Chiweenie Potty Training

Do you own a little Chiweenie puppy? These dogs are cute and adorable companions as well as smart and loyal. One problem however stumps many owners: How do you get a Chiweenie to stop having potty accidents inside?

Let’s look at why Chiweenies are prone to potty training issues, when to consult your vet and how to tackle the potty training!

Why are Chiweenies hard to potty-train?

Across all dog breeds, small dogs tend to be the hardest when it comes to potty-training. Not only is their bladder tiny, but they seem to take longer than larger breeds to understand that they should not pee inside.

While many large and giant dogs can be completely house-broken as early as 3 or 4 months of age, many owners of small dogs struggle until their dog is over 1 year old.

One the one hand, the bladder volume of a Chiweenie puppy is very small. On the other hand, the puppies often are so small and fragile that taken them outside can be difficult – especially at night or during cold and wet weather.

While a Goldendoodle can go outside in any weather, a little Chiweenie puppy will get cold quickly if it is under 45 F. This adds to the difficulty of the training process. Pottytraining is even harder if your puppy is the offspring of a Dachshund crossed with a Teacup Chihuahua, as these dogs have notoriously tiny bladders.

How long can Chiweenies hold their bladder?

An 8 week old Chiweenie cannot be expected to hold his bladder longer than 20 minutes while he is awake. This time frame of course grows as the puppy gets older.

As a rule of thumb, expect:

A 3 month old puppy to hold his bladder for 30 minutes
A 4 months old Chiweenie to hold his bladder for 45 minutes
A 6 month old Chiweenie to hold his bladder for 60-90 minutes
A 9 month old Chiweenie to hold his bladder up to 3 hours
A 1 year old Chiweenie to hold his bladder up to 4 hours

It is important to note that the main reason why puppies have accidents inside is not that their bladder couldn’t hold anymore but that they do not understand that they should potty outside.

5 Steps to potty-training your Chiweenie

Here is the step by step process for making your puppy’s potty training a success!

Step 1

Establish a “home base”. This home base will be where your Chiweenie spends most of his time if you cannot actively supervise him. You can use baby gates restrict him to one room, put up an exercise pen or use a puppy playpen. In order for potty training to be successful, this should not be too big of an area. The bigger your puppy’s space is, the more likely he is to think “there is a toilet in here”!

Step 2

Take your puppy out every time he wakes up, eats, drinks, and plays as well as additionally every 20 minutes. Yes, this is very often! The better you stick with it, the faster he will learn.

Step 3

Stay with your puppy outside to make sure he actually pees. Many owners simply open the door to the yard and then the Chiweenie puppy walks around, sniffs, plays with a leaf … but he doesn’t go potty! Only if you see your Chiweenie potty, you should assume that his bladder is empty.

Step 4

You should not restrict your Chiweenie’s access to water in order to control his bladder. However, you should keep him on a feeding schedule.

Food needs about 6 hours to pass through a puppy’s body. If you feed your Chiweenie at 9pm, he will need to poop (and potentially have an accident!) at 3am.

If you are struggling with potty training troubles during the night, make sure to feed an early supper to your puppy (as early as 4pm).

Step 5

Never scold your puppy for an accident, hit him with a newspaper or dip his nose into his urine. Your Chiweenie is not trying to be bad on purpose! He is just learning. If he had an accident, you probably should have taken him outside earlier.

Using potty pads

Should you be using potty pads for your Chiweenie? As a dog trainer, I only recommend to use potty pads if there is no other option to take the puppy out regularly.

If you are working long hours and have to leave your dog alone during the day, of course he will have to pee. It is better he pees on the potty pads than on the floor.

However, whenever you are home you need to take him outside. Do not let your Chiweenie pee and poop on potty pads out of convenience. This is only going to prolong the potty training process and make it harder in the future.

Ideally you should show your puppy during potty training that the best (and only) place to go potty is outside. Reserve potty pads only for those time when you are not home to take your puppy outside!

The Bottom Line

Chiweenies are harder to potty-train than larger dogs. This is due to their extremely small bladder volume. In the beginning, expect to take your puppy out many time throughout the day. Keep your Chiweenie in a restricted area (such as an exercise pen) when you cannot supervise him.

You should not rely heavily on potty pads as these teach the puppy nothing. The fastest way to successful potty training is to commit to taking your puppy out as frequently as needed!