At wit's end! Litter training a dog (long)
 

Okay everyone... Here is a situation that has me about at the end of my rope. :(

We have a one year old spayed, female, YorkiePoo. We got her from a breeder when she was about three and a half months old. She is a real sweetheart except for two things and this is the most frustrating one.

We are trying to litter box train her but she wants nothing to do with the box. It used to be she had the run of the kitchen and the box was there. She ignored it even when we had a pee pad in it or sprinkled her pee over the pellets. When she peed on the floor we put newspaper over it to soak it up and sometimes she would pee on the paper again later. Unless of coarse we put the peed up paper in the box.

A little over a week ago I set up her playpen so it is two ft. by four. I put the litter box in with toys and food/water dishes. She soiled in front of her dishes. If I caught her in the act I would put her in the litter box only to have her finish the job when she was left out. Sometimes I would confine her to a two ft. square litter box only area when I knew she had to go very bad. She would hold it until I left her out 15 minutes later.

She sleeps with Hubby so I had him put her in the litter box only area first thing in the morning. (Yes she holds it all night.) Most mornings I found her standing beside the litter box but sometimes she used the box for a bed.

This morning I took the box out and covered the whole 2X4 area with newspapers. She is trying to shred them.

Please help me potty train Mia. She is approaching the find- a- new- home stage and I really don't want to see that happen.

she must have some ingrained bad habits to not be potty trained at 1 yr old.

If she is sleeping in the bed with you or hubby- she should be removed to the floor and given a nice little bed on the floor.
{ it's a alpha dog thing- you humans need to be the top dog- and the top dog doesn't let the lesser dog share it's bed}

we had the best luck using the bathroom as the potty area - no food in there & papers covering the floor

you may have to go back to potty training like with a puppy.

as soon as they wake -you take them to the potty area
after they eat - you take them to the potty area
before bed - you take them to the potty area

is there no garage or back yard available ?

here's a link to some great books & videos in libraries -

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Litter Training Dog....
 

First off...what kind of litter are you using? We used Second Nature DOG Litter from Petsmart....and for 4 months it worked great...we trained our two chihuahuas to it because I wasn't taking them out in the cold at 3:00 in the morning. I had set a pee pad in front of it so misses would be easier to clean up, then I noticed that they were using just the pee pad....at 17 1/2 months old, they still use the pee pad religiously. Get the OUT brand at WalMart and get the ones that are for adult dogs....they work best.

I tried cat litter when I couldn't get the dog litter for them....my female took great delight in spraying it all over the kitchen.....it was dog litter or pee pads, we have strange dogs.

Also...NEVER put food and water dishes in the same area as litter box or pee pad....they should be at opposite ends of the room. When my dogs are crated when we have to leave the house, they do not have food and water dishes with them.....the vet explained to me that they can go a couple hours or even over night without it. Just make sure its available to them the rest of the time and they are fine with that. They are only 5 1/2 pounds each and they don't act starved when we let them out to eat, they nibble at their leisure. Accidents in their crates are few and far between....they started crate training at 6 weeks old and just didn't have many accidents. I gave them blankets and padded beds and they try to keep them clean.

Good luck with the house-breaking....I lucked out because Chihuahuas are nortoriously hard to break, but we ended up with a brother/sister team that's great.

Crystal:winky:

Hi Weaveherr.

A few links that might help.


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Wish me luck on Hubby banishing Mia to the floor at night. I'm sure I'll need it. I do understand why you say that though.

We have a yard and she will sometimes eliminate there. We have several reasons for wanting to litter train her. Cold and messy winters, day trips without the dog or worry, vacations with the dog.

Thanks for your tips.

I don't know the brand name but the litter is compressed shredded newspaper pellets. Mia thinks they are a snack. :rolleyes: I hate Wally World but check out the pet department there. What we have was gotten at a pet store. I don't want the mess of cat litter and also read it isn't a good option for dogs.

Food/water dishes were removed from the playpen before I replied.:D

Thanks for the links. I found two of them on my own before pleading for help.

I too have a Yorkie Poo! They can be very stubborn. Mine is 3 yrs old now but I was told to cage train her.

I took her out everytime she drank or ate anything in then at night before she went to bed.

At bedtime she was put in her cage with only room to sleep. In the morning we would go back to routine that she does her business outside.

She was very hard to train. When she did her business in the house, she was put in her cage until it was time to go outside again.

Once she realized that you're not allowed to do the business in the house, things went much better.

She still stayed in the cage at night for about 6 mos. When we trusted her again she was allowed to sleep with us. Any goofs and she was back in the cage.

Unfortunately consistency and routine to me is the key. Good luck:)