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House Training Your Chinese Crested
by Cara Huffman
Some people feel that the Chinese Crested is impossible to
housebreak. Housebreaking is indeed a concern in the breed.
However, I feel very strongly that if puppies and the area where
they are raised are kept clean, they have a much better chance of
successful housetraining than puppies raised in a dirty, unclean
area. I have yet to see a Crested who could not be housetrained
who was raised under clean conditions. I do not believe that this
breed is THAT unlike other toys. Toys as a rule are a little
harder to housebreak, and the Crested owner must be fastidious
with his new pet in getting down a routine to get started off on
the right foot.
Most puppies cannot be effectively housetrained until they are
at least 12 weeks old. Regrettably, many take much longer! To
expect them to "hold it" for any length of time is an
exercise in futility! I will give some hints for both
"Housetraining If You Are a Stay At Home Puppy Parent"
and "Housetraining for the Working Puppy Parent."
STAY AT HOME PUPPY PARENT
1. Puppy is not out loose unless you are able to watch him. You
are not watching him if you are washing your hair, deeply intent
on a soap opera, playing a game with the kids, etc. You are
watching him if your eyes are on the puppy. If you are unable to
watch him, put him in his "playpen" (in other words,
crate time!)
2. If you do let the puppy wander off and he has an accident, do
not hit, kick, or otherwise try to hurt the puppy. Do not rub his
nose in it. If you do not SEE the puppy doing it, do not even say
a word to the puppy about it (remember, this is where you get out
the magazine and hit YOURSELF over the head---you screwed up, you
did not watch the puppy so this is YOUR fault).
3. Pick an area where the puppy is SUPPOSED to go to the
bathroom. Always take the puppy to THAT spot. If you just let
your puppy out on your porch, do not be surprised if the puppy
GOES on the porch. Take the puppy out on the grass. Don't be
lazy, put your shoes on and WALK OUT INTO THE GRASS. I have adult
dogs who WILL NOT GO if I do not actually get off the sidewalk
and walk out into the grass with them.
4. When you take your puppy to "his spot" take treats
with you. Tell the puppy some word meaning "It is time to go
potty". I use "POTTY" but some people are
uncomfortable with that so they make up a keyword that nobody
else will know what they are talking about. Face it, some people
are going to think you are crazy for talking to your dog ANYWAY
and it will be pretty obvious what you are doing :) But do
whatever you feel comfortable with. When your puppy goes to the
potty, give him the treat and act like he just came up with a
solution for world peace!
5. If your puppy has an accident in the house, be sure to clean
it up with a product that will remove all odor. If the product
specifies that it is for PET ODORS, it will probably do the
trick. Remember, no pine products.
6. Dogs will naturally keep their "den " clean so the
trick is to make the puppy understand that the whole house is his
den. You can't just give him free reign of the house
immediately---you have to build up to it. And that won't happen
during week one! (or even month one!)
7. If your puppy will not go when you take him out, put him back
into his crate, wait 15 minutes and take him out again. Do not
play with or interact with the puppy when you take him out to
potty---this will encourage him to mess around and not do his
business!
8. Be sure to pick puppy up and CARRY him from crate to outside,
or you will have many an accident on the way out!
9. Never make a puppy wait more than 4 hours to go out. This is
unfair. They just can't hold it that long, it is physically
impossible for their immature bladders!
FOR THE WORKING PUPPY PARENT
1. Until a puppy is around 5-6 months old, he CANNOT be expected
to hold it all day while you are at work. I highly suggest that
you have a pet sitter, friend, or neighbor come by to let your
puppy out or possibly you can come home during the lunch hour.
2. If this is impossible, do NOT just let the puppy go to the
bathroom on a linoleum floor---I have heard of people doing this
because of the ease of cleaning it up, but it will TRAIN your
puppy to go to the potty in the house!!!!!
3. Use an exercise pen to keep your puppy in during the day,
particularly if you cannot find someone to come let him out. Make
the exercise pen just large enough to hold the crate and a pan
with 2 carpet grass squares in it. You can purchase these squares
of grass at a nursery. This will simulate OUTDOORS. If you can
teach the puppy to go on this grass rather than on newspapers or
(worse) a tile floor, you will be ahead in the long run. Puppy
should have 2 options----inside the crate, or on the grass.
4. Be sure not to make a big deal when leaving or coming home, or
you will make your puppy have separation anxiety. Put puppy into
the pen with some toys in his crate and sufficient water and food
for the day, then quietly walk out. When you get home, quietly
walk back in and don't make a huge fuss over puppy. When you get
home, immediately take the pup outside and remove the x-pen and
the grass. You can rinse off grass with a garden hose.
5. Otherwise, follow the "AT HOME" suggestions! As
puppy gets older and figures out that the grass is where he is
supposed to do his business, you can make the x-pen larger so he
has more room to play, then slowly increase his area until he can
figure out that the whole house could be his den. We still put
our adult Chinese Cresteds in crates when we are not at home, for
safety reasons, even though they are housetrained.
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