PeePee Pad only training?

[ezYorkie]

Hi - I'm new here I'm getting a 'teacup' yorkie in a couple weeks. It's going to be about 4 pounds max as an adult. Is it possible to train my yorkie to go indoors on a pad only? In a certain area of the house? Or is it imperative to get the dog to go outside?

Also, the dog will come in a crate - most likely a hard one since it's traveling by plane. Should I get a soft crate/playpen for the house as well?

I had labradors when I was a kid but back then just letting the dog out the back door and letting them back in hours later was the extent of things. My wife and kids never had a dog. So, I'm trying to get everybody prepared before our new arrival. Everyone is so excited.

[RammaJ]

My yorkie is 3 1/2 and was trained to go inside. outside came naturally and he goes if we are out.

[Kmaccani]

My Peanut is 3.6 lbs and fully grown. She is trained to go on pee pads, which she does religiously. She also goes outside. We live way up north in the cold and snow in the winter, so the pee pads are a blessing!

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by ezYorkie

Hi - I'm new here I'm getting a 'teacup' yorkie in a couple weeks. It's going to be about 4 pounds max as an adult. Is it possible to train my yorkie to go indoors on a pad only? In a certain area of the house? Or is it imperative to get the dog to go outside?

.

I have always trained to indoor pads. They key for me has been to establish one place in the house that is the dogs potty spot, and praise & treat when she goes potty there. So think ahead of time, where you want her potty place to be. Think about where youll store pads, how close you are to toilet to flush poop, and how much traffic the area gets.

Establishing ONE spot: My current home is very small, so my current yorkie doesnt have far to go to her potty spot. But my last home was 3-4 times larger, and my previous yorkie was trained to go potty in the laundry room. No matter where she was in the house (3 levels: 2 story and full finished basement) she knew to go to her potty area as needed.

Praise & Treat: I also praise and give treats for good potty habits. Even now, ZoE is four years old and she gets a treat when she goes potty on her pads. Giving treats to reinforce the good potty behaviour for life is fine with me if it keeps her pottying in her potty spot and not going elsewhere in our home.

[ezYorkie]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

I have always trained to indoor pads. They key for me has been to establish one place in the house that is the dogs potty spot, and praise & treat when she goes potty there. So think ahead of time, where you want her potty place to be. Think about where youll store pads, how close you are to toilet to flush poop, and how much traffic the area gets.

Establishing ONE spot: My current home is very small, so my current yorkie doesnt have far to go to her potty spot. But my last home was 3-4 times larger, and my previous yorkie was trained to go potty in the laundry room. No matter where she was in the house (3 levels: 2 story and full finished basement) she knew to go to her potty area as needed.

Praise & Treat: I also praise and give treats for good potty habits. Even now, ZoE is four years old and she gets a treat when she goes potty on her pads. Giving treats to reinforce the good potty behaviour for life is fine with me if it keeps her pottying in her potty spot and not going elsewhere in our home.

Thanks for all the feedback. I plan to have one spot downstairs. But at night, if the puppy is upstairs should have have one there too just for night time? Because she won't be able to make it down the stairs.

I could leave her downstairs at night too, but not sure if she will feel lonely when everybody else is upstairs.

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by ezYorkie

Thanks for all the feedback. I plan to have one spot downstairs. But at night, if the puppy is upstairs should have have one there too just for night time? Because she won't be able to make it down the stairs.

I could leave her downstairs at night too, but not sure if she will feel lonely when everybody else is upstairs.

Some dogs seem to do fine with multiple potty spots, but i read many threads where peoples dogs go potty on rugs they aren't supposed to potty on. I think it gets confusing to the dog where is ok to go and where isn't. But some do get it. Having the one area where pottying is good, has always worked the best for me personally. But I confess, I'm a bit fussy about my home, and a dog pottying on my throw rugs, bathroom rugs, sheepskin rug, etc would NOT be ok with me. I think dogs are like children in that you raise them to how YOU feel is acceptable...which varies greatly amongst people.

I brought ZoE home at six weeks of age. She has slept in my bed since being 6wks& 3 days old (i tried keeping her in her crate at night for 3 days but couldnt stand the crying & was exhausted by the third night so just took her to bed with me) and she has never pottied there. I took her to her pads once in the middle of the night, and then first thing in the morning. Pretty quickly she held it through the night and was fine until morning.

So much of what we do depends on how our individual homes are set up, who we live with, our work schedules, and the personality of our pups. You try what works best for you, and makes adjustments as necessary.

Do you have a name picked out yet for your little girl?

[ezYorkie]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

Do you have a name picked out yet for your little girl?

Zoey actually My son and daughter picked the name out.

What you mention about the dog crying in the middle of the night was what I was sort of worried about. As you said, each dog is different so we will see. I'll set my alarm to get her to go potty in the middle of the night until she can hold it.

So, the hard crate the dog comes in should be her every day crate? Or should we get a more comfortable crate/pen for her for every day use?

Thanks again.

[SirTeddykins]

Teddy has one pee box downstairs and he goes downstairs but he has had a couple of accidents in the night which makes me wonder if downstairs was too far in the middle of the night when he's half asleep in my room....hm

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by ezYorkie

Zoey actually My son and daughter picked the name out.

What you mention about the dog crying in the middle of the night was what I was sort of worried about. As you said, each dog is different so we will see. I'll set my alarm to get her to go potty in the middle of the night until she can hold it.

So, the hard crate the dog comes in should be her every day crate? Or should we get a more comfortable crate/pen for her for every day use?

Thanks again.

Excellent name choice!

Most of us here seem to use doggie playpens with our young pups, rather than crates, especially if you are pad training as there is room for a bed and potty pads within the confines of the xpen.

As dogs naturally dont like to soil their sleeping area, they will usually potty on the pads, and when she does you praise her and give her a high value treat (i used tiny pieces of boiled chicken that i cooked ahead of time and kept in a baggie in the fridge). This reinforces the behaviour, as she'll want to get the treat again, so will quickly learn to repeat the action that earns it.

[ezYorkie]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

Excellent name choice!

Most of us here seem to use doggie playpens with our young pups, rather than crates, especially if you are pad training as there is room for a bed and potty pads within the confines of the xpen.

As dogs naturally dont like to soil their sleeping area, they will usually potty on the pads, and when she does you praise her and give her a high value treat (i used tiny pieces of boiled chicken that i cooked ahead of time and kept in a baggie in the fridge). This reinforces the behaviour, as she'll want to get the treat again, so will quickly learn to repeat the action that earns it.

OK, that seems like a good idea. What size should I get for the playpen for my tiny dog? Is 33 inch too small to house the bed and the potty pads?

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by ezYorkie

OK, that seems like a good idea. What size should I get for the playpen for my tiny dog? Is 33 inch too small to house the bed and the potty pads?

I have three playpens, all have their pros/cons.

Iris playpen - 35x35 looks very cute, has a door - was worthless at containing my puppy, as the horizontal bars made a ladder, and she scaled the wall and escaped it..and risked injury falling from the top of it. So, personally, I wouldnt recommend it.

Pet Gear travel lite 36" playpen- folds up small so easy to take places. But, I walked into the room to find my puppy in trying to climb the wall, had flipped it on its side and was walking it around my living room, much like a hamster in a ball! So i dont use it unsupervised. Some puppies will also chew through these fabric pens. I mainly use it during the summer in my fenced in backyard, as a shaded area for her to go inside. This is the one i take to friends homes because its so light and portable.

North States Superyard- this is a baby playpen i bought at a big box store late one night after an emergency visit when my previous yorkie broke her leg. It works great and is hands down my fav, as neither of my pups scaled the walls of it. I also liked that you can remove panels. When ZoE was a tiny puppy i just used four panels, as she grew i added the other two. I also used this one after ZoE's spay to confine her when needed. It folds up, but is still pretty chunky to store compared to others, so not travel friendly size.

Remember there may be other times you'll want/need to use a playpen, other than just puppyhood, such as after spaying or other surgeries, after any injury, when people are over and you dont want to risk injury to your small dog by her underfoot but still want her included, and if you visit family and friends and dont want her having unsupervised run of their homes as people often have dangerous items laying around (meds,candy/gum with xylitol, chocolate, etc.) you wouldnt want your dog getting into. So dont necessarily go for the cheapest quality that wont hold up over her lifespan.

[valeriejsmyth]

I always rain to do potty inside on pads first then go outside. It's great if you go to a friend's house you can take a pad with you and they will use it. Great for car travel too. Mine always started in the kitchen or porch area and I just gated the room off initially til they are ready for more space. Good luck and enjoy!

[ezYorkie]

Thank you for all the great advice everybody. I was a little unsure at first what to do once the puppy arrives, but now I have a clear-ish plan. I ordered a decent sized soft side playpen. This will be where the puppy will spend most of her time until potty trained. Once she's consistent, we will let her explore other areas of the house more frequently. We will be interacting with her while she is in the pen as well so it will be her little world until she's more mature. I will put her bed on one side and her potty pads on the opposite.

I think I'll keep her food and water outside the pen and bring her to that area to eat drink at specific times. Or is it OK to put that in her pen? Away from her pee pee pad of course.

[windwalker]

We crated Ginger at night (3'x2' crate) with half crate pee pad and half towel and also put her there if we left house without her. As time went on she held 1 and 2 longer, at about 8 months we let her sleep in bedroom with door closed. She now wakes one of us about 5:00AM to pee if no one gets up during night, goes straight to piddle pad does her business and runs back to her bed.


I have her go before taking her to bedroom at night, she knows and does her business immediately ("Go Potty").


Look at the "Piddle Pad", much nicer the pee pads, no smell, just take poo off, pee goes to holding tank, spray pad with their spray once in a while. Dump in toilet once a week and hose off out side, add enzyme, all set for another week.

[windwalker]

Oh, forgot, we plan on keeping Bedroom door closed till she's about a year old then she'll be safe to let her run on her own. She has never had a accident, only occasional hang fire on poop that get hung up and drops on edge of pad. She comes over and tells us she did a 1, just looks at us till we say good puppy, or 2, looks and 3 or 4 scratching moves and comes over for butt check every time.


Why keep door closed till she's a year old? She only chews her toys, but as a pup tried to chew other things (never got a chance to chew as we watched her like a hawk, "NO"). She is great now but I think if we let her run free/unsupervised she could get into trouble and its easier to avoid then it is to retrain/break bad habit!