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I started off with the puppy mats and kept him in the kitchen with a baby gate. Immediately after eating or drinking, I would set him on the mat.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time with him transitioning to go outside to conduct business. When he got used to that, he never soiled the house elsewhere. He knew exactly where to go. He slept in his portable plastic kennel with his squeaky basketball toy.
Under my care, he continued with mats for a long time.
My ex-girlfriend ended up with the dog, and I believe she finally got him to go outside to conduct business.
Good luck. My shih tzu took nearly a year to be fully house broken, and she still sometimes goes inside, and shes 3 1/2! My suggestion is using puppy pads. Mine will go on them 95% of the time, if no ones home, etc. Place it somewhere that she'll know its always going to be, that way she'll know where to go in case of an emergency. And just be patient.. small breeds are always hard to potty train.
It might take a while to be housebroken. My thing was to never allow them free roam of the house while you are not home. Crate, they will not soil their crate (although they may have accidents in there when they are really little)
The Puppy pads work.
And when you ARE home, while they are puppies - put them out EVERY hour or two hours (a drag I know) . Eventually they will get the hang of it. If they are a small breed, don't forget their tracts are a lot shorter, things go in and out a lot more quickly.
would you please be kind enough to send me your email address to read up on shih tzu training, etc. i have a 15 wk old and just joined this site and am new to so many issues. my pup is going on pads in the house but will not go outside?
thanks so much. not sure if i should include my email in this message or not
15 weeks is very young to make much progress, they don't have bladder or bowel muscle control at this young age so you cant expect too much, it takes a lot of repetition and praise - honestly it will take months and months, babies take years to get pottytrained, they're just clueless in the beginning. Don't yell at her (not saying you do) if you see her having an accident, just scoop her up and take her out. Also, you need to take her out on a leash so you know what she's doing (or not doing), she prob. wants to play but can play later, she's out there to 'go'. If you're free feeding, don't - feed her on a regular set schedule so you know approx. when she has to 'go' - learn her signals, however slight they may be - and take her out more often (I don't necessarily wait for mine to tell me) - when you go out, crate (and make sure her collar or harness is off). When you do take her out, have some small cut-up pieces of cooked chicken or steak or cheese (don't overdo the cheese or it may give her the runs), those are waaay better than a milkbone. Just a few thoughts, good luck, it does get better
PS The previous posts are from 2007, not sure if the OP's are still active, if they see your post they s/b able to DM (direct message) you or else just post here which might be best as it might benefit another person.
Yep, they are pretty tough to train, but so was my Yorkie, his predecessor. I think it may be as PP said, a little dog thing. Mine is trained to go outside, BUT during the rainy season I have trouble with him going outside to take care of business...he has issues with rain -- he came that way, he was a rescue pup, so who knows why. Luckily, he will use pee pads, I always have one setup in the house in case I am running very late (elderly parents with health problems -- you know how that goes) or it is really monsoon weather outside. Maybe I should be tougher, but it doesn't seem worth it to me. Would you have one place in your new house where you could locate a pee pad? Mine has a tray type setup which controls any leakage, but mine is in a room with tile anyways. I got the tray because just a pee pad on the floor became a "toy" and something to rip up!
My little man has been with me a long time now, and we rarely have to use the pad, but I have found that sticking to a pretty strict schedule seems to work the best for him, more than I have had to with any other dog. (For example, we go outside the same time every morning, weekends too). Good luck with your traning!
Try this method. You and everyone in the house needs to be consistent and follow it TO THE LETTER and you'll have a trained dog.
Housetraining your dog (puppy or adult!)
The first thing you need to do is to remember that you’re trying to reinforce a new behavior. That means that the rewards for this behavior must be WONDERFUL. NOT crap from the store. Wonderful treats are poached chicken breast/turkey breast, cheese and steak. And you don’t have to use big pieces. Tiny pieces (about 3mm cubes) are just fine! I poach a whole turkey breast every few weeks, cut it into hunks when it’s cool enough to handle, wrap them well and store them in the freezer. When I need some, I’ll thaw a hunk overnight and cut off pieces and dice finely, storing them in a plastic bag in the fridge. One hunk will last about five days. Cheese is also popular, so variety is fine.
I carry these plastic bags in my jacket pockets in the winter and in a fanny pack in warmer weather. You HAVE to have these with you, or this method won’t work, because you need to reward as soon as the dog finishes pooping or peeing. It’s not going to work if the rewards are in the house.
Remember that you’re trying to change a very ingrained behavior. Some dogs like to feel certain things under their feet when they eliminate, like fabric, or newspaper. This is called a ‘substrate preference.’ What you’re trying to do is change this substrate preference, and to do that you have to make the treats SO wonderful that the dog will change this very well-entrenched behavior. Thus the chicken, cheese, steak.
I love clicker training, but this can be done without clickers. You just need a way to ‘mark’ the behavior you want to reinforce. Use the word ‘YESSSSS!!!!’ very enthusiastically – that works for some.
You’re going to need to GO OUTSIDE WITH your dog and the dog needs to be on a leash. Yes, even in winter. If you don’t reward IMMEDIATELY after the event (when dog immediately finishes pooping or peeing) and wait inside, the dog is going to be reinforced for coming inside, not for doing its business. So, leash up your dog. STAND IN ONE PLACE. Be boring. Bring a book or magazine for yourself.
Eventually, the dog will do what you’re waiting for. The NANOSECOND that the dog is finished, HAVE A PARTY – lots of loud, high-pitched praise, treats and running around. You want to make this memorable for your dog! You’ll find that once the first event is achieved, the others will come more quickly. Keep on treating (you don’t have to throw a party except for milestones – a milestone = if he only pooped outside but now peed, too, or something equivalent to that) until he’s good and used to peeing/pooping outside. Before you know it, you have a trained dog.
Regarding accidents in the house: NO SCOLDING. Just clean them up. If you scold you’ll get the dog to think it’s bad to pee or poop and he’ll do it in places you won’t see. Until you step in it. Invest in a big bottle of Nature’s Miracle or Simple Solution and use it liberally on accidents.
With young puppies, remember they have little control of the muscle that holds the bladder closed. This is something they grow into. Just as it’s not expected that a human baby is toilet trained at six months, don’t expect much from a puppy. Patience, patience, patience!!!! The nervous system in a puppy has to mature, and it won’t have much control over the sphincter (closing muscle) at the neck of the bladder until six or seven months. The same goes for the anal sphincter. Until control is achieved, both of these muscles operate on reflex: there are stretch receptors in the bladder wall. When the bladder is full, it sends impulses to the spinal cord and these, in turn, send signals to the sphincter to open and the dog pees.
In the stomach wall, there are also stretch receptors. So when the dog eats and the stomach is stretched, the impulses again go to the spinal cord, but this time the reflex, outgoing, nerve signals are sent to the anal sphincter, so the dog defecates. This operates in people, too – which is why some people rush to the ‘reading room’ after a meal – especially breakfast.
I have been trying to train my puppy to do her business outside now for many months! Sometimes she goes and other times, she doesn't...she seems to want to be in comfort, even when going to the bathroom, I do spoil her but soon will be buying a home with all hardwood floors, so I am a bit concerned on what to do! I take her for many walks after her meals for excercise and fresh air...any advice from other Shish Tzu owners esp would be appreciated, as they are a rather pampered breed and I have heard are hard to train!!!
My mom has... 8 shih tzus. Only two of them go outside... the rest of them go on pads in the house which I think is way gross. So I wish I had some advice for you LOL They do seem like pampered little dogs!
Yep, they are pretty tough to train, but so was my Yorkie, his predecessor. I think it may be as PP said, a little dog thing. Mine is trained to go outside, BUT during the rainy season I have trouble with him going outside to take care of business...he has issues with rain -- he came that way, he was a rescue pup, so who knows why. Luckily, he will use pee pads, I always have one setup in the house in case I am running very late (elderly parents with health problems -- you know how that goes) or it is really monsoon weather outside. Maybe I should be tougher, but it doesn't seem worth it to me. Would you have one place in your new house where you could locate a pee pad? Mine has a tray type setup which controls any leakage, but mine is in a room with tile anyways. I got the tray because just a pee pad on the floor became a "toy" and something to rip up!
My little man has been with me a long time now, and we rarely have to use the pad, but I have found that sticking to a pretty strict schedule seems to work the best for him, more than I have had to with any other dog. (For example, we go outside the same time every morning, weekends too). Good luck with your traning!
I got the pads from dr foster, a case load, and the bigger ones, did use the tray, however, did place an old towel down, and the tray for, papers, and the pads. I had the towel first, on
under the tray, the old towel, paper, and pads, it worked when working, but
cleaning did get old. my dog, would not always get it correct!
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