I have a 5 1/2 month old chihuahua. He has been doing great at letting
us know when he needs to go outside. I have him on a schedule and he
has done very well with it. All of a sudden, he has started peeing
whenever and wherever he wants! I have not changed anything in his
diet, routine or anything else. I felt we were doing so well and now I
have to start all over again. Any suggestions? Thank you for any help!

In article .com,
wrote:
I have a 5 1/2 month old chihuahua. He has been doing great at letting
us know when he needs to go outside. I have him on a schedule and he
has done very well with it. All of a sudden, he has started peeing
whenever and wherever he wants!

First, I'd rule out health problems like a UTI. Second, six
months is a typical age for a young dog to give freedom a
try, and if there's no organic reason for the change in
behavior I'd go back to basics - housetraining 101. It'll
go a lot faster this time.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

I have a 5 1/2 month old chihuahua. He has been doing great at letting
us know when he needs to go outside. I have him on a schedule and he
has done very well with it. All of a sudden, he has started peeing
whenever and wherever he wants! I have not changed anything in his
diet, routine or anything else. I felt we were doing so well and now I
have to start all over again. Any suggestions? Thank you for any help!


unfortunately its back to the basics again. my dog did the same thing with
his almost new found freedom until we had a quick housebreak boot camp.
good luck.

"MauiJNP" wrote in message
...
I have a 5 1/2 month old chihuahua. He has been doing great at letting
us know when he needs to go outside. I have him on a schedule and he
has done very well with it. All of a sudden, he has started peeing
whenever and wherever he wants! I have not changed anything in his
diet, routine or anything else. I felt we were doing so well and now I
have to start all over again. Any suggestions? Thank you for any help!


unfortunately its back to the basics again. my dog did the same thing
with
his almost new found freedom until we had a quick housebreak boot camp.
good luck.

It's been 14 years since I last housetrained a dog. The new puppy will
be here in less than a month, and I'm curious as to about how long it
will take to train. I know that it can vary wildly from dog to dog, and
will also depend largely on how vigilant I am -- still, any idea of what
I'm looking at here?

Bizby

Not yet. He will be at the end of June. Why do you ask?

wrote:

[Q: is the dog neutered?]

Not yet. He will be at the end of June. Why do you ask?

He's probably marking. Which explains the behavior, but your
response should be the same: more work on housetraining,
starting from square one.

--
Mark Shaw moc TOD liamg TA wahsnm
================================================== ======================
"All of my mistakes are giving me ideas." - Natalie Lileks

On Sun, 19 Jun 2005 10:26:16 -0400 bizby40 whittled these words:

It's been 14 years since I last housetrained a dog. The new puppy will
be here in less than a month, and I'm curious as to about how long it
will take to train. I know that it can vary wildly from dog to dog, and
will also depend largely on how vigilant I am -- still, any idea of what
I'm looking at here?

Intreesting question. Because when I try to answer it the first thing that
springs to mind is to consider what is meant by "house trained". I get
the vague sense that for most people it means "can go a work day" (or half
a work day) without going out AND asks to be let out - at least if need
arises off schedule. And by that definition a 12 week old puppy could be
trained to that in a week, more or less. And under that definition an 8
week old puppy might take a month. Largely because they can't wait as
long.

So assuming that the person does everything right, and using the above
defnition of what housetrained means, then 13 weeks of age, is a
reasonable goal. That also assumes no unwanted habits to overcome.

But you can achieve a "no mistakes" stage MUCH earlier if the definition
includes reasonably frequent outings, and diligent supervision. It can
take as little as a couple days for the puppy to understand "wait to go
out" as long as that "wait" is reasonable given the age and activity of
the puppy.


I kept a kind of blog on Tsuki when I got him. Maybe it will be helpful.
Start your own. It is so easy to forget what having a puppy is all about.
http://www.dogplay.com/MyDogs/puppyreport.html

Most 8 week old puppies can wait 4-5 hours if circumstances force them
to, but 99% will not wait that long if given free run of the house. The
reward of the feeling of relief from the discomfort of a full bladder is
more immediate than anything the person can do to counter it. The older
puppy can learn to wait because the bladder pressure after 4-5 hours is
less significant.

I started to explore the issue in behaviorist terms, but those who
understand the terms can probably figure out the bladder pressure vs
pleased person/clean den balance for themselves. And people who don't
understand the terms will probably yawn and glaze over so I spared you
all.

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/dogplayshop.htm

I think your little boy is going through doggie puberty.He has just
realized he needs to mark his territory like the big dogs.Did he recently
stop peeing like a puppy and start heisting his leg?I cried when my little
long haired Chihuahua first heisted his leg--it meant my little boy was
all grown up.I lost my little "Midget" almost two years ago. We were
together for twelve years.I still miss him soooooo much.By the way
Wizard--you are wrong about"instictive housebreaking at 4 weeks". Puppies
do not have full control of their bladder until 3 months.

On 19 Jun 2005 17:29:09 GMT whittled these words:

So assuming that the person does everything right, and using the above
defnition of what housetrained means, then 13 weeks of age, is a
reasonable goal. That also assumes no unwanted habits to overcome.

OK - I got lost in the editing. This is wahat is _possible_ to achieve.
But most people (obviously myself included) just aren't that diligent. So
I'd say if it takes a month after the dog is 12 weeks old before you start
reaching the "no mistakes" stage - you are doing well. And if it takes 3
months you weren't doing your job. Exect some surprises and backsliding.

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/dogplayshop.htm

wrote in message ...
On Sun, 19 Jun 2005 10:26:16 -0400 bizby40 whittled
these words:

It's been 14 years since I last housetrained a dog. The new puppy will
be here in less than a month, and I'm curious as to about how long it
will take to train. I know that it can vary wildly from dog to dog, and
will also depend largely on how vigilant I am -- still, any idea of what
I'm looking at here?

Intreesting question. Because when I try to answer it the first thing that
springs to mind is to consider what is meant by "house trained". I get
the vague sense that for most people it means "can go a work day" (or half
a work day) without going out AND asks to be let out - at least if need
arises off schedule. And by that definition a 12 week old puppy could be
trained to that in a week, more or less. And under that definition an 8
week old puppy might take a month. Largely because they can't wait as
long.

So assuming that the person does everything right, and using the above
defnition of what housetrained means, then 13 weeks of age, is a
reasonable goal. That also assumes no unwanted habits to overcome.

But you can achieve a "no mistakes" stage MUCH earlier if the definition
includes reasonably frequent outings, and diligent supervision. It can
take as little as a couple days for the puppy to understand "wait to go
out" as long as that "wait" is reasonable given the age and activity of
the puppy.

As I will be home with him much of the time, I would expect to be able
to let him out every 4 hours at the most -- or is that least? I mean, after
no more than a 4 hour stretch.

I kept a kind of blog on Tsuki when I got him. Maybe it will be helpful.
Start your own. It is so easy to forget what having a puppy is all about.
http://www.dogplay.com/MyDogs/puppyreport.html

Most 8 week old puppies can wait 4-5 hours if circumstances force them
to, but 99% will not wait that long if given free run of the house. The
reward of the feeling of relief from the discomfort of a full bladder is
more immediate than anything the person can do to counter it. The older
puppy can learn to wait because the bladder pressure after 4-5 hours is
less significant.

Thanks much. It's nice to have a sort of end goal in mind. He will be 8
weeks old when he comes home, so he'll have some maturing to do. It
was interesting reading your blog. I think that gave me a good idea of
what it might be like.

Bizby

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/dogplayshop.htm