Housebreaking Your Chihuahua: Consider Indoor House Training Pads

by Tara M. Clapper, Contributing Writer

Chihuahuas are known for their tiny size, especially when they are puppies. One advantage to their smallness involves the size of their waste--Chihuahua urine comes in small volumes and the excrement looks more like large pellets than hefty dog poo.
   
If you're wondering about how to housebreak your Chihuahua, consider an indoor option. Chihuahuas can easily learn to use indoor house training pads (or "pee pads") that rest on the ground. They can also use dog litter boxes.
   
Look for scent-formulated puppy training pads. These pads contain a scent that encourages dogs to use them for the intended purpose.
   
Here are some reasons to consider training your Chihuahua to use the bathroom inside:   

• A small dog shouldn't be expected to "hold it" all day while you're out of the house working 8-10 hours. Little dogs have to urinate more frequently than large dogs.
• When let outside on a leash, Chihuahuas can easily fall victim to puppy-snatchers and wildlife such as hawks or gators (depending on your location). It's also easier for them to get hurt than large dogs.
• Excited Chihuahuas often need to urinate urgently. You can train your dog to head right to the pee pad each time this happens to avoid those yellow droplets on your furniture.
• Indoor house training pads are easy to dispose.
• This may sound silly, but Chihuahuas and other small dogs dislike the feeling of grass on their undersides while they are trying to urinate. It's not that hard to imagine the displeasure--after all, you probably wouldn't want something tickling you in the middle of doing business, even if it was a natural object! Indoor house training is a decent alternative to frequent grass-cutting.
• While dog poo fertilizes your lawn, urination kills it. Having the dog use a pee pad can keep your lawn healthy.
  

If you're interested in these potty training methods for your Chihuahua, check out the following resource:

Housebreaking Your New Puppy

This post was originally published on Examiner.com as Chihuahua Examiner. Republished with permission of the author.