I have a Maltese puppy (born July 2007) that has become impossible to paper train. We got her in October from a home that severely neglected her. We were not in the market for a dog at the time, but it was just something we had to do. Anyway, the apartment we were living in at the time did not allow pets and considering the mean landlady lived right next door we had no way to crate train because of the yipping, whining and barking. We moved to our own home in December but after a month of not being in the crate we didn’t feel right putting her back in (I know, that was mistake #1 on our part.) She is the sweetest dog all around but poops and pees wherever she pleases about 80% of the time. We have paper in the kitchen and some upstairs. Does anyone have any advice besides putting her back in the crate because it’s been so long I simply cannot put her in it. I also heard though, that poor housebreaking is part of the Maltese breed. Is that true?
Thank you!!! But here’s another problem…being that I’ve been a cat person my whole life, this is the first dog I’ve ever trained (well, tried to anyway lol) What would you suggest is a good routine, schedule or however you put it for her crating?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
pottytrain your maltese
Sorry but that housebreaking thing is a myth. The reason so many people feel that housebreaking a Maltese is so hard is because when it is cold or wet outside, they are NOT a big fan of going out. I just put a sweater on mine and hike them outside and stand there with an umbrella or an extra sweater on until they go. Who is the boss, you or the dog. YOU ARE.
You are not alpha or any of that crap, you are just the MOM… LOL. They learn to do things because we teach them it is ok. It is YOU teaching her it is OK to go in the house because you give her NO restrictions.
I am a proud maltese mom (and dog rescue volunteer) and I hate to tell you but papertraining is the WORST thing you can do because it teaches her INSIDE is a good place to go.
Go back to the crate. You HAVE to for your sanity and the dogs well being. It is not cruel.
If you have a problem with yapping, put a blanket over the cage and ignore her til she stops. AS SOON AS SHE STOPS YAPPING, get her out… so she associates being quiet with mom wanting to play and getting out of the kennel.
home made recipes for your maltese
Not true! You’re sentimantal issues are getting in the way of your happiness, LOL! Housebreaking issues are usually not the fault of the dog. I’m really not a fan of paper training because you are just training them to go in the house. Then you have to train them again to go outside. Housetraining is easy, the hard part is you being consistant. Your dog should be crated any time it cannot be closely supervised by you. Put your dog on a consistent schedl of feeding (no free-feeding), take them out after playing, drinking, eating, when they wake up and before going to sleep. Crate your dog at night, a this age, it absolutely can hold it all night. Make sure the crate is not too big. Also make sure you clean those areas your dog has gone very well or it will continue to go there. This really is only as hard as you make it. Buck up and buckle down, you can do this, really!!
pottytrain your maltese
Your puppy is the tough one. Best if you could crate her in a play pan (consists of 4 independent gates that you can connect to)
Play pan is bigger than a normal crate, and you can even include some her fav.toys as well. Put the play pan in social area (eg. living room) and make sure you do that in day time when you are able to be around her. After few hours, she wont bark anymore.
Set daily routine of when she should eat, preferably twice daily. Bring her outdoor to do her business 15-20 mins after eaten.
After establish this routine, she should be able to potty-trained in 2-3 months time. But for me personally, I would suggest to continue for her to keep eating inside the play pan, so that she will consider her play pan as her home, instead of a punishment place.
Hope this answer can help. Good luck!!
Can anyone help I have an 11 month old maltese who is wetting and dirtying all over the house i have tried to punish her buy putting her nose in it and scolding her but it doesen’t work and since i now have a cat she has been worse she is now peeing on the bed i keep scolding her but she just doesen’t get it i tried taking her out for walks but she doesen’t go outside and i don’t want to keep scolding her all the time she is so fragile and loving what should i do she has never been in a crate i also though about putting diapers on her I just don’t know what to do can any one help me.
Help my little Khloe
Can anyone help I have an 11 month old maltese who is wetting and dirtying all over the house i have tried to punish her buy putting her nose in it and scolding her but it doesen\’t work and since i now have a cat she has been worse she is now peeing on the bed i keep scolding her but she just doesen\’t get it i tried taking her out for walks but she doesen\’t go outside and i don\’t want to keep scolding her all the time she is so fragile and loving what should i do she has never been in a crate i also though about putting diapers on her I just don\’t know what to do can any one help me.
Help my little Khloe
Dear Lorraine
you can check this pottytraining book which helped me a lot with my Ozi (the Maltese you see on the site). He used to pee inside especially when kids and I were out of the house for a few hours.
Regards
Sofia