Is Your Chihuahua Potty Trained Enough?

House Training a Chihuahua puppy or adult Chihuahua is such an essential issue for its owner that even a single exclusive tip turns out to be extremely helpful.

The first step in making your Chihuahua fit for polite company would be to potty train him. Some see this training as a hassle and some as a challenge.
For me, it is part of bringing up a pet.

There are a few things you need to know before you actually start potty training a chihuahua puppy or adult Chihuahua. Please see the bulleted points below:

• You need to understand your dog's body language. Watch for signs that will indicate to you when your pet wants to eliminate.
• If you own chihuahua puppies, remember that they need to go potty at fairly frequent intervals - as soon as they wake up, after short naps, after play-time, after meals, before and after being crated and finally, before retiring for the night.
• Take your Chihuahua for walks at the time that he usually does his potty. Take him out to the yard and then to the same place there every time he needs to answer nature's call.
• Praise your Chihuahua after he eliminates at the right place. Some Chihuahua owners even give treats to their dogs. But remember to do this every time he does it right. He will relate the rewards to his having "done it right" and zero in on the spot where you want him to defecate regularly.
• With time, you can try signal training. This is so that you know when your Chihuahua wants to go. You can hang a bell at his level near the door and teach him to push it with his nose or pat it with his paw on his way out.
• Until your Chihuahua has been fully potty trained keep him under strict vigilance. Do not let him roam around the house freely.
• Use a crate. A crate-trained Chihuahua is usually very happy to get his own den. The advantage of crating is that dogs do not soil the place where they sleep. So, he will naturally not eliminate inside the crate.
• If you have chihuahua and if you live in a high-rise building or in a place that does not have a proper backyard, you can try litter pan training. What you do is create a space for your pet to eliminate in your house itself.
• Use positive reinforcements while housebreaking chihuaua puppies or adult chihuahua dogs. Do not scold or hit him as you will gain nothing by doing that. He will only associate punishment with your return from outside. If you catch him in the act, a stern 'NO' or 'FREEZE' will do. It will startle the Chihuahua enough for him to stop pooping.
• Be prepared to return to a soiled home if you are keeping your Chihuahua home alone for more than 4 hours as separation anxiety is quite common among home-alone dogs.
• Accidents will happen. It is unusual for a trained adult Chihuahua to work against its house training. But medical problems or health disorders may lead to sudden accidents.
• Many dogs mark their territory. These can be a leg of a table or a particular wall. Intact male and female dogs mark their territories by urinating. Use deodorizers to spray on the places where your Chihuahua has marked.
• If you are patient and are ready to accept that house training a chihuahua dog takes time, even months sometimes, you will end up having a good house trained Chihuahua.

Click here to get an E-Book on house training puppy and adult Chihuahuas.

Now we will move on to how to potty train puppies and adult dogs.

Potty Training A Chihuahua Puppy:

Irrespective of breeds, house training a puppy is considered to be one of the biggest challenges by dog owners. If you think house training your puppy simply involves a steady supply of old newspapers, then think again.

A puppy does not develop full control over his bladder until it is over 4 or 5 months old. Since they are growing and developing rapidly at this time, puppies eat more, burn more calories and need to eliminate more frequently than an adult Chihuahua.

After each nap, meal, drink or play, take your puppy to his designated area (indoors or outdoors, wherever you have decided) and stay there until it eliminates. Then bring him to his crate.
Repeat this situation everyday until he has developed a habit out of it.

Click here for an E-Book on housebreaking a Chihuahua puppy.

Potty Training An Adult Chihuahua:

The best way to house train an adult Chihuahua is to begin all over again.

Observe him very closely. Maybe even maintain a diary of where he goes and when. Whether he is pooping when you are home or only when you are outside; whether you can time yourself to be home when he feels the need to go outside.

You can try dog crates, but be careful to introduce him gradually to them.

Click here for an E-Book on potty training a Chihuahua dog.

Remember, commitment, consistency and intelligent use of positive reinforcement will make you the owner of a perfectly house trained Chihuahua. Don't expect miracles. You will only be disappointed.

Get this E-Book potty training a Chihuahua dog.

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Chihuahua Types

Chihuahuas, like humans, can come in all shapes and sizes. If you search the Internet and classified, there seems to be some confusion about chihuahua types. You see ads for types of chihuahuas that simply do not exist. Be low is a list of possible chihuahua types you have seen advertised.

Teacup Chihuahua
Miniature Chihuahua
Applehead Chihuahua
Deerhead Chihuahua
Toy Chihuahua

The AKC (American Kennel Club)states that there is only one chihuahua type, a chihuahua. It is a graceful, alert, swift-moving compact little dog with saucy expression, and with terrier-like qualities of temperament. The dog does not exceed six pounds, and has an apple dome skull. The chihuahua is classified as a toy breed, so a dog labeled as a "toy chihuahua" is kind of redundant, isn't it?

An "applehead chihuahua" is actually a chihuahua that meets the AKC standard for the breed. A "deerhead chihuahua" is a chihuahua that does not have the apple dome skull. Think of it like a human with a long face.

Since there is only one type of chihuahua, there is no such thing as teacup, miniature, and toy chihuahuas. These are just smaller dogs (like smaller humans), sometimes the runts of the litter, that some breeders slap a label on and try to sell. Be careful when buying these dogs with one of these labels, there could be something physically wrong with it.

Chihuahuas can come in two different coat types. These two coat types are long haired chihuahua and short-haired chihuahua. The only difference between the two dogs is the length of the coat, that is all.

I hope this article has helped clear up any confusion about types of chihuahuas. I am certainly not telling you not to buy these dogs, I currently have a dog that would be labeled a teacup deerhead chihuahua, and he is perfectly healthy and happy. Just be careful when looking to buy a dog with one of these or a mix of these labels.

Merle Chihuahua

The new and popular "type" of chihuahua these days is the merle chihuahua. It seems like almost everyone is looking for one of these dogs. With this new found popularity, there has come some controversy. The main issues with the merle chihuahuas are: are they actually pure bred chihuahuas, and the health problems that are common in merles. If you are interested in buying a merle chihuahua, please read on.

What is does Merle mean?

Merle is a gene that controls the color pattern of a dog's coat, eyes and paw pads, it is NOT a color. There is a solid base color, which is either red/brown or black with lighter blue/gray or reddish patches. This gives the dog an uneven speckled effect.


The merle gene modifies the dark pigment in the eyes. It can sometimes change dark eyes to blue, or part of the eye to be colored blue. This is random, and can result in a dog having both dark eyes, both blue eyes, or one dark eye with one blue eye. The color on the dog's paw pads and nose may be mottled pink and black.

Not all dog breeds carry the merle gene.


What is a Merle Chihuahua?

A merle chihuahua is a chihuahua that has the merle gene, as described above. The controversy is that many experts claim that the merle gene was not found in the chihuahua breed, until a few years ago. Many believe that some chihuahuas were bred with either dachshunds or Pomeranians, which are smaller breeds that carry the merle gene. The result is actually a mix breed being passed off as merle chihuahuas. So please take note that if you buy a merle chihuahua, you might not be getting a pure breed dog.

Health Problems in Merle Chihuahuas

Merle chihuahuas have been linked with specific health problems. These dogs can be more prone to ear and eye defects, like blindness and deafness.