Chihuahua owners advice please

[millypeggyandpandora]

My chihuahua Mr Pickles is a tiny 12 week old puppy. He is so sweet and he will nearly always wee outside. I Tate him out really frequently and after each meal and sleep. However, because he is so tiny and the house is big with stairs etc I have to carry his to the garden, otherwise he wees and poos in the house. He has sneaky poos a lot too !
I have just bought the enzyme cleaner to help prevent further accidents? Is there anything I can do to help him tell me he needs to go out side ?

Time, patience and repeition. Expect him to be about 5-6 months old before he starts to cotton on that he can ask to go out - some figure it out sooner but not many.

Be very careful you are not giving off any sense of disapproval or unhappiness when he accidents in the house. This is likely to make it harder for him - I only mention it because sneaky poos suggest he might be trying to hide them and may be doing that because he doesn't like the way people react around poo etc.

This sounds harsh, but the accidents are your fault, not his. It’s because you haven’t noticed his cues and got him outside. Take him out every half an hour and after every sleep, drink, play or eat. Whichever happens first.

Never ever punish or even seem frustrated when he has an accident. Praise him massively and really fuss him when he has a wee or poo outside. He’ll cotton on quickly.

Thank you for the replies. I will try to take him outside even more.
I don't show disapproval when he has an accident, even when he did a poo right next to me on the bathroom last night when I was in the bath! But I find wee patches and poos sometimes if I have left him unsupervised for a it.
I am worried that if he never gets the hang of it completely nobody will look after him when I go on holiday without him.
But I guess he is too young to make that assumption

I am worried that if he never gets the hang of it completely nobody will look after him when I go on holiday without him.

It'll feel like he'll never get the hang of it - but he will. It just feels like forever at the time!

Thank you Sniff for your words of encouragement.
Do you think I should stop carrying him to the garden soon? I worrying he won't get there in time on his own as he is as small as a guinea pig!

I'd restrict which parts of the house he can be in, until housetraining is better established. And I wouid have him walk out - it's terribly tempting to pick up little dogs, but they don't learn so well that way. And though small they are dogs and shouldn't be picked up more than you'd pick up a big dog.

And don't worry - 12 weeks is still very young, and it'll all come together at some point. Some dogs just take longer than others

I think I'd also be testing to see how he does walking himself to the back door.

It all helps build the right kind of habits - e.g. 'when I need a pee, I go to the back door, then go out and have a wee' vs 'when I need a pee, I go to milly&co and they carry me outside, then I have a wee'.

Even if that means you spending more time than you'd like, in the bits of the house that are closer to the back door, for a while.

Most puppy owners spend the first few months practically living in the kitchen, for good reason

Thank you
I will restrict him to the kitchen and dining room and start walking him to the door ( which will be very difficult when he has a silly hour at 6 pm! as he sort of danced around listening to nobody!)

He is tiny and still learning, you seem to be doing the right things, my one also used to do sneaky poos whenever he was unsupervised but he soon got the hang of it, I am sure your one will too (not a chi owner though, terrier here)