New Chow Chow Owner - Potty Training Please Help!

[kaipalileo]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. Just got a chow chow yesterday and she's 2 1/2 months old. We need to train her to do her business in her crate because we don't have enough room outside the house and the vet said not to take her out yet 'till she gets all her vaccinnes. However, she doesn't like doing her business in her crate...we want to play with her and allow her to roam the house but when she's out of her crate that's when she feels the urge to pee or poop. We are just worried that she might think this is the way to do it. Any suggestions on how we can teach her to do it in her crate?

Thanks!

[kingalls]

whoa! while I never crate trained my Chowdren, you need to know that Chows will not normally "spoil" the area that they live in...it's totally against their nature! Chows are the easiest to house train because they do not want to do their business in their day-to-day living environment. You will put your Chow into a lot of stress by expecting her to go into her crate! I suggest finding a small area that will be okay for her to do her business (not in the crate) - cover it with newspaper, etc. (put plastic bags under the paper if you don't want the pee or poo to get to the carpet or floor under the paper) and when she is ok to start doing her business outside, start taking her out at the appropriate times to do her business. No Chow or dog wants to be in a crate with their own poo or pee!

[Coco Chow]

I totally agree with Karen, doing her business in the crate is a big No NO! She needs to like her crate, consider it as a calm place to sleep, where you sometimes put a treat for her or her favorite toy. Chows are very clean and it will disturb her so much if she's forced to pee in her crate. And she will try to hold it as long as she can because she will hate to do it where she sleeps, so it can lead to UTI. Please teach her to do it in another dedicated area. Buy puppy pads or put newspaper down in a corner of your bathroom or where ever you think best and teach her to pee on those. If she starts to pee somewhere else in the house, you tell her NO, you grab her and you put it on the newspaper and you praise when she finishes her business on those. If you put a little bit of her pee on the newspapers, you make her smell the newspaper, and because they like to pee on the same area, it will show her it's good to pee there. Please be patient, she's so small! What's her name?

[Coco Chow]

I wanted to add, when Coco was 8 weeks old and I took her home, she only had her first shots, and she needed more before she could meet other dogs and be totally safe outside, but I still took her out without waiting for the second shoots. I just made sure I put her on areas where other dogs were not there at the time and I didn't allow her to sniff or touch other dogs pees or poops, all with the ok from my vet... Many of us did that without any problems. Coco never did her business inside, I bought puppy pads just in case but she never used them.

Also when they are babies, it is important for them to discover the world, to socialize them, so it might be good to take her out, even for just a little bit.

[kaipalileo]

wow thanks!

[Coco Chow]

When I see people say they "never" used crate training, that is a read flag..Translation>>>you says never actually did but not successful...

When you have 6 chows, using crates might be indispensable, but when you only have one, it is absolutely not necessary.
No offense but I know many people, like me, who never crate trained their chows because they don't like the feeling of having them in "cages", and not because they were not successfull at using them, they just never did.

[LEO's mum]

As others have said, DON'T make her go in the crate. Crate should be a nice comfortable retreat to sleep and relax in.

Set an easy access place for do her business either by using plastic + newspapers w/ a bit of her wee smell on or easier still go commercial and just buy puppy training pads. Have it out all times when she is out of the crate.
It's also a good idea to put her directly on to the pad from the crate after she has been crated for a while. Someone told me as a rule of thumb, they have to go every hour per age in months. So, if she is 2.5m/s old, every 2.5hours.

Puppy training pads are available from any pet supplier, here is a link to one of the venders:
http://www.dog.com/clean-up/housebreaking-pads/113/
Forget the nappies on the page, even just on pads, there seems a lot to choose from.

Chows are the easiest to house train. Do praise alot when she successfully goes on the pad. Don't scold her for aiming badly. My LEO knew wee-wee pads were the place to go, but sometimes only her front paws would be on it. It's only for a short time you have to resort to this anyway.

Best of Luck!

[chowpups]

ditto on the don't teach them to go in a crate to do their pottying.. I too got Nikki at 9wks and she needed her shots too and the vet said just keep her away from other animals and where the other animals go to the bathroom.. I would check with my vet about details of his or her instructions on that one.. maybe the vet just meant keep her in away from general public places and other animals and where they go. I took Nikki out in our yard and she learned in one day where to go. Never had a problem and she still loves her crate and I can't imagine her even thinking of going potty in her crate.. she would rather explode first..

[kingalls]

Translation>>>you says never actually did but not successful...

I never even tried. When we first got Shiloh, I couldn't even get her to come into the house the first 5 months let alone put into a crate. With Nahkohe, I didn't even think about doing the crate training. Maybe I should have - not sure what would be different today, if I had crate trained him. Once in a blue moon, they might have a rare call to nature and they sound off the alarm (specific type of half bark - more like a hrumpph) to be let out.

[willfrommaine]

Our Chow Dora would only go outside from day one when we got her. We also have a box of puppy pads we never used. I never really worried about the going outside part, we met her outside with her sister when the breeder let us see them...
-will

[GoHokiesGo]

I was surprised at how easy it was to house-train Honey. We've had her for about 3-4 weeks now, but she was only kennel trained when we picked her up (ie - wasn't kept in a house). Since she's already 4, we figured she'd be ok holding it longer than a puppy. Anyhow, it took us maybe a week to get her used to our schedule and crate trained. Now, we no longer close the crate and she goes and sleeps in it on her own. She hasn't gone in the house while we're away at work either. We've had one or two accidents since that first week, but I think those were us getting busy and pushing back her walks. I finished the fence in our yard last week also, so it's even easier now that I can just let her out back unsupervised.

She learned really quick though and has done well so far. Now the obedience on the otherhand, haha, we've got a ways to go on getting her to come when we want her.

[ChadC]

So what is the normal time to get a chow house broken? I have a crate and I dont want him to use the crate but I sure dont want him to do his business in the house. What is your recommendation on how to train him. I dont want to train him by putting newspaper on floor. Let me ask you guys this is you put paper on the floor they will get use to that area of the house or do you once they start going there, start taking them outside. My Chow is 6 wks old and he uses it everywhere. I got him from a kennel and I am trying to break him. I was thold it was easy but seems like mines will do it any the crate and still sleep there.

[Samson]

I fostered 3 chow puppies and their mom for 4 months a few years ago and there was only one accident on the kitchen floor. I didn't even have to "train" them, they trained themselves.

[Samson]

So what is the normal time to get a chow house broken? I have a crate and I dont want him to use the crate but I sure dont want him to do his business in the house. What is your recommendation on how to train him. I dont want to train him by putting newspaper on floor. Let me ask you guys this is you put paper on the floor they will get use to that area of the house or do you once they start going there, start taking them outside. My Chow is 6 wks old and he uses it everywhere. I got him from a kennel and I am trying to break him. I was thold it was easy but seems like mines will do it any the crate and still sleep there.

Chows aren't horses, so you don't need to "break" him

I've had many chows as pets over the years and have never had to "train" any of them. They won't soil where they live, unless the problem is with the owner i.e. never letting them outside, not walking them, ignoring their body language that tells you they need/want to go outside, etc.

[ChadC]

Didnt say he was no horse but I am trying to house break him and it is not the owner hell the owner takes him more than usually. Congrats to you that yours havent had that problem this is to someone that have had problems with house breaking one.

[Samson]

Didnt say he was no horse but I am trying to house break him and it is not the owner hell the owner takes him more than usually. Congrats to you that yours havent had that problem this is to someone that have had problems with house breaking one.

Sorry ChadC, I didn't mean to come across as critical