Hello,

This is my first time using this site. I have a 8 month old shih tzu who I have been having the hardest time house breaking and need some tips.

Shih-tzus are notoriously hard to potty train. I would suggest a doggy door or a bell. I use a bell on my door where my dachshund can reach. When I was training her every time we went outside I would use her paw to hit the bell. She now will paw the bell when she has to go outside. Hope this helps! Good luck

Shih Tzus are one of dirtiest dogs there are.
They don't seem to understand that peeing the house is dirty.

My moms friend breeds them and she has to put diapers on her males because they are impossible to house train.

You could try starting with puppy training pads...

They are a fabric pad with plastic underneath... it saves you having to clean your carpet as you just thrw the pad away and put a new one down... they absorb any odor as well.

Once you have got her trained to the pad move it slowly towards the door... about half a meter a day. Then eventually you will be able to put the puppy pad on the other side of your back door and out onto the grass... she will then learn that wees are done OUTSIDE.

It is a long process but unfortunately with hard to train dogs like shih tzus it's one of the few things that works.