# Is your Maltese housebroken?



## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

I'm just curious, since a trainer once said Maltese fall into the category of "top 5 most difficult to housebreak." Zooey is totally housebroken, and I can confidently leave her for up to 7 hours during the day. I feel very lucky because I haven't had a small dog that was this well-trained before!


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## Rainw (May 23, 2011)

My Maltese is pad-trained. He misses the pad sometimes, and he'll confuse a newspaper for a pad, but other than that, he's perfectly housebroken.


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

I had no problems whatsoever training our (late) Angel and our Chrissy as far as housebreaking is concerned. It is the owner who is "trained" to make sure that they go out and also crate training sure does help as well. I would be interested in seeing just how many owners of Malts had any difficulty with that issue. Consistency is very important in the aspect of housbreaking any Dog.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

All of mine have been trained.


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

Both of my girls are trained to use pee pads. One them did take longer to train, so I would say she was difficult. She's good, now.


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## pammy4501 (Aug 8, 2007)

Truffles and Frank are 100% pad and outside trained. Now Lola is another story. She was 100% trained to outside. But since her neurological problems, she has at least one pee pee accident a day. But, I'll take it.


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

Until it rains. Or if the grass is too ticklish. Or if maybe that pee-pee pad is a little bit wrinkled. Or if any condition isn't perfect...or if just maybe the rug feels so good.
No she isn't housebroken, she prefers to break in the house.:smstarz:

No, I take that back. Of course she is house-broken. She is perfect. She is smart.

She is a brat and pees on the carpet whenever it pleases her. And I am a freak to let it happen.

Oh, on subject DH is just announced that the princess took a poo in the music room.:w00t: Not that it was convenient. But, I guess it afforded her some privacy.

Now, everybody just please erase your memory of this post. If I am ever forced to testify, I will swear that Miss Marilyn Monroe is truly and completely house broken.


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## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Thanks for your responses. LOL Sylie!


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## SugarBob62 (Nov 9, 2009)

I remember Andy was a little difficult to house train. But we managed and he never had any accidents in the house (till he got old). And Nelson on the other hand pretty much came here pad trained, and he loved going outside so much he pretty much house trained himself hahahah. And even when we are gone for long periods of time and leave a wee wee pad down for emergencise, he usually 9 times outta 10 holds it.


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

I can't believe they are in the top five. I think consistency(or lack of) has something to do with that figure. It's very difficult to be diligent and watchful all the time but it's the only way to train, whether it's inside or out.
Cosy always goes on the pad unless I'm gone for more than a few hours. Then she pees on the base of my little laptop stand. Don't ask me why!


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## Ryder's Mom (Jun 10, 2011)

Ry still has accidents sometimes. If I'm in one room with me he's good at letting me know when he has to go out but if he has run of the entire house he enjoys going poo behind the couch. =\ Apart from that he's alright though and he's slowly getting better!


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## Orla (Jul 5, 2009)

Milo is trained to go outside and I can't remember the last time he had an accident inside.


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## Mini Pearls Mom (Mar 4, 2011)

I have been diligently working with Pearl since we rescued her 9 months ago. And she has diligently been looking for ways to trip me up with her training. I see that when anything excites her (company, for example) she just doesn't WANT to remember the rules...gets that glazed look in her eye and just wanders into a room that's available but not being inhabited at that moment. Last week my grandson was here for 5 days; Pearl peed on TWO different beds! What a ton of laundry - king sized and queen sized beds. Comforters, etc. Hellooooo, Pearl they were NOT Princess-sized for you!

I have to physically remove her based on the clock and confine her regularly. (She goes on pads and is ok about 95% of the time). As a matter of fact I'm doing that on a daily basis. She's reallllly slow to cooperate here, well, maybe her "cleaning up" her poop accidents is her form of cooperation?

This is a big thorn in my side, actually. She seems to smart but she also is a very feisty little fluff girl. She also holds it in forever and ever which makes housebreaking so difficult. :chiliThat comes from having lived in a crate for 18 hrs. a day with former mean owners).


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## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Sheil, you sound like a saint :innocent: Rescued dogs take so much patience. Pearl is so lucky to have you (she's precious, by the way)!


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## Mini Pearls Mom (Mar 4, 2011)

Thank you sooo very much for the pat on the back, Elisabeth. It helps! But, I adore this little Pearl Girl, though she's not perfect YET.


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

All 3 of mine are well trained to go outside via the doggy door or on pee pads which are left down. Most of the time they choose to go outside UNLESS the weather is bad. Secret will go on the pad when she gets up in the morning. Lacie and Tilly never make any mistakes. Secret, who has not been with me a full year yet, will sometimes try to make it to the pad and can't hold it until she get there. She's got a tiny bladder. 

My Lhasas were much harder to train than the Malts have been. Surprise that they are listed in the top 5.


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## The A Team (Dec 1, 2005)

Ok, so I'm the bad trainer here. My girls use the pads and go outside....but if there's a throw rug closer....there's always a chance.....

The boys are stubborn, Archie will use a pad if it's raining and I'm watching....:angry: - but he's rather go outside. Actually he'd rather be walked!!!!! :w00t: But if I'm not watching and it's raining or the deck is wet :blink:...there's a good chance he'll go out in the sun room.

Tink was my best trained guy....but sometimes he'll go on the corner of my furniture!!! :w00t::smilie_tischkante: this is a relatively new developement and i don't know why. He won't come out with us when i herd everyone out to do their pee pees. He just goes out the doggie door when he needs to...:innocent:

For the most part, they're "pretty good". :blush:


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I will not brag on him because every time I do he pees on the carpet :angry:. Rocky is 6 months on the 12th. He tries to tell us when he has to potty but sometimes we miss it. I wish he would sit in front of the door, I have tried to teach him to ring the bell but he's not getting it. What he does is come up to me and jump up on my legs and beg to be picked up. I didn't get it for the longest time. (Stupid human) But it's finally sinking in, so instead of getting a big head and thinking :wub: that my baby boy wants to sit with mama, I get wise and think, Potty Time!

We are having fewer and fewer accidents, it's so much better than it was a couple months ago. We went almost two weeks with no pee in the house, until yesterday when I was in the middle of something-he comes up to me, jumps up on my legs and what do I do? I say:

"One sec Rocky, mommy needs just a minute."

BTW, when 5-6 month old puppies tell you they need to pee, they don't have a minute.


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## Bonnie's Mommie (Mar 2, 2006)

Bonnie was SO easy to train, but I did it in a very unorthodox way. I put pads everywhere in my apartment and when she peed or poo'd I'd treat her and remove the pad and not replace it. Within a week or two she was down to one pad and that's how it's been for ten years.


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## iheartbisou (Feb 13, 2007)

Bisou is pad trained, but I've noticed when we have guests visiting (usually for a few weeks), she likes to go on my bathroom floor. When the guests leave, she stops. 

Other than that, she hasn't been difficult to train at all. I used to have a little chihuahua and he was impossible to train...but I guess it was my bad trainer skills that contributed to that?!


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## Dr.Valentine (Sep 2, 2011)

My Dog Bentley is 8 months old and he _*was*_ doing wonderful going to his pee pad while in the house. For the past few months I have taken him out to use the bathroom. NOW, when I need him to use the bathroom on his pee pad (when its raining ect)....he doesn't. It seems as if he has forgotten. Now im finding myself disciplining him for using the bathroom in the house more than I ever have.


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## AbbyQuiet (Jun 3, 2011)

lily is for the most part pees or poops outside. she'll ask to go, if there is too much going on or i ignore her asking me to go out then she will pee in the house, but it's not often at all, and most of the time she'll go in the kitchen where it's linoleum, and not carpet, which is much better to me than the carpet  it took her a while to get with the program and i'm not sure where she got the idea for asking me to go out, but i love it. lily is a VERY smart girl! <3


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## Bonnie's Mommie (Mar 2, 2006)

Dr.Valentine said:


> My Dog Bentley is 8 months old and he _*was*_ doing wonderful going to his pee pad while in the house. For the past few months I have taken him out to use the bathroom. NOW, when I need him to use the bathroom on his pee pad (when its raining ect)....he doesn't. It seems as if he has forgotten. Now im finding myself disciplining him for using the bathroom in the house more than I ever have.


How are you disciplining him? He's obviously confused. He's only 8 months old and you're trying to get him to learn a second potty routine. He doesn't know if you want him to use the pad, or go outside.

Why are you changing it? I think you'll have better luck if you're consistent - either inside or out. Maybe as he gets older he will use both, but right now he's still a puppy. At 8 months, you can't expect him to know both.


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## Summergirl73 (Sep 18, 2011)

This is an area I am REALLY struggling with. Bella is being trained to go outside and she goes outside with no problem. The problem is me. She never has accidents when my husband is wathching her, just when I am. I take her out on a schedule, but I obviously still dropping the ball. I must be giving her too much freedom after I think "she's safe" and on an empty bladder. Did anyone else find that you were constantly beating yourself up? I feel like I'm lousy at this. I'm going to read more about crate training. We put her in her playpen or crate, but I'm not doing it enough I guess. Suggestions?


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

Summergirl73 said:


> This is an area I am REALLY struggling with. Bella is being trained to go outside and she goes outside with no problem. The problem is me. She never has accidents when my husband is wathching her, just when I am. I take her out on a schedule, but I obviously still dropping the ball. I must be giving her too much freedom after I think "she's safe" and on an empty bladder. Did anyone else find that you were constantly beating yourself up? I feel like I'm lousy at this. I'm going to read more about crate training. We put her in her playpen or crate, but I'm not doing it enough I guess. Suggestions?


I can totally relate! And I think you mentioned the exact issue, I was allowing too much freedom, was overconfident. I have gone back to watching like a hawk, so far so good.


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## Summergirl73 (Sep 18, 2011)

I'm so sorry you are going through this too Shelly, but oddly thankful that I'm not the only one. We try to all be responsible "parents", but when we fall short, it really is disheartening. So glad to have the support of everyone on this site. Yall are the best! What a blessing!!!


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## Rocky's Mom (Apr 10, 2010)

I would never have thought they were in the top 5. My Rocky was so easy to train. He never has accidents in the house even when we are gone six to seven hours. Consistency is key! Good luck.


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## almitra (Apr 24, 2009)

I habitually crate mine while we go out. Consistently. They both go to the door when they need to potty and stand there til somebody sees them and takes them out. If no one notices within probably 10-15 mins, they will go somewhere in the house. So, guess what? I keep a fairly close eye on the door most of the time...LOL!


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## petula (Sep 18, 2007)

We had a pretty easy time of it. Farley was crated while I was at work, so we had a strict morning-lunch-evening schedule during the day. And we lived in a small apartment, where I could see him (and catch him!) all the time at night. Then he learned about the wonders of going in the outdoors, and he would far rather do that than use the pup-head in the house. He'll often start in the direction of the fake grass in that potty-run way, then stop and stare at me to see if I'll get the hint and take him out instead.

Unfortunately, we're staying with an almost-trained dog right now, and Farley will mark any accident he finds.


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## jeannief (Aug 6, 2009)

Noooo, not really. He will sneak into the dining room or living room if he gets a chance. If I keep a gate up to keep him in the kitchen and TV room, he is fine. No accidents ever. If he has run of the house, he will sneak into the dining room to potty and then hides under a chair, so he knows better. I have even put a potty pad down but he has never used it. Also, he doesn't like wet grass and he is very unpredictable. Otherwise he is perfect and we love him so much. We have had 2 cockers and have trained them with no problems, so I kinda disagree that it's our fault. Oh yea, did I mention that he is 2-1/2???


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## muchan (Feb 23, 2011)

Autumn is 100% pad trained and if she doesn't see any pad laid over for her after I throw the old one she will come whining to me when she cant hold her bladder anymore. Jasmine on the other side, I cant say that she's 100% pad trained as it took me quite sometime to teach her as she's pretty stubborn. But so far she's doing great except her marking issue with her pad trained


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## MissBodhi (Oct 9, 2011)

I'm jealous! Bodhi has only begun tinkling on the pads - I have not been able to get him to eliminate on it otherwise. What's your technique? I don't have the heart for crate-training and he will hold it until I let him out of his gate to 'go' somewhere in the house. What age were your dogs when they became fully-trained?


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## allheart (Oct 3, 2008)

All 3 of mine are pad trained. Mia took a little more training, and she is a "walker" doing number 2. She starst on the pad and then sometimes decides to take a walk. :blink:

I still remember the day we got Leo, He ran over to Mia, oh hugs, rolls, playing, then all of a sudden, it was like he said, "hang on Mia, I have to go potty, be right back, and off to the pads he went to tinkle, this is unbelivable, but honestly, he has NEVER had an accident. I still remember hubbies and my reaction when he did that, I mouths dropped to the floor. He actuall helped Mia more with the potty training, as she would just follow what he was doing.

Ana did really well too and is fully pad trained, the pads must be clean for the little darling :wub: But yes, all 3 are pad trained.

When I take them in the yard, they also go potty and #2, I think that is instinct, because I didn't train them for outside, but I still praise them.


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