[rgm82]

My roommate has a 2 year old male chihuahua that keeps pooping in the house. The animal was found as a stray and has always had this issue on and off since he's owned it. He's at a loss on training it and I honestly don't know what to do either, every dog I've owned has been properly broken in as a pup and I have no idea how to reverse engineer an adult dog that's already in this habit. It's not usually a frequent thing, usually occurring every couple weeks or so but lately it's happened 3 times in the last 2 days. The dog gets plenty of time outside, more than most and still he seems to wait until he's inside to go - always poop, never pee. And he's very sneaky about it, nobody's ever caught him in the act. We don't want to have to do it this way but it has to stop somehow otherwise the next option is for him to be caged all the time. Can anybody provide any pointers on how to get this animal in line without having to go the cage route? We also have a black lab who is very well behaved and has never had this problem. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lucillle]

Crate training is pretty easy, and effective. In the beginning, the dog is either in its crate inside, on a leash with you looking at it, or outside. Use lots of praise when the dog goes outside.
Adult dogs catch on easily, and can 'hold it' better than puppies, so this should not take too long.
Housetraining

 

[rgm82]

So the dog should basically be crated at all times when inside? Can we let him out when we're home & can keep an eye on him, or should he just be crated at all times when inside until he learns?

 

[TankNintendo]

I would leash at first, so you can learn his "tells". Crate only if you are unable to watch him like when you go to bed or cooking dinner or go to work. We keep our 3 month old puppy crated at night, when we are gone, and when we are cooking/eating dinner. Otherwise, I generally let him stay out and run around with certain areas blocked off. He's only allowed in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Our upstairs and basement are closed off. Makes it easier to find and keep an eye on him when he out of his crate. Another tip is to get him on a feeding schedule! It makes it easier to anticipate when they're gonna poop, so you can time bathroom breaks easily. My puppy eats at 7am, 12pm, and 5 pm and he usually poops right before 7am, 11am, 3pm, and right before bedtime at about 9pm.

 

[rgm82]

I would leash at first, so you can learn his "tells". Crate only if you are unable to watch him like when you go to bed or cooking dinner or go to work. We keep our 3 month old puppy crated at night, when we are gone, and when we are cooking/eating dinner. Otherwise, I generally let him stay out and run around with certain areas blocked off. He's only allowed in the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Our upstairs and basement are closed off. Makes it easier to find and keep an eye on him when he out of his crate. Another tip is to get him on a feeding schedule! It makes it easier to anticipate when they're gonna poop, so you can time bathroom breaks easily. My puppy eats at 7am, 12pm, and 5 pm and he usually poops right before 7am, 11am, 3pm, and right before bedtime at about 9pm.

Well he is on a feeding schedule, my roommate typically feeds him around the same time every morning...as for keeping an eye on him at all times he's out of the cage it's pretty much impossible, it's a big house with very open spaces and he's a tiny dog...and trying to figure out his tell I think in this scenario would be irrelevant, he's a ninja pooper, sneaky as hell, he's literally snuck off and done it in the 10 second span it takes me to read and respond to a text message. I'm pretty sure he knows he's doing wrong too, whenever somebody comes across a mess we always find him hiding somewhere looking guilty as hell. We could all be home and all be in the same room, and he'll still find that moment of weakness and go drop one somewhere...last night he had just been let inside, was following my roommate up to bed, lagged behind just a bit and dropped one on the stairs practically in front of both of us...I was watching TV and my roommate thought he was still walking right behind him at the top of the stairs...he was literally right in the middle of both of us but he knew he had a 2 second window so he went for it. No, I think in this particular scenario the first idea was on the right track, the little bastard needs to be caged till he learns, otherwise he'll always find opportunities to keep sneaking dookies everywhere.

 

[Lucillle]

Well he is on a feeding schedule, my roommate typically feeds him around the same time every morning...as for keeping an eye on him at all times he's out of the cage it's pretty much impossible, it's a big house with very open spaces and he's a tiny dog...and trying to figure out his tell I think in this scenario would be irrelevant, he's a ninja pooper, sneaky as hell, he's literally snuck off and done it in the 10 second span it takes me to read and respond to a text message. I'm pretty sure he knows he's doing wrong too, whenever somebody comes across a mess we always find him hiding somewhere looking guilty as hell. We could all be home and all be in the same room, and he'll still find that moment of weakness and go drop one somewhere...last night he had just been let inside, was following my roommate up to bed, lagged behind just a bit and dropped one on the stairs practically in front of both of us...I was watching TV and my roommate thought he was still walking right behind him at the top of the stairs...he was literally right in the middle of both of us but he knew he had a 2 second window so he went for it. No, I think in this particular scenario the first idea was on the right track, the little bastard needs to be caged till he learns, otherwise he'll always find opportunities to keep sneaking dookies everywhere.

He doesn't know he is doing 'wrong' but you probably react in a way that makes him think something bad might happen to him.
If he is indoors, until he is house trained, he should be on a leash with you looking at him or in his crate.
There is no need to call your dog bad names.

Aversive or not, I'm a fan of the rolled up newspaper method with house training a dog. Get a newspaper and roll it up. Every time your dog has an indoor accident, hit yourself with the newspaper, because it is your fault you were not watching or did not take him out at the proper time..

 

[rgm82]

He doesn't know he is doing 'wrong' but you probably react in a way that makes him think something bad might happen to him.
If he is indoors, until he is house trained, he should be on a leash with you looking at him or in his crate.
There is no need to call your dog bad names.

Aversive or not, I'm a fan of the rolled up newspaper method with house training a dog. Get a newspaper and roll it up. Every time your dog has an indoor accident, hit yourself with the newspaper, because it is your fault you were not watching or did not take him out at the proper time..

Ok, well thanks for that advice in your first comment, I appreciate it...as for the condescension evident in your second comment, A) I should hit myself with a newspaper because it's my fault this happens? This is not my dog, it's not my responsibility to watch him and it's not my responsibility to train him, this habit started long before I lived here. If you have the time to keep a thorough eye on someone else's dog at all times more power to you, I prefer the properly trained dogs I've always owned previously that don't need constant supervision. He gets outside 5-6 times a day at pretty regular intervals, including an hour every morning and evening when my roommate meditates. Did I not mention the last accident occurred literally within minutes of the dog having been let back inside? He's a very active 12 pound chihuahua, keeping him within line of sight at all times would be a full time job that nobody in the world has time for.

Also, B) Again, not my dog. I'm not generally a fan of small dogs, I find them annoying, needy, stubborn and antagonistic. I prefer big dogs. That being said, when I first moved in with this roommate I did start to like this dog all the same...until his ****ting everywhere habit became apparent. So until my roommate manages to finally train him properly he's the bastard who ****s in my office and I'll call him whatever I want, thank you.

 

[denver215]

If you leash your dog, do NOT use that leash for any corrections.

When my dad had a rottie puppy, he went to training classes and they said always have a leash on your dog for easy corrections.

Yeah, that leash was his aversive and when that leash wasn't on, he didn't listen what so ever. So do NOT make the same mistake he did and don't correct with a leash on

 

[Lucillle]

Ok, well thanks for that advice in your first comment, I appreciate it...as for the condescension evident in your second comment

The second comment was obviously a joke. Lighten up.