Paper!

[summerpuppy418]

I got a little shih tzu puppy. He is very cute. I love him so much but I have one probem. I bought him a wee wee paper to do his "buisness". My problem is that he will "go" everywhere else but his wee wee pad. When I get him to "go" I give him a little treat. Do you guys know anyways I can get him to go all the time?

Thanks!
summerpuppy418 :)

[WELOVESPUPPIES]

Hello. I recommend putting your puppy in a smaller area, an area only large enough for the wee pad, a bed and a place to put the food. That is what we did with my chihuahua. Actually he was so small we just placed his kennel in the bathtub(silly I know but it worked) and his food was next to the kennel and his potty box was about 6 inches from the opening of his kennel. This left him no where else to go. They don't want to potty where they eat or sleep so it forced him into the potty box. He used his box the very first time all on his own the first night he was home. Maybe set up an area with a dog gate or something to make him more confined or buy a kennel large enough for all his stuff but still not leaving him any room to potty elsewhere. I surely hope this helps or that someone else has some advise to offer that will help you out. Good luck. But definitely continue the treats and praise for using the pads. Also when you clean up the mess try placing it on the pad and showing him, maybe this will give him the idea that that is where he is suppose to go.
Traci

EDIT: Now please keep in mind this is just what I did during the night or when we were not home. I work out of the house so during the day Chopper had free roam I just had to keep a very close eye on him. He was not the kind of pup that had to go right after waking or eating. I could stand outside forever, he was just very good at holding it from the very beginning. But he did have a couple accidents because he would get under the table and I could not get to him fast enough to take him out or to his box.

Also you can try attaching his leash to you so that he has to stay by you. This way you can start reading his body language and be able to tell when he has to go and get him outside.

Do you crate him during the day when no one is home?

[Genny]

Hey, that can be so frustrating; my little maltese that I have now use to be really bad to pee on the floor. I wasn't training her to go on a pad I was trying to get her to learn to go outside but she finally learned and now she's a year old and never usues the restroom inside!

The way I taught her was I would just take her outside every time she woke up/ ate any food at all/ or just drank some water. She usually almost always had to go to the bathroom when ever she did any of those things...and finally she leanred that she was supposed to go outside so now she waits at the door if she needs to go out.

So maybe try taking your puppy to the pad when ever he wakes up/ eats or/ drinks.

I hope that might help you out some. Good Luck. I bet he's a cutie; what is his name?

[tikeyas_mom]

My parents Shih tzu was really tough to paper train.. We were forced to paper train him because it was winter when we got him, and there was two feet of snow outside, he would get lost in it for sure.. What we did was put a leash on Oscar and had him tyde to us whenever or where ever we went he would bw forced to follow.. And if he started showing signs that he was about to pee or poop we would scoop him up and rush him to the paper to finish peeing there.. He eventually learned that the paper was where he was allowed to pee and poo, not the carpet..

And when spring rolled around, we hung a bell on the back door above where his paper was.. and whenever he would pee we would touch his nose to the bell and then put him on the grass outside, and praise him alot.. Eventually he learned that he was to ring tthe bell if he needed to go outside... this really worked well with oscar.. good luck with your puppy.. we would love to see pictures :D

[Sabra]

My problem is that he will "go" everywhere else but his wee wee pad. When I get him to "go" I give him a little treat. Do you guys know anyways I can get him to go all the time?

We just got a 9 week old chihuahua yesterday and we're training him the same way we trained (but with a twist) our little yorkie 17 years ago. We got our yorkie in early summer so we trained her to go outside. Never occurred to me to 'litter' train her.

Anyway, training a puppy is like potty training a baby. At first they have no clue when they need to go and it takes varying degrees of time for a puppy to gain bladder control. Until he does, it's up to the 'parent' to anticipate when he'll need to go to the potty and get him there *before* the mess happens.

The first thing is to only feed them on schedule. Don't leave their food down 24 hours. Water is harder because it needs to be available all the time but it's just a matter of watching them. Then hang a bell near the door (if training outside) or the room where the litter pan/pad is. Within 10 minutes of eating or drinking, take the pup and rub him/her up against the bell and then take them outside or to the litter pan and then say "go potty" or whatever phrase you want to use. Don't play with them or acknowledge them in any way they may deem 'playtime'. Don't pick them up. Wander around a bit and let them wander too. Usually within minutes, they'll do their business. Immediately pick them back up and take them inside with lots of praise!

We're doing this same thing but with the litter box. The box is in a specific room and we rub him against the bell and then take him in and put him in the litter box and say 'go potty'. If he hops out, we put him right back in and say 'go potty'. We do this until he goes. Then we remove him with lots of praise. I'm going out today to get a bigger box with higher sides so he can't hop out. Once he learns, we'll go back to the lower sides.

The advantage to the bell on the litter pan is that once he's trained, I'll hear it and know to change the paper before it smells up the house. It took about a week to train our Yorkie...and then another week to teach her that the bell meant 'potty', not 'go outside to play'.

[boricuajenny5]

I used the potty training spray for Amaya. I would spray it on the pad and take her there after she had a drink. I didnt have to use it much because she then learned that going on the pad (where the smell was) meant she gets a treat. I tried training her to go outside once it got warm but she wasnt having it. Going out after food or drinks was pure fun for her. She'd hold it until she got right back to her pad which I could deal with. She does still like to go elsewhere when I am not in the house. She is confined to a certain area but would prefer the rug over her pads. Some dogs just take longer than others.

[PupPads]

Try using pheromones, they are supposed to attract your pet to the pad. They have an outdoor smell that is also good for training them to go outside.
Try using PupPads from www.puppads.com and buying the pheromones from your local pet store or online.
It worked for my chihuahua, and should work for you too.