I have had nothing but big dogs my entire life. I had a black lab and a chocolate lab that recently passed away and I'm getting a Chihuahua. Yeah went from having relatively large dogs to one of the smallest, but it needed a home and I have a soft spot for dogs. I've also been reading about these chihuahuas and apparently they are one of the hardest dogs to house train.

I might be shooting in the dark but anybody on here who has a small dog particularly a Chihuahua have any tips on how to house train these?

 

i don't know how she did it,but my kids' mom trained their Chihuahua to go to the bathroom in a liter box like a cat,so they are trainable,this dog doesn't see the outside unless my daughter carries her outside. this one is as big around as she is tall,but that's beside the point. I have a mini rat terrier,he is house broke,trained him just like any other dog I have had. Take him outside often,and reward him for going to the bathroom out there,after about a week,my dog learned the procedure,and he lets me know when he has to go.

 

I've always owned larger dogs as well and now we have a Yorky-Poo. She is the best dog I've ever had. So much personality and love.

She is hard headed and the house breaking part is still ongoing. I never thought I would like a small dog but she just melts my heart.

I'm sorry sir, I know nothing about Chihuahua's other than they can get mean or rather very protective.

 

Wife had a chihuahua years ago. Other than being a little on the nervous side, "Peanut" was a good dog. They are protective and don't realize their three point potential!

 

I have a Chihuahua and for the most part she's house trained. Once in a blue moon she'll poop in the house but it is usually when the weather is bad and she didn't want to stay outside very long. My Jack Russel on the other hand is a whole different story. I have to keep him in his crate most of the time and watch him like a hawk when he is out of it. He likes to pee in the house.
Chichi

 

I'm hoping this dog is able to be house trained fairly easily. I've also heard that these chihuahuas can have a mean side. I'm going to have this dog around a lot of people when I get it though so hopefully i'll avoid that side. It would be sweet if she could copy my black lab because he was the best damn dog, he would ride everywhere with the truck. Really laid back and never got into trouble.

 

My Jack russell was not hard to train at all. Both my pooches ( golden being the other) will not leave the yard, period. He is very possessive of me however and Matt I take him everywhere in my truck. Being small makes them easier to load,lol
Good luck on house training, I see no probs because they are smart dogs. Just cant let them get the upper hand on ya

 

If you think that Chihuahua's are difficult to house train, you should try Italian Greyhounds. Not only are they difficult to train but they have a very high metabolism and pee and poop more than any breed I've owned.

As far as training ... please don't bother rubbing his nose in it. He will not make the connection, especially if you don't catch him in the act. That's the key ingredient here. Catching him when he does it or just as he is about to do it. So just keep an eye on the pup and when he starts to sniff with urgency, or begins to squat, tell him 'no' very sternly and a take him outside. Hopefully he'll go when you get out there (some don't for you've taken away the urge) and if he does then praise him like crazy. Especially watch him right after he eats, wakes up and gets finished playing.

And yes, dogs can be litter box trained. Just put some of his poop in there, and when he starts to squat in the house take him to the box. If he jumps out, put him back in and keep doing it till he goes, then praise him greatly. Dogs are very smart. Some are just a bit more bull headed and need more convincing. Have him neutered (or spayed if it's a girl). You don't want to bring more pups into the world and they make better pets when they aren't wanting to roam and mark everything in sight (including your furniture), or coming in heat and, yes, unspayed girls pee more than spayed girls for they also mark their territory. I have a half Chihuahua at the moment and she has never soiled the house though she was house trained when I got her (she was a rescue). All I had to do was show her how to use the doggie door.

Good luck, and thanks for giving him/her a good home. You'll be surprised how neat these little dogs are, oh and, scold it if ever it gets snippy or it'll become a real pain in the butt.

 

I have a chihuahua. She is a wonderful dog. She wasn't hard to housetrain at all. She did have some mistakes, but we got a pretty good idea of when she normally went and took her out a lot, giving her lots and lots of praise when she used the potty outside (I wouldn't say 'used the potty' with a big dog, it just doesn't sound right). Now, she goes and sits by the door when she wants out. We also kept a bottle of 'Nature's Miracle' around for the accidents. Look it up, it's amazing stuff (it's for getting rid of the pee smell). We named our dog Nano, because she's like a dog, only smaller (think 'I-Pod Nano'). Also, we have her crate trained. When they are small, and being house trained, their crate should be just big enough for them to turn around in- the idea being that dogs won't pee where they sleep. Once she was trained, we made the crate a bit bigger for when we were out of the house. She is anything but aggressive. She definitely barks at people coming in the house, but that's what dogs are supposed to do- besides, she has the cutest bark ever....

Here's the kicker with the Chi's: Chick Magnet!!!! Now, I am happily married, but when I am out with this dog, I get stopped by every woman on the street because the dog is so cute... Wish I'd known this when I was a young single man. I never thought I'd be part of that couple that went everywhere with their dog, but we are. Nano travels with us and is great in the car.


I forgot one thing: I wouldn't litter box train a dog this small. Ours goes outside and I never have to pick it up! I couldn't find it, anyway, it's so small.

 

Yeah I won't. I don't think that's the best technique nor do I hit dogs. I managed to train both the labs and never hit them once and they learned just fine.

I never thought about that but that's a pretty good point. I need to find dog parks now!

The only downside of getting this dog is the dang vet bills, although it should be cheaper then vet bills for an 80lb lab.

 

I don't know about that. I think we've spent more on our dog in the last year than we have on me! I wouldn't trade her, though.

 

You can get health insurance for your pets through your vet. A good investment especially for small dogs.

 

So Matt, is it a boy or a girl and what's its name? Oh and, I'm glad you're not going to rub its face in its duty. Everyone seemed to do such things a long time ago. Even humans, or at least the one in a memoir I was reading about this lady that grew up in the 40's. She was a bed wetter and her father would literally rub her face in it. The ritual didn't work though and she was still wetting the bed when she got married. When it happen with her husband he was very sympathetic and merely said, "That's OK honey, let's just clean it up." And she never wet the bed again. OK, so this isn't the same as training a dog, but it reminded me of what that poor lady went through living with a father that was trying to train her like a dog.

 

As an after thought ... did this dog have problems when you took it under your wing? If not, then I was curious as to why you think that a small dog will have more vet bills? I've owned both large and small and didn't seem to find that one group was at the vets more than the other. Actually, when they did go I found that the small ones cost less to treat, like, for medications, spaying and having them put down etc. Shot's were equal cost. Now if you have a small breed that is genetically programed for a lot of problems, like PRA, slipping patella's, seizures, etc., and you also have a large breed that might only be genetically programed to get hip displasia, then I can see why you'd think that that small dogs go to the vet more. But there I go getting technical. I was really only curious as to how you came to your conclusion.

 

It's a girl and I'm naming her Babs but I haven't got her yet she's only 6 weeks old and I wont get her for 3 weeks still. But we are on the same page, I thought that the smaller dogs would have a cheaper vet bill. I assumed that a smaller dog's flea and heart worm medicine would cost less. Also my lab had hip displasia since he was so big so a lot of cost came from that.

But it has been almost two years since I have had a dog and have had to pay for vet bills so that part kinda sucks. That and training it are really the only parts I'm not looking forward to. I'm actually pretty excited, its been awhile since I've had a dog.