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Housebreaking my Shih Tzu


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clemaster03

Hi,

I am not sure how to go about housereaking Max, I got him a week ago, and I ended up taking it back to my friend a day later. But I still own Max, I really want o keep him, but when I brought him home it was crazy. I know he will have to get use to me and my husband and our home, also that was the first night he was away from his mother. He is using his pads where he is at, but wasn't for me. How do I go about this.? What is the best was to housbrea Max?

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Well

do you have a crate or excercise pen?

How old is he?

If he is less than lets say 6 months old do you have someone that can come take him out during the day when everyone is gone?

Are you the only one taking care of him or are other people in the household ready to help as well?

Answer some of those questions and we can help...

But for starters.... this is how most of us do it.

Crate train, will be your best friend. Use a divider and only allow him enough room to stand up move around and lay back down. No blankets or anything.

You should always take the dog out as soon as you wake up, after eating, after play time, and before bed. Never ever leave the dog alone unattended and unwatched. If he is unwatched, then put him back in the crate.

That should get your started for now and good luck.

Edited by Stacey
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clemaster03

Max is 10 weeks old, I have no one to come and let Max out for me. I will leave for work and 7:50 and I can return home a lunch time to let him out but I think that will be to long for him. Also No blanket Food or water in the crate? I thought about using the pee pads since hes use to that and letting him out of the crate and take him where I have his pad. I am going to get a pet taxi. How often should I feed him?

Edited by clemaster03
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no, you dont want them to have access to water and/or food while your trying to potty train and your not home.

If your unable to come home or have someone to take him out when your gone, then you'll need an excercise pen or lock him up in a bathroom or laundry room with pee pads until you get home. As a puppy that is 10 weeks old can only hold their pee and/or poo for about 3 hours depending on his size. If you lock him up in a pen or bathroom and such, you can leave a blanky for comfort but you must use pee pads at that point or your gonna have really big messes.

potty training also doesnt happen over night, at a year old you can then say they are potty trained and should have no accidents but some shih tzus break this rule lol as some of them are going through it right now.

Feedings should be 2 to 3 times per day. At least twice... but try not to feed him prior to you going to work or you'll definately have poo's when your gone. If you do feed before your work, feed early enough that you can take him out prior to going to work and having him poo then.

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FairyTail Josette

Another option you may or may not want to consider, is to let him use pee pads while you're at work til he gets a little older. While you're at work, gate him off in your kitchen or back entry way, or, in an x pen with food/water and his pee pads, since, he's already using them.

If you're at all familiar with newspaper training, the pee pads can work for you the same way, if you're wanting to get him to eliminate outdoors only, eventually. You have the pee pads in an area, i.e, your kitchen or back entry way...when he's 100 percent succesful in using the pads, start to gradually move the pads closer and closer to the door. Then, eventually, he's standing at the door, and you train him to go outside and when he goes potty...you reward him with a treat, every time for quite awhile. The reward based training is a very important factor in training. Always use positive based training techniques that involve treats.

I hope I didn't confuse you. Stacey has good advice, too. It just depends on what works best for your lifestyle. I have found though, when a pup is doing something right for you...don't switch it up and confuse them. Always try to mimic the breeder's routine/environment that was successful and gradually you can change their routine to work with yours. :hideingbhindcurtian:

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It usually takes almost a year for them to mature. Bladder etc. I took Trudy out once an hour for a long time, then every two, etc. They are like a human baby. The muscles just have to mature.

I feed babies three times a day. Always go out right after they eat, drink, play and nap, before bedtime of course. The first year can be hard with the training, but they need quiet, patient time to grow up and be able to be on a schedule.

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clemaster03

When I had Max the first time, I had him gated in my laundry room, and when I would take the gate down it was like he was afraid to go in there because he knew he was going to be gated, and when he needed to pee or poop he did not want to go in there at all. So I thought if I kept him and the place where he was going to be trained at seperate it would work better.

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gizmo's mom

when we first got gizmo, at 10 weeks old, we kept him in our tiled hallway. it was pretty long so we put a pee pad on either end and his crate in the middle. hubby would come home a few times a day to take him out and clean up any accidents/replace pads, etc. As he got older we started crating him for a few hours at a time, and he was always able to hold it. he never "went" in his crate. you've just got to take it really slow and get used to cleaning up accidents. but be consistent. keep the pads in the same place so he knows where to find them. it'll start to be routine.

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