Your Pet's Perspective: Potty Training Difficult Dogs: Chihuahuas and Other Small Dogs

Many people believe it is extremely difficult, or even impossible, to potty train a Chihuahua or other small dog. Fortunately, it is not as hard as people think, and there is no reason a healthy Chihuahua cannot be house trained. Basically, it's the same as house training any dog, with one difference: Chihuahuas are very small and they have very small bladders, so you have to keep that in mind at all times when training them. They just cannot "hold it" as long as a bigger dog of the same age, and this is especially true when they are puppies.

Step 1

These instructions are geared towards potty training a young Chihuahua puppy. If your Chihuahua is older and still not fully potty trained, follow the same instructions as if your dog were only 8 weeks old, in order to finally get your older Chihuahua trained. With an older puppy or dog, remember that the dog already has bad habits, and it will take some time and effort to break those habits and replace them with new, good habits.

Step 2
A typical 8 week old puppy has to go potty approximately every 2 hours, plus whenever puppy eats, drinks, wakes up, or finishes playing. Yep, that does kinda turn out to be all the time! An 8 week old Chihuahua puppy needs to go potty approximately every 45 minutes to an hour -- plus after eating, drinking, playing, sleeping. So you can see that a strict schedule and vigilance is absolutely key to house training your Chihuahua. Some of the tinier Chihuahuas may need to go potty even more frequently at first.

Step 3

Take your Chihuahua puppy out, or to his potty area if you are training him to potty indoors, at each of the designated times in step 2. If your puppy doesn't go potty at this point, you should put her in her crate for about 10 minutes and then try again. Repeat as needed.
She should be confined to her crate whenever she cannot be supervised completely. Every accident is a habit in the making. Every accident is also your fault, not your Chihuahua's.

TIPS & WARNINGS

You can train your Chihuahua puppy to go potty on papers or a pee wee pad inside the house, or train him to go potty outside only. Considering the tiny size, and short hair, those who have snow every winter probably should consider training the puppy to go inside and outside.
The all around best plan is to train your Chihuahua puppy to go potty inside as well as outside, so your puppy can adjust to any setting or situation that comes up.
Use your puppy's crate as you would a playpen for a toddler: to keep him from mischief when you cannot closely supervise.
Never punish your Chihuahua puppy for an accident. Doing so will only lengthen the entire process of house training and teach your Chihuahua to fear you.
If you cannot make it home on schedule every day, then you should ask a neighbor or hire a pet sitter to fill in the gaps. As an alternative, you can set up an enclosed area, on a washable floor, such as a part of the kitchen or laundry room, where you can place a bed, toys, and pee wee pads, along with water and food for the length of time you are away at work or shopping.