azints 0 Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 Hi everyone! I am new to the forum, though not a new shih tzu owner. I had a female shin tzu for the last 7 years and she passed a few months ago after a horrible battle with hepatocutaneous syndrome (there was no real treatment and no cure). After the sadness of loosing our loved one at such a young age, my husband and I ended up deciding to get another shih tzu! This time we got a boy In any case, he is now 11 weeks old and I have had him for exactly one week, and he is such a sweetheart! Since I haven't done the potty training thing in many years, I had a couple of questions. I have started him crate training, and I do work full time so I have someone coming over to let him out to play and potty between 11 30 and 12 30. He gets about 40 minutes of activity and potty time and then goes back in until I get home from work around 4 or 4 30. He has been pretty consistently pooping in his crate (and peeing twice), so I just am not sure what to do? should I continue with crate training? I know its bad for them to learn to potty in their den, so I wasn't sure if maybe he's just too young to start crating? I currently have his going in the bathroom on pee pads since he hasn't had all of his shots yet and shouldn't be outside (I am a bit of an overprotective shih tzu mother now after what I went through with our other dear girl). He's been doing pretty good overall using the pads (though sometimes he goes on the tile instead of the pad *shrugs*). The only other accident we had was he urinated in bed the other night because I did not wake up to take him to the potty pad. My fault! If anyone has any thoughts, that would be much appreciated. Thanks so much! I attached a photo of him as well! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seastar 44 Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 If he's alone for that long of a time, I'd put him in a playpen with a potty pad. Crate him a bit later--he's still a tiny guy. And good for you that you have someone coming to take care of him mid-day. And welcome to Chatter! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JasperandAkira'smom 4 Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Mine did the same thing so we did the play pen with a puppy pad and would take them out every hour when we are home. They did pretty good with this system. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
azints 0 Posted November 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Thank you to both of you. I was worried that it might be early to crate. I for the life of me cannot remember at what age we began crating our previous shih tzu. Any thoughts on what age it would be appropriate to start crating him? Thanks again! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laura&Lucky 0 Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 The general rule is that they can only hold their bladder for their age in months plus one. So he's 11 weeks or 2 3/4 months, so he should be ok for 3-4 hours. Like I said, that's a general rule, it won't be accurate for every dog, but it's a start. As far as pottying in the crate, how big is it and do you have a divider in it? They're less likely to potty in it if they only have enough room to lay down, stand up, and turn around. If he has too much room he may be using one area as a potty area and one area as a sleep area. You can crate him beside your bed at night so you can hear when he wakes up and needs to go potty, and then let him sleep in your bed when he is more reliable and can hold it longer. I too would do the exercise pen with a potty pad. That's what I do with Maggie (now 5 months) when we will be away for more than 4 hours. We're still working on potty training with Maggie, she seems to be a bit slower at it than Lucky was, but I'm sure we'll get there eventually. Good luck! You're not the only one! :bye1: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
azints 0 Posted November 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 Thanks everyone! I have taken your advice and ordered a puppy playpen and will set that up for him during the day while I am at work. I plan to still have the young lady who was coming over to let him out to potty continue to come over during the day to give him his 45 min of play time (just to at least break up his day). Right after I posted this question, the little one peed on my bed several times during the night two nights in a row!! I think he might be trying to "claim" the bed as his?? Perhaps a dominance marking issue? I can't imagine why else he would be doing it. I set my alarm for 1, 3 and 5 am in order to take him to his pee pads, and I feel like that should be more than enough opportunities. I don't know what to think. I REALLY hope this doesn't continue. I never had this issue with my female shih tzu, I hope this is not what males do. Does anyone have ANY thoughts on why he would be doing this?? Needless to say, he will not be sleeping in bed with me anymore. I think I will either try him in his crate or in a carrier up on the bed next to me. We'll see what works best, but I cannot be washing sheets multiple times per day, and more importantly I do not want him to get in the habit of peeing on the bed. Has anyone else ever experienced this problem? I'm really nervous that it is going to continue?? Thanks everyone!!! This place is such a wealth of knowledge! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JasperandAkira'smom 4 Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 I did not let our two sleep with us until they were potty trained. We left them in the playpen at night. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chloe'sMom 0 Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 If he is peeing on the end of the bed opposite of where he sleeps, he just doesn't understand the concept of space. For a tiny shih tzu puppy, trotting to the corner of the bed is the equivalent of a lab trotting outdoors to potty! We crated at 12 weeks at night and got up once to take her to a pad (which she never used). Even that young she had a bladder of steel and went 8-9 hours. We didn't start crating during the day until my husband started full time a month later. Our breeder had her pretty well trained on pads. We had a few oopsies on carpet, but not hard surfaces (which is the majority of our downstairs). We did have problems switching from pads to grass. I didn't feel comfortable with Chloe in bed with me. I was afraid we would knock her off the bed or roll over on her. But, even now at 8 months, she prefers her bed where she can get to her water bottle as she needs it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Staria 53 Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I also use a play pen, my little chloe is 11 wks old and really likes it she calms right down at night time when I leave her in it. she cried all the time in the crate. She rarely uses the pee pad so I think I am pretty lucky with my potty training so far..good luck Staria Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Carolina Girl 2 Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 I got this suggestion from someone on the board: when I brought Mowgli home at 8 weeks, I put a small crate with the door removed into a doggie playpen. (Small crate) I put a pee pad in one corner of the playpen. I put a little blanket into his crate, so that he would sleep in there. He would come out of his crate at night to use his pee pad. I didn't get up at night. He was able to hold it for about 4 hours. We did this for about 4 weeks. Then we did away with the pee pads. He was then able to hold it all night. I would not put him in bed with you at such a young age. I do not think that this is a male issue. I think it's just an age issue. Mowgli was very easy dog to train. Good luck with your baby! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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