I have a maltipoo and he is BB's best friend they run and play together like there is no tomorrow! I have to add one thing puppies are hard to house break and still to this day my 2 year old MALE dog will piss all over everything if he is left out of his crate at night!!! I think the dog was a bad idea to begin with but a male dog is worse unless you get him neutered NOW! He will start to hike his leg and mark everything around 4-7 months old and once that starts there is no stopping it!!! I have to say though that a maltese is a BIG responsibility!!! I have a mix and keeping him groomed is very expensive thankfully I have experience with grooming so I can do it myself but it is very time consuming it takes about and hour and a half every month to shave him and dont forget that you have to brush them EVERYDAY!! They also need what is called a potty path trimmed weekly so poo doesnt get stuck in their fur and a male needs it where his pee wont get all over his stomach!!! They need there ears plucked ev ery six weeks or they will get ear infections and they need their eyes cleaned everday and shaved weelky to keep their hair from matting from tears!!! For all of the breeds out there and as irresponsible as they seem to be they choose one of the hardest dogs to groom!!! Doesnt make sense! I feel sorry for this puppy! I thought maybe after about a year you could get a female to litter train but I wouldnt even try with a male its next to impossible!

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gosh what an annoying situation to be in! If it were me i must admit i'd be pretty p*ssed off with my housemates for putting me in that position!

Like you said, it's done now and it's not really a situation that you can control. However if i were you i would be worried that the landlord would find out and then ban you from having any pets whatsoever. After the hard work you put in to be allowed to have a kitten, i wouldn't risk that! Are they really good friends of yours? If they aren't i would actually consider just telling your landlord so that he knows you had nothing to do with the choice made, were against getting a dog without his agreement and can still be trusted.

I know you are trying to make the best of the situation and i completely commend you for trying to help your housemates after they made an ill-advised decision, but i wouldn't run the risk of losing your cat...or that the landlord may never find out that there is a dog there and so blames all damage on your cat that your housemates may then leave you to pay for.

If you feel uncomfortable telling your landlord, (i couldn't imagine having to tell my landlord something like this when i lived in a shared house so would completely understand how you feel there) i would get an agreement with your housemates who bought the dog in writing that they chose to get it, that they are responsible for the damage it causes and that you advised them not to beforehand. i know it seems a little over the top but worst comes to worst, you can say to the landlord look, i had no say in the matter, they are people who can make their own decisions, but it should not be blamed on me.

After you made your agreement with the landlord to get a cat, did he amend your contract to say so? If so then at least your back is covered in terms of your cat since if the contract says you can have one, he couldn't then tell you to get rid of it.

I really hope it all works out for you! sadly i have never had a puppy so am not overly knowledgeable about dog training so i can't really offer any advice in that aspect i'm afraid. Yes it is going to be hard work but hopefully your housemates will be willing and dedicated to work on it since they wanted a dog in the first place. Perhaps do a little research yourself into ways of dog training and send it their way as a bit of a push?

At the end of the day, yes training a puppy is obviously a daunting prospect but people do it all the time and in a successful way, and they don't necessarily have to be dog experts, they just have to have dedication. Get the boys to get the pup a lead so they can at least just take him into the garden and let him sniff around and go to the toilet in a safe area.

Fingers crossed that they will be good pup owners and realise what is best for the puppy not just what fits with their lifestyle.

viperkeeper, you don't need to know people that let their dogs out and nothing happens for it to happen to you.
My pup died at 3 months and a bit. How? Well, I left him with a colleague because I had to go to the supermarket. Someone left the door open, he snuck out and got ran over by a car IN OUR PARKING LOT. So it didn't help one bit, no matter how many people I knew that let their dogs out without supervision and they are ok. Accidents can happen, and do happen. It's not about letting it run wild but about being able to protect him.

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Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

I have to agree the situation is what it is and I have put in my negative advice!!! But in a way it wil be good for you kitten they will play together and probably be best friends like Max and BB! BTW viperkeep Max is very manly He has a full beard and every thing!!! They are very protective little dogs though so they conect with a few people and thats it!!! I think in this case what I have done with past clients that have had problems with potty training is to crate train your puppy(He will be your too I almost positive he will bond with you before the guys) This is a process that is not bad for dogs like it is for cats I woudl never suggest keeping a cat in a crate, but does are different! Get a pet carrier that is not much larger then your dog so a small pet taxi will work. Keep the puppy in the crate for a couple of hours and then as soon as he comes out put him on the litter box! let him eat drink play back in the crate repeat this process! At night keep the puppy in the crate as soon as he comes out put him in litter! Let him eat play for about an hour or so and back to the crate, repeat all day! Gradually increase the time you allow him out and place him in the litter box often! I would leave a little pee in there so he can smell where he needs to go! Second and probably the most important is to have him neutered befor he hikes his leg! If he hikes his leg he wont be able to use the litter box! I have used this method plenty of times some breeds are so hard to potty train and this method has NEVER failed me before!!! Only instead of litter it would be taken out side in the grass!!! I hope this works and is less stressful for you and you kitty! If you have any questions with this method let me know or if you dont want to do this I can come up with a few more suggestions for you!!! This is the number one best method to potty train! I have worked with animals in shelters and have had private clients that I have helped with numerous problems and this is one of them! If you do this the right way and stay CONSISTANT with it he will be potty trained before he is 6-8 months!! Please dont forget though while he is this little and keeping him in a crate at night he will still need to be let out and straight back to the crate! He wont be able to hod it that long while he is so little! I really hope this helps!

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I'll definitely be telling them to get it de sexxed ASAP now I know about the leg hiking!! Isn't the crate method a little cruel? He loves to run around and play! He couldn't do that in a crate? I think if all goes bad and we cannot litter train him as heartbreaking as it would be I think he would get rehomed but rehomed to the guys parents who are 10m drive away so it's not all that bad..

As for the landlord, I will help them hide the dog do anything it takes to make sure they have no suspicions with the dog, the only damage it can really do is leave pee stains on the carpet by luckily we have dark carpet. The landlord only comes for inspections once every 6 months so it won't be too hard. But if he does find out I'll tell him they will tell him it's their fault and (they agreed to taking full blame.. As they got a dog against my will however I got a cat ONLY if they both agreed and they did)

I have suspicions It is a Maltese cross, too. Since it Isnt full white it has caramel coloured patches.. They said both the parents were full white .. But some puppies werent.. But it dosnt matter we love it whatever it is !

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Crate training isn't cruel. In fact, if you're intending to have it house trained, your only options are basically to crate train it or tether it to you. Crate training comes pretty naturally to dogs. Just never use the crate as a punishment. It should be a relaxing, den-like place to be.

I explained to him the puppy needs to be de sexxed ASAP but he ignored me :/ and we take the puppy to its training pee pad after it eats, and after It wakes up. He dosnt agree to confining it to one space either so I don't know . This is all very stressful on me even though it's not really my problem maybe I should forget about it and let them work things out themselves even if it means the hard way! Can't keep interfering with them ..

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Hey, don't worry, crates are not cruel for dogs, even if they appear to be They're very useful tools in training. If crate training is done properly, the pup will see it as his safe place (kind of like the safe room to a cat). Dogs tend to keep their sleeping places separate from their wee/poo places so it also helps in house training. But it matters a lot how you teach crate training, because if you lock the puppy in and he seems distressed and panicky, he'll probably develop an aversion to it.
It's also very very good for preventing destructive behaviour. Many dogs get destructive when they're bored (especially when they're home alone) - search for destructive dog on google images and you'll know what I mean. Even small dogs can cause a lot of trouble, that's why crates come in handy
As for interfering, it's really your choice. If you'll leave them be they'll probably end up taking the dog to their parents (it sounds to me like you're the responsible one in the house) if they see they can't handle it. If you do help them, chances are you'll train the pup properly and he'll be a delight, but you'll be stressed taking care of two babies at the same time and battling them in regards to how it should be done.
Anyway, I wish you the best of luck no matter what path you decide to take.
ps: I also think you should have some kind of written agreement if you don't want to pay for the damage the dog does, if it does. Think about ruining an armchair or chewing the corner of a kitchen counter. Would you be ok paying for that even tho it's not your dog? If yes, forget the agreement, if not...well, you should at least bring that up for discussion.
ps2: what the heck is it with men and neutering? Most act like you want to cut their balls, not the dog's/cat's

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Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

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I'm a guy and your approach is wrong. We don't want to hear "you think", I should cut the balls off my puppy because a bunch of girls chit chatting on a cat forum said so, they don't want it any less manly than it already is You need proof to shove in our faces not opinions. Print out some something on litter training Maltese puppies. Not other dogs if you can because we'll argue it doesn't apply to our type of dog.

I did tell him it applies to Maltese dogs! Haha well he has been taking him outside to pee since he always seems to do his business when we put him outside (like he would have been used to it from the breeder teaching it to go outside ) I don't know if that will make potty training any harder since if nobody is home to let him out he would still pee on the floor? but I have told them all I can and its up to them now , I don't wanna be forceful or seem like a control freak or anything.

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The problem is you "telling them" we have a way to tune out other peoples opinions and know we're right about everything. If you put down everything you learned about training on paper and put it on the fridge it would be more effective. You wouldn't have to say a word. When we read it, it sounds like its coming from inside our heads thus still our idea You telling them will make it worse because they'll be determined to prove you wrong. Best idea is get a book or magazine to leave in the bathroom. I was in a bookstore the other day and they had a book for every breed of dog and only cat books. I bet a "Maltese for Dummies" if it exists would go over well or this http://www.amazon.com/Train-Understand- ... ese+traing you could do chapter 25. "How to Stop Your Maltese From Eating Their Own Stools" backwards and solve all your problems

Remember you only have a small window to train us men before it starts bad habits.