Chihuahua cage training help.?
I need some help and advice,my puppy is now 12 weeks old,when i got him at 7 weeks,he used a nappy pad straight away with no accidents anywhere,i have no door on my front room but managed to block him in by putting his cage between my 2 settees,that was o.k for 2 weeks then he learnt how to climb over,so i bought a gate which i put over my door way,all was good but now he has started purposely,going near the gate everytime one of my kids go out the gate,even when im still sitting here,or when i go to bed,im now getting up to poo and wee by the gate every morning,this only started a few days ago,any other time he uses his nappy or goes outside,i know hes doing it to show off,i did start cage training him,but he was so good,i stopped it,and it worked really well like i said until a few days ago,this is what i thought of doing,i have bought his cage downstairs and will keep a good eye on him,if i see him go,i will put him in cage for 10 mins,then if he does it again later on it will go up by 5 mins,im also going to put him in cage tonight,but dont know about putting water in,some people have said to make sure the cage is only big enough for him to sleep in,as he wont toilet where he sleeps,i feel cruel not putting water in,but dont want to make it harder for him,as surely if hes drinking water he will have to pee,please can you give me your advice and suggestions,please dont say to remove the gate,as this will allow him access to the stairs and the front door,which will be unsafe for him.thanks

Have you thought about getting him a proper dog cage that he can't get out of? I have one for my dog & he is great with it. He goes in there when we are out or in bed or if anyone comes & he wants to get out of the way he takes himself off to his cage.
When your pup wee's or poo's don't tell him off or make a fuss about it or he will do it more for the attention, try & clean it up as quickly as possible & ignore him.

I cannot advise on crate trainning as I never used them, I hate the things. When I got a pup, I knew poo and wee were part of the parcel and during the night he was in the kitchen, until house trained, any accidents were cleaned up in the morning. Patience, time and skill is what is needed to teach your dog to toilet outside. If he is going during the night get up every few hours to let him out. If you see him during the day getting into position to go pick him up and put him out. Praise like mad when he goes by the door to go out or goes outside and goes, never punish.

Taking his water away is punishing and is VERY CRUEL. You do not lock an animal away with no access to water because they are dirtying.

It will take time but he will learn. Decide where you are going to keep this crate and keep it there, moving it around may be confusing him. Dogs get into a routine.

Hi there,

As you know I have a 12 wk old puppy too. I have cage trained him from 8 wks and although hard at times am just about there with the toilet training. I am no expert but this is his routine.

At night locked in cage with it covered all over with throws like you would a budgie! He likes this - makes him feel safe I think as he doesn't bark. I do leave water in as I feel it sounds cruel although others may disagree. Make sure you put him out for wee before putting him in.

The first couple of weeks he would wee in the cage occasionally, but now he knows he will be let out and has got used to the routine he holds off until the morning - he will bark to let me know he wants to go this can be anytime from 6am onwards although this morning he let me lay in till 8.20!!!

Before you put him in cage at anyime put him out for wee first and when you let him out put him out immediately. Lots of praise and treats when he goes outside.

Alfie now feels and is safer in his cage when we are not about, although I'm hoping not to use it for too long.

I did the same as you once and let him have a bit of a run, firstly he didn't like at as he barked all nite and then manged to jump the partition I put up - he could have really hurt himself when he did this.

Hes only ever poo'd twice in the house since I got him and that was because he couldn't get to the door. He now taps his paw on the door when he wants to go - yey!

Hope this helps a bit, I think you are just as uncomfortable about the cage thing as me tho but it does make sense to use it.

BTW he will not go in it when we are around but apparently thats normal.