Many dog owners find potty training a chihuahua indoors challenging.
Still, it is one of the essential lessons a chihuahua indoors has been found challenging by many dog owners, but it is one of the most important lessons you should teach your puppy.
Let’s have a look at a few simple steps that never fail!
Getting a puppy can be one of the best things you have done in your life. It can bring happiness to a family, reduce the feeling of solitude, and help you find a buddy for life!
However, puppies need training and attention to ensure that their future behavior will be appropriate and respectful.
It is essential to teach your puppy basic commands and attitudes to have a grown, dependable and loving pet.
How To Potty Training a Chihuahua Indoors
Chihuahuas have strong personalities. Understanding how to best train your chihuahua is essential to understanding this breed‘s personality traits and behavior characteristics.
Many dog owners fail to inform themselves or gain this essential knowledge, and it is easy to commit mistakes when they try to potty train their dogs indoors.
Chihuahuas are famous for having a solid character and disposition. They are among the most affectionate breeds of dogs and are incredibly friendly with family members and kids.
They, however, need some time to adapt to strangers and are among some of the best guard dogs.
Don’t forget that they are highly loyal but can quickly feel threatened due to their small size.
Moreover, some physical characteristics can get in the way. Small dogs are more likely to be affected by incontinence or urine leaking.
Understanding that your dog might be sensitive or intimidated might help you develop an efficient potty training plan that will work.
The importance of potty training
Many dog owners often overlook potty training puppies is often overlooked by many dog owners.
This is because we often think that the dog will naturally learn with time or that they are just adapting to the new environment or situation.
However, failing to house train your dog can lead to the general frustration of family members and discomfort for your dog.
A dependable and trained puppy will be a better companion during daily activities and public spaces.
Moreover, you can leave your home without worrying about your pet’s “accidents” in your living room.
While it is considered more accessible to potty train your dog outdoors or in your garden, it can also be successfully done indoors with some patience and commitment.
It is essential to address this issue immediately after adopting the puppy, as a dog’s bad habits are difficult to change in later times.
Understanding your chihuahua’s personality and needs and having an efficient training plan can make this process easier.
Tips for an efficient potty training plan
A few steps will help you potty train your chihuahua indoors for a limited time. However, you will need to prepare and perfect these techniques with time.
Understanding what works and what doesn’t can take time and depends on how you and your pet address the issue.
Understand your dog’s attitude
We have already seen that chihuahuas have recognizable personality traits and characteristics.
However, every dog is different, and you will need to examine their attitude during daily activities or around you or strangers.
Take note of the different patterns and how your dog responds to feeding and bathroom times. This will give you an idea of when your dog needs to relieve itself and how often this happens.
Understand how your dog moves around the house
Chihuahuas are incredibly intelligent, and they can understand what we are trying to teach them.
They might already know that it is wrong to go to the bathroom in your living room, but they would be doing it anyway and hiding their misbehavior.
Alternatively, they might use the pile of fresh laundry as a pee pad as it smells strongly of a known odor (for example yours).
This doesn’t mean they are being mischievous, just returning to familiar places where they feel comfortable.
Check on your chihuahua’s health
If you notice consistently inappropriate behavior, this doesn’t necessarily mean your dog is not well trained.
Smaller dogs are more prone to incontinence or after spaying accidents. Moreover, they can suffer from urinary tracts, affecting female and male dogs equally.
It is more likely for girls due to physical characteristics, but do not exclude the possibility of your dog having a UTI if he’s a male.
Talking to your vet can help you recognize some underlying health issues. Once these are solved, you will find potty-train your chihuahua easier.
A different season can affect how your dog behaves
Due to their small size, chihuahuas can get cold quickly. Even if you have been training your puppy over the summer with incredible results, winter can take you a step back.
If these “accidents” are due to the cold weather, using pee pads indoors might help you limit the damage of this problem.
Your dog will return to the same spot they previously identified as a bathroom. Keeping the pads in the same place will help your pet recognize the correct indoor behavior.
Consider the physical characteristics of your chihuahua
Being extremely small in size, chihuahuas’ bladders and intestines have a smaller capacity compared to bigger dogs. This can affect how long they can wait until having to relieve themselves.
If you have been training successfully another dog of different breeds, it doesn’t mean that those timings and exercises will work on your chihuahua.
However, by designing training tasks using crates, you can help your puppy strengthen their muscles to help them hold its needs longer.
Consider your dog’s communication abilities
Unlike other dogs, chihuahuas are not the best communicators.
They can make their owners understand when they are hungry or need attention, but puppies tend to avoid communicating when they need to use the bathroom.
However, with the proper potty training, they will be able to let you know by repeating an action that they found compelling — for example, getting your attention to the door!
Steps to potty train your chihuahua indoors
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After understanding your dog’s abilities and personality, proceed by designing a plan that works with easy-to-follow steps.
- Buy the right equipment
Papers, pee pads, turf pads, and litter boxes are some of the equipment you need to start indoor training.
This will help you limit the damage in the first days of training and offer initial indications to your puppy. (For Pee Pad prices on Amazon, Go Here)
Moreover, buy enough toys and rewards to turn the upcoming training into a game. This has been seen as one of the most effective ways to train your chihuahua.
- Design a plan that works
While chihuahuas are extremely intelligent, they are also susceptible and feel threatened quickly.
If any of these negative emotions are affecting them, it will be harder for you to train them properly.
Firstly consider force-free exercises and games that will help your dog understand what is right to do or not. This can take time, and it is best done when your pet is still a puppy.
Remember that sighing or raising your voice can also negatively affect your chihuahua. Maintain a calm and patient attitude to make them feel more comfortable.
Always try to give them privacy and time when they are relieving themselves. It might make them nervous if you are.
This will cause them to hold their bladder until they are alone and then relieve themselves anywhere they can.
- Don’t be hesitant to reach out for help
While with some commitment, you can potty train your dog effectively, the advice of expert dog trainers and behaviorists could give you the answer you were looking for.
Moreover, this can help you make potty training your chihuahua indoors a fun game for both you and your pet.
Professional step-by-step exercises can remove the frustration of trying several tools that haven’t been working.
Conclusion
Any chihuahua owner loves their pet and wishes to create an even stronger bond than the current one.
While potty training can be seen as a burden, teaching your dog the correct behavior from the first day in your house is essential.
This will help you to have an obedient, dependable, and fundamentally happier pet in your house. Don’t forget that this will bring incredible benefits to your relationship with your pet!
Are you a chihuahua owner? Have you been potty training a chihuahua indoors?
Hopefully, you have found these tips helpful. Let us know by leaving a comment below!
