5 month old shih tzu house training problems! Help!

Hi,

My female shih tzu is 5 months old now and is still going in the house

1. We crate her at night.
2. Go outside with her in the morning and she toilets on command and gets a reward.
3. After she plays for a while she comes in and goes a wee sleep in her crate.
4. Let outside again.
5. Comes in around the house and within 5 mins she pees on our wooden floor in the living room.
6. I catch her in action and put her outside saying 'toilet'.

This is pretty much the routine all day!

She knows she gets rewarded with treats when she goes outside and ignored when she goes inside! She can hold in wee and poo as she successfully does this through the night in the crate!

I'm not sure what else I can do and am pretty much loosing patience, which I don't want to do!

Then to top it off people keep telling me how they had to get rid of their shih tzu's as they are a nightmare to house-train.

I don't want to fail at this, but I'm feel a bit deflated and out of options now

I am at home all day and I give her loads of attention, loads of walks, park outings etc and she loves being in the car with me etc....

If I continue to ignore the toileting in the house I feel she will continue this, but don't want to punish her, so where do I go now?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance,

Sophia

My puppies have all been doing well enough by 5 months that I can let them out by themselves. You may not be able to yet. Take it out on leash. Walk around. They can only walk and hold it so long. When it finally has to go, lavish praise on it.

When you are around you need to keep a close eye on the dog. Use closed doors or gates to keep it in the same room as you are, and perhaps as I do, a short chain fastened to the computer desk. If you catch it in the act, give it a sharp ''Ah, ah, ah!'' and take it out. When you can't watch it, crate it.

thanks Labman, I am already doing all you suggest, I have read these forums and implemented the advice and still Honey pees in the house

Hi Sophia

My female shih tzu is 5 months old now and is still going in the house
some puppies take longer for the penny to drop and a lot depends on the initial training when first you get the puppy home
1. We crate her at night.
2. Go outside with her in the morning and she toilets on command and gets a reward.
Are you sure she really is going on command and not just because she really needs to go at this time. If she really had learnt to go on command she would be able to do so each time she went out (providing she wanted to go)

3. After she plays for a while she comes in and goes a wee sleep in her crate.

4.Let outside again.
Are you letting her go out on her own or taking her. It really is important to go out with her every time to treat and praise to reinforce the wanted behaviour.

5. Comes in around the house and within 5 mins she pees on our wooden floor in the living room.
6. I catch her in action and put her outside saying 'toilet'.

This is pretty much the routine all day!

She knows she gets rewarded with treats when she goes outside and ignored when she goes inside! She can hold in wee and poo as she successfully does this through the night in the crate!

This is probably because she is asleep so won't need to go now she is a little older.

I'm not sure what else I can do and am pretty much loosing patience, which I don't want to do!

Then to top it off people keep telling me how they had to get rid of their shih tzu's as they are a nightmare to house-train.

I don't want to fail at this, but I'm feel a bit deflated and out of options now

I am at home all day and I give her loads of attention, loads of walks, park outings etc and she loves being in the car with me etc....

If I continue to ignore the toileting in the house I feel she will continue this, but don't want to punish her, so where do I go now?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is really important to continue taking a puppy out at frequent intervals (and staying with it) at times when it is most likely to want to go .This is after sleep/play/excitement/food/first thing in a morning and last thing at night and about once an hour and to continue doing this until your puppy is house trained . Every time your puppy goes outside is another opportunity to reinforce the required behaviour until it becomes a learnt habit.
It also helps to take your puppy a short walk to an area used by other dogs, their scent will stimulate her to relieve herself .
There are no short cuts to training and if you stop taking the puppy out frequently before it is fully trained it may revert to soiling in the house.



ETA I would not take a lot of notice of the others who couldn't train their Shih's, you don't can't know for sure how much training they had given..

Hiya

Unfortunately there is no 'one age fits all' when it comes to toilet training. Some dogs just naturally take longer for the lightbulb to switch on than others, as frustrating as it can be.

My Yorkshire Terrier will be one year old next month. She wasn't reliable with going outside until a couple of months ago when she was about 8 months; nearly double the age of your pup. And that was with employing the same methods that have had my other dogs housetrained by 4 months of age. It was just one of those things I think, but I do believe that some breeds are more difficult to house train than others.

Just press on with what you are doing and she will get there in the end.

Labman did you take your puppies out by remote control.
You have already stated in previous threads the poor puppies were crated for 16 hours a day 5 days a week on wire mesh without bedding so that when they soiled they were not laying in it.

You have also told us your puppies were not alowed out alone in case they were taken by hawks.
I doubt very much the puppies (if they actually existed) were doing well by 5 months. In order to train a puppy you actually need to be with it.

If you catch a puppy in the act you don't say a sharp anything unless you actually want to make it afraid to soil in your presence.

Hi Sophia I really hope you aren't doing as Labman suggested, you won't find anyone else on this site using such cruel and outdated methods on puppies as Labman suggests . I have been in touch with various animal welfare organisations in the USA where he says he lives who say the methods he uses are 'just awful' and should be questioned by other people.


Labman I would love to be able to tell tell you exactly what to do with your short length of chain and all the other cruel and outdated methods of training you repeatedly mention on the site. Beween being shut in a crate for 16 hours most of the days and tied to a computer desk at other times it is questionable any puppies you might have had ever got chance to walk at all. I am surprised they were able to use their legs.
You are well aware of the opinions other members here have on the methods you use, I feel you are only continuing to post about them in order to get a reaction.

ETA I don't normally comment on other members posts but in the case of Labman I make an exception because I don't think his methods should go unchallenged.

Labman - exactly when do your puppies get to move freely, let alone play? If they're not crated for long periods of time in tiny spaces, without access to water, they are chained by a short length to a computer desk. If you are for real, these puppies are being mistreated.

Hi Sophia

I agree that you need to persevere.

One thing - when you let the puppy out to play, does she do anything outside, or does she keep it until she gets back indoors? If so, perhaps you could use your toilet command immediately and when she goes, reward as usual.

Do you take her to a designated toilet spot in the garden? You could try doing this and giving the command until she does what she needs to do and then let her play.

If she's going as soon as she goes outside, playing, then going again inside, perhaps she is out playing for too long? You could shorten the play, bring her in for a short time, then let her out again, using the command, then letting her play some more.

Don't despair.

Hi thankyou all for your replies!

I am being taught patience and humility which is a good thing. Think God is on my case

I am loving my wee Honey so much I am just going to have to keep going with the training and one day it will sink in!

She is so good at training in other areas, I think my Shih Tzu is just a bit stubborn as well, as I know she knows what is being asked of her, she is testing me and has trained me to give her treats!!!!

Smart Dog x