I am getting a shih tzu April 25, 2008. It is going to be 12 weeks old. This is my first time gettting a dog and I have read many books on training shih tzus.
As long as you are consistent with the training she could be almost fully potty trained by the time the new school year starts. Or at least she will be able to physically hold it during the day when she is alone.
Tips:
1) Puppies can only hold their bladders/bowels for as many hours as they are months. Four months can hold for roughly four hours, six months for six hours. It can vary from puppy to puppy but that is the general rule of thumb. You never want to leave a puppy in it’s crate for longer than the rule of thumb. They almost certainly will make a mess in their crate.
2) Puppies need to go: First thing in the morning, roughly 10-20 minutes after eating or drinking, after playing, after naps, and right before bed. You may even have to get up once or twice in the middle of the night so they don’t poop/pee in their crate. Some signs they have to go otherwise are: circling, sniffing, pawing the ground, restlessness, paying attention to a certain spot, etc.
3) Pick up water by seven at night, and your last feeding should be at six so they don’t have any intake to add to the output. ^_^
4) Put your pet on a feeding schedule: They should be fed the amount noted on your bag of dog food, broken into two to four feedings per day. Puppies do better with more frequent feedings (due to their small stomachs) while larger dogs can go twice a day (although some may like three feedings a day.) Try to feed at the same time each day, that way you know how much your dog eats, when they eat, and can "guess" (experiment) when they might have to go poop.
- Stay away from free feeding (leaving food out constantly.) You’ll never be able to predict when they have to go or how much they eat. Most dogs tend to become obese when free fed, although some do not.
- Once you learn when they need to go and how long they can hold it, you can vary feeding times (or change them) based on your dog’s hunger. I personally put food down for my dog four times a day (once in the morning when my parents get up around six, then again at ten, again at two, then again at six) though she doesn’t always eat the food i put out.
- Only leave food out for about twenty or so minutes so they learn to eat when you offer the food – this helps in certain situations.
5) Take your puppy to the same place each time. You should designate a spot in your yard that is "potty time only" space. Clear it of all distractions and try to keep your puppy out of sight of other people and dogs. Plant yourself in one spot and give him the radius of a six foot leash. If he doesn’t go then you may walk him up and down the yard in that area. Do not play with your puppy at this time – it should be straight out, potty, then straight back in.
- Once the puppy knows to go outside then you can move around your yard so the urine doesn’t kill the grass.
6) If you catch your puppy in the house, make a noise to distract them ad rush them outside. I’ve heard that moving their mess outside to their area helps them learn to go in that area but i never tried it myself. Clean up the messed area thoroughly so they can’t smell it again.
7) Praise and treat them for going potty outside. You can add in words when they go (like "go potty" or "go poop/pee") to encourage them. Sometimes puppies even learn to go on command when you do this!
Crate train them at night and when you are gone. Puppies try their hardest to not soil their beds/den so if it is the right size they should at least try hard to not mess it (scroll down for more about crate training.)
What NOT to do:
Rub their nose in it – it’s disgusting and doesn’t teach them anything except to fear you. Some people swear by it (" I did this and they didn’t do it again… but then they also didn’t eat their breakfast so why didn’t they eat?") but it isn’t really helpful. It also leaves a nasty taste/smell in their mouth and nose so they don’t eat or drink.
Use pee pads or newspaper – the purpose of potty training is to get them to go outside, not in. Most puppies can’t tell the difference between pad or carpet, or between a purposely put out paper or the most recent edition of the post you wanted to read. Or a pile of important school papers…
Crate Training
This is when you teach your dog to stay in a crate, kennel, or cage when you are not around to watch them. Crate training is a useful thing and is not cruel at all for the puppy. They eventually learnt hat the crate is their "safe" space and will eventually love to be there. The crate should only be big enough for the puppy to sit, lay down, turn around, and stand. This keeps them from messing on one side and sleeping on the other. Crates also keep your pet safe from the household items they love to chew, and keep the house safe from them.
What NOT to do:
Go to them when they whine. They learn that whining gets you to let them out.
Throw them in an close the door. The process should take time and you should use positive reinforcement with crate training or they’ll see a crate as a bad thing and wont go in.
Use it as punishment. IF you do, they’ll always think they did something bad when you put them in it.
I don’t think any dog can be FULLY potty trained. There are always illnesses, excitement, changes in surroundings, new people, new opportunities, etc. I always expect a dog to have an accident now and again due to stress or something like illness.
But in the long run it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to get a dog to understand that they have to go outside to potty.
Tags: shih-tzu
It varies. It really depends on you and how well you train her.
References :
i Know i haven’t got a shih tzu i have a dalmation but what i did was take her out after everymeal and every time she woke up, she now cries if she wants to go out and is fully toilet trained and it wasn’t that hard, i had her at 7weeks and she is now 10weeks old and it took 2days to do, all you have to do is have patients. good luck.
References :
How long it takes to potty train your shih tzu really depends on the dog. Some learn quickly and some learn slowly. Some don’t even learn it, and some have to learn it different ways. But your dog will probably learn it just fine. good luck!
References :
Train her lots, and train her good, and she will learn in as little as a couple of hours.
References :
As long as you are consistent with the training she could be almost fully potty trained by the time the new school year starts. Or at least she will be able to physically hold it during the day when she is alone.
Tips:
1) Puppies can only hold their bladders/bowels for as many hours as they are months. Four months can hold for roughly four hours, six months for six hours. It can vary from puppy to puppy but that is the general rule of thumb. You never want to leave a puppy in it’s crate for longer than the rule of thumb. They almost certainly will make a mess in their crate.
2) Puppies need to go: First thing in the morning, roughly 10-20 minutes after eating or drinking, after playing, after naps, and right before bed. You may even have to get up once or twice in the middle of the night so they don’t poop/pee in their crate. Some signs they have to go otherwise are: circling, sniffing, pawing the ground, restlessness, paying attention to a certain spot, etc.
3) Pick up water by seven at night, and your last feeding should be at six so they don’t have any intake to add to the output. ^_^
4) Put your pet on a feeding schedule: They should be fed the amount noted on your bag of dog food, broken into two to four feedings per day. Puppies do better with more frequent feedings (due to their small stomachs) while larger dogs can go twice a day (although some may like three feedings a day.) Try to feed at the same time each day, that way you know how much your dog eats, when they eat, and can "guess" (experiment) when they might have to go poop.
- Stay away from free feeding (leaving food out constantly.) You’ll never be able to predict when they have to go or how much they eat. Most dogs tend to become obese when free fed, although some do not.
- Once you learn when they need to go and how long they can hold it, you can vary feeding times (or change them) based on your dog’s hunger. I personally put food down for my dog four times a day (once in the morning when my parents get up around six, then again at ten, again at two, then again at six) though she doesn’t always eat the food i put out.
- Only leave food out for about twenty or so minutes so they learn to eat when you offer the food – this helps in certain situations.
5) Take your puppy to the same place each time. You should designate a spot in your yard that is "potty time only" space. Clear it of all distractions and try to keep your puppy out of sight of other people and dogs. Plant yourself in one spot and give him the radius of a six foot leash. If he doesn’t go then you may walk him up and down the yard in that area. Do not play with your puppy at this time – it should be straight out, potty, then straight back in.
- Once the puppy knows to go outside then you can move around your yard so the urine doesn’t kill the grass.
6) If you catch your puppy in the house, make a noise to distract them ad rush them outside. I’ve heard that moving their mess outside to their area helps them learn to go in that area but i never tried it myself. Clean up the messed area thoroughly so they can’t smell it again.
7) Praise and treat them for going potty outside. You can add in words when they go (like "go potty" or "go poop/pee") to encourage them. Sometimes puppies even learn to go on command when you do this!
What NOT to do:
Rub their nose in it – it’s disgusting and doesn’t teach them anything except to fear you. Some people swear by it (" I did this and they didn’t do it again… but then they also didn’t eat their breakfast so why didn’t they eat?") but it isn’t really helpful. It also leaves a nasty taste/smell in their mouth and nose so they don’t eat or drink.
Use pee pads or newspaper – the purpose of potty training is to get them to go outside, not in. Most puppies can’t tell the difference between pad or carpet, or between a purposely put out paper or the most recent edition of the post you wanted to read. Or a pile of important school papers…
Crate Training
This is when you teach your dog to stay in a crate, kennel, or cage when you are not around to watch them. Crate training is a useful thing and is not cruel at all for the puppy. They eventually learnt hat the crate is their "safe" space and will eventually love to be there. The crate should only be big enough for the puppy to sit, lay down, turn around, and stand. This keeps them from messing on one side and sleeping on the other. Crates also keep your pet safe from the household items they love to chew, and keep the house safe from them.
What NOT to do:
Go to them when they whine. They learn that whining gets you to let them out.
Throw them in an close the door. The process should take time and you should use positive reinforcement with crate training or they’ll see a crate as a bad thing and wont go in.
Use it as punishment. IF you do, they’ll always think they did something bad when you put them in it.
I don’t think any dog can be FULLY potty trained. There are always illnesses, excitement, changes in surroundings, new people, new opportunities, etc. I always expect a dog to have an accident now and again due to stress or something like illness.
But in the long run it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to get a dog to understand that they have to go outside to potty.
References :
Owner
If you work hard at it then it shouldnt take to long it just depends on how well and how you train it!.
References :
Just depends on how stubborn the dog is. You should have plenty of time over the summer as long as you keep after it.
References :
just remember that anytime your baby eats or drinks it will need to go to the bathroom within about 10-15 minutes afterward
so you will need to stay ready to go outside and you need to stay outside until it uses the bathroom, too many people go out and play, the puppy gets distracted they go back inside and then the puppy goes on the rug, go to the same area every time so it knows that’s the bathroom, if your puppy doesn’t use the bathroom and you know it needs to, then walk it, walking stimulates them to use the bathroom
don’t play when it’s time to use the bathroom
since you’re going to be home this should be a breeze and shouldn’t take more than a few weeks before your puppy has the idea
good luck
References :
owned many, many dogs
(only owned one that I couldn’t housebreak)
It does vary depending on the pups personality. Be very patient and dont expect them to be 100% until 6 months to a year old.
References :