The Shih Tzu is among the most popular, smartest, and cutest small dog breeds around. As many owners know, this dog can certainly command a certain presence, making you want to paper it all the time. We all want to pamper our little Shih Tzu, but you can let this smooch have its way all the time.

That’s why some house training in needed. The reason is that a Teacup Shih Tzu can be really tenacious, stubborn, and bratty, making your training sessions hard. It might just get more withdraw, bottle up more, when you scold it.

You need to be level-headed with you’re house-training your Shih Tzu, otherwise you won’t get much results. Punishing over-harshly results only in confusing the dog. Problem is that that dog might engage in the behavior you want it to stop doing in the first place. Also, the dog may get less sociable, more withdrawn because of the punishment.

That dog is going to relieve itself when it can and there’s nothing you can do, at the start at least. You can only clean up after the mess, since the dog, like a baby, barely has any control over when it will relieve itself. The vital thing is to be consistent with positive reinforcement – punishment will not usually work – so just keep praising the dog for doing what you expect it to do, while you reign in your annoyance at the wasteful and annoying things it does.

Training a Shih Tzu may not be easy, as it’s hard to make it do what you want: all you can do is provide a setting and a set of routines where it can pee and potty conveniently. If you can do that, the dog will be easier to house train.

All dogs will relieve themselves inevitably, and it should come as no surprise that a pup would not know how to tell you of its impending business. You’ll just have to know the signs of urination of defecation that’s about to happen. The dog will sniff the ground, circle around, whine, cry, or act anxiously. Most Shih Tzu owners have prepared, before hand, a potty are indoors (just cover the floor area with newspapers), so that when these potty signs are seen, there’s no worry – just bring the dog to the potty area, or outdoors.

After a Shih Tzu wakes up from a nap, and after they ate, are the two times these dogs are sure to do their business; that means you need to have a potty area prepared for them or you need to be ready to bring them outside to do their business. You should also stick to a regular schedule to let your dog out to do their deed. It’s not that hard to set up a potty station or area for your dog – a corner covered with newspapers is fine; if you have a room you can enclose for this, so much the better.

A good sign is when the Teacup Shih Tzu waits until it relieves itself on the designated area. Praise your dog when you see this – every time you see this – because that means it’s getting used to holding off its pee or poop until it gets to the designated relieving area.

Resource Box

A Teacup Shih Tzu is a particular type of Shih Tzu. If you’re looking for such a breed, your best bet is to contact a reputable breeder. Be informed, however, that a Teacup Shih Tzu, as with any kind of Shih Tzu, demands constant grooming so its lush coat can remain tangle-free.