Our Chihuahuas pee and poop everywhere... but the pad...

Hi there, I have to ask a question. As some may or may not know, we have to male pure bread chihuahua pups (I think they're still pups).

They were both born in the same litter (which cause a lot of fighting issues between them), and stayed with the breeder, and then a friend of ours (who had mated her dog with the breeder's female) until we went and picked them up in late August of 2009.

So, they are about 8 months old now. Anyways, Tyson & Theodore trained well at first. It took a long time, but we finally had gotten them trained on the pad properly, and that lasted about 2 months (at most). In the last 2 months or so, they have regressed completely and do not use their pad but on very rare occasions.

They do not pee or poop on the floor too often (a little more now than at first anyway), but the worst part is they pee and poop on their blankets and beds.

How can we stop this behavior. We've tried to block them off in the room with the pad in the morning until they've gone, but they normally just go to their bed and pee or poo there. They've even started to pee and poop on our white couch when we are not around to say no!

It is very frusterating having to wash hardwood floors by hand, at least once or twice a week because of this, and normally they go as soon as the floor dries. I'm running out of ideas! lol

One thing I have to say is that going outside is not an option. It can be, but we prefer indoor training because of the winter season here in northern ontario (canada) is rather long, and cold, so we don't want to have to go outside a lot for that. Also, the fact that we all work, and so the dogs are alone in the afternoons normally for a few hours.

One last thing, is that we had heard of people training their chihuahuas with a litter box, would that be more effective?

Finally, just to cover all bases, at the breeder's / friend's house, all the dogs we allowed to pee and poop anywhere and everywhere in the house, which I'm sure has had an effect on them and caused a big part of this problem. I just need to know how to stop them?

Thanks a bunch

In my opinion, they've just got into bad habits at the Breeders and I imagine it will be difficult to train them to be clean but not impossible, by any means.

If I were you, I'd just go back to basics, the way you would train an eight week old pup that you just brought home. When the dogs are not being watched, crate/pen them. When they use the pad, praise and more praise (even treats if need be - though I've never used this method myself). They don't appear to know what they are doing and it is unusual for a dog to pee/poo where it sleeps (haven't had to deal with that one, so not too sure what to do). I think it is much harder to housetrain two at the same time, have just done this with my Krystal's two pups that I kept from her litter. It was much harder than training one pup at a time. Not double the work, more like 10 times the work! You will get there though, I'm sure. I did.

As for litter box training, have no idea about this. I peepad train mine and garden train. They know that if no peepad is down, then garden is the place to go. If I'm not around to keep an eye, then I put a pad down, so they use it if they need to go but, mostly, they hold themselves until I put them out. I find peepad training helpful for when you are visiting people, as there isn't always a completely secure garden to let them out to. Being peepad trained sorts that out for us.

Good luck

Thanks for the tips... I'm just trying to figure out what to do about the peeing in the bed thing.

Do you clap, say good dog and give a tiny piece of cheese or very sm. treat when they do their business on the pad ? It seems to help alot It is best to say "no" in a louder voice when you catch them in the act but no use to do anything when not in the act. Postive reinforcement is the best and they should catch on but it may take a little while.

Also when you have a clean pad rub it on some of their pee and put it aside until you are going to use it, their sense of smell will take them there but don't forget the praise. Also regular cleaning products to not get rid of the smell on the carpet or hardwood, you will have to use something especially for this that you buy in a pet store.

Hope this helps a bit.

lol Oh trust me we have cans, and bottles and bottle and BOTTLES of pet cleaning stuff... lol

But thank you for those tips aswell.

I wonder, if we take away the beds & blankets during the dy to stop them from peeing on theM (and somewhat forcing them to use an alternative... the pad) would that work?

If it were me I would get rid of a pads, trays and paper, clean the floor and then start to treat them like 8 week old pups and train them.

Would seem they have had no proper training, may have been removed from the nest too soon and generally been taught no manners or clean habits from the dam and rest of the litter nor from the breeder.

So forget their age and treat them as if they are 8 weeks old, take at least 2 weeks to be by their side for 24 hours and take them out every hour, make loads of fuss of them when they get it right and ignore when they don't and all training and exercise should take place one dog at a time, never together.