Q: Our Chihuahua puppy is about 5-and-a-half months old. She is very lovable, friendly and cuddly. We have not had her fixed yet but are planning on it soon. However, we are having a problem housetraining her. I think that she is starting to show signs of submissive elimination problems. (I picked that up from reading some of your articles on this site, which is very informative!)

Before we got her she was paper trained. We at first made the mistake of yelling "No!" at her when she would go in the house. We would only let her out of "her room" when we could supervise her. Then when she started going in the house all of the time, we went from yelling to spanking her. Now sometimes when she knows that she has done something wrong (like going potty in the house) she realizes that we are mad at her, when we make a move towards her to pick her up to take her outside, she cringes and sometimes pees right then and there!

This is VERY frustrating! I am tired of picking up pee and poo. I think that she is old enough to know better. So now instead of papers and leaving her in her room, I have borrowed a crate from a friend and am trying to crate train her. I think that she hates the crate. She whines when she knows we are in the next room. I do not let her out when she does this. I take her out every hour or more because I don't want to pick up any more messes, but as soon as I let her in, if she doesn't do both pee and poo, it is not too much later that I find poo or pee somewhere.

Sometimes in the morning, when she has stayed all night in the crate, I will take her out and she will go pee and then act like she wants to come in. It is only after I say in a mean voice, "NO Peanut, go poo, too, Go!" Then she goes poo too. Why do I have to be mean? I don't want to have to be.

My question is, is it too late to crate train her? Will she gradually go from a friendly, submissive dog to a snappy mean Chihuahua? If she is starting to have submissive urination problems, how do we stop it? Should I leave her in the crate all day and night and only take her out every hour or two to use the bathroom, for a week or so, in order for her to realize that she needs to go outside only? Any help you can send my way would be greatly appreciated!!

PS She also STINKS!!! Her body odor is awful!!! The only time she smells good is on the days I give her a bath. Then the next day she stinks again!!! HELP!

A: On the body odor, talk to the vet. That is not normal.

It sounds like you have established a harsh communication style with her, and it's what she expects now. You are right to be concerned that this could lead to her eventually defending herself.

The crate is for when you can't watch the dog, not for when you are there. You shouldn't be finding where she had an accident--she needs to be in the room with you at all times, under your eye. Fasten her leash to your waist if necessary.

In case of an accident, focus on rushing her outside, with no punishment at all. Your goal is to get her out there to finish, so you can praise her. Those things you do that stimulate submissive urination--stop doing those things. It's not a conscious choice on her part to do it, it's triggered by what happens to her.

Chihuahuas are very cold natured. This time of year, she may be desperate to get back inside. A sweater could help with that. You might also give her a tiny, very desirable treat when she both urinates and defecates.

Find someone to work with you, whether in a puppy training class or a private trainer or behavior specialist, to help you develop a positive language with this pup. The focus needs to be on praise for doing the right thing, not on correction. This will help you preserve her friendly temperament.

UPDATE

Q: Thank you so much for writing me back. We are trying very hard to not be harsh with her anymore. She has actually gotten better in the area of house breaking. The crate really helps. I have mentioned to the vet about her body odor, and he said that she just smells like dog. He then checked her anal glands and said that they needed to be squeezed to clean them out. Is that really true? And if it is how often do they need to be squeezed? I once read that if you keep doing that to your dog that they then loose the ability to empty them on her own. Is that true?

She is now starting to "hump" our legs and it is happening more often. I know that this is probably normal. But will it stop if we get her fixed? Again, thank you so much for writing me back. I know that you must get hundreds of e-mails a day and are probably very busy.

PS Are Chihuahua's known for their negative personality traits as they get older?

A: No, not hundreds of emails a day, but I did get 100 to answer yesterday and today, and it was pretty overwhelming! Thanks for being so patient that it took awhile to get back to you.

Chihuahuas can have temperament problems if they are not bred right and not trained right. I would encourage you to get her into a training class. The fact that the dogs are so tiny is why most people don't train them, and that really contributes to nasty behavior. They have full-sized brains and hearts, and can benefit from training just as much as larger dogs.

I really don't consider it normal for a dog to hump on humans. It helps if the dog has a dog playmate of similar size and opposite sex when young, so the dog gets the correct sexual orientation toward its own species. Sometimes these problems are caused by physical problems, too--I would think the anal gland trouble could contribute to it.

Work closely with your vet to keep the anal glands clear, because they can get horribly infected and even have to be surgically removed. There could be some dietary changes that would help your dog's glands empty more normally, but do the medical care first, don't wait for some other solution. Diet and other things are for prevention, not for treatment.

Talk to other Chihuahua owners to see what they think about anal glands. I noticed last night that one online Chihuahua discussion board in the Pet Care Forum has a string of 6 messages right now of people who have had this problem with their Chihuahuas, with the glands abscessing.

Talk to the vet about the right time to have her spayed, in order to avoid so many medical problems that can arise in an intact female dog. It's not highly likely to help with the humping, but it might help and it won't hurt.