I HAVE TWO BICHON PUPPIES AND AM HAVING A GREAT DEAL OF TROUBLE HOUSE TRAINING THEM.  THEY ARE 6 AND 7 MONTHS, THE WORST PART OF THE PROBLEM IS THAT ONE OR BOTH HAVE STARTED PEEING ON THE SETTEE. DONT KNOW WHICH ONE BECAUSE ITS ALWAYS WHEN WE'RE NOT LOOKING EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE WATCHED VIRTUALLY CONSTANTLY, I AM BEGINNING TO GET DESPERATE NOW. IVE TRIED ALL THE USUAL METHODS EXCEPT CRATE TRAINING BUT NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK.

My young male began to cock his leg on the furniture during puberty if I caught him doing it a very firm no and I made a fuss of him for going outside,dont scold them unless you actually catch them doing it.
you need to get rid of the smell on the seteee even if you cant smell it to them it will still smell like a toilet so they wont feel like there doing anything wrong! ;)

Bichons are notorious for being difficult to housetrain, especially when they start cocking their legs.  My Bichon died last year age 17 and in all his 17 years he was never totally trustworthy in the house.

Sorry thats not very encouraging for you but im sure if you put the effort in it will pay off.  Make sure you clean up any accidents with biological washing powder solution which will eradicate the smell.

Good luck

claire :)

We have a Bichon Bolognese and trust me he is a nightmare too. He is 9 months old and some days we have a clean house but most days the odd accident both pee and pooh! He also pees on the beds! So you are not alone! I wish I could sound encouraging but various people have said it may never get better! I long for the summer when I can leave the patio doors open! I always use biological powder to clean the accidents buit it doesn't always stop them, they just go somewher else. I like you will not consider a crate, at least not for a year or so, then I may consider it as a real last resort.

Let me know how you get on and we will monitor their progress!