# Different houses the reason for housebreaking difficulties?



## kayanne (Sep 15, 2018)

Zita is the second Maltese I've had. Our first one (she's gone now) was pretty easy to housebreak. Zita is now 8 months old and I'm honestly starting to worry she will never be fully house trained.

I'm wondering if part of the problem is that we have been in so many different places. My husband works outside of the country, so sometimes we're there with him, and sometimes we're at our home in TN, and sometimes we're visiting friends and family in other states (the holidays were a busy travel time for us).

I started out crate training, and it seemed like it was going well, but if I give Zita freedom at all she will pee or poo somewhere. I can't keep her in a crate 24 hours a day crying---that would not be healthy for her. I have tried tethering her to me, but even then she will pee when I'm not looking. I feel like I am consumed with this dog's house training 24 hours a day, which I expected to do for a while, but not for this long! She will readily do what she needs when I take her out, but no matter how often I take her out, she still manages to have an accident at least once a day.

Any ideas???


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

Kayanne,
Several things come to mind:
1. Stay positive & keep her positive
2. Have her checked for UTI w/vet
3. Thoroughly clean any spots as they will go back to the smell (can also use "No Marking" after cleaning
4. Keep her in a small confined area w/tile floors & under no circumstances change that until she is "clean." I kept Lisi in the kitchen w/pads & water (not too close together though)

I travel LOTS to different countries, different situations, etc. That should not be an issue unless she does not know where she is supposed to go (can't find her pad). Both my pups are cross-trained to go inside & outside so pads are available at all times (2 different places in the house). I leave lights on when I am out late so they can easily find their way to the bathroom where one pad is kept, or to the laundry room where we have another. I do clean up or cover any spots on the pad w/white napkins so that it is "clean." 

8 months is still pretty young, so be patient. Some pups train early & some late---just like kids & diapers.


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## kayanne (Sep 15, 2018)

Thanks for your response. Your thought that 8 months is still pretty young is encouraging. My previous Maltese was trained much younger so I was worrying.

The house we're at now (and will likely be for the next few months) is 100% tile floors, so that's good. 

It seems like she's not catching on at all, but apparently I need to give it more time. I'll just continue to keep her on her leash, either attached to me or a chair leg or whatever. It just seems like she is not learning to behave properly with any freedom, and that *I* am the one who is trained, taking her out every couple of hours (except at night; she does last at least 8 hours in her crate overnight. She can also stay dry in her crate if I'm gone for a few hours). 

She doesn't pee in the same place in the house, it's just wherever she takes a notion, so I don't know if a lingering smell is a contributor or not. I don't have any dog urine cleaners at this house on St Croix (I've been cleaning with bleach or Windex), as shopping is very limited on this little island. Even getting things shipped here is tricky (some items will ship, some won't) but I'll see what I can get. I do use a deodorizing product at our TN house, but she still has accidents there too.

It was encouraging to read that your dogs have done ok despite lots of traveling. You mentioned using pads. I was hoping to hold off on those until Zita had been trained outside. I do have a package of pads here. Do you have suggestions for introducing those?


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

Sandi gave you some very excellent advice!! We have an almost 7th month old very tiny (2.6-7 lb. Yorkie Puppy that we have had for 4 months today. We are very consistent with her Crate training but she too still has an accident here and there. Sometime I think I expect too much of her!! Patience is what we all have to have and I am sure that your little Malt will soon get the hang of it.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

My Kitzi trained himself around the end of 3 -4 months (I had him in a pack & play at night w/a pad at one end)---not Lisi! She took longer but I did both (pad & outside) at the same time. Lisi was hard to train to go outside as we lived in Greece, did not have our own garden & there were few sidewalks & practically no grass on the street sides. I use to drive around w/a pad, put it outside & try to street train her there. We were, for sure, a comical site to the Greeks. 

I would not give her free reign even if you have tile floors---just part of a room or a smaller room (like kitchen) so that she can be w/you (not isolated) & you can praise her & give her a treat when she goes on the pad. There are some "scented" pads which help them to learn where to go, but a few drops of urine will work just the same. It seems to me it just has to do w/lots of praise---and then suddenly it clicks! I love it that my two will go in or outside now. I use the same words all the time when I want them to go---they eventually know what I am asking & will pee & pooh on command (well, most of the time!).


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## kayanne (Sep 15, 2018)

Thanks for all your suggestions edelweiss. This afternoon I started setting a timer for 20 minutes after a successful outside session. I'm going to try 20 minutes of supervised freedom, then back on a few feet of leash. I can't really confine Zita to a particular room because we have a lot of open doorways (and no way to get gates here, so a leash is our only method to confine.) 

I'm going to start training her with pads too. Hopefully that will work!

I remember when we got Zita back in July (in TN) telling my husband "Oh, we won't need any urine stain cleaner because I will never give her opportunity for an accident." I truly thought I could achieve that!


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## Chvilla1 (Mar 20, 2020)

Dont be discouraged. It will come. I was so tired when I was potty training bc I felt like I was going out every 30 minutes and that probably was because I was but its worth’s it. Sounds like our situation is similar. I live in TN and there are so many places to walk Kobe but in my home in Puerto Rico we are on the mountain side so I cant get down to the grassy area like Kobe is used to so outside leads to more of fa challenge. Kobe has only been with us for 3 months and we have not gone home to PR since we have gotten him so Im afraid to see how it will go for us. Will he revert? I can totally relate to how dificult it is to get things sometimes. I don’t know. But don’t give up. Your Zita is so worth it. Let us know how your progress goes.


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