My husband and I recently became parents of a 7 wk old female shih-tzu and we live in a 3rd floor apartment. We are very interested in the idea of crate and/or paper training and have both done a lot of research, but I needed some advice from some people who have been through the processes. A few things: the pup will need to be left at times for up to 5 hrs. We don't mind the potty spot being in the apartment until she is able to hold her bladder for long periods of time. She has not had all her shots yet so pottying her outside on the grass (where the other dogs in the complex potty) is not an option until she has had them. Any advice??? At this point we have been crossing crate training with paper training by setting up a pen in the house with her crate at one corner of the pen and the potty pad at the other. when we're away she has free run of her pen and free access to the potty pad. When we're home she is in her crate closed and we potty her on her pad at intervals.is this ok
When I first got my Shih Tzu, who will be 2 in a couple of days, school was still in session for 2 more weeks. We gave her a big enough crate to potty in if need be by separating her sleeping area and her potty area. We folded the potty pad over and placed it in front of the door. My son then worked with her every half hour to a hour going outside to potty. Sometimes she did, sometimes not, but it got her used to going outside to potty. Once school started again, We got a baby gate and closed off the kitchen (it has hardwood floors) and put a potty pad by the door. She used only when she needed to. This gave her the ability to sleep in her crate, which she never did, and still have room to play, eat, drink, and potty. My son would let her out right away after getting home and every hour or so during the evenings for the first couple of months after school started. We quickly learn her signals and she could hold it longer.
She was not confused between the potty pad and outside in the least but it took about a good 12 months or so of both to get her totally potty trained. Once she was night trained, bye bye crate. Haven't used it since.
If you are eventually going to potty train her to go outside to many places is very confusing for the dog. If it ok for her to potty in the apt now it will be very hard to break later. Pick one method and stick with it. I would suggest the pads near your door if in fact she is going to go outside. Please remember if you are keeping her in the apt. she is going to be very frightened of the outside when you do take her out. I do not think this is a good a method for her. I understand you are concerned because she does not have her shots but once she has the parvo shot I would immediately start taking her outside.
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When I first got my Shih Tzu, who will be 2 in a couple of days, school was still in session for 2 more weeks. We gave her a big enough crate to potty in if need be by separating her sleeping area and her potty area. We folded the potty pad over and placed it in front of the door. My son then worked with her every half hour to a hour going outside to potty. Sometimes she did, sometimes not, but it got her used to going outside to potty. Once school started again, We got a baby gate and closed off the kitchen (it has hardwood floors) and put a potty pad by the door. She used only when she needed to. This gave her the ability to sleep in her crate, which she never did, and still have room to play, eat, drink, and potty. My son would let her out right away after getting home and every hour or so during the evenings for the first couple of months after school started. We quickly learn her signals and she could hold it longer.
She was not confused between the potty pad and outside in the least but it took about a good 12 months or so of both to get her totally potty trained. Once she was night trained, bye bye crate. Haven't used it since.
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Paper training her is a huge waste of time. It is a joke. Get her her shots and follow this advice:
Scolled the poop not the dog. Then take the poop to the place you want your dog to poop. Then praise the poop. I know sounds crazy, but it truly works. My dog was potty trained 100% in less than a month. Good Luck. Never use a kennel as punishment too. A kennel is a dogs safe place (cave). I highly recommend crate training your dog.
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