How to Litter Box Train a Chihuahua Puppy
Introduction
Although your Chihuahua will still want and need to be taken outside for exercise, you may prefer to not have to take your dog outside to use the bathroom. If you live up several flights of stairs in a big city, having a dog that can use a litter box is very convenient. If you have to be gone for long hours during the day at times and do not have someone to take your dog outside to go to the bathroom, having a dog trained to use a litter box can be essential. Perhaps you are older or have physical limitations that make it hard for you to get outside frequently; litter box training might be a huge help for you.
Many people utilize pee pads to train dogs to eliminate inside the home, but some dogs will confuse the soft fabric of the pee pads with other soft, absorbent materials in your home, such as an expensive living room rug or doormat. Using a litter box instead helps your dog to differentiate between his toilet area and the rest of your home. The rest of your home likely does not contain litter or gravel, after all. Litter can also be cheaper than pee pads, and you can purchase varieties of litter that mask the smell of poop and pee.
Defining Tasks
Expect this to take between two and five months for your Chihuahua to learn. He may learn to eliminate in the box sooner, but it will take him time to remember to go there when you are not helping him. It is very important to remain consistent while training this. The more accidents that your puppy has in your home, the longer and harder this will be to teach. Your consistency, attentiveness, and hard work will pay off with quicker training results.
Be careful not to give your Chihuahua any unsupervised freedom. It is extremely important that you watch him closely any time that he is free, and that you place him somewhere such as an exercise pen or crate when you cannot watch him. This is because the more that he is unsupervised, the more opportunities he will have for an accident to occur, and you will not be there to interrupt him and to show him where to go instead. Your puppy likely will not remember what he did once the incidence has passed, so any punishment after the fact will be ineffective. Simply pay closer attention next time.
Remember to be patient with your puppy. He does not understand what the difference between your rug and the litter box is. That is why you are showing him where to go, closely supervising him when he is free, and rewarding him for eliminating in the correct place. Because he is small, it will take him time to remember where the litter box is located and how to get there. To you it is just on the other side of the room, but to him, it is entirely out of sight and there are lots of obstacles in his path. This is why it is important to have him follow you to the box while he is learning. Eventually, he will memorize how to get there on his own and remember that it is there when he cannot see it.
Getting Started
If you are using the 'Exercise Pen' method then you will also need an exercise pen or another enclosed area. Good options for an area are hallways or small bathrooms enclosed with baby gates so that your dog can still see out. You will need a non-absorbent bed to place in the enclosed area. Good options include foam pads that are covered with vinyl or nylon or raised cot-type beds. For both the 'Exercise Pen' method and the 'Crate Training' method, you will need hollow, food-stuffed chew toys, such as kibble-stuffed Kong toys. These toys can be stuffed with your dog's kibble, soaked in water until the water is absorbed, and then placed in a bag in the freezer to freeze overnight. They can also be stuffed with dry kibble and the opening partially covered with a larger treat, so that the food will come out slowly. If you are using the 'Crate Training' method, you will also need a leash for your puppy.
With all of the methods you will need consistency, patience, perseverance, attentiveness, and at times, a good sense of humor. Remember that your Chihuahua will not be a puppy forever. Enjoy the time spent training with him now. Before you know it, he will be fully potty trained and using the litter box on his own.
The Exercise Pen Method
The Scent Method
The Crate Training Method
Written by Caitlin Crittenden
Published: 02/06/2018, edited: 01/08/2021
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Milo
So I’ve been doing the crate method (trying) and I know he can use the litter box. Pup seems too preoccupied with my presence to go potty in front of me, he will hold it until I leave and go as soon as I’m out of sight, so I can’t give treats and praise for good potties. In the crate he hasn’t had any accidents for a long time but as soon as I try to give him more space he goes on the floor in the first day or so! If I sit to watch him he will hold his potty so I can’t praise him if he does good or grab him and place him in if he does bad! I did see him stand with front paws only in the box which meant his pee went outside the box the one time I was able to see him in action. But he goes all the way in in the crate and I place him all the way in when I pick him up and place him in the box. I’ve tried repositioning it so it’s not as close to the wall to see if that would help, I’ve put fake grass in the box. I know he knows what he’s doing because when I step away for a second and he goes on the floor and I come back he hides like he knows he did it wrong, so why doesn’t he use the box? He doesn’t like going back in the kennel, but he pees on the floor if he’s not in it. I’m running out of different things I can try and hope you may have some insight that could help. I’ve stopped taking him outside because I thought that might be confusing him and it is now below freezing and I don’t want his paws to bleed on the concrete. I wanted to put another box on my patio so he can go “outside” but I can’t if he pees outside the box as my downstairs neighbor would get peed on. Please help a desperate dog owner whose trying to get her puppy service dog status.
1127 Dog owners recommended
Hello Kai, I recommend purchasing an Exercise Pen and a shallow storage container, something plastic that's large enough to fill the exercise pen space when you size the exercise pen smaller, with a low enough lip for pup to be able to easily climb over. A high rimmed lid to a storage container might even work best. I would have the entire inside of the Exercise Pen be one big litter box with the storage container taking up the space. I would then follow the Exercise Pen method from the article I have linked below, having the pen set up somewhere where you can either spy on pup from the other side of the room without standing right next to pup (with pup not being able to wander off to pee because of the pen), or if pup is really insistent on not going with you in the room, set up a camera to spy on pup from the other room, then return, give a treat, and let pup out of the pen for a while as a reward when pup goes potty in the right spot. The more pup is rewarded and freed by you, the more comfortable pup should become going in front of you. Not wanting to go in front of you could be due to pup being punished for an accident inside, so you also may need to stop punishing for that if you are doing so, and instead tighten up pup's freedom to just prevent accidents more often instead - hopefully these suggestions will help with that part because I know you are trying to do so now! Exercise Pen method: https://wagwalking.com/training/litter-box-train-a-chihuahua-puppy Once pup gets to the point where they will go potty immediately while in the exercise pen, will go potty in the pen in front of you confidently again, and through management of pup's schedule and freedom being limited to only times when pup's bladder is empty, pup is having accidents rarely, at least a couple weeks into the large litter box training, you can try returning to a smaller litter box again and see if pup will get all the way into the litter box. It sounds like pup's normal size litter box might be too small also, so maybe look for a box that's bigger than what you are currently using too when you make the switch back. The box should be twice as big as the space pup takes up while standing in it, at least. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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He is hit or miss with his litter box training. My female chihuahua picked it up much more quickly. Is it simply a matter of patience and consistency?
1127 Dog owners recommended
Hello Jennifer, Often it is a matter of patience and consistency, but you also might need to change something. Is pup going potty next to the litter box instead? What method are you using? Pup might have too much freedom. I would use the exercise pen method or crate training method if pup is having accidents in the home. If you are using the exercise pen method and pup is going next to the box instead of in it, I would purchase a large very shallow plastic storage container, like the type for shoes that's shallow enough to go under a low bed. You might even need to open up part of the front of it so pup can get it. With the box I would essentially make a really large litter box that fills the entire exercise pen, so pup can only go in the box while in there. Once pup is going there quickly really well when you take them to it, I would resize back to the smaller box again in the pen. https://wagwalking.com/training/litter-box-train-a-chihuahua-puppy Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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My puppy is in his crate when he cannot be directly supervised and to sleep. He is always taken immediately outside to potty when getting out of his crate and before going back into his crate. He goes potty outside with no problem when taken out on a schedule. When he comes in from going potty we let him have play time with us for about an hour at a time. I try to never take my eyes off of him and watch for any potty cues but it never fails, he seems to have an accident anyway. He is very short to the ground so sometimes I can't even tell he peed until he moves and then oh look there's a pee puddle. He acts oblivious to the fact that he just peed on the floor right next to me. I always interrupt him if I catch him and quickly take him outside to finish then praise him when he goes and give a treat but he still seems to go inside anyway and doesn't let me know he needs to go again. How can I get him to tell me he needs to go potty so he can be successful having playtime and spend less time in his kennel. He does have a puppy playpen set up in my dining room which is in full view of the upstairs open area and he has lots of toys and his water and food in there, it us attached to his crate so we can open the crate to let him play in there in a smaller, supervised area too, usually when I am right there in the kitchen. He has accidents in there too even if he went potty less than an hour ago. But he will stay in his crate, never once having an accident with no problem. He sleeps all night in his crate with no accidents ever. Please help.
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Hello, Most puppies won't let you know they need to go outside until they have been fully potty trained, accident free, for at least 2-3 months, with you taking them out on a schedule (so they are holding it between scheduled potty trips and but not alerting yet). Pup not alerting yet, at this point, is normal. I would continue with your schedule, giving more time before expecting alerting. If pup never learns to alert on their own by 6 months of age, you can teach pup to ring a bell, but for that to work pup needs to still be at the point where they are holding it consistently between scheduled potty trips. As far as the accidents right now, I would take pup outside to go potty every 1.5 hours at this age, but I would also only give 45 minutes of freedom out of the crate at a time. At the end of the 45 minutes, crate pup for the next 45 minutes, while their bladder is filling up, so that in that in between time of empty bladder and full enough to go potty outside, pup isn't able to have an accident. This helps pup learn to wait until they are outside to go and not just go potty when the urge hits them. In order for potty training progress to be made and pup to get to the point where they are motivated to alert, accidents need to stop through strict management of pup's schedule. I wouldn't give more freedom just yet or it will just prolong the process. Instead tighten up the schedule so that in the long run pup progresses more quickly. I would also pay attention to whether the accidents are happening in specific situations, like when you touch pup, pup gets excited, someone speaks in a deep voice, ect...There could also be some submissive or excited peeing that's going on, which is less related to a need to go potty and more related to managing pup's confidence and excitement at this age to prevent those occurrances. Clean any old or new accident spots with a cleaner that contains enzymes as well. Only enzymes will fully remove the smell so pup isn't attracted to potty in that same spot again. Read pet cleaner bottles and look for the word enzyme or enzymatic on the label or ingredients to find one. About half to a third of pet cleaners contain it. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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She will pee on her litterbox but will go poo outside of it. How can I get her to poo in her litterbox?
257 Dog owners recommended
Hi there. You may want to invest in a larger box, or place potty pads on the outside of the box. Dogs tend to sniff and circle before going poo. If they don't have enough space to do so, they will either hold it, or go somewhere that allows more space.
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Getting her to tell me when she needs to go potty
104 Dog owners recommended
Very cute! Often dogs are quite subtle when they want something. They may stand by the door and not say a word for the longest time, making it hard to get a signal. In that case, teach Sophie to let you know by ringing a bell when she needs to go out: https://wagwalking.com/training/ring-a-bell-to-go-out. It won't happen overnight and will take many repetitions of the steps to get it right. Be patient and persistent. Another option is the doggy door. Dogs are often easily trained to let themselves into a fenced yard when needed. Good luck!
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