Are some breeds more difficult to housetrain?

[DogsAndTheMob]

I have been caring for a relative’s small dog for several months. My relative took her in three years ago as a young adult dog and quickly discovered that she wasn’t housetrained. She made a little housetraining progress and lapses went from daily to a few times a week. Now that she’s living with me, we mostly avoid lapses by monitoring and management but I doubt if she’ll ever be reliably clean in the house.

 

This is outside my experience. My puppies graduate from the management stage to being reliably housetrained very quickly. Google (that fount of all wisdom) tells me that this breed and several other small breeds are notoriously difficult to housetrain. Is this true? Are some breeds more difficult to housetrain or is it because people manage their housetraining differently? Do housetraining tools like pee-pads, for example, send the wrong message?

Edited Friday at 09:30 PM by DogsAndTheMob

[_PL_]

Yes, it's said that some small breeds are difficult especially when young. Spend an hour outside seemingly fine, then come back in and pee on the floor. 
Housetraining to a point where they are reliable is absolutely possible, it just might take longer than others. Not sure why.  

You do get the occasional 'No way am I going out in the rain!' sneaky poop under the dining table type thing but small breeds aren't alone in that. 

Ultimately, as you've demonstrated - they respond to routine and supervision (and sometimes just some human company for reassurance).  
At any age, it's exactly the same as house training a puppy. Sending her home, where her owner's skill set may be different - she'll probably backslide unless you train the owner too. 

 

I find established markers (both male and female) to be a bit stubborn with the last of that habit.    


 

[Rebanne]

I've been told Italian Greyhounds are very difficult to house train. 

[Loving my Oldies]

I have had so many little dogs over the years and some are absolutely religious about going outside - rain, hail, shine, whatever.  Sometimes if we are have persistent and heavy rain, I will block off access to the stairs to stop them going out and getting soaked.  I do have a deck that at one stage I called the pissoir because when one starts, others find it very difficult not to join in.   

 

Others, even of the same breed, are unreliable, to say it nicely  .  

 

I am currently fostering a little male Pomeranian and he is pretty well prefect despite having not had the best upbringing.  Because my dogs are all on different meds, I feed them separately and he generally eats in the bedroom.  On occasions, I have forgotten him (I know, dreadful   ) and when I open the door he bolts for the outside and I haven't found any messes.  

 

Others, as PL says, you can spend ages in the yard with them only to have them come upstairs and wee inside.  

 

I call fully housetrained a dog who will let you know he/she needs to go outside if the door is closed.  

 

But, yes, I believe certain breeds are more difficult to train.   

 

[Papillon Kisses]

I’d like to add that is all too common (with any size dog or problem behaviour) to not consider or only give lip service to medical conditions, including but not limited to anxiety disorders or chronic pain or discomfort of any sort. I know many little dogs whose toileting mishaps were solved with anxiety medication and/or analgesia. Sometimes it’s a rapid behaviour change because they very much knew what to do, they were simply too worried or sore to do it! We do our dogs a tremendous disservice when we write off a behaviour as normal just because it is common in a particular type of dog.

As an example, imagine you’re a Toy Poodle or Chihuahua with luxating patellas, or perhaps a Dachshund or French Bulldog with IVDD. Your human thinks you should be perfectly fine walking down slippery stairs to toilet in the rain, when it hurts and feels sketchy at the best of times. They don’t make the connection because you can toilet outside some of the time, and you can run around when adrenaline or happiness mask your pain. They might not realise you’re in pain at all until you’re in such agony that you yelp or stop walking entirely, and even then they might call you dramatic.

[DogsAndTheMob]

On 3/5/2025 at 8:46 AM, _PL_ said:

I’m not sure that she’ll ever be 100% reliable. Unlike the puppies that I’ve housetrained, she seems to be indiscriminate about where she toilets… carpet or tiles, concrete or grass. She’s usually not fond of getting her paws wet but yesterday, she toileted on wet concrete about a metre from dry concrete, then rested in the sun on wet grass.

 

On a more positive note, she had obviously been “holding on” later yesterday when I was out shopping. (My husband, who is usually very good with her, hadn’t thought to take her outside.

Edited 21 hours ago by DogsAndTheMob

[DogsAndTheMob]

20 hours ago, Loving my Oldies said:

 

I call fully housetrained a dog who will let you know he/she needs to go outside if the door is closed.  

 

That’s my goal. Yesterday, she was restless when she needed to go out, so maybe I can convert that to a request to go out.

[DogsAndTheMob]

18 hours ago, Papillon Kisses said:

I’d like to add that is all too common (with any size dog or problem behaviour) to not consider or only give lip service to medical conditions, including but not limited to anxiety disorders or chronic pain or discomfort of any sort. I know many little dogs whose toileting mishaps were solved with anxiety medication and/or analgesia. Sometimes it’s a rapid behaviour change because they very much knew what to do, they were simply too worried or sore to do it! We do our dogs a tremendous disservice when we write off a behaviour as normal just because it is common in a particular type of dog.

As an example, imagine you’re a Toy Poodle or Chihuahua with luxating patellas, or perhaps a Dachshund or French Bulldog with IVDD. Your human thinks you should be perfectly fine walking down slippery stairs to toilet in the rain, when it hurts and feels sketchy at the best of times. They don’t make the connection because you can toilet outside some of the time, and you can run around when adrenaline or happiness mask your pain. They might not realise you’re in pain at all until you’re in such agony that you yelp or stop walking entirely, and even then they might call you dramatic.

She’s a very nimble little dog who comes running at any hint of food, chases my dogs and rolls herself up in her blankets, so I doubt if pain is interfering with her housetraining. 

I think she was anxious outside when she first came to live with us but she’s now very keen to go outside whenever we do and she’s happy to explore or to rest in the sun outside. She’s also quite assertive when she wants to come inside again. Maybe, one day, she’ll be as assertive when she needs to go out to toilet.

[persephone]

Does she get richly rewarded when toileting outside ? Extra special treats/favourite toy/walk/rough housing/play ...all still outside