I have recently got two little bichon frise girls and I am really struggling to house train them.

They are 4 months old and i have had them for 8 weeks.

I stay in a flat so we do not have immediate access to our gardens.

These are my first dogs of my own and I am a little lost.

I put news paper down for them when I go to work and they do use it for wee but not poo.

They also have a cage in another room that is lined with paper that they use allot of the time although they still seem to be having allot of accidents. If they go elsewhere they are told firmly "no" and put in with the papers for a few minutes. (only when i catch them on the act as i'm aware this is important also i do not want to give the wrong one a row and confuse them further).

I have been told to regulate when they eat and then take them down directly after but they never seem to eat when food is out down to them, instead they seem to graze.

My partner and i both work but he is on a shift pattern so they are rarely on their own for and more than a few hours. When we have been out or through the night they always have gone to the toilet.

We were recently advised to buy some grass and out it outside the door on the landing to take them out every 20-30 minutes, but they just stand and look at me like they dont know what i'm up to lol, they then go as soon as they are back indoors!

i have heard that bichons cannot hold their toilet whilst i am at work and can only be crate trained...is this true??

also any tips for training two at a time?

also does anyone else stay in a flat with a bichon and have managed to train them??

I totally adore my girls but i'm getting so worried about this!! I'm starting to think my dogs are always going to go to the loo in the house!

x

I have a male Bichon who is five years old now. We got him when he was 10 weeks old and it took till he was eight months old before I could say he was properly housetrained. Bichons are meant to be amongst the hardest dogs to housetrain. He then started suffering from separation anxiety because I used to put him in the kitchen behind a dog gate for 20 mins whilst I took my daughter to school and I used to come back to wee and poo every morning. It really got me down. I never said anything to him though - just cleaned it up and ignored him. He used to get so worked up being left that he couldn't help it. Now he's absolutely perfect - he always asks to go out and hasn't done anything in the house for years and I've even cured the separation anxiety by letting him have the run of the house if I have to go out. There is usually someone in the majority of the time but if he has to be left he's happy as long as he can sit on the back of the chair and look through the window.

I can imagine it's even harder for you having two to housetrain at the same time and in a flat too.

When I housetrain dogs I don't use paper or puppy pads - I just take them straight in the garden because I think paper just confuses them and gives them the message that it's okay to do it inside. I have had several dogs but our Bichon was the hardest but we cracked it in the end.

I am hoping to get a little Bichon frise girl sometime - don't know when yet but my Bichon would love a little Bichon girlfriend.

we really struggled with esme (bichon girl). she's 6 months old and is only 95% toilet trained, it's been hard with her cause we've had to train her to pee on paper whilst we're at work and outside when we're home.

the only thing with esme that helped was putting soiled paper outside cause then when she 'went' near it she had lots of praise.

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Hi its a really bad idea to paper or pad train,you are teaching them its ok to toilet indoorsregular trips outside,straight after food is the only way im afraid,and crating at night in a crate just big enough for a bed.Again you shouldnt encourage them to use this as a toilet.

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(formally clare7577)

My boxer dog was real bad going poop in the house, especially over night!!!

But I put her in her cage over night... and she doesnt go at all. As for during the day, you just need to have them in sight all the time. have them in the same room and take them out regulary. Its all about routine.

If you have them with you all the time, they cant do wrong... They dont know that pooing in the house is wrong if you tell them off some time after they have done it. They are still getting used to their environment, they will settle down if you get them into a routine