Maltichon - Toilet Training!

daithiocondun

Hello everyone.

I have a 6 month old male Maltichon (Maltese x Bichon Frise) which I have had since he was 6 weeks old. From the outset, he went to the toilet on the newspapers we put down on the floor.
I gradually moved the newspapers acroos the kitchen until they reached the back back door. The last dog I had, a Cavalier Kind Charles bitch, made the transition from this stage to going outside on her own. She simply stopped going inside.

This puppy is a different story! I leave him outside about 10 mins after each feed and sometimes he poos/pees outside, and other times he doesn't. More often than not, when I put him outside, he just sits at the door and won't move, even if I leave him there for half an hour. Then when I let him in, he often goes to the toilet inside on the newspapers within 5 minutes. It's so frustrating!

How do I get him to make the transition from going to the toilet on the papers at the door, to going outside?? HELP!!

andreac

Firstly why did you have him at 6 weeks??

Bichons are known to be very hard to train.
When you bring the pup outside do you encourage the pup to go? Do you actually go out with the pup?

Using paper only confuses the pup so you need to get rid of that for a start. You either want it to go outside or on paper. It can't be both.

Nody

You spent five months teaching him that going on the newspaper indoor is how he does his toilet so now you need to spend some serious effort on re-training him out of it (next time start with trying to teach him from the start to go utside to save yourself this problem).

For starters do you have a key word that you use to let him know he should go to the toilet? Secondly do you praise him when he goes to the toilet outside and rain praise on him for him to realise he did a good thing? Third do you stay out there with him rather then close him out and leave him hoping he'll figure it out instead? Because if not he'll simply see it as he's being punished (he's not with you) for no reason...

toadfly

1) take up newspapers
2) go outside with the pup until he goes. This could take a minute or an hour. You need to be patient. Do this after eating/drinking/playing/sleeping.
3) clean up accidents with a mix of biological washing powder and water
4) consider crate training.

tk123

toadfly wrote: »

1) take up newspapers
2) go outside with the pup until he goes. This could take a minute or an hour. You need to be patient. Do this after eating/drinking/playing/sleeping.
3) clean up accidents with a mix of biological washing powder and water
4) consider crate training.

+1 and to echo Nody's point - you need a toilet word so the dog knows you want it to go to the loo and it'll get praise/treats when it goes. You also need to persevere and stay with the dog until it goes. My pup is 5 months and goes when I say 'Busy! Busy!'... The other evening I brought her out to go but she went to go alseep on a (mesh) lounger - when I said 'No Lucy - busy!!' she sat up and wee'd thru the chair then scraped it and jumped off :o

daithiocondun

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I had him since 8 weeks, not 6. My mistake. Ok, so I need to go out with him 4 or 5 times a day and stay outside for a hour each time.until he goes? This sounds like Id have to spend a lot of time outside standing around?

Is there any merit to putting the newspapers outside the back door. Its a glass door and he woukd be able to see them. Woukd that help too?

Starscream25

I've a maltichon myself, it wasn't easy training her, but whenever she/he does happen to do the business outside treat her and let her know she's done right, reward with a treat, make a really happy GOOD DOG sound so she can associate going outside with a reward and vice versa.
Whenever my dog wants to go now she runs up to the glass door and scratches it, I don't reward when she comes back anymore but she defo knows right from wrong. Good dog from bad dog. But what the other guys are saying is great advice aswell.

DBB

daithiocondun wrote: »

Ok, so I need to go out with him 4 or 5 times a day and stay outside for a hour each time.until he goes? This sounds like Id have to spend a lot of time outside standing around?

It's highly unlikely you'd have to stay out with him for such a long time! But you must, must, must go out with him, because you MUST be there to reward him at precisely the right moment. If you leave him out on his own to his own devices, he spends all that time just wanting to come back in and not thinking about what his bladder is at, and he then pees when you bring him back in, so you are reverse-housetraining him.
If you reward him when he goes outside (and by reward, I mean quietly cooing at him as he actually goes, and then as soon as he finishes, have a PARTY! If you party before he's finished, you'll stop him in mid-flow :P And by party, I mean a couple of really tasty treats, and lots of praise and pets), then you're reinforcing peeing outside, on the substrate you ultimately want him on... newspaper seriously confuses the issue.
Only when he's empty is he safe to bring back inside, which also teaches him that the feeling of an empty bladder is associated with being allowed back in.
At the start, you may have to spend longer stretches outside with him until he gets the picture (unlikely to be as long as an hour... 5-10 mins would be more normal), but when he makes the association between peeing and treats, he'll get around to peeing a lot quicker... dilly-dallying just delays the rewards.

boomerang

DBB wrote: »

But you must, must, must go out with him, because you MUST be there to reward him at precisely the right moment.

Yup yup yup yup!

daithiocondun

Thanks for this guys. Today I went out with him everytime he was fed and after naps and whenever I think he had been inside for a long period of time. I just walked laps around the house and he did his usual running around after me like crazy and he went most of the times. I lavished him with praise and we only had one pee pee and no poos in the house today. Which is a good start.

Thanks for your help.

Dodd

daithiocondun wrote: »

Thanks for this guys. Today I went out with him everytime he was fed and after naps and whenever I think he had been inside for a long period of time. I just walked laps around the house and he did his usual running around after me like crazy and he went most of the times. I lavished him with praise and we only had one pee pee and no poos in the house today. Which is a good start.

Thanks for your help.

That's a great start.
You know soon when you need to take him out.
I take mine out every 4 hours during the day if she doesn't want to go out before that time.

tk123

Good work OP! It'll get easier don't worry

Dodd

OP don't forget to do a good clean up in the home the way it was posted already.