Advice re small dog

[EezerGoode]

I have acquired...a small terrier/pug/chihuahua cross puppy.shes 4 and a half months old...I'm obviously doing something wrong as she is just weeing everywhere,today on the bottom floor stair.she also did a poo on ...ON my sofa...so if you have successfully toilet trained a small dog I would be glad of your pearls of wisdom..we got her at 8 weeks..small bladder small dog so been using puppy pads ,but she's not even using them more than 50% of the time.she bites a lot as well....teething so have given her plenty to chew on...she's got her own area in the kitchen ,with all day access to a large garden.still she comes in to wee...what can I do ? Or am I expecting too much from a 4 and a half month old....I never shout or do anything other than just clean up the mess.some advice says use puppy pads,some says don't...I'm confused..if I could just get this sorted by Christmas I'd be happy,so I'm not expecting instant miracles..any advice?

Do you go out with her to wee or just put her out? You need to be there to praise and fuss!!

If your puppy has never been toilet trained they will not know to take themselves outside to the garden. You need to start from scratch and don't bother with the puppy pads as they will confuse her.

Take her outside after every meal, every playtime and when she wakes up and frequently in between. Go frantic with praise (yes you will sound like a loon to your neighbours) when she pees and poos outside. If you catch her in the act inside I would grab her and run outside then praise so she gets to understand outside = good.

It took my puppy weeks to toilet train where he would by choice always ask to go outside.

Look at the puppy survival threads on here. We are on thread 3 but threads 1 and 2 will have advice. Come and join us for support and advice from others that have young puppies.

Sometimes yes....but often she's just weed before I get chance...at first I did for every wee but we've had her 10 weeks now and I simply can't spend as much time at home with her as I did at the start...also the back doors are open all day so she could go out ,butchooses not to

Just keep putting her out every hour or so or when she wakes or when shes finished a play she'll soon catch on that toilet is outside you'll still have the odd accident but shes young and its to be expected. Just because she has access to outside doesnt mean she automatically knows thats where she goes to the toilet you have show her and praise her when she does, good luck!

You are expecting way too much and unless you are showing her where to go she won't just know to go outside . You need to be taking her out at least every 30 minutes , use a word she can associate with the action later when she gets it . Watch her constantly for signs she is going to go and take her outside then , after meals , after play , when she wakes up . Make sure you have cleaned inside with something biological or it will still smell to her and encourage her to go inside . Also puppies bite / nip that's normal . Lots of puppy threads on here , join in with one .

Shark.belive me I've been doing exactly what you described,in pouring rain with a brolly over both of us..I do praise and so does the family.and we ignor and mishap

Unfortunately she will choose to toilet inside because she doesn't understand yet that she needs to go outside. After all you have been using puppy pads so to her it probably seems that she can go inside anyway. Some people do have success with puppy pads but at some point you have to train them out of the pads and onto outside only.

Floral.yep,her word is hurry up....I'm doing that..I guess I need to go back to what i did week one..and start again..

OP it can take weeks. Some puppies get it sooner but mine took a while and it does feel relentless but if you keep at it you will get there but I really would start again and ditch the pads to really reinforce where you want her to toilet.

Also biting/nipping/chewing is normal puppy behaviour as long as it remains playful theres nothing to worry about. As pp have said join a puppy survival thread they offer great advice.

My thoughts on the puppy pads were...small dog small bladder....a poo she circles for ages and will mostly go to her spot with out me..but a wee there is no warning...she squats pees and is gone in a blink of an eye.till you find puddles here and there.so the puppy pads were because I thought she didn't have bladder control enough yet ,

I knew this was going to be hard...but I hadn't realised just how hard...if I get get her sorted by Christmas it would be amazing

They say for every month of the puppies age upto 12 months they can hold off going to the toilet for an hour so a 4 month old can comfortably hold it in for 4 hours but when out and about playing this wont happen they will literally just sit without warning!

EezerGoode I found toilet training a lot harder than expected because all the guides online suggest you can crack it in a week . Come over to the survival threads and you will see for a lot of us that was no where near the case

I've been very lucky with my JRT cross. No accidents indoors and sleeps from 10pm til 7 before needing the loo.

Yeah just keep going, taking her out and lots of praise. Sounds like you're doing the right things

I think from looking at her,and her behaviour she has a lot of chihuahua in her and less pug / terrier...she's an utter angel...when she's asleep

I have a chihuahua x jack russell. She was very hard to toilet train, much much harder than the other breeds I've trained. She's 1 year now and still has the odd accidents! But she might just be a 'special' case

I don't like puppy pads, I think it causes a lot of confusion. It's time consuming but the only way is to keep taking them outside and over-the-top praising when they do one! Most dogs will show certain behaviour when needing the toilet, mine will start sniffing the floor and running around frantically, so look out for the cues. Just stick with it, you'll get there!

Yes i agree with the pads being confusing. Ive removed them.

As she is so small it might be possible to keep her in a smaller area when you can't supervise. Puppy playpen?

Don't leave the door open all the time while she's learning as it blurs the line between inside and outside