Chihuahua Potty Training

Question
My 2 year old female chihuahua is trained to do her job on a potty pad.  That works ok, but I would really like to get rid of the potty pads and have her go strictly outside.  Do you have any advice on how to do that?  She absolutely hates dog carriers and goes pretty crazy while she's in it.

Answer
Hi Lisa....

Why is it that you decided to have her use potty pads and not train her to go outside to begin with?  Not a criticism...my dogs use a doggie litter box with a potty pad and have for many, many years.  I find that if I take them outside at regular intervals, they will gladly do their "business" outside and forfeit the potty pads.  Are you home all day?  Are you meaning to use both potty pads and have her "go" outside too?  Do you happen to live in an area where it's really cold or where it snows?  One major complaint with so many Chi owners is that their dogs just seem to refuse to go outside and do their "business" when it's too cold.

I think a sure way to train her to use the outdoors is to slather her with praise when she urinates or defecates outdoors and make sure that you take her out immediately after eating (and maybe 15 mins. later if she doesn't do anything the first time you take her out) and practice consistency in taking her outdoors before bed, when she wakes up in the morning and perhaps even every hour while you're first training her.  A nice, low-fat treat wouldn't hurt either when you're slathering on all that praise and giving kisses for a job well done.

If she seems really "put off" about "going" outdoors and doesn't seem to understand, you can try training her by putting down a potty pad outside in a designated area (maybe a patio) and encouraging her to use that and then move it over eventually to a "grassy" area.  You can then cut the potty pad in half after she starts getting use to using that outdoors and keep cutting it smaller and smaller until she's "going" on the grass (or dirt) without even realizing it.

I hope this information helps.  If you want to answer some of the above questions and get back to me, that's great.  Otherwise, I look forward to hearing from you sometime in the future when you have other questions.

Jo Ann