Open the crate door and put the puppy pp pad just outside the door, replace the cozy thing inside the crate with a nice fuzzy blanet he can nest in covering his entire body.... You can walk him as late in the night as possible, get him a coat so he wont get too cold. You might want to put a sweater (Petsmart has great chi clothing) on him at night as well, since these things are all washable, you might get 2 and just switch them out wwhen he has an accident. The cheapo blankets at Walgreens are nice and soft and easy to wash. My dogs best friend is a 3 pound Chi and she loves to nest in anything warm. Sounds like you are doing great with your puppy, be certain to give him the command to pp outside when he is going while you are out on your walks, and dont be afraid to walk him good. In a couple of years he will be able to do a 5 miler as long as the terrain is not too bumpy.

My advice would be to get rid of the pee pads asap. I know pups can't hold it all night - but those pee pads REALLY, give the dogs the notion that it is OK to pee in the house, and when they are in their crate, that it is OK to pee where they sleep.

You don't want another one of those dogs who, when they're older pee all over the house because they were trained with the Pee Pads. You're essentially teaching him its OK to pee in the house, as long as it's in this or that corner. Easiest way to untrain this, is place ONE pad at the door you want him to go out. After he gets that down, move the pad just outside the door. When he has an accident, put him outside by the pad. Soon he should start asking to go out.

Cut up an older blanket, or buy a cheaper thick, flannel sheet set, and cut it into puppy sized blanket squares. Everytime pup pees in his bed, put a new one in. If the bedding smells like pee, he will continue to pee on it.

I know its SO very hard with little dogs, to not let them in your lap, but you really shouldn't atleast until he is trained. Allowing him ON you, makes him think he's got some control. Until he is house trained, you might find it helpful to get on the floor for snuggle time, come to him, don't have him come to you. And IF you choose to let him up, make sure its when YOU ask him to, not when HE asks you to. He needs to know you make the rules and decide when and what he does, not him.

A dogs crate shouldn't have anymore room than they need to stand up and turn around in. If they have room to pee and get away from it, they will. You can fix this with your current crate by putting a piece of cardboard in it, to make it small enough that he has no room to get away from it.

And don't forget that even though he's small and needs a few special considerations, he is still a dog. When he does something and you're not sure if it is OK or not, ask yourself would you allow him to do it if he was a larger breed, like a husky or a boxer, etc. If the answer is no, then it is no. They're all still dogs and should all have the same type of training.

It seems like you are trying really hard and trying to get as much under control as you can, and thats fantastic!! Keep up the good work, and you'll have a good dog in no time!!

Currently I have a 7 pound toy fox terrier. This is my first tiny dog. Most dogs that we have had in the past were 70 - 80 pounds, so this tiny dog experience has certainly been new for me. I've had this tiny dog for about two years....

Anyway, you have two different issues, once is warm and one is potty training...I have a question, on the nights that you removed the bedding from the crate, did the pup pee in the bare crate?

Our tiny pup sleeps in the bed with us. She has her own pillow. If she gets cold, she wiggles her way underneath the blankets. We have to be careful not to roll over on her.

You may able to do some things to the crate to keep him warm, besides using bedding. I might set the crate on a heating pad set on low setting. A cover over the crate helps keep the heat in. Another recent post mention several pet owners who use the Snuggle Safe microwavable frisbee things, (I haven't used them myself).

I also feed my little dog throughout the day, to keep her metabolism stable... I can't leave food in a dish for her because we have other large dogs who can inhale her portion in one snuff...

Walkies, in a jacket....I'll have to post a pic of my dog in her jacket. Very cute.

Joepyeweed...you asked that on the nights that I took the beddding from the crate did he pee in the bare crate...well I only took the bedding out...I left the pad in the crate with him, and yes he did pee in the crate.

I have taken all the bedding out except for the cheap blanket from the dollar tree....went and picked up like 20 of them...but everytime I put one in the crate....bamn..he peepee's on it.

I have also tried to do away with the puppy pads all except for the one by the door. I watch him and if he goes to that one I pick him up and take him straight outside...I think that when he gets just a little bigger he is going to figure out that when he goes to the pad at the door it is time to go outside.

I am having more accidents with him now....he peepee's in the two corners that I had the puppy pads in...but they are no longer there. I got some of the cleaning spray that takes away the odor so he won't want to pee pee there anymore....and he still pee pee's there. I decided that I would close the doors in the house to keep him away from those two corners...and he just walks into a room behind you and pee pee's in the corner. I admit that I taught him a bad thing by starting the peepee pads in the first place but he you have to do something when you have one that is so so small.

I finally got him a ferret harness that will fit him and we are taking walks outside. He pee pee's and poo poo's outside. I praise him and give him treats and make a big deal out of it. I just can't get him to go to the door and let me know he has to go outside. He goes straight to the pad and peepee's.

I appreciate everyone's advise on my issues. I have always heard that you should be consistant so I never changed the way I was doing the traing. But it an't much training if the dog is not responding.

I also got him some sweaters....He is a little warmer when we go outside. I am still looking for one of those microwavale frisbee things though. I tried a heating pad in the crate and under the crate. He just scratched it all to pices when it was in his box and when I placed it under the crate he scratched the bottom of the crate all night! LOL Anyway....he is staying warm with just the little blankets.

I bought him a pillow that he can sit and sleep on during the day....and guess what he does to it. YEAP PeePee's on it! LOL

Still trying to potty train! LOL

Put the pad just outside the door. No more pads inside.

The good thing, is you know he is able to learn, as he learned to go on the pads. The bad thing is, now he has to unlearn it!

The general rule of thumb for potty training is if you cannot supervise your dog, they should not be out of their crate.

Unfortunately with little dogs, it takes 5 seconds for them to find a tiny little area to pee in, and you might not even find it. So this pretty much means if he is out of his crate, he is on a leash attached to you, or in a room he can't leave. If you can't catch him in the act everytime, he won't learn.

And I mean EVERY time. If he sneaks off even once or twice and pees somewhere and you don't catch it or find it - he's going to learn that "Ok, I can pee in the house, I just have to hide it" and eventually your house will smell like pee and you'll have no idea why, because as far as you know, Fido hasn't peed in the house in months.

As for getting him to let you know he needs out - try getting him really excited to go out. My beagle did nothing but sit at the door and wait - if we weren't in the room, we never knew she needed out. So we started saying "Do you need out" over and over and reaching for the door, and we'd do it until she started to whine and get really excited - then we'd let her out. After a few days of this, she learned to let us know she wants out by getting excited and whining. Now she starts zooming all over the house, running to us, to the door, getting hyper.

Hang in there, it'll happen!

When he pees in your lap, does he take a certain stance or is he just lying there and then you notice your lap is wet?
If he's just lying there, you may want to have him checked for a urinary infection.

Otherwise, since he seems to have made a habit of peeing in the crate, consider using a collapsible pen and place his bed on one side and the pee pad on the other. Place food and water near the bed.
Are you gone all day during the week? If you are, then continue using the pee pads. I'm not a fan of the pads, but they often have to be used with little dogs until they're old enough to control their bladder.

If he's not neutered, I suggest getting him fixed since that will stop the urge to mark .

When you take him outside, are you carrying him or making him walk? Let him walk wherever he can and when you're taking him out to do his business use the same phrase each time you head for the door.....such as 'outside', 'let's go do your business', or whatever you want to use so that he can relate it to housetraining.

No one has mentioned it, but you should know that chi's can be difficult to housetrain. They can learn but they take more time and patience than other breeds.

Lots of great advice. I particularly agree with the supervision comments. Don't let the pup out of your site until he gets potty trained. Crate him when you can't keep you eye on him. Leash him to you, with a long lead, when you are busy.

One more thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is a urinary tract infection. (Peeing on your lap, may be an indication that he can't hold it because it hurts.) I'd probably get a urine culture. If you can grab a sample and take it the vet. I like to use the small glad ware container and stick in under their rear when they squat.

When he pp'd the other night in my lap...he squatted! I just don't think he knows the signal to go pp. I am working on getting him excited about "Outside". I have taken all pads away except the one by the back door and one by the front door. I closed off all rooms in the house and he is deffinatley going on the puppy pads at all times. I have watched him and when I can't watch him then he is crated. When he goes to the pads to pp I grab him and stared saying "outside" really really happily. Bad part is that I can't just open the door and he runs out. I have to carry him out cause he is not big enough for the front steps yet! LOL
Anyway...I have appreciated all the great advice. I have done everything that everyone has suggested. Thank goodness he is not "confussed" yet. LOL
This is the only bad part of getting a very small dog...they are hard to house train. I don't care what breed you get...if they are this small they are going to be difficult. I thought of getting rid of him but then I thought that everything he was doing was really "my fault" why should I punish the dog. He is so attached to me.

Thanks so much to everyone keep the advise comming. I can use all I can get. If anyone has more ideas let me know.

Oh and I did get him checked for the bladder or UT infections and he is fine....Vet is my cousin and he just said that small dogs have small bladders!

Speaking of the small bladder, how often do you take him outside? Have you been pro-active in taking him outside?, like every 30 minutes, anticipate when he has to go and get him outside before he even asks to go or looks to squat. So if he "happens" to be outside when he squats you can praise him.

Setting your dog up to a be in a position to be praised helps also.

You might have set a timer to go off every 30 minutes to remind you to go out. After a few successful outdoor potty trips you might be able to gradually increase the time between pre-emptive potty breaks. Because your dog is so small he may not be able to hold it very long.

And you may want to limit his access to water until you get him potty trained. Only give him water twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. When he's done drinking pick up the water dish. Once he is potty trained then you can just leave the water out...

When I can not keep a eye on him constantly I keep him crated now. No more puppy pads in the crate. But I have to keep a blanket or something inside the crate to keep him warm at night. He pee pee's on it. I have left the blanket out of the crate but he gets so cold he is shivering when I get him out to peepee in the mornings. I get up once a night to let him outside no matter how cold it is I make sure he goes outside. I have limited his water intake but only at night. I gave him water twice a day once in the morning and once in the evening but he ended up dehydrated and the vet said he has to have food and water avalible to him because he is so small and could develope sugar issues. But during the day I have been taking him outside every hour...I started with 30 min stretches and noticed he was pee peeing at certain times of the day. I logged his pee pee habits and have completely taken all the puppy pads up except one by the back door. I left that one for ER's only! He still does not get excited about going outside he actually is running away from the doors and hides! LOL But as long as I am home I take him out every hour on the hour. If I am not at home he is in his crate. I never new such a small dog would be so difficult. He has been so hard to house break.

But as long as I am home I take him out every hour on the hour. If I am not at home he is in his crate.

I think that is the way all dogs should be trained, large or small...it sounds like you are making progress.

You have to get the soft, fun to pee on stuff, out of the crate. Have you tried setting the crate on a heating pad?

Moejoe, I hope you don't mind me ask question here as well. It's kind of related to yours except opposite. My Chi, Monty is 7 & 1/2 months old and weights about 2 lbs and 3 oz. He doesn't have problem at night. However because both DH and I work full time, Monty is left in the crate from 7 to 4 on average during the week. Most days he peed/pooped or both in the crate. Do we ask too much for expecting him to hold the pee/poop? I personally don't think he can hold it that long because he is so tiny. But DH thinks Monty should be able to. What do you guys think?

gpwuster-Let me ask you a question and I don't mean this in a hateful way.Can YOU "hold it" for 9 hours? To answer your question,yes,you are expecting too much of him to hold the poop and pee that long!
First of all,Monty is still a puppy.I think it is unfair to the dog to keep him crated for 9 hours without a break.
That's just my opinion.Could you possibly have someone come in during the day and let him out or maybe you or DH could come home for lunch and let him out? Also,small dogs should not be going 9 hours without food because of blood sugar issues.They need to eat several small meals during the day.
Another solution would be closing off an area with a puppy gate (not a closed door).Maybe a laundry room,bathroom or some other small uncarpeted area in the house for him during the day.Place the opened crate,(prop the door open with something heavy) food,water,a few favorite toys and a puppy pad in the enclosed area.I know there is a lot of negative advice about the puppy pads,but when the choice is for the puppy to be locked in a crate for 9 hours a day as opposed to being in a secured area with a puppy pad,in my opinion the puppy pad is better.If he can hold it all night and has never peed/pooped in the crate at night I don't think he will start.I know that all dogs are not the same but I have a 13 year old female Chi that potties on puppy pads when we are not home but when we are she runs to the door and bounces around when she needs to go out.She doesn't pee anywhere else in the house.She doesn't use the puppy pad when someone is here to let her out so that kinda debunks the theory that they will think it is ok to pee in the house if they are pad trained!LOL I am at this moment training a tiny 7 week old Chi-weenie (less than 1 1/2 lbs) to go on the puppy pad.I have had her 3 days and she is already going to the pad by herself to pee.We are still working on the poop thing but she is learning fast.We also take her outside and she does her jobs as well.I am disabled and can't take her outside.She only goes out when DH is here to take her,so pad training is the only other option.She is crated only at night and when we are going to be out for a few hours during the day.She has never peed or pooped in her crate.I'm not saying this is the greatest solution or that I won't be here tomorrow with the same problems others are experiencing.Just that this is what is working for me,so far!LOL

Thanks, liliepad.. but NO, I can't hold for 9 hours! :) I really don't think Monty can either. We had tried the method you mentioned when he was younger. It worked ok... what about doggie door? Putting crate inside and also crate/play pen outside to limit the area he can be in.
How is your little weenie? hehe

I've seen doggy doors that have a collar so that the door is shut/locked until the transmitter from the collar comes close to the door and then the door is open. I saw it on the dog whisperer where the couple wanted to let only one of their three dogs to go in and out of the house freely.

My position on p-pads and paper training is just don't do it!!! You are telling your dog that it is OK to pee in the house. I can't believe you actually had a p-pad inside the crate at one time. The smell is still in that crate. You simply made your job much more difficult. But that is after the fact.

Now you have to re-train him to know that it is NEVER OK to relieve himself in the house. He will have accidents until he knows you are serious about his training.