potty training ? for Shih tzu or other dog owners

[allicat]

I know there are a few Shih Tzu owners on this board- my question is did you have difficulty potty training?
I am at my wits end with Simba. He is now a year old, we have had him since he was 3 months old and is still no closer to being trained than when we got him.
He will go out in the morning and pee and then come in and pee more on the kitchen floor. He knows he has done something wrong because he will run away when I find his mess and say "what did you do?" I can stay outside for a half hour waiting for him to go number 2 and he wont go. But as soon as I bring him in, he will go on the kitchen floor.
He uses a crate and I do put him in if he doesnt go when I take him out, but how many times can I bring him out repeatedly and he wont go?
He is one stubborn dog- but thats his only flaw. He is so lovable and sweet but this potty training issue is preventing him from being able to move freely around our house.I dont see any progress at all and Im frustrated.

 

[minniecarousel]

I'd like some info too - only it's a Pomeranian that my son is having a time with!! Any paper-training tips that I can pass along? (this little guy is only 3 months old - so he should be trainable still!)

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have a Shih Tzu, and yes he's difficult to potty train. He is 1 year 1 month old and still not 100%, but getting better each day. However, he never goes outside and then comes right back in and goes again - that's strange behavior. Have you had him checked by a vet to make sure he doesn't have bladder issues to cause so much peeing in a short amount of time?

When you bring him back in, do you let him run through the house or do you make him stay with you? We have found that harley only pottys in the house when we aren't paying attention to him and let him run off. We bought a baby gate and gate him in the areas we are in and try to keep an eye on him. We know his schedule, too,and which places he likes to go.

You could try the umbillical method - attach the pup to you with a leash (tying the leash to your beltloop or something). That way, pup is always with you and you can stop him immediately and take him outside.

You say that he knows it's wrong because of how he reacts when you find it... I think he's more scared of your reaction and runs off then knows it's wrong. I say that because pups can't connect hours later (or even 15 minutes later) that you are angry due to something they did, they think you're just angry at them. He is likely running off because you're upset and you're directing it towards him. The only way to correct inside pottying is to catch it in the act. If you walk up on an accident after the deed has been done, quietly clean it up and clean the area in an enzyme cleaner to remove that smell that keeps bringing him back to the kitchen floor.

Hang in there!

 

[Aidensmom]

Some things to try are to take him out very frequently (every 1-2 hours or so), walk him for a while (my dog will only number 2 while on a walk), praise him TREMENDOUSLY every time he does go outside (even give him small treats). If you catch him in the act, immediately pick him up and go outside, and if he goes any more out there, pile on the praise.

 

[allicat]

Aimeedyan-your little shih tzu is so cute!
To clarify,Simba goes outside and pees but its more like "marking his territory" not really emptying his bladder. He saves that for the kitchen floor.
I asked the vet about it because I thought marking his territory behavior would lessen once he was fixed, but the vet said no, he will still continue to do this behavior.
I just cleaned up an accident -he didnt bark or do anything to alert me that he needed to go.I love him to death but this is getting old.
Aidensmom -I praise him every time but he still prefers the kitchen floor.I dont think those enzyme cleaners work on my floor because it doesnt deter Simba one bit!

 

[Aimeedyan]

What about bell training? We are going to do this when we move because Harley has never told us when he needs to go - we just have to guess. He'll hold it until he's taken out except when he can't hold it anymore and then he does his thing on my carpet.

 

[bfeller]

Well, I hate to tell you this but my 5 year old shih tzu still doesn't understand the concept. She will go outside and do #1 and sometimes #2, but if we let her run the house without doing #2 then she will usually go into another room and do it. She is crate trained and leashed trained (tie her up to a door). When she is in the crate or tied to the patio door handle, she has no problem letting us know that she has to go but let her lose and she "forgets". We have tried giving a special treat for #2 outside but that didn't work either. I have talked to many people and have only found one owner of a shih tzu who has her dog trained. If you find the magic , please let me know.

 

[ChristmasElf]

I had a shihtzu and he suddenly bit my dd on her face. She was just 15 mos old at the time just sitting on the floor playing-dog walks up as usual. I thought he would just lie down near her, but this day he took a nip at her with no warning.
I was pretty furious and grabbed dd and ran her to the dr. she needed 4 stitches above her lip!
Next day, called vet office and vet told me that some dog breeds get a little "squirley" around 5 years old. The neighbor across the street was a widow that loved dogs and we gave him to her as I did not want dd to be bitten a second time.
Neighbor knew about dog biting dd but she still wanted him.She told me she didn't think ****zu's didn't like small children.
She had him 6 more years before he died of natural causes.

Sorry to get a little off subject. I should add he was also difficult to keep potty trained!!!

 

[kilee]

We've always had Shih Tzu's. We've got tons of educational material on them as well. The #1 & #2 "downsides" are they have a nippy behavior and they are difficult to pottytrain. I will look later for the books that site this. I believe it's in either 2 or 3 different books I have. I'd never have a shih tzu if I had small kids. They just are not good with them.

Aside from that. I currently have just finished training my youngest which is 5 1/2 months old. Kobi is I'd say 98% trainned. In the last 6 weeks he's had 3 accidents. 1 being my fault- the other's were his.

I fully believe in crate training. He does have the run of the house. We know his schedule. If I take him out and he doesn't go-- he goes in the crate. We would take him out literally every hour, then increased it to 2, then 3, so on and so forth. If he would of gone right when coming back into the house, I'd of put him in the crate until the next potty break.

Considering the dogs age, if the accidents are happening at 2-3 times a week. I'd seriously think of consulting a professional. Realistically it's not something you really want to live with for the next 10 years.

 

[Jasminesmommy]

Everyone I spoke with says crate train. I have a lhasa apso (same family of shih Tzu) and a lady my friend knows trains dogs and this is what she wrote.

Crate training!!!!

They should get a crate, or confine the dog to a small area, maybe where
he sleeps or eats (they usually don't want to pee around their food or
where they sleep)...take him outside on a short leash...4' or less...the
only thing he gets to do when he goes outside is go pee....take him out
for 6-8 minutes...don't let him play around, stay in one spot...if he
doesn't do anything, bring him inside. Confine him to his area...it has
to be small enough that he can't get away from it...after an hour, take
him out again to do his business...if nothing...bring him inside
again...confine...etc....it might be hard to confine him, but I it
should work in the end...if you can't keep an eye on the dog to make
sure he isn't doing anything wrong, then put him in the crate.
praise the dog when he does his stuff outside! Also, you can start to
use a word that indicates what you want him to do outside...but do it
right as their squatting...i use "find your spot"...once they get used
to that word they will understand what you want them to do...also, since
it is such a small dog...as soon as he starts to squat inside, do
something to grab his attention, I used the loud "eh-eh" or "no" is
good...and pick them up, take them outside and say "find your spot" when
they squat outside. Another thing to do is...while weird...but take
some of his pooo to an area outside where you want him to go...he will
associate this with the action when he smells it, and may get the
hint..we kinda did that with kohl...he was litter box trained when we go
him..so when we brought him home, we through some litter down on the
ground outside so he would know that is where he is supposed to go...if
the dog uses pee pads, then put them outside!