# For new moms and house training.



## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

For all the new moms, I thought I would share my trials and tribulations of house training boo. I am by no means an expert, but have had several larger dogs before falling in love with the maltese. Yes, the little ones do go more , but small amounts compared to my big guys. Boo was use to pish pad (washable pads) so I started with the IRIS pen lined with the pad. I also have the potty porch with fake grass to get him trained when he can go on real grass after all of his shots are complete. He has only had one accident and that was within the first hour of being in a new home so needless to say YEAH! I also have the soft pop up crate that he sleeps in with the top open right next to my bed and he likes it so much I use that when we are sitting by the pool or anywhere in the house where the IRIS pen is not. I use both when I am not sure if he has to go or to give Zach my wheaten a break from puppy mayhem! 

Each morning the first thing we do is go to the potty porch. The first two days all he wanted to do is lay down on it. So I would place him in the IRIS pen and yes he would do it on the pish pad. . So every hour we go to the potty porch and I say go potty and shut up and wait. I did this not because he had to pee that often, but to start a routine. I finally took the pish pad after he used it and rubbed it over the fake grassI t took two days, but he finally started using it to pee and hasn't used the pish pad in the pen. On the fourth day, he finally pooped on the potty porch. Success! Of course when they finally do it, we all do the happy dance and I give him a little treat.

Now instead of every hour I watch for the signs when they are having their play time in the open room. Activity makes them thirsty and yep want to pee. It also activates them having to poop LOL. With Boo if he walks sniffing the floor kind of zig zagging he has to pee. If he starts sniffing and circling in small circles get ready here goes the poo pose. I don't know your pups will do this, but this is Boo's signature. If he is in the crate or IRIS pen he starts bouncing up and down to get out. When I see any of this, we go to the potty porch. He typically is having to pee anywhere between 2-3 hours depending on how much water and play he has had.

Last thing we do around 10:30 is go to the potty porch and with the exception of one night (because I was too lazy to get up and do the routine I got the 2am wake up call), he has slept through every night. Hope he does tonight too! Anyway, I thought I would share and like I said I am not an expert but I am having success. I also know I have a long road ahead of me, but am encouraged since I have read on here sometimes they can be hard to housebreak. One day at a time or should I say one pee and poop :chili:


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

mdbflorida said:


> For all the new moms, I thought I would share my trials and tribulations of house training boo. I am by no means an expert, but have had several larger dogs before falling in love with the maltese. Yes, the little ones do go more , but small amounts compared to my big guys. Boo was use to pish pad (washable pads) so I started with the IRIS pen lined with the pad. I also have the potty porch with fake grass to get him trained when he can go on real grass after all of his shots are complete. He has only had one accident and that was within the first hour of being in a new home so needless to say YEAH! I also have the soft pop up crate that he sleeps in with the top open right next to my bed and he likes it so much I use that when we are sitting by the pool or anywhere in the house where the IRIS pen is not. I use both when I am not sure if he has to go or to give Zach my wheaten a break from puppy mayhem!
> 
> Each morning the first thing we do is go to the potty porch. The first two days all he wanted to do is lay down on it. So I would place him in the IRIS pen and yes he would do it on the pish pad. . So every hour we go to the potty porch and I say go potty and shut up and wait. I did this not because he had to pee that often, but to start a routine. I finally took the pish pad after he used it and rubbed it over the fake grassI t took two days, but he finally started using it to pee and hasn't used the pish pad in the pen. On the fourth day, he finally pooped on the potty porch. Success! Of course when they finally do it, we all do the happy dance and I give him a little treat.
> 
> ...


What a good little boy Boo is!

My Bailey was the same way. He got a great start from his breeder (Josymir). He basically arrived housebroken and all I had to do was reinforce it. He had maybe ten accidents total, all my fault for giving him too much freedom. I realized that when he was playing he needed to pee every 15 minutes and if he was too far away from his pads he would go where he was. 

Lady was a rescue (adopted at 4.5 years) and I also potty trained her easily, too. Despite being diabetic, she was wonderful about using her pads or going outside. The only time she had accidents was when she was sick and her blood sugar was high, common for diabetics.

I honestly don't think Maltese are hard to housebreak. I think it's more "owner failure", not being consistent, not watching with 100% attention, etc. Giving a puppy too much freedom is one of the biggest problems IMO. A little 2-3 pound dog does not need a whole house or even a whole room to run around in. If you set them up for success and reward them, they are fast learners.


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