New Shih Poo Mommy here!

Hello Everyone!! I am the proud mommy to Rascal, my 12 week old Shih Poo. My friend and I drove 4 hours each way to pick up our little guys (4 weeks ago) He was just at the vet on friday and weighs 3.10 pounds. I have been reading on here forever and thought should go ahead and post my 2 questions. First, Rascal will not eat breakfast...wont do it...eats like crazy at lunch and dinner, but will NOT touch his AM meal....should I just quit giving it to him and just feed him 2x a day?
Also, potty training is going HORRIBLE! I havent crated him because I am with him 24/7 and I take him out constantly.....but he feels free to tinkle on the carpet anytime he feels the need, #2 he is much better about and if there is an accident with that, it is usually by the back door where I take him out to potty. I cant do the bell on the door because I have 3 kids who will just play with it, and I hate to crate him....and I dont know if its even too late now?.....I would if will help though!! Any Advice?

Sorry for the super long first post :lol: Hope to talk with everyone, this board seems great!!
Melissa & Rascal

 

Hi Melissa! Congrats on the new addition! Such a tiny bundle of joy! I'm not sure if I can be of much help but I can tell you what has worked for me. As far as the morning meals, my pomimo Kina wouldn't eat too well in the morning for me at first. So what I started doing was wait about a half an hour after I get her up and out to go potty. During that half hour I do some cuddling with her. It seems to work since when she sees me or my daughters first thing in the morning she gets too excited to want to eat.

Concerning the pottying inside, I do crate Kina only overnight. She is 16 weeks old and I just got her a week ago so it's not too late at all to start crating him. During the day I use something like a playpen for when I have to get things done around the house or have to leave the house and can't take her with me. It's about 5 foot by 3 foot. She has a bed and a few toys in it. At the opposite end, away from her bed and toys, I have covered with housetraining pads. They have a scent that attracts puppies to them so they use those instead of the carpet. When she has had an "accident" she hasn't missed the pads. Lately she has been using the pads less because she seems to have learned that she won't get a treat for pottying inside. I take a treat outside with me and as soon as she goes I reward her.

Kina is my first puppy since I was a little girl so I am still learning the tips and tricks that work. I am sure there are others here that can help you more than I could but I hope I could help at least a little bit.

 

I hope this works!!!!

www.dogster.com/?284454



Melissa & Rascal

 

Hi there!
Welcome to the boards! I have a six month old shihpoo and a 2 1/2 year old.... Potty training is definitely no fun! I didn't have the heart (altho I SHOULD HAVE!) to crate train either of my babies. I hear it's sooo much faster to get them fully trained.

How is your Rascal doing with pee pads?? Those work the best for me. I also noticed that once I went back to work, and gated him in the laundry room (with a 'pee pad area' at one end...away from food and toys), he really started getting the whole potty training thing faster (I'm sure it's similar to crate training thought process). The key to potty training is consistency, consistency, praise, consistency, consistency, praise and praise! You really need to make sure you take Rascal to the potty place at LEAST once an hour... the older he gets, the longer you can go.

As far as eating... neither of my dogs ate breakfast. They have both been "just dinner" eaters. I don't think you should worry at all about the morning food.... are you feeding just kibble?

I'll check out your dogster page too!

 

Well, I tried crating him last night, and he only cried for a few minutes and then he was fine. BUT he did #1 and #2 in his crate. Its not a big crate so it had to be yicky for him. I am going today to get the puppy pads, I havent tried those yet, and would honestly prefer that over crating. But how do you get them to stop using the puppy pads then? Is that something you are suppose to keep buying forever? Still, We have a huge laundry room that Rascal and Ginger (my Lab) share while we are out and at night, I hate to keep him in a crate while Ginger has full access to the room, seems like punishment

I did wait about a 1/2 hour to set breakfast down, and he ate it right up. He is on a mix between puppy kibble and canned food. Thats what the breeder had him on, and he was so little when I got him (8 weeks, 2.1 lbs) that I just wanted to make sure he was eating enough. He has 1 more can of food though....then he is cut off...straight to the dry stuff!!

Thanks for all the help, keep your fingers crossed on the puppy pads!!
Melissa & Rascal

 

I have 2 little ones

I have a 1-year-old Shih Tzu that I have a washable pee pad for him to use in the middle of the night or if I'm gone for a while and he can't hold it. He will poo in the corner though if I don't get him out but then he eats it so I don't know about it. Normally, I take him out every few hours when I'm home or more if he starts sniffing around "his corner."

Anyway, I'm doing the exercise pen with a crate in one end and pee pads at the other for my new 6-1/2 week old Shih Poo baby and she's doing really well with it. Even if she's out of the pen and playing in my bedroom...the hall is scary to her so she won't leave, lol..... she will make a mad dash for the pads usually.

 

Well, Rascal seems to know I have been talking about him, because yesterday he did really well. I think he had 2 #1's in the house and that was it. Then last night he really started getting the hang of "sit" command. AND to top it all off I put him in the crate last night...not one whine and he stayed dry in there....SUPER PROUD

I woke up at 4 am thinking about how he was doing down there, so I got up and let him and Ginger out and Rascal took 2 seconds to finish up all business and we laid on the couch and fell back asleep!! :y_the_best:

So proud of him!! I take him out all the time at least every hour and a half (unless he is sleeping) so I hope we can keep up the good work!! :mrgreen:

 

Sorry for not replying sooner....

As far as the pee pads, no they aren't something you would have to use forever. The trick is to only have puppy use them when he doesn't go outside 1) slowly start moving them towards the door/outside, OR 2) slowly stop using them at all. The more he goes outside, the less he'll want to use the pads.... Or at least that's how it's worked with my two.

I'm happy to hear that he had been doing really well... it's been over a week since you posted the last post, so update us