Many people are frustrated that their small dogs still aren’t potty trained. They may dribble all over, or flat out, pee and poop on the rug. Sometimes dogs will hide their mistakes, especially if you’re angry. So then you find treasures later on.
Small dogs are the worst!
Why is it so hard to train small dogs?
For one reason, we tend to spoil them, ignoring tiny mistakes at first.
Also we carry our dogs everywhere, so how can they tell us they need to go?
The 3 main reasons we have trouble dog housetraining are:
1. we’re inconsistent about where we want them to go.
2. we don’t understand the subtle difference between positive and negative reinforcement or training.
3. we expect them to hold it all day, even though their bladders are soooo tiny!
Let’s take these one at a time.
1. We’re inconsistent about where we want them to go.
As soon as you get a dog, you must decide, do you want him to go indoors (on training pads, newspapers, even in a litter box) or outdoors.
You must pick one, and stick with it. Otherwise your little Morkie will be very confused and anxious – going outside one day, and inside the next.
2. We’re not harnessing the power of positive and negative reinforcement for dog housetraining.
What does not work, is old school punishment. Instead, reward your Morkie whenever you catch him doing something great, like going on his papers. Lots of praise in a happy voice is good.
Ignore the mistakes. If you rub his nose in it, or shout, or pretend to whack him with a newspaper, he doesn’t understand. You’re simply alienating him and making him more nervous… and less trained.
Here’s how it works: See that your Morkie has made a mistake? Say NOTHING. Ignore it completely and don’t talk to him. Don’t make eye contact. Simply clean it up quickly and move on. Harness the power of POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT.
3. We’re often gone all day to work, and expect our dogs to hold it all day. They can’t!
A Morkie’s bladder is very tiny, so they simply CANNOT hold on all day. So why not set up your Morkie for success, with his own little space. Complete with bed, food, water, toys and a place to go pee or poop if you’ve trained him to go inside.
It can look like this –
Checklist for the Mini-Room
- water
- food
- pee pad
- bed
- toys
- mat or blanket / bed
- optional: carrier
- optional: dog puzzles
- cover electric plugs and wires
- no exposed cords
If your Morkie is trained to go inside, then set him up in his own ‘pad’ for times when you’re out.
Complete with cozy bed, toys, food, water and training pads or litter box.
If you’ve trained him to go outdoors, then you’ll need to consider a friend, neighbour or relative who could take him out mid day to relieve himself.
There are lots of great apps now for smartphones, with apps like Rover where you can connect with a bonded, insured dog walker for less than you’d think.
Done all this and there’s still a problem? Then it could be one of these issues:
Give it some thought and consider seeing your Vet. Your Morkie wants nothing more than to please you and make you happy so help him be a good dog.
He’s overexcited. So he pees as he jumps and wiggles all over.
He’s fearful and submissive.
Something in your body language and tone has told your dog to be afraid.
He was never trained properly and thinks that it’s ok to go in the house.
He has a medical problem, such as a urinary infection, bladder stones, kidney disease, diabetes or something else. See your Vet.
When all else fails, there’s nothing like a sense of humour.
…But he goes on the pad when we’re home and goes everywhere else when we’re not! He started doing this a few years after he was trained. ? He’s spiteful!
Or he’s saying, “pleeeeeze take me too mommy” 🙂