Anonymous
Post 04/14/2025 20:17     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here and literally nothing seems to be working. We are considering rehoming. I cannot house train this dog. To everyone saying ‘you have to constantly supervise’, we are paying for daycare, etc. but the issue is while we are home she refuses to be in the crate for more than 1.5-2 hours at a time. I work from home and it is not feasible for me to supervise all the time. This sucks. I am so tired of piss and sh!t in my house.


Classic "do it right, cry once. Do it wrong, cry forever", OP. You didn't crate train your dog, your dog trained you, and now you want to pass it along to someone else.

Listen, and follow instructions exactly: Start with the dog in a crate. Since it's a small dog with prior problems, carry it directly outside and give it your command for business. If/when it does, give it a treat and spend some time playing outside (watching for more business and giving command/treat as needed). If not, bring it straight back inside (again, since it's small and needs the lesson, carry it so it doesn't have the chance to goof this up). Once back inside, offer it food/water, and then crate again. Leave the room and let the dog relax. If it's carrying on, you can check on it, but don't take the dog out of the crate while it's whining. Give it a command for hush/be quiet/no talking. When the dog has been quiet for a bit (30-60 minutes), repeat.

You will need to spend a weekend doing nothing but this, with a properly-sized crate your dog can't avoid mess in. No pee pads, no half measures, no yielding to a dog's whining. This is how you train a puppy. Why you got a puppy without knowing this and being willing to do it right the first time is beyond me, but here you are. Suck it up and train your stupid dog.


There are two separate issues.
The dog is largely crate trained: sleeps through the night in the crate and is fine when left in the crate for a few hours. The problem is on days I WFH, the dog will only stay in the crate for 1-2 hours unless there are LONG breaks in between, which isn’t feasible because I’m working. So I have to let the dog roam free and that’s when the accidents happen.

I can have the dog in the backyard for 15 min and he will come in and immediately poop on the floor.

I guess my bad and we will find a home that is a better fit for training…but I truly do not know how anyone who works a full time job can feasibly have a puppy. Lesson learned.


You have to? Or what? It points its little chihuahua gun at your head? This is ridiculous.

Take the dog out to the backyard, run it around like crazy for 20-30 minutes, bring it back inside, on a leash, and set it in your lap. Pet it, give it a few small treats, and then give it the 'chill' command (whatever you say to get it to mind its business and relax for a bit). It's a 4-month old puppy. It will crash out and nap in your lap. If it doesn't, put it in the crate and ignore whatever protests it may make.

As I said before: you are letting the dog train you.

And no, people with full-time jobs shouldn't have dogs, let alone puppies. Then again, most people these days shouldn't have dogs, let alone puppies, because there's some pretty textbook protocol available, yet we keep seeing these same threads on basis puppy/dog training 101. The problem isn't on the dog's side of the leash.
Anonymous
Post 04/14/2025 13:12     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP here and literally nothing seems to be working. We are considering rehoming. I cannot house train this dog. To everyone saying ‘you have to constantly supervise’, we are paying for daycare, etc. but the issue is while we are home she refuses to be in the crate for more than 1.5-2 hours at a time. I work from home and it is not feasible for me to supervise all the time. This sucks. I am so tired of piss and sh!t in my house.


Classic "do it right, cry once. Do it wrong, cry forever", OP. You didn't crate train your dog, your dog trained you, and now you want to pass it along to someone else.

Listen, and follow instructions exactly: Start with the dog in a crate. Since it's a small dog with prior problems, carry it directly outside and give it your command for business. If/when it does, give it a treat and spend some time playing outside (watching for more business and giving command/treat as needed). If not, bring it straight back inside (again, since it's small and needs the lesson, carry it so it doesn't have the chance to goof this up). Once back inside, offer it food/water, and then crate again. Leave the room and let the dog relax. If it's carrying on, you can check on it, but don't take the dog out of the crate while it's whining. Give it a command for hush/be quiet/no talking. When the dog has been quiet for a bit (30-60 minutes), repeat.

You will need to spend a weekend doing nothing but this, with a properly-sized crate your dog can't avoid mess in. No pee pads, no half measures, no yielding to a dog's whining. This is how you train a puppy. Why you got a puppy without knowing this and being willing to do it right the first time is beyond me, but here you are. Suck it up and train your stupid dog.


There are two separate issues.
The dog is largely crate trained: sleeps through the night in the crate and is fine when left in the crate for a few hours. The problem is on days I WFH, the dog will only stay in the crate for 1-2 hours unless there are LONG breaks in between, which isn’t feasible because I’m working. So I have to let the dog roam free and that’s when the accidents happen.

I can have the dog in the backyard for 15 min and he will come in and immediately poop on the floor.

I guess my bad and we will find a home that is a better fit for training…but I truly do not know how anyone who works a full time job can feasibly have a puppy. Lesson learned.
Anonymous
Post 04/14/2025 13:00     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:OP here and literally nothing seems to be working. We are considering rehoming. I cannot house train this dog. To everyone saying ‘you have to constantly supervise’, we are paying for daycare, etc. but the issue is while we are home she refuses to be in the crate for more than 1.5-2 hours at a time. I work from home and it is not feasible for me to supervise all the time. This sucks. I am so tired of piss and sh!t in my house.


Classic "do it right, cry once. Do it wrong, cry forever", OP. You didn't crate train your dog, your dog trained you, and now you want to pass it along to someone else.

Listen, and follow instructions exactly: Start with the dog in a crate. Since it's a small dog with prior problems, carry it directly outside and give it your command for business. If/when it does, give it a treat and spend some time playing outside (watching for more business and giving command/treat as needed). If not, bring it straight back inside (again, since it's small and needs the lesson, carry it so it doesn't have the chance to goof this up). Once back inside, offer it food/water, and then crate again. Leave the room and let the dog relax. If it's carrying on, you can check on it, but don't take the dog out of the crate while it's whining. Give it a command for hush/be quiet/no talking. When the dog has been quiet for a bit (30-60 minutes), repeat.

You will need to spend a weekend doing nothing but this, with a properly-sized crate your dog can't avoid mess in. No pee pads, no half measures, no yielding to a dog's whining. This is how you train a puppy. Why you got a puppy without knowing this and being willing to do it right the first time is beyond me, but here you are. Suck it up and train your stupid dog.
Anonymous
Post 04/14/2025 12:39     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
OP here and literally nothing seems to be working. We are considering rehoming. I cannot house train this dog. To everyone saying ‘you have to constantly supervise’, we are paying for daycare, etc. but the issue is while we are home she refuses to be in the crate for more than 1.5-2 hours at a time. I work from home and it is not feasible for me to supervise all the time. This sucks. I am so tired of piss and sh!t in my house.
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2025 18:31     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s a small breed puppy. The digestive tract is short and the bladder is tiny. And to be honest, chihuahuas aren’t the smartest. Get him on a feeding schedule and don’t give him free access to the water bowl. That should make it easier to predict when he might need to go.

This. Feeding schedule, limited water, plus smaller space as PPs have said.

Also, when our 6 mos puppy was partially trained - she would pee outside, but still liked to poop inside. We did small dishes of dry kibble spaced all over the affected room. After a day or two of trying to eat all the food so she could potty there, she gave up and was fully trained for outside.


OP here. Things are going better, but the POOPING inside is still the issue! Peeing is almost exclusively done outside.


I've never met a dog that would sh*t in a properly-sized crate unless they were left unattended for WAY too long, so you're (still) doing something wrong, OP.



Huh? They are not pooping in the crate. In the house. I take them outside and sometimes they still come inside and poop immediately after.
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2025 12:16     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s a small breed puppy. The digestive tract is short and the bladder is tiny. And to be honest, chihuahuas aren’t the smartest. Get him on a feeding schedule and don’t give him free access to the water bowl. That should make it easier to predict when he might need to go.

This. Feeding schedule, limited water, plus smaller space as PPs have said.

Also, when our 6 mos puppy was partially trained - she would pee outside, but still liked to poop inside. We did small dishes of dry kibble spaced all over the affected room. After a day or two of trying to eat all the food so she could potty there, she gave up and was fully trained for outside.


OP here. Things are going better, but the POOPING inside is still the issue! Peeing is almost exclusively done outside.


I've never met a dog that would sh*t in a properly-sized crate unless they were left unattended for WAY too long, so you're (still) doing something wrong, OP.

Anonymous
Post 04/08/2025 12:15     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:A lot of these people commenting have never raised a small dog who was difficult to housetrain before. It can be very, very difficult. You need to hire a trainer, or better yet, send your puppy to a trainer for a couple of weeks to be housetrained.


You're alleging that other posters don't know how to train dogs, and suggesting that those who do... send their dogs away?

I've housebroken 2 chis. Pee pads will only prolong the suck. You need to be vigilant about taking them outside, and crate train them properly. That's it. There's no special magic. Very few dogs are truly "difficult to housetrain"; It's just that housetraining is difficult for people who think their dogs should come pre-programmed to conform to a human schedule.
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2025 11:25     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:A lot of these people commenting have never raised a small dog who was difficult to housetrain before. It can be very, very difficult. You need to hire a trainer, or better yet, send your puppy to a trainer for a couple of weeks to be housetrained.


Don't send your dog away. Work with them. We did it. It took a long time but eventually they trained.

Agreed. Sending the dog away won't be guaranteed to work either. I can train a dog not to pee or poop in my house, but it will not necessarily transfer that over to your house.
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2025 09:56     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s a small breed puppy. The digestive tract is short and the bladder is tiny. And to be honest, chihuahuas aren’t the smartest. Get him on a feeding schedule and don’t give him free access to the water bowl. That should make it easier to predict when he might need to go.

This. Feeding schedule, limited water, plus smaller space as PPs have said.

Also, when our 6 mos puppy was partially trained - she would pee outside, but still liked to poop inside. We did small dishes of dry kibble spaced all over the affected room. After a day or two of trying to eat all the food so she could potty there, she gave up and was fully trained for outside.


OP here. Things are going better, but the POOPING inside is still the issue! Peeing is almost exclusively done outside.
Anonymous
Post 04/08/2025 00:56     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:A lot of these people commenting have never raised a small dog who was difficult to housetrain before. It can be very, very difficult. You need to hire a trainer, or better yet, send your puppy to a trainer for a couple of weeks to be housetrained.


Don't send your dog away. Work with them. We did it. It took a long time but eventually they trained.
Anonymous
Post 04/07/2025 22:22     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
A lot of these people commenting have never raised a small dog who was difficult to housetrain before. It can be very, very difficult. You need to hire a trainer, or better yet, send your puppy to a trainer for a couple of weeks to be housetrained.
Anonymous
Post 04/07/2025 18:38     Subject: Re:Puppy refuses to house train
Here's what is working for me. My puppy was adopted from a shelter which did not allow partially vaccinated or unvaccinated puppies to touch the floor or go outside due to parvo risk. Because she was caged 24/7 she learned to pee/poop in her cage. Crate was awash in urine and she had no clue that she could do anything else. Crate is now just for sleeping. I have her leashed to me indoors so that she can't wonder off and pee. I take her out on an age appropriate schedule, but also watch for sniffing, circling and generally anxious behavior and take her out to the yard. I let her off leash in the yard since we have a fence, but you could use a long leash if you don't. lots of praise for using the outdoors. It has been 3 days with no indoor accidents so far. In a couple of weeks we'll move to a little more indoor freedom and see how it goes.
Anonymous
Post 04/07/2025 18:25     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:It’s a small breed puppy. The digestive tract is short and the bladder is tiny. And to be honest, chihuahuas aren’t the smartest. Get him on a feeding schedule and don’t give him free access to the water bowl. That should make it easier to predict when he might need to go.

This. Feeding schedule, limited water, plus smaller space as PPs have said.

Also, when our 6 mos puppy was partially trained - she would pee outside, but still liked to poop inside. We did small dishes of dry kibble spaced all over the affected room. After a day or two of trying to eat all the food so she could potty there, she gave up and was fully trained for outside.
Anonymous
Post 04/07/2025 17:39     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Give it time, it took mine till maybe 8-9 months to be trained. We did PT inside on pee pads and outside.


Pee pads. Ugh, that's why it took til 8 to 9 mos.


No, its the breed/small dog. She still pees a lot per day. Makes my life easier.
Anonymous
Post 04/06/2025 03:02     Subject: Puppy refuses to house train
It’s a small breed puppy. The digestive tract is short and the bladder is tiny. And to be honest, chihuahuas aren’t the smartest. Get him on a feeding schedule and don’t give him free access to the water bowl. That should make it easier to predict when he might need to go.