New home, old dog.

cmelliott

We just got a dog off of craigslist a few months ago. He is a 4 year old Chiweenie (chihuahua/weiner dog mix) and he is very sweet and timid. When we first got him home he peed a lot which we chalked up to the fact it was a new family, environment, and he isn't fixed. We've got him pretty up to speed now and have learned his signs that he has to use the restroom but he still has accidents every now and then if we don't let him out often enough because he has a tiny bladder, and also I heard that both chihuahua's and weiner dog's are hard at house training so a mix of them is even harder. He still tries to pee on everything if we go somewhere new, such as Petco.We are planning on buying a home soon and I was wondering what was a good way of getting him used to a new environment without him trying to pee everywhere. We're willing to get him fixed, but I'm not sure that's exactly the issue, especially if he's already 4.

TarponMonoxide

Get him neutered as a matter of course.

If you adopted him from a shelter, they'd have had him neutered as a routine procedure. I have never heard of a shelter that doesn't spay or neuter, or at least provide some sort of discount or coupon to the adoptees so that the new owners can have the animal neutered or spayed.


Snce you got him from CL, it's a whole other ballgame.

If you don't neuter him, he will mark and spray -- that is what he is doing now -- and not neutering also leads to many health problems in a dog that remains intact.

Crate train him.

And confine him to one room or a crate until he's neutered and he's got the all clear on housebreaking from you.:)

formerlyGDaisy09

not sure why this needs to get posted in every thread...but please don't use "designer dog names" for the reasons listed here: https://sites.google.com/site/petsboardfaqs/home/all-about-designer-dogs

@tarpoonmonoxide is right, the dog is marking.  You should get neutered, that should help with his marking behaviors.  

crate training also works, the trick is you need a crate that is the right size, if it's too big he'll pee on one end and hang out on the other end. 

you can also try positive reinforcement for eliminating outside, whenever he pees outside immediately reward him with a high value treat (little piece of cooked hot dog, cheese, or something else he finds really yummy and will work for). If he pees inside or in another inappropriate spot he gets nothing.  soon he'll learn that when he's outside he can trade peeing for yummy treats and he'll hold it when he's inside inorder to get more yummy treats outside. 

chrisnjay05212010

totally agree with Tarpon!!

KitW86

Agree- crate training!