hello,

I have had my chihuahua for almost 2 years now and I had lived at a place where we had hard wood floors and she used her puppy pad like a pro. However I had to move into my parents house for about 2 weeks and she was limited to a room with some dark colored carpet and she started missing her pad so I had to put cardboard under the pad about a foot extra around it and she still was having issues missing the cardboard but for the most part she did a great job at attempting to make the target

Now after the 2 weeks have passed I have moved back out to my new apartment which has a much more fuzzier carpet and is the standard apartment carpet which I think may be confusing my chihuahua (Vida is her name btw)

I went out and bought a large create and some of the puppy pad trays to make her walk into the pad zone (it has about a 2-3 inch "speed bump" she needs to walk over to get to the pad. She won't even attempt to try to use the pad! She has been peeing on the carpet in random spots! I even moved her pad to the area she pee'ed twice and then she moved to a different spot! Also the apartment is much larger than her old space so I have 2 puppy pads for a 560 sq feet apartment plus a create with a pad in it as well.

I am getting so frustrated!

everytime she pees on the carpet I shame her rub her noise in her pee and give her a spanking place her in the create (small cage not sure if my spelling is right) and leave her for a few hours then place her on her puppy pad for about 20 min while at this time Im trying to encourage her to go potty ( I always say "go potty" when she is outside so I think she understands the concept a bit.

once at my parents house she was visiting and I put down a pad and did my "go potty" speech and tapped the pad and 20min latter like a pro she used her pad! So I know she has been successful in the past!

I live in Minnesota and at times I can be gone for a while about 10-12 hours and I don't have friends or family who could look walk her plus with the cold weather she doesn't go outside much during winter...

I'm sorry for it being long but I'm just so sad to see my baby stuck in a create most of the day as for the time being when ever I walk her and she goes I let her have free run of the apartment for about 2-4 hours then its back to the create for a few hours then out for another potty break.

I have took her out of the create and put her on her pad and kept her there until she pee'ed and I even moved her poo onto the puppy pad to help her get the idea of "this is where I need to do my business"

My guess is that the carpet is much more "grass like" and she is having a hard time sticking to her pad. Also the carpet is very light in color so might be some confusion as well but I think the dark colored cardboard helps with that but idk...

has anybody ever gone through the same thing or have any advice? It just really is making me sad to have to see her in a create all day she isn't able to use up all her energy and it's to cold out to walk her more than 5min

PLEASE any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

I can't help with pad training but...nix the word spanking

people here don't like it.

Those that may give a swat probably keep it to themselves because some people get very angry about things here. Most very nice but they love dogs and since these guys are tiny, they tend to be protective.

I don't think the occasional swat on the bum is bad but to each their own, just a warning.

Have you tried setting aside more play time indoors? I would..a tired dog is usually better to deal with. Mine started pooing inside when I got sick and was hospitalized, unable to walk him.

I know how frustrating it is. It sucks.

Also. If you don't catch her in the act a spanking won't do anything but make her fear you. Dogs cannot connect the two more than two or 3 seconds after it happens. If you catch her make a loud sound, give her a swat (ONE is plenty, gently to the rear, you are not aiming to cause pain, just an annoying sensation) and stick her somewhere appropriate. Pottying where she should needs to receive high praise, a treat, pets, and all the embarrassing happy speak you can muster.

"shaming her", rubbing her nose in her pee and spanking her are cruel and NOT in any way proper house training. I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, but my stomach is sick just thinking how many people out there still think this is how you house train.

She is confused. I read that chis are very tactile in learning where to pee. This makes a lot of sense to me as mine will nearly always seek out grass and when I house trained them I taught them to go on the lawn. A pee pad can feel very much like carpet, especially when the carpet may smell like other animals that may have left behind scent. Pee pads can also feel like bathmats, laundry, etc. which is why I never used them, but I do understand why some people do choose to use them.

Bottom line is you will need to start over with your pup in her new environment. Set up the pads where you want them and contain her to that area at all times you are not able to watch her. When you are with her, take her frequently to her pee pad area to potty and praise her in a happy voice when she goes. In the meantime, clean your carpets thoroughly to remove any remaining smell.

Take the time to retrain her and give her more freedom as she proves herself. But please do not 'shame' her, rub her nose in her pee or spank her. That is really just cruel and does nothing to train her.

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My dogs are my heart!

First of all, being away from home for so long every day is going to make house training a little trickier, so you will need some major patience. In my opinion, rubbing a dog's nose in their excrement (and "spanking" them) is absolutely unnecessary, and that's all I'll say about that subject. Positive reinforcement goes a long way. Every time you see her going to the bathroom in a spot that she's not supposed to, immediately move her to her pee pad. You need to watch her every second that she is free. When you can't watch her, and since you're gone from home for such a long time each day, could you put her in a playpen that is set up with her crate on one end (and food/water and toys) and a pee pad on the other?


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Totally agree with the last 2 posts - no need for spanking and rubbing noses in it in this day and age.

I would definately invest in a play pen - one of the things that stuck with me is the phrase 'make it easy for them to do well', this will certainly do that. She will not potty in her bed, or by her food/water, so the only other available place is the pee pad.

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Dogs, pups need exercise & positive reinforcement to learn. Negative reinforcement will always make learning take longer & one very confused & unhappy baby that doesn't understand what she's doing wrong. When you're at home why do you continue to lock her in the crate still? 10-12 hours is way too long to keep a playful pup locked up & then when you have the time to let her run around & get exercise, you're locking her up again. Lack of exercise can cause many problems in a growing pup including incontinance. She'll learn what you want her to, but it will take time & patience. Chis are very smart & love praise for doing the right thing to please us. If you want your chi to be able to use the crate as a safe place to go on her own, spanking her & putting her in the crate is only going to make the crate seem like a bad place.

Another rule of thumb is, that after your chi has eaten, they usually have to potty in about 15 minutes, so you'll know when to watch her more closely. Don't forget that when she does go potty where she's supposed to, to PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!!! My chi is 7 years old & I still praise her every time she goes where she's supposed to & she even knows what the words "Pee" & "Poop" mean & will go when I tell her.

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Do NOT spank her or rub her nose in her mistakes. It's cruel, unnecessary, and doesn't teach a dog anything other than to be afraid of their owner.

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thank you all for the posts and suggestions. I think I wasn't very clear in my post but I have only lived here for about 4 days now and I am a online college student who works part time on the weekends where then I could be working long days however I have very flexible hours so I might not work this weekend to help give me extra time to retrain her.

Also she is 2 years old (I still think of her as my baby lol) I do think alot of you are right about the shaming her as I do notice at times she will act like she did somthing naughty and move slowly while I check the carpet only to realize she did nothing wrong! Also before this week I havn't had to give her naughty time outs or shame her for a very very long time.

Also I was reading some of the other threads and sombody suggested putting down extra pads which is what I did last night! I placed 2 additional puppy pads in the other spots she was peeing around ( not many chi get to pick where they get to have their puppy pad! lol ) and SUCCESS!!!! she pee'ed on BOTH of them which was right next to each other and I praised her for about 2min gave her a "cookie" (a dog treat) and then gave her some wet dog food (which I used to give her twice a day but it makes her poo very um... "hard to clean" so I have been not feeding her that... only so much I can deal with lol) and now she is taking a nap.

honestly I havn't had much time to play with her since my move I been so exhausted but I always still pet her and she always follows me around most of the day and jumps around as I talk to her in such a friendly voice. I am going to start playing with her again today given that I am unpacked enough that I could take a day off or two.

Also I haven't caged her when I wasn't home yet. For some reason I feel that would be awful to leave her like that for so long. But I do like the idea of making a play pen right out front of her cage and then locking her in that area seems like a great idea!

I really don't want to mess up a good thing as she has had 2 successes by her self on her pad now but I think I might try to add a 3rd puppy pad with the tray liner that I want her to learn to go on tonight into the area she has been using her pad twice now. I will post updates on how today and tonight goes hopefully it will be a success!

My goal is to be able to adopt a 2nd chi by April ish because at her old home she was lucky to live with her mother as my roommate had a chi and she had babies and I adopted one. I really think she would be soooo much happier to have a play buddy her size as she is very energetic at times and I do play with her a lot but idk I think most chi owners who have more than one knows what im talking about. but one step at a time! lol...

This site seems like a great community with such friendly people I am glad I stopped buy