are they all that hard?

[Pooh4Stace]

I am new to the site and am getting a yorkie this spring. The puppies are being born sometime in March My question is...are most yorkies hard to housebreak? I have read alot of stories about how hard it is and I am starting to get scared. I will admit that I dont know much about them but I am learning alot from this site. My main questions now are about housebreaking.

[linz06]

Yorkies are stubborn! But if you start early and are consistent it should be okay! My little girl is 3 months old now, and I brought her home at 10 weeks. When I brought her home she had already been going 70-80% of the time on pee pads, because the breeder started her out paper training. She's pretty consistant now, but she still has accidents once in awhile and she probably will for a long time but that's to be expected because she's still a baby.

[FirstYorkie]

I'd say no. They aren't all so difficult to housebreak. It will take time and consistency on your part, but it is do-able! One thing to find out is how the breeder will handle pottying. Will the puppies use newspaper, peepads, or be outside? It is often easiest to continue what the breeder has started.

[alaskayorkie]

I've heard a lot of horror stories about housebreaking Yorkies, but Eddie was the easiest dog I've ever housebroken. 6 months for 95 percent, 9 months for 100 percent. Zero accidents since.

There was a poll not too long ago, and out of 60 plus respondents, most were housebroken easily.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25028

[chattiesmom]

To be very honest, I am not sure whether or not Yorkies are really that hard to housebreak. I know with me, I am not as consistent with the Yorkies as I was when training the Boxer. Sometimes it is much easier to clean up a little wet spot and grab a kleenex and pick up a tootsie rool poopie than it is to get everyone harnessed up and go outside every few minutes until they get the system down pat.

The biggest thing about housetraining is to be consistent and watch them like a hawk, to be very diligent, and patient, in the beginning it is a 24/7 job.

[Erin]

I only think it's "harder" because it takes longer. The process is the same. We had early issues like UTIs and their bladders are just so tiny anyway. Loki really couldn't give us much warning until he was older than 6 months, so we took him out every hour (or more often) and crate trained him. I'd say he was 95% by 9 months and now that I've installed bells at the door to let us know he needs to go out we haven't had an accident since!!!

[livingdustmops]

Do you know at what age your breeder will let you have the puppy? The ideal age is 12 weeks on the average or longer depending on the size of the dog. From 8 - 12 weeks the mommy dog is teaching her babies many social skills and she can be a big help in potty training. Her babies will learn from her and will help you on your road to success. I think it is also important to find out what the breeder does so it is a fairly easy transition.

[KimMee's Mom]

I didn't have any trouble with KimMee. We started with the pee pads and then moved them outside to the patio. I just made sure if I wasn't with her, she was in her blocked off space. I think you do have to take them out more often than a bigger dog. If you are deligent, your effort will pay off. Have you heard about the poochie bell or door bell so your pup can alert you to having to go?

[Pooh4Stace]

Originally Posted by livingdustmops

Do you know at what age your breeder will let you have the puppy? The ideal age is 12 weeks on the average or longer depending on the size of the dog. From 8 - 12 weeks the mommy dog is teaching her babies many social skills and she can be a big help in potty training. Her babies will learn from her and will help you on your road to success. I think it is also important to find out what the breeder does so it is a fairly easy transition.

I think we are going to get her at 8 or 9 weeks. That is an average age I think. I know that they are small and that they will need to go out more often...I had a toy poodle that we took out every hour or so and that worked perfect.

Thanks for all the help!!

[hle_625]

When I got my first yorkie Chloe at 3 months old she was already potty trained and then when I got Daisy she was not trained at all but she was easy to train she hardly ever has an accident but she is only 4 months so she does have them sometimes. I didnt think that it was that bad house training her and the time goes by so fast that it doesnt seem that bad at all.

[livingdustmops]

Originally Posted by Pooh4Stace

I think we are going to get her at 8 or 9 weeks. That is an average age I think. I know that they are small and that they will need to go out more often...I had a toy poodle that we took out every hour or so and that worked perfect.

Thanks for all the help!!

Your job will be much easier if she can stay with her mom until she is 12 weeks. There are many threads on YT talking about the ideal age for a Yorkie to be before they go to their forever home.