Quote:
Originally Posted by dualie
MinPins are notoriously hard to housebreak. I don't know if it's because they are so small so the little bit of urine is hard to spot, therefore hard to correct.... or if it runs in certain lines,???
I have known several that had to wear belly bands as adults and never did become trustworthy.
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Over the decades, I have personally rescued/fostered about 3 dozen MinPins. All ages, both genders, intact & altered, & perfectly healthy to broken bones or severe behavioral issues. The foster home environment included a house, a 23rd-floor apartment, & a 3rd-floor apartment.
I've also fostered about 2 dozen other small breed dogs.
I disagree that MinPins are notoriously hard to housebreak. In my experience, that's not true any more or less so-than other small dog breeds & unless it's a medical/neurological issue, the success of housebreaking is based on the patience & skills of the humans involved.
Most dogs want to bond with a human. Once bonded with a human, most dogs want to make that human happy. Most dogs --perhaps especially small dogs that could be prey to other small animals like foxes, coyotes, etc. -- don't want to go to the bathroom near whatever they consider to be their nest. If you keep a dog in a crate, that crate becomes it's nest, but if you give it the run of a normal house or apartment *and* offer it reasonable access to an outdoors area or other designated 'latrine' spot, it won't choose to go to the bathroom in the house. A male dog 'marking' is a physiological train that can definitely be difficult to limit to outdoor areas, depending on if/when the dog was neutered, etc. but again, I don't think the breed is relevant.
Also, just for the record,
a Chihuahua-MinPin "ChiPin" mix is NOT a 'designer-dog' trend & lets PLEASE not start to turn it into one. A true mix of the two is usually going to be an accident, or the deliberate result of a stupid, unscrupulous breeder who is trying to generate more $$ & publicity by claiming it's a trend.
Volunteering for several decades at a couple western-US animal shelters, I've seen many black & tan MinPins listed as Chihuahuas & plenty of black & tan Chihuahuas listed as MinPins. It'd take a DNA test to really determine what was what, and it really doesn't matter to me as I focus on the individual dog, but generally, MinPins are a rarer breed & thus sell for much more $$ than the more common Chihuahuas tend to.
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