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I have a 71/2 wk old male Shih-tzu (Sam). We are potty...

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Answer by Tigerlily
Submitted on 10/10/2003
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Hi there This question brings back memories!!!! Our 6 year old, Shih Tzu, Male named Bates was very hard to toilet train also! I hate to say but I believe some of these dogs are hard to train by nature. Lets face it they are bossy little fellows who know better than us! We live in a house with section in NZ and even with all that land he still preferred to 'go' inside, preferably on the carpet!! You just have to persevere. I used to take him outside and say 'Go toilet'... over and over again, and when he did go I made a big fuss of what a good dog he was. It did take months but he eventually got the picture and now he goes on command! So its worth the effort. Best of luck.

Answer by Bella
Submitted on 6/3/2004
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I have a 4 month female Shih Tzu and I too am getting frustrated with the potty training.. After reading everyone's email I feel a little better and to be persistent. She goes when I do take her out, but she is still peeing and pooping in the house. Sometimes right in front of us.I am even bringing a treat with me whenever we go outside and sometimes I am out there for 20 minutes and all she wants to do is play. She doesn't know how to let me know she wants to go also our door to go outside is downstairs she has to go down the stairs to go to the front door. She knows how to walk down the stairs but does not know to let me know she has to go. I hope and pray she will eventually walk down the stairs herself and bark by the front door to let me know she has to go outside.. Everyone is correct that Shh Tzu'sare very stubborn. But she is worth it.. I have a friend who also has a Shih Tzu and he is 5 months old and even at that age he is not completely potty trained. Anymore advice or tips anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Irene

Answer by Lance
Submitted on 6/29/2004
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I have a 7 wk old Female Shih-tzu and to be completely honest have had good luck with potty training "Sophie". I spent the first week after her arrival, at home with her, and provided a TUN of praise with a treat (just a piece of her moistened food) every time she would go potty on the provided puppy pads. We purchased Puppy pads (which are supposed to be scented to attract puppies to them) from Wal-Mart and they have worked wonders. Already I am noticing that she will go to her puppy pads to eliminate without hesitation and has only had 1 accident in the past 5 days (have only had her for 11.... and really very few from the beginning.... I just used alot of praising.... alot of patience... and I didn't leave her alot of options for eliminating during the first few days... Her crate is actually a Cat carrier, which doesn't have a whole lot of room, so she will not eliminate in there....As soon as she wakes up in the crate, I take her to a puppy pad and say Potty over and over until she potties, and praise her to death... :)

Answer by lance
Submitted on 7/14/2004
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Hi Rita C, Not that I have alot of experience with this, but what I have read and heard is this: If they are eliminating in their crate they probably have too much room. Dogs (not just shih-tzus) do not want to eliminate where they sleep, but if they have to, they will eliminate in one corner of the crate (or other confined area) and will sleep or play in another. They should have enough room to turn around with hitting the sides of the crate. I have heard different ideas on the appropriate size of the crate, but our puppy only has enough room to turn around on each side, and enough room to lay blankets down, and place her water disk in front. Therefore if she eliminated, she would be forced to pretty much lay in it. You may want to keep the crate in your bedroom if you are not, to make sure that you hear a cry at night so you can let her out.

Answer by Amanda
Submitted on 7/18/2004
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I Have a 5 month old Shih tzu who I just rescued. He was kept in a crate all the time and that is where he learned to use the bathroom and it was never cleaned up. He was stained yellow from all the pee that he laid in for I guess the past 5 months. Although I have only had him for 2 days, I have noticed that he does not make any noise at all. No bark, No cry, No growl. I can't tell if something is wrong with him or if he is just scared. He used the bathroom in his crate last night and I had to give him another bath. How do I know if something is wrong with his voice and how do I retrain him not to use the bathroom where he sleeps. When we go outside, he just lays there. Oh, and he also walks right between my feet when I try to walk. I have fallen 2 times. How can I teach him to walk on his feet not mine.. Ha!

Answer by Lenny
Submitted on 8/6/2004
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Hi Amanda I know a good way to teach your dog not to walk between your legs. Just keep him in a thin chain leash with you all the time, including inside the house. First make sure he is used to the leash by making sure he is walking with you and every time he walks in between the leash just pull him out and to beside you keep doing this for as long as it takes, but it shouldn't take that long. Use a chain leash because dogs don't like to bight these. If he does not walk beside you and just sits there just give him a slight tug and call his name, keep giving him encouraging words like "good boy!" frequently. This technique has worked with both my babies and i hope it works for you.

Answer by Drea
Submitted on 9/2/2004
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Wow. Nice to know I am not alone. Although, we have only had our 3-month-old for 3days, she definitely is showing signs of stubborness. Ditto all the crate training advice. I have read many articles, and the overall consensus is that they should spend a lot of time in the crate. At first, I saw this as mean, but after slacking off one day, and her having two accidents, I went back to keeping her in her crate whenever I cannot completely watch her. The goal is to teach them to control their bladder, and if they wander around freely, they will just go when they feel like it. I also take her out every 1-2 hours, and keep a chart on when she went last. This helps a lot. We still play with her often, and I have heard that crate training is successful if it is stuck to. Good luck to all.

Answer by shih tzu mommy
Submitted on 9/7/2004
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First of of all, puppies are not really housebroken until around 8 months of age- for most breeds. I have never had problems potty training my shih tzus. My pups stay in a carrier when I cannot supervise them. They sleep in the carrier. Why the carrier? The dogs like having their own place and they will not mess in their sleeping area. This the first thing the pup learns. Then, I literally take the pup out to the bathroom every hour during the day- giving it small treats here and there when the pup does his thing. Lots of praise too. I never let a puppy just run around the house free- it will pee and poop. The pup stays in a roomy, but confined space at all times. After all that, my shih tzus started standing at the door to go out at around 7 months of age- they had made the connection. It takes patience, knowledge and routine to properly train a dog. Just like a human baby, a pup needs lots of guidance and love to learn.

Answer by Bethann
Submitted on 9/12/2004
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Help! I have two Shih Tzus, one Male, one Female. The Male is 6 months, the female is 5 months. The male seems to be pretty much trained, but the female is frustrating me soooooooo bad. We will take her out and she will pee and poop, then we will go inside and she will pee without asking to go out. She pees literally a few minutes after we come back in. She doesn't run around and sniff like she has to go or anything, she just squats and goes, even right in front of us. I am concerned enough that I have made an appointment at the vet to see if she has any infections going on. I have recently considered selling her, but am very concerned because they are together all the time. They are attached at the hips (not literally). We have a kennel/Crate that is large enough to hold both of them and they sleep there together. Someone told me that the crate is to big (a reason why she and he sometimes make messes in it). I am going to buy two cat carriers and start separating them, but that doesn't really answer my problem of messing inside. I have tried those "way to go" pads, but they would rather shred them then pee on them. Help-I'm about to loose one of my babies and I truly love her (but my husband just can't stand it any more).

Answer by iamsodamcute
Submitted on 9/28/2004
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Hi i have a 5 week old shih tzu and it is a male. yes i would love to get it to walk in front of me , i have almost stepped on him a few times, and the potty training, well i think its going good but want him to go outside not in the house later, i am using the pads and he has only had two accidents off the pads in the week we have had him. He actually goes to the pad without me telling him and we say potty and he does. i think this breed loves praise of any kind every time i talk to him hes like a baby taking every thing in he seems to understand it, the only thing is when do they really learn their names sometimes he comes to us when we call him and others well he does his own his own thing, the other thing is i bought a crate and so far for 4 days he has been gated off will i have a hard time trying to use the crate for when I'm out or at night since i have had him gated off?

Answer by Marcello'sMommy in NY
Submitted on 10/21/2004
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I have a 3 1/2 month old male Shih Tzu that has a fantastic temperament. He has successfully learned his name, come here, sit, lay down, and jump up. He is about 95% accurate with using wee-wee pads. However, if not supervised 100% of the time, he will defecate on the living room rug. During the night he sleeps in the kitchen gated. He has a crate which I leave open so that he can access the wee-wee pad and food. He is excellent about sleeping the night through now, and relieving himself on his wee-wee pad when necessary. The problem occurs during the day. I work from home, and he cries if I keep him confined to the kitchen when he can hear me moving about the house. So, I let him out and he generally stays with me in my home office. He uses his wee-wee pad there and sleeps on his doggy bed, or goes into his carrier. Then the phone will ring, or I'll go to answer the door. He immediately runs into the living room to poopy on the rug. He's done it at least 7-8 times in the past 6 weeks. Am I expecting too much from him at his age, or is there something else that I can do? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer by Trey
Submitted on 12/28/2004
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I just received a 6 week old male puppy for Chirstmas. His name is Louis V. He is so fun and perky, but I am a bit frustrated with him going potty on the carpets in my apartment. I have bought the puppy pads, and he does use them every once in while (it is usually when I put him on the pad right after he wakes me up at 4 AM because he wants to play). He refuses to go potty outside, but the minute we get back into the house, he goes potty there. A couple of times I have caught him doing the pee-pee wiggle and have picked him up and put him on the pad and he has gone there, but that is not often. When he has gone on the pad, I of course praise him and play with him but I have had to purchase a carpet cleaner (steam cleaner) for my place so it does not start to smell like urine and poo. Anyone have any good potty training tips??? P.S. I have purchased a crate for him (size is for a medium dog), but all he does is wine, cry and bark when he is in there. I have bought a bed for the crate as well, which covers the entire bottom of the crate so he will not go pee-pee or poo in there. It works! Now I just need to get him to sleep in it all night... lol

Answer by Puppy Love
Submitted on 1/1/2005
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I just got a new Shih Tzu for Christmas. He is 11 weeks old. I am a stay at home mom and he is begining to remind me of my children! LOL! We are having an especially hard time potty training. He does not let me know when he has to go, when he goes outside sometimes he will go pee, but never poop, and he nearly always goes again 5 minutes after he comes in the house. He wants to be a good dog and he does mind very well, but can't catch onto the potty training. I have had people tell me he goes out too much, but when I don't take him out he has several accidents instead just a few. He is on a schedule for the most part, but can't get the potty training for some reason. PLEASE HELP!

Answer by jenn6478
Submitted on 1/7/2005
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the best way to help your puppies along with house breaking is to crate/cage train your puppy..if done properly this is the easiest and fastest way...for one your new puppy should be sleeping in a crate/cage. it should not be allowed to wander around in the middle of the night unsupervised...dogs will not use the bathroom where they sleep...your puppy should stay in its cage anytime you are not directly interacting with them..the first thing you should do when you open the cage is pick him up and take him straight outside..dont even sit him down for a minute or this will give him the chance to pee in the floor..take him out for 5-10 min depending on how he is acting..when you bring him back in you can let him down to play as long as you are going to stay right with him for a little bit..i usually take mine out once again before i put her back in the cage...while they are free in the house watch their behavior, if they start smelling the floor at all take them back out for a few minutes...stay with them at all times when they are free even when they are eating...if you dont give them the chance to go in the house they wont learn that bad habit..it is time consuming and requires alot of patients..don't spank you puppy when it does have an accident..you should not have givin it the chance..good luck

Answer by glory_2004
Submitted on 2/17/2005
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For all with potty training issues, there are several things you can do. First only feed your dog 2 times a day and just enough to cover the bottom of the bowl. It may seem like you are not feeding them enough, but trust me you are. Second, you need to have a crate to teach them where you want them to go. I know after mine is done eating, I put him in the crate until he barks. As soon as he barks he goes out side and we tell him to "potty." However do not get up in the middle of the night, or they will get spoiled to you taking them out in the middle of the night. My Shih tzu has learned very quickly with this method. He still has some accidents, but he is still a puppy. If under 6 months remember that your shih tzu may not be able to hold it yet and that they will have accidents. Also if they still go #2 in the house cut the feeding down to one time a day usually mid - afternoon, until you have them trained and it should help, but remember to provide plenty of water.

Answer by T.
Submitted on 8/29/2005
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Amanda, your dog is a case of abuse. the first thing you need to understand is that he has learned to go bathroom in the crate as that is where he was left most of the time. He is probably scared to be out of the crate and that is why he is under your feet. It has only been 2 days and it will take some time before he is confident enough to start over. I would say the best thing you could do is ELIMINATE the crate! Start fresh and teach him to go outside, or on newspaper (or in a littler box with wood pellets. You most likely will not stop him from going in the crate since that is a learned behavior. Good luck to you, I have rescued many animals and they are a lot of work at first but in the end they are the most appriciative. T.

Answer by Jessica
Submitted on 11/10/2005
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I have a 3 year old male Shih Tzu and he was incredibly easy to train! It was my first dog so I had no prior experience. For starters, just about any new puppy will NOT like to be walked on a leash. He/she will either just stop and you find yourself having to pull to keep walking, or the puppy will try and jump up on your legs or walk around your legs as opposed to staying in a straight line. What you need to keep in mind is that puppies are like babies and they do not know what they are supposed to do...you have to TEACH them what to do. Most of the time, if you're having problems training the puppy, it's the "trainer" who is at fault. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you're either forgetting to do something, waiting too long to take the puppy outside or not being consistent with the training and rewards. ALWAYS ALWAYS bring treats outside with you when training your puppy. Bil Jac makes a perfect liver treat that dogs LOOOOVE! You you should reward with a lot of praise and a treat IMMEDIATELY after your puppy makes (#1 or #2) outside. If you ARE consistent with this behavior, you will get very quick results. If your dog is outside for more than 10-15 minutes and will not make, take him/her back inside and put him back into the crate. Dogs will typically NOT wee-wee or poop where they sleep which is why the crate should only be large enough for the dog to stand and turn around. Make it comfy cozy for the dog so he doesn't see the crate as a punishment. After about 10 minutes, take the dog outside again. Keep repeating this until he/she makes outside. If you live in a large apartment building and it takes a bit longer to get to the outside area, and if If you know the dog won't make it before getting outside, then CARRY your dog until you get outside. Just think, if you know a baby can't hold it, you wouldn'ttake the diaper off for more than a minute or 2 without expecting an accident, right? Also, if you don't catch your dog IN THE ACT of having an accident, you can't punish him/her. If you punish AFTER the fact, the dog has no clue what he's getting in trouble for and will become fearful that he can never make you happy. All I know is that I stopped having to crate my puppy at 5 months old. Sure, we had periodic accidents, but they were my fault. I didn't take him outside fast enough. As a rule of thumb: A puppy can "hold it" for as many hours as it is months old. ie: 2 months old = 2 hours, 4 months old = 4 hours, etc. It's just a guide, not concrete. Remember, dogs are loyal and want to make you happy. If you keep in mind that they do not understand English and need to learn specific 1 syllable sounds as commands, you'll have a perfectly trained puppy that you will find never has accidents and hardly has to be leashed! Good luck!

Answer by jmg
Submitted on 11/17/2005
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We found that with our 4 month (we got her two weeks ago) shih tzu that praise is the best thing. When we are home we take her out hourly, and she has even started to go to the door occasionally to let us know that she needs to go out (no barking, though, just standing by the door). Our biggest challenge is her wetting her "bed" in her crate at night. Because she makes no noise, unless I hear her stir (my husband is a heavy sleeper and never hears her) we miss it. Any ideas on that - she is in a small crate, but we could put a divider up and make is even smaller. I've also thought about removing everything from the crate but this seems like that last resort since it is getting cooler here, and the plastic floor in her crate can get fairly chilly.

Answer by Cheryl
Submitted on 11/22/2005
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Amanda, (1) play barking games with your pup on the floor with him. if he was ignored to the point he was stained, he was probably yelled at for barking. A vet can tell you if he's permanently damaged, though. (2) Because of the neglect, crate training may not work with your dog, you may have to try the paper method. (3) if your dog doesn't toilet within the first 10 minutes of being outside (and you should be using a "toilet" trigger word when you take him out, both before and after "go potty, good potty" etc.) take him back inside, to crate or whatever, then try again 10-15 minutes later. When you're going outside to play, use "play" so they know the difference. (4) leash train your pup by tying a leash to your belt while you're moving around the house. he'll learn to heel, but not walk in between your feet. he's doing this because he's used to being confined, and is scared. Your concern and affection will bring him 'round. Best wishes.

Answer by Ddurham
Submitted on 12/11/2005
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I just got my Shih Tzu 2 days ago and she is 6 weeks old. She has been great about going to the potty outside so far. She has had 3 accidents, but one was due to me not hearing her cry. This is my first time potty training and so far what I have done is put her in her "bed" for two hours and then when she wakes up I immediately take her outside and we are there for about 10 minutes and she urinates. Then she eats and goes back out after 20 minutes to potty and gets to stay out of her Bed for 1 hour where she plays and then goes back in her bed for another 2. So far it has worked. She can get out of the bed, but she stays in and just cries when she is ready to get out and go to the potty outside. I am very surprised, but so far she is doing great! I plan to add an hour each week to the time she has to stay in her bed or go without potting. Right now she is going about 2 times every two hours before and after her meal. She only eats 3-4 times a day and the other times she only goes once. I also wake up during the night with her.