in the rain (she would just sit and refuse to move) but she is getting much better at this now and will walk in the rain but never toilets on a walk if its wet out. Last weekend i thought in desperation i would just go and walk her until she toileted, i was out with her from 11 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon and she still did nothing but straight away upon my return home she did it in the house.

Everytime we have a few weeks of her being like this whilst the weather is bad and as soon as it dries up she goes back to her normal self but its driving me mad! Ive got a 10 month old baby crawling round at home I cant cope with her doing this!

I would gladly accept any suggestion!
 
Thinking laterally - what about a small greenhouse/polytunnel so she can go in there?

But yes, there must be a reason she is doing this so predicatably, and it needs understanding if you are to fix it.
 
Try the APBC http://www.apbc.org.uk/ they have a list of members by region I think. Failing that you could ask your vet. Be aware that anybody can call themselves a dog psychologist or behaviourist, it isn't a protected term as far as I'm aware. So check qualifications and experience carefully before you pay for advice :) Personally if I was looking for a behaviourist I would want somebody with a BSc to Masters in animal behaviour/ethology and heaps and heaps of canine experience to go with it. Association with societies such as above is good as if nothing else there is regulations for registration. Remember that the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and it's members deal with training, not behavioural issues despite the fact that they often offer their services for such. Double check the experience if it's a trainer offering behavioural advice. And good luck :)
 
Will she go on a puppy pad in the house or does she just do it anywhere? Maybe if you could train her to go on a pad in the house in the interim until you get it sorted so at least she is doing it in one place, say by the back door instead of around the house. But then I don't know if that would just reinforce her behavior even more so some may say not to do that. Really feel for you, esp having taken her out for 5 hrs to have her come straight back in and do it!
 
I really feel for you having to deal with this with a baby in the house, my son is 2 but is the reason we got a rescue instead of a puppy because I couldn't face toilet training a child and a dog at the same time lol!

My OH's Jack Russell was very slow to learn too and never asks to go out so we did at one point put some newspaper down by the door where she always went just to make our life easier. She did eventually grow out of it but still complains in bad weather (esp if its snowy) and we did consider using a cat litter tray at one point although we never did in the end. Might be worth trying that then moving the tray outside - maybe to a little leanto by the back door so she doesn't have to get wet.
 
Have you considered a litter tray?

If you provide a place indoors for her to go and encourage her to use it she may stop messing elsewhere.

Once the weather improves you can work on proper house training.

I'm not far away if you want to PM me.
 
She's a mix of breeds that aren't easy to toilet train.
Is she still crate trained? Are you consistent with it?
Some dogs don't like going outside in the rain! Would you?!
You may just need to go back to basics and as mentioned, in the mean time, provide her a place in the house.
 
Small dogs are often difficult to house train. I think one of the reasons is that their puddles are so small we don't always notice, also their bladders are small and they can't hold out for long!!

I think you need to get back to basics. When there is a spell of bad weather make sure you take her into the garden every hour or so. Praise her when she performs. There is no point at all in getting cross with her when she pees or poos in the house, she won't understand what you are on about. The key is positive reinforcement when she does as you want. She will respond but it will take a while.

The puppy pads might be worth a try but I'd be wary of doing anything that encourages her to toilet in the house.
 
Is she passing infront of you, or when u are not around?
Where is she confined to when you leave the house?
Where does she sleep at night?
I would not use the pads in doors for her to pee on as such but there is another way u can use the pads to teach her, I will wait for a reply to the above questions before I go on.
 
Hiya thanks for all your replies, i hadnt thought of a litter tray and tbh I'ld be quite happy for her to use a litter tray i might give it a go!

to answer the questions... we did crate train her as a puppy but about 6 months ago during the summer when she was being a good girl we removed her crate (as it was big and unsightly and she was being a good girl) and she now has a dog bed in the corner of the dining room which is sort of 'her room' when we leave the house she is locked behind a baby gate in there. She never liked going in her crate and used to hide when she realised we were going out, or when we told her to go to bed which just became a pain which is why we got rid of it.

When she toilets in the house she hides away to do it, if i catch her i say 'no' pick her up and put her outside to finish. if i dont catch her then i just clean it up as i no there is no point shouting at her for it. She normally does it when im in the house, and shes in the living room shes actually pretty good when shes home alone and locked in the dining room?

on a possitive note weve been out to the horses all day today and she actually went to the toilet outside!!! i gave her lost of praise and treats for it, and she hasnt had any accidents so far today!
 
I have little new advice to add.

Re-invent your 'toilet words', when I'm in a rush I make 'weeweeeeeeee's' sound verrrrry exciting and I do think it encourages her to do one. Though sometimes she squats and only produces a drop.
 
To be honest I would rather have an unsightly crate, and for this size dog, the crate would be tiny (there is no need for an over sized crate) than have a dog weeing in a litter tray, just my opinion though.

I would actually introduce puppy pads at the doors of the rooms in the house, you then need to keep her in whatever room you are in at the time (no wondering in rooms u are not in) as if she passed and you are not around then there can be no correction/guidance, by this I mean u picking her up and placing her outside to designated wee area and as suggested use a "wee wee" and give her a treat after she has passed, this is the basis of routine.
The pads are a guide, she must never be allowed to urinate/pass faeces on them, u are literally watching for signs of her heading for the pad, which should also be the exit/door as this is where the pads are placed.
You then put her up and take her straight out "wee wee".
You will eventually remove the pads and she should still head for the door.
I would also place a pad outside in the garden, put a brick on each corner to keep it down, she may be more inclined to urinate/pass faeces on the pad, change it as necc, when u remove the pads eventually she should return to that area.

I would reintroduce a small crate (very small given her breed) im talking not much bigger than a cat carrier (im not sure how something this big could be unsightly) I will even give u a recommended size, the smaller the crate the more likely she is to hold (which is what u are aiming for), and everytime she is released she goes straight out to garden, again the basis of "routine" u are now taking all aspects of her piddling randomly away and giving her some guidance, rather than her having the freedom to roam the house/be left unsupervised in large spaces, which will and has resulted in her passing and simply walking away.

Re introduce the crate positively, buy a kong and fill it with her dry food and sardines, or chicken and give her long lasting treats, feed her in there and make sure she has a positive everytime she is placed in and any long periods make sure she is well exercised, cover it to make it more den like and fill the crate with her bed, preferably a plastic bed with her bed in it.

I have yet to not beable to fully house train a dog, even little pooches, which are the hardest to train, and I would never encourage a dog to pass in an indoor tray before exhausting all avenues.
 
i have a 'small sized' wire crate, do you think it is probably too big for her? as a puppy she would just toilet in it which i had put down to how she was kept before we bought her, i did think the crate looked too big for her she can run round in it quite happily but people kept saying it was the right size.

Im quite happy to go back to crate training her we only took it away as it seems she had finally cracked the house training thing. When she did have her crate she would never eat in it, she would leave her food/ toys until i got home then when i returned she would carry them through to me and eat where she could see me (her food she would carry each biscuit through to me and eat it then run back for the next one) I was always pretty worried about this behaviour but now that she isnt in her crate she will eat in the other room on her own, how would i go about that one?

She such a gorgeous little dog in sooo many ways, she fab with our baby, and shes really good at our obedience training, shes really good with the horses I just feel like a total failure on house training her!
 
Yep the crate sounds to big, I have just given a crate away for a toy poodle I will try and find the size it was, but u need a bed in the crate wihich takes up the space in the crate, hence the plastic bed within the crate then bed in that, so she should not beable to step on the surface of the crate.
Bigger crates will encourage the passing of urine and faeces as again they can pass and walk to the other side of the crate.

I would reintroduce it and leave the door open put the bed in and cover it and let it stand for a week, so she can get used to it visually , if she likes toys play with her and chuck the toy in and let her retrieve it out with door wide open, then place treats in and let her go in and get them and bring them out if she likes, this way she sees alot of good things that seem to come from the crate ;):D
Make sure it mimics a den though, even try and place a cat bed in if u like to make it more snug, but it must take up the whole crate, (the little pyramid/hooded type ones that they have to jump into.)
def get a kong to fill with delicaseys.
When u eventaully shut the door on the crate with her in, offer her the goodies, if she does not want them, simply remove them when you release her but don't offer them back to eat in the house, only give them back when she goes back in the crate.
Spend time pottering around the house when she is in there at first, so she can see or hear you when u pass in and out of the room, but no talk or eye contact, then gradually stay out of sight longer and longer.
Get a DAP plug in diffuser to plug in beside the crate to, that may help.

Where does she sleep at night?
 
at the min she sleeps on a dog bed in the corner of our dining room thats between the end of the sofa and the wall, when we go out she is kept in that room.

Thank you so much for all your advice, i will go out on mon and fetch her a new crate and start getting her used to it.
 
A 24" crate is far too large for a chi - big enough fr a cocker.

A cat carrier size 2 is what you need unless you have a monster chi.
 
Oh I get ya, I never meant that size, just meant (this is the type of crate) I mean u need a one small enough so u can literally only squeeze the hooded bed in, I cannot measure the one I had for the mini poodle as I let it go with her when she was rehomed, but literally OP will need the smallest she can get hold of.
I though of cat carrier, but not sure if she would take even more of a dislike, seen as OP mentioned her dislike of crate.
 
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