Just adopted mya and bronson need advice please

[Mia & Bronson's mom 0]

Hi everyone I am in need of other shih-tzu owners advice. I on Friday adopted mia and bronson a male and female shih tzu they are from the same home about 9 months old they where took to the shelter for bad bathroom habits the family had enough and spent alot of money and time on training I don't know this is what the shelter told me they are not doing well at my home as well. I crate them take them out feed them at certain times and they still everytime they are in the house they pee no poop just pee what should I do and where do I start it has been 5 years since I have housetrained a dog please give me advice on this a friend told me they are to old and shih-tzu's are a bad breed for this I love them already and think all dogs are trainable at any age I may be wrong but I hope I am not Thanks

Please any advice I will take it :pray:

[Apeke 4]

Hi everyone I am in need of other shih-tzu owners advice. I on Friday adopted mia and bronson a male and female shih tzu they are from the same home about 9 months old they where took to the shelter for bad bathroom habits the family had enough and spent alot of money and time on training I don't know this is what the shelter told me they are not doing well at my home as well. I crate them take them out feed them at certain times and they still everytime they are in the house they pee no poop just pee what should I do and where do I start it has been 5 years since I have housetrained a dog please give me advice on this a friend told me they are to old and shih-tzu's are a bad breed for this I love them already and think all dogs are trainable at any age I may be wrong but I hope I am not Thanks

Please any advice I will take it

I wouldn't give them free roam of the house first of all...

Buy a baby gate and place in the doorway of a room, that you don't mind them being in...

How big are they, size and weight?

I just rescued a baby Tzu the end of June and though she's turning 7 months on Friday, we're still dealing with potty training issues as well.

Emmi (the rescue) has had an ongoing set of health issues since I got her and it's been difficult to potty train her, when her system is so messed up,

but the first thing I did was purchase at my local Salvation Army , thrift store, a used portable play pen and I keep her in that rather than a crate...

I personally don't do the crate thing, so seeings how Emmi is still rather tiny, only 6 pounds, she still cannot jump out of the playpen.

I keep toys, chews, her blankie, etc. in there with her and she does just fine...

We get up in the morning...go straight outside to potty....

As soon as I know she has done all the business she's going to do...she's allowed to stay out of her playpen, but confined to one small room with the child safety gate up.

Then we eat breakfast about 1/2 hour after we first went potty....After we eat...she stays in her playpen for another 20 minutes and then straight back out side we go to potty.

She's pretty good about going when I say..."Emmi, go potty....Hurry up....Go potty" and I repeat this in a high soft pitched tone...sometimes it can take 10 to 20 minutes to do both businesses....then again, as I know she's done her duty...she's allowed back into the free room.....! I am in there with her a good part of the time, as that is where my Laptop is, so she's not just stuck in a room and forgotten and if I have to leave the house, she just goes back into her playpen....LOL

Also, you may want to try treat incentives....every time they go outside, immediately offer a treat to them while still outside, so they get the connection.

For the time being, I am not giving Emmi the treats, due to her medical issues, but I do use her dry kibble bits as the treats for now.

Do you own your home? and do you have a fenced yard? IF YES, Maybe you can install a dog door and train them to use it.

I have a Chocolate peke who learned to use it to go outside and potty when he was young, about 10 months....I am not training my little Tzu to use it just yet though, as she's at that Poop Morsel eating phase and again, it's for medical issues, but as soon as I know, medically, she's in the clear, I will be redoing our dog door and replacing the tinted flap with a clear flap to help her and Suzie, my 2 year old Tzu, who also has indoor pottying issues currently, learn how to use it when they need to go potty!

The dog door for me has been a life saver..it allows my Corkey to come in and out at will and I don't have to get up every time he has to potty, to let him out...

I wish I could have been better in the advice or idea department...

I hope someone comes along ans can help advise you on what could be an easy and long term successful option!

Good lick and by the way...

CONGRATULATIONS on your new babies!!!

Edited September 8, 2009 by Apeke

[mimi07 19]

I have a two year old rescue tzu, she started out having accidents a lot. I have had her for 4 or 5 months and she is doing great. You can teach an old dog new tricks. She has gone from a scared, unhappy little girt into a happy, playful friend for my other tzu. Take heart, they will learn and with two, probably even faster.

[kcsheperd 13]

Hi there, and congratulations on your new babies! I got Sawyer when he was 16 weeks old, and he had never left his cage.. So he had no concept of grass, outside, etc.. So we had to start from square one. I didn't crate him, but did as Vicki suggested and only let him have certain areas that he could be in at a time with baby gates.. If I saw him circling or acting like he needed to go , I would take him outside and give the "Pee Pee" command..If he did, I would do a cheer for him, and then give him his favorite liver treat..During the day while I'm at work, I keep them in the kitchen with a baby gate. I tried putting puppy pads down, but they never used them..Now they will hold it till I get home. If I'm only going to be gone a few hours, I will crate them and then take them out when I get back. Ive also found that it helps to exercise them. Exercise stimulates their bowels, and they are likely to go while on a walk, so you might try a little walk around the block and see if that helps.

It took me a LONG time to get him to figure it out, but he finally has, and now he will go by the door and wait to go outside. So just hang in there, Your babies will eventually get it..Its a "Process" lol.. :)

[luvinpreciousntoby 0]

Good luck,, it's a process... and usually when ours have accidents,, it's our fault.. for either not being home in time.. or busy with something and not paying enough attention.. I think you can teach any age if you've got the patience.

[Stacey 7]

I think youll have a harder time with two with tethering so I suggest crate training. If they are crate trained of course. The method I used with my two were crate 90% crated at all times. We got up from our night time sleep, they immediately went out to potty. If we had successful potties then they got to remain out for about 30 mins to an hour. Then go in the crate. After about another hour or two, they go out to potty. Again successful pee/poo they got to play or stay out of crate for a while.

The point of all that is, when you cant watch them 100% crate them. Dont give them chances to have accidents.

Now you can also do this by gating off a laundry room or kitchen so that they dont pee on carpets etc.

[borzoimom 24]

Well if you crate them alot- they are house broken- ie they wont pee or poop 'where they sleep"( ie the crate) so to speak. I limit the access to rooms. Start with one room, supervised, praised for going out. After well done- add another room etc. Rooms non frequented ( like a dinning room or guest bedrooms) the doors are shut. Placing the crate within that room sometimes helps to get the concept but leave it open.

How many pictures have you seen of my two young dogs, and basically- if you notice, its really just the same two rooms most of the time. Lindsey recently graduated to being able to go into other rooms. But even then- it was introduced one room at a time, make a fun game of going to the same door to go out, and a little cookie when they go out.

Another thing- a dog that was not kept clean as a puppy, to them being in waste seems normal. Keeping your pups clean ( I am sure you do that anyway but this is the benefit of it) actually helps them change their mental picture of what life is.

Finally Congratulations on your new babies!

[Cackle 144]

You've had some good advice already so I won't add to it.

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