Help with potty training and waste eating

[lcowley 0]

I am new to the forum. We adopted an adorable shih tzu named Abbey. She is a wonderful puppy but we are having a lot of trouble potty training her. We have had her for almost five months (she is almost 8 months) and she still is not getting the concept of going out to potty. She will go when we take her out (we have her on a schedule of every two hours) and we give her a treat and praise her. The problem is that I keep finding places in our living room and dining room where she has urinated. I think she is getting the concept of pooping outside because she usually tells me when she has to go. We probably should have done this from the start, but we are gating off the living and dining room and having the carpets steam cleaned. Will this get all the urine smell out? I have been using Nature's Miracle on the places I've found, but am afraid I've missed some and she may go back to these areas to pee once she's potty trained and we take the gates down. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO POTTY TRAIN THIS BREED? I know every dog is different, but I'm getting worried that she'll never be potty trained.

The other question I have is about waste eating. Abbey eats everything outside including rabbit poop, leaves and her own poop if she gets to it before we pick it up (which isn't often). From previous posts it sounds like nothing really works to stop this behavior (ie Forbid, pineapple, etc). We want to put her on a lead once she's potty trained but I don't want her eating rabbit and her poop. I thought about putting a muzzle on her to keep her from eating outside. Has anyone ever tried this? Just a thought.

Thanks everyone for your insight and help in this matter!

[GizmoHappyKitty 1]

My previous little boy, Gizmo took 6 mo. before he was totally potty trained. My female, Miss Kitty, was almost totally potty trained by the time she was 4 mo. old and my little guy, Lucky, was totally potty trained by the time he was 5 months old.

You just have to be consistant and not let them have free run of the place when you can't keep a 100% watch on them at all times until you know they are totally potty trained. We had a little puppy pen, and when I was busy and couldn't keep a watch on the pup, he would go into the pen to make sure he was not going to have any accidents on the carpet. When I was able to watch him he got to come out and play and if I cought him about to do something on the carpet I would tell him NO and take him outside and then praise him when he did his business outside.

As for the poo eating, good luck with that. Luckily mine are not poop eaters, but both of my friends females are (one is 4 and the other is 1.5) and she hasn't found anything that works to get them to stop other than watching them constantly, picking up their poop right away and if they try to eat some when out on their walk to tell them leave it and they will listen IF she happens to see it before they do, otherwise they eat it..............ewwwwwwwww.

Michele and the pups

[Seastar 44]

She needs to be confined when you are not *directly* watching her. You have to buy a special light that will light up places where your Nature's Miracle missed. My boys potty train way faster than the girls. Juno still does sneaky little peepees now and then and she is two.

With only one dog, Forbid might work just fine--you can also try spraying the poop with Bitter Apple really quick, but picking it up instantly is your best bet. Rabbit poop is delicious and mine adore it--same with cat poop. I figure if you can get them to stop eating their own, that's pretty dang good.

[tzuhouse 4]

Yea, if I had my druthers, I would opt for the rabbit poo....LOL...at least it is tiny and hard....not as gross as their own.....So, good luck on that, I have one and watch him like a hawk, but there are those times when I don't think anyone will be pooing and I let them play and lo and behold, I look out the door and who is snacking....yep....THE BAD BOY !!!!

I agree with the pen or at least don't let her have run of the house. Some I hear take up to a year or more...I had my boys trained very fast...now Josie, who is five is another story....she has "poo issues" and she will do it in the house if I can't get her to go first trip out in the morning. It sometimes takes her literally running around the yard a few times to "work" it up...but hey, I have my own issues at times, so I can't get too upset with her.

[FairyTail Josette 14]

In general, small breeds are more difficult to potty train. But, it can be done. It took me about 6 months of day-in, day-out training to train Mandy. It was a lot of work and time, but, it did pay off. I've seen people actually tether the puppy to their belt buckle loop on their jeans, sometimes, instead of confining to a certain area. This is important, so, you don't take a step backwards during the process. It will happen, just takes consistency and patience. It's almost like a little light bulb goes off in their little heads one day. :hysterical:

Edited November 24, 2010 by FairyTail Josette

[MissPennyLane 0]

Ugh! I have the same problem with my lil Penny. She will eat her poop and smear it all over the floor too! She is 7 months now and still makes mistakes. I'm going out of my mind trying to "cure" her of this disgusting habit. ;)

[Claudiabehr 3]

Belinda, my Panda is 18 months old and will still follow her 8-month old sister Cadbury on walks, just so she can grab a poo and chow down. I'm quicker though........

[mileysmom 2]

Honestly... Miley which is almost 2 years old now, (WOW!) used to eat poo. But I just forbid her from doing it and she listens...

Now that i think about it..... Thats really the only thing she listens to. lol

[savri dream 0]

I used to have a Yorkie that ate poop, so one of the first things i taught Aflie was leave it by holding a treat in front of him and a treat in the other hand behind my back then telling him leave it as soon as he backed away from the treat in front of him i would give him the treat that i had behind my back, we then moved on to objects (cos as you know they want to investigate everything) so when he sniffs poop now i just say leave it and it seems to be working. Good luck with it though cos it really did used to gross me out when my Yorkie did it especially when they want to give kisses ;)

[Claudiabehr 3]

Terrie, my groomer, who used to be a trainer, has told me to TFT doing exactly what you're doing.

[Chloe's Mama 2]

Chloe is 8 mo's old. Since I had been staying at my mom's, she hasn't been using the pads as much as usual. She usually does good in the morning and maybe once or twice a day at home. She still eats poop sometimes, if you don't catch her right away. I am home now, so hopefully, she'll get back to her routine.