[Please help] My little girl has all bad behaviors of a puppy :(

[Midori1912 28]

My Bambi is an adorable female shih tzu, but she's so stubborn that she just don't listen to her owner. She pee and poop everywhere she can, even in her bed. Although we're consistently punishing and rewarding her when she do her business in the right place, she's still pee everywhere :-< and the worst part, she sit and step on her pee and poop, and eat them =.=

She's crying everytime we let her inside her crate (we used to let her sleep on our bed, but she peed and pooped on it so we have to let her sleep in her place), and she cries overtime she's being left alone in our room. Whenever she wants something, she cries, and her voice is so..., urg, her voice can wake up a whole neighborhood. We cannot sleep well during the night for a couples of weeks. Also, we have another problem to deal with is that we have a Maltese and a cat and they sleep on our bed as they don't cause any trouble. The maltese is 7-year old already and he just cannot sleep with other dogs. Maybe Bambi seeing the Maltese on bed so she's jealous and keep crying the whole night?

We're so desperately with our dog. Someone please help us

[Crinkly 15,586]

Hello and welcome

how old is Bambi?

and how long has she been living with you?

[Missysmom 24,975]

Welcome to you and Bambi, so glad you joined us! When you get a chance can you post a picture of Bambi? We'd love to see her!

[Midori1912 28]

Hi Crinkly and Missymom, Bambi is about 11 weeks now, she's been with me since 12 March, so it's been a month now.

Attached is Bambi. She's so adorable I cannot get angry at her =.=

[Crinkly 15,586]

She is beautiful!  But she is far too young to go all night without peeing and pooping.  It will be months before she can hold herself all night.

please do not punish her if she pees and poos in the wrong place.  She will learn better if you reward the good behaviour and completely ignore the accidents.

is her crate near your bed where she can smell and see you all night?  That way she won't be lonely and frightened.

She looks so lovely in the picture!

 

[PipsMom 34,988]

 to you both. Sweet little baby you got there.

[Missysmom 24,975]

OH Bambi is Adorable!! And such a little one still. Yes it's going to be awhile before she'll have her bladder control to make it through the night and get those bed privileges back!

I would be sure to give her a treat a Lots of praise when she goes potty in the right spot. Unfortunately these little ones don't do at all well with punishment and it just makes matters worse. You really have to go over the top with the praise kinda like its the absolute best thing in the world what she did. They just Love to make you happy and that will be what makes her understand in the end. But they are ultra sensitive and punishment scares them and can actually make them scared of you which can then cause them to pee cause they are scared. Also be sure you use something that gets all her scent removed, like Natures Miracle, to clean up her accidents inside. That way she shouldn't go there again.

As for the crate at night I would be sure to give her a treat and praise for going in. Then cover the crate with a towel or something and start teaching her a bedtime command so she knows it's time to go to sleep. I always tell Missy it's time to go 'night night' and she knows to go get in her bed and go to sleep now. I started that when she slept in the crate and still do it today.

Unfortunately both of these are gonna take a while for her to learn but she will! Lots of time and patience are the key with these guys! They truely are not like any other dog I've ever had, I had to throw out the regular book for dog training and learn all over again!

[Sophie's Haven 17,464]

Just wanted to you and Bambi to the forum......she is a cutie. You have already got some sound advice and with patience and a routine schedule you will get the situation under control........she is still little and has a lot to absorb in that tiny brain of hers...........When we got our Sophie the first night I put her in a crate and she did really good the first two hours and around midnight she let out this unbelievable nose that I would never thought would come out of a dog so small........I just grab her.....put her in the Big Bed between the hubby and I and that was the beginning of her sleeping in the Big Bed......I was fortunate from day one she slept thru the night and never had an accident in the bed.........she will be 8 this year and for whatever reason she will get a bug up her butt and out of the blue stand next to me and squat and piddle........regardless of what age they are they have a mind of there own.........

[Summerangel 18,997]

You have had some great advice, but I wanted to say hello and welcome ?

[Amy0515 4,651]

Hi there!  to you and Bambi!  She is a beautiful little baby.  I agree with what everyone has said.  Just give her some time.   

[Midori1912 28]

Thanks a lot for your all advices. Bambi is getting better now. It is so true that punishing does not work for this breed

[Luna 8,676]

Shih Tzu are one of the most stubborn breeds around, and the trick to getting them to do what you want is to convince them that it's THEIR idea, not yours, lol.  Bambi is very much a baby still and it will be a while before she really has full control of her bowels and bladder.  Just be patient, give lots of praise, and eventually she'll catch-on.

[Midori1912 28]

Oh I forgot to ask about Bambi eating her stool. When she's in the yard, she never eats her poop, but at night, when we're all sleeping, she silently poops in her wee wee pad and eats it. It's so hard for us to watch out her action because it's midnight. I read some articles that we should give her pills like Forbid to make her poops smell worse. However, the review of those pills are very low. Do you guys have any suggestions for Bambi? 

[Sophie's Haven 17,464]

Save your money.......out of 7.........5 of my guys are poo eaters........the only way is to stay on top of it when you can. No need to stress yourself out about it.....correct the situation when you can and hopefully over time she will learn it is a big NO NO..........I have tried home remedies and over the counter pills and nothing worked.........over time of correcting her she will learn your not happy and will try and please you by not indulging in it..........

[Summerangel 18,997]

I have one poop eater. I go outside every time they need to go.. 

Just one problem now the weather is getting warmer and I'm leaving the patio doors open more, which means they are in and out as they choose. 

Only today when I came home from work at lunch time I left the doors open and they were in and out. Then all was quiet and Donte was sitting on the path looking at Lacey on the grass. She was just out of eye shot... You've guessed it. She had pooped and was helping herself! Hmmmm 

as she saw me walking over she came away from it, not giving me eye contact. I hadn't said anything, but she knows I wasn't happy.. 

I used to stress, but I've given up, there's no point.. But I do try to watch her as much as I can... 

[ParadiseTzu 11,275]

You have gotten such great advice. And if you are like I was when I first got my puppy, I read all about puppy housebreaking. I read that if you took them out regularly, they could be potty trained by the time they were five months old. Well, that time came and went for Willie and he was still peeing on the floor and I had just taken him out 20 minutes before. I read they should be able to hold their pee one hour for every month of their age. Willie didn't read that book and just laughed when I told him other puppies followed that rule.  So dont give up, Bambi is still such a baby. Willie is now 15 months old and has not had an accident since he was 9 months old.

Also please dont judge Bambi against an older dog, there is alot of difference between an older dog and a puppy as far as potty habits.

Here are some things that helped me. And this is outside training, I have never used pee pads inside.

1. Take her out on a leash every 20 minutes she is awake. Be VERY consistent with that time frame and it is ALOT of work. And take her out when she wakes and after eating. The leash is so you can make sure they dont think it is time to play AND you see them potty. Use the same word of your choice each time to tell them to pee or poopy and eventually they do learn what the word means. Give a treat or at least lots of praise when they do potty.

2. Use a crate. If they potty, let them have some free time on the floor when you can watch them. During free time, I still use baby gates keeping them in a small area preferably on a washable type floor. If they dont potty for you, back into the crate they go and try again after 15 minutes.

3. I do NOT put mine into bed with me until a few months after I am positive they are not going to potty in my bed. Like a child, if they were to have an accident because they are sick, that is different. But until I feel they are potty trained, they spend the night in their crate but next to me.

4. I also sometimes put them on a leash and slip the loop end around my wrist and I can watch them better when I have things I need to do. I never give them free reign in the house until I feel certain they are potty trained.  

Again, it takes time and patience, but if you are consistent, she will get trained. As far as eating the stool, this is a very common shih tzu trait. I have a female that does and a male that never has. My female is six years old and because of that, I stay close to her while she does her business and it is controllable that way, but you still have to dispose of it right then or she has an elephant's memory.

This may seem like alot of crate time but the crate is always near me. I am retired and usually home. Willie does not spend much time in his crate at 15 months old, but he sometimes goes in it on his own so he does not hate being in there, some people worry about that. We do still leave him in it when we have to leave. Our 6 YO female never spends any time in a crate.

I wish you the best of luck but remember she is a baby.

[Midori1912 28]

I used to punish her pooping and peeing in my room, and reward when she does her business outside. At first, she started to sneak under my bed, or anything she can hide herself, then pee and poop. I was so desperate during that time. I cannot control since she peed every 5-10 minutes. Then I started to crate train her and cover all the hole that she can sneak under in my room. She's much better now, but I think she has an idea of hiding her poop will make me happy and not punish her. A few times I woke up at 3-4AM and caught her pooping in her wee wee pad. She's freaking out and tried to eat her poop at as fast she can even though i pulled her away and said No to her (I'm very confused that in that case I should give her treats or to say no lol). Several times later I tried to tell her that it's good to poop in her wee wee pad, but she still has the idea of hiding her poop from me. 

[Crinkly 15,586]

Sounds like she is afraid you will be cross with her for pooping and is trying to hide it.  Poor little thing.

maybe you can praise her all the time she is pooping. 'Good Girl!  Well done!  Clever girl!' To reassure her.

and give her lots praise, fuss and affection immediately afterwards - to distract her from eating it.

treats too - give her a treat.  Always positive praise.

[Midori1912 28]

Yea i did give her a lot of affection, and by punishing, i'm not hitting her or anything like that, I just make her sit against the wall for 10 minutes, then not play with her for a half or an hour. I'll try to give her a lot of good treats when she does her business in the right place, but it's at 3AM you know, so hard to control...