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liquenkloe · Mar 31, 2012, 12:29 PM

I'm new to dogs and puppies. I just got a 7 week old chihuahua puppy and have no idea how to potty train her. I bought pee pads and those worked the first day but now she has no interest in them. Also should I provide a pee pad in her crate while she's in there at night?

Wondergirl · Mar 31, 2012, 12:37 PM

Congrats on the addition to your family! From what I understand after reading the threads on the Dogs board, pee pads teach a pup to pee only on something soft (pee pads, blankets, couches, carpets, throw rugs, clothes on the floor, etc.)

Check back here every so often. Meanwhile, read some of the potty-training threads. Also, our dog experts will help you figure this out. And by the way, did you buy your pup from a pet store or through a local breeder?

liquenkloe · Mar 31, 2012, 12:56 PM

I got her from a friend who couldn't keep her dogs puppies... also she doesn't seem to drink water at all. She eats well, but she won't drink water. I just read the threads and am now trying the water in her food, if it works, should I just continue putting water in her food or will she eventually drink water out of her bowl?

Wondergirl · Mar 31, 2012, 12:58 PM

I'm guessing she will eventually drink out of a bowl. She was probably still nursing or at least being weaned, so water is not her favorite liquid of choice right now (mom's milk would be).

Are you in which country?

liquenkloe · Mar 31, 2012, 12:59 PM

I'm in usa

Wondergirl · Mar 31, 2012, 01:02 PM

Since it's Saturday, the dog experts are all busy with families and getting chores done around the house, so please be patient. Make a list of specific questions to ask and keep reading old doggy threads.

liquenkloe · Mar 31, 2012, 01:04 PM

Thanks... can't wait to get some good advice! :)

Wondergirl · Mar 31, 2012, 01:05 PM

Also, there are stickies too to check and read --

Dogs - Ask Me Help Desk

Wondergirl · Mar 31, 2012, 01:06 PM

What's your new pup's name? (And we love to see photos!)

Sariss · Mar 31, 2012, 01:37 PM

I would not recommend pee pads. It more or less will confuse the dog, especially if you decide to switch it up at a later date and decide to actually house-train them.

That being said, I will start by saying that small breeds (generally) are harder to housebreak, so you will need patience. There will be accidents - your dog may not be 100% housetrained for several months.
Before I go on, I will also say NEVER EVER EEEEEEVER PUNISH YOUR PUPPY FOR MESSING IN THE HOUSE!! I cannot stress this ENOUGH - it is a MAJOR mistake. Unless you literally catch her in the act, she will not be able to make the connection as to why you are yelling at her. Yelling, calling her a bad dog, smacking her, pushing her face in it will do one thing - make her afraid of YOU. This will make house training harder. Even if you catch her in the act and punish her, again - she may become afraid to go to the bathroom in front of you, again making things more difficult. If you catch her doing something inside, pick her up but try not to scare her, and take her outside.

Keep in mind that a dog that small has a very, very tiny bladder and will not be able to "hold it" very long at all.
You want to start by taking the pup out a LOT. After she eats, after she drinks, after she plays, after she wakes up from a nap. If she is sniffing around, let her out. If it's been more than 45mins since she last went out, take her out. Many people recommend not carrying your puppy out because it does not give them the idea to go themselves. However with young puppies sometimes they will squat and pee on the way out. You may need to find what works best, maybe start carrying her out for the first few months then build up to making her walk herself. Praise her well when she does her business outside. Be prepared to go out a lot (every 30 minutes or so).

Do not free feed your puppy. Keep her on a schedule. If you leave food out for her she may go eat while you are not watching (though you always should be) and before you know it she needs to go. Water you obviously have to keep out, which is why you have to be diligent.

The very last thing you do before going to bed is let her out - the very first thing you should do in the morning is let her in.
Crate training is a great tool to help housebreak her. The crate should not be very large - just big enough for them to stand up and turn around.

Chances are she won't be able to hold it all night long. Keep the crate in your room - be prepared to be woken up. She isn't going to want to mess in her kennel so chances are she will whine and cry.

My mother while training her Yorkie bought an interesting crate (Puppy of the Month) It's got two chambers, one for her to sleep and one for you to place a pee pad in. This is to allow her to do her business if she can't hold it and you aren't waking her up. It seemed to work quite well for her but now that she is back to a normal crate, she seems to seek out pee pads (there are none so she often finds a newspaper) sometimes, though she is about 99% housetrained.

The main idea is you really need to watch the puppy all the time. If you can't watch her, she should be in her crate. (going back to the 'not wanting to mess in her kennel' idea).

Now this is for normal house training, not pee pads. You can purchase something that looks like grass for inside the house. This may help your puppy for a bit because hopefully she will associate grass with going outside. Dogs that are trained with pee pads often will urinate on rugs, newspapers, etc. I've seen pretty good success with the grass thing. I believe it is called potty patch or something. I have no experience with it, but have heard that it works quite well.

Anyway, that's all I got. I'm sure others will be around, I wrote this kind of fast so I'm sure I missed something. You may get other differing opinions as everyone has different methods.