Just potty outside

[doggieluv2]

Hi everyone. Just joined here. This site looks great!! I have a question, I was wondering how many of you have trained your yorkies to just go outside--no pee pads--no litter boxes? And for those of you that have trained them to just go outside, do you work outside the home? How long are they able to hold it? Did you start by training them just outside from the start or did you use pee pads to begin with?

My story: I got Mandi about 1 month ago. She is about 18 weeks old now. I started training her just to go outside when I first got her. (I have 2 other small dogs--trained just for outside and are in their dens (crates) when I'm gone. They hold it and are good). Mandi was doing pretty good in the beginning with going outside except she couldn't hold it for 4 hours which is when I was able to come home for lunch to let her out--actually sometimes she could hold it and sometimes she couldn't. She would pee in her crate. I know the crate is small enough for her--she just couldn't hold it that long. It got frustrating because I was giving her baths everyday because she stunk like pee. So, I have been trying pee pads and the latest a litter box. I really would rather have her just go outside and not use the pads etc. I am afraid that allowing her to go potty inside now will result in her never being 100% potty trained. (It is not ok with me to just be 90% trained). I guess, I'm just wondering if I should just be training her outside and if it is reasonable for a yorkie to be able to hold it 8 hours while I'm at work eventually. While she is young I could arrange to come home at lunch to let her out.
Thanks so much for this site--it looks great.

[chachi]

Eight hour is too long to expect her to hold it. I trained mine to go outside but I am home all day and just took them outside like every half hour. If I was gone that long I would set up an xpen with a peepad in it. I think eight hours is too long to stay in a small crate.

[Deeni]

My dog has held it for up to 7 hours but it took forever for him to be able to learn to control his bladder. He is a year and 4 months old. Our breeder's yorkies were also able to hold it all day while they were at work. But I think it depends on the dog and also the dog's size. Mine is 8lbs so he is a little bit bigger. Also, using a crate has really helped him to learn to hold it.

[mommyof2]

When she has peed in her crate, did she have anything to drink right before?

Yogi, who is 3 1/2 months now, has never peed in his crate but he has pooped it a few times during the night. I noticed that the times that he pooped in his crate was when he ate his dinner and didn't have a bowle movement during the time from dinner to bed...

What I do, is I make sure that he is fed and watered at certain times. (Water is obviously offered to him more than the food) and that if he is going to be in his crate for a certain of period time, (the longest usually bed time) that he has done ALL his business before then. Like, I feed him dinner around 7:00..it can take him up to 5 hours to have a bowel movement. So I cut his foot off after 7:00, so since I stay up late...he has til 12:00 to have his bowel movement. Then he's in his crate until 7 the next morning. Now, he gets treats after 7:00 at night, so he is getting a little bit of his food off and on but not that much.

I think that 8 hours is a long time for them to be in a crate, only because of the food/water thing. Do they have that in there with them??

She should be able to hold the pee for four hours but only if she was allowed to empty her bladder before going in and not able to fill her bladder back up by the time you get home...Just my opinion!

[JeanieK]

I believe she should be able to hold it for 4 hours, at her age, but if she can't, she can't. What we think they should be able to do is not really relevant.

I would use an x pen and a pee pad. I believe they can learn that when in the xpen they use the pad and when not in the go outside. but it is actually good to have them trained to a pad, so when they are left alone, they will use the pad rather than the floor.

Perhaps when you are home, remove the pad, so she has to go outside.

[doggieluv2]

When she was going in her crate-she didn't have any water in there with her. I of course, let her drink when she was out and would also let her outside to go before putting her back in there but sometimes (actually most of the time) she still would not be able to hold it for 4 hours.

I am trying something new now... I read on a site about giving them a place to go and not offering any other choice than going in the appropriate spot. I purchased a wire crate that is too big for her. It is probably about the size that one would buy for maybe a beagle or cocker spaniel or something that size. I think it said for a dog up to 30 pounds on the box. It came with a divider. I bent the divider in half and attached it in the crate leaving a small area in the back of the crate, a little larger area in the front of the crate. She can walk around the divider to get into the back area of the crate. In the back area I put a pee pad. In the front area I put some easily washed bedding. The reason I put the divider up is so she is less likely to just run around on the pee pad. She has to purposely walk around the divider to get back there to use the pad. I hope it will become obvious to her and not just me that the back area is the potty. So far today she has used the pad to pee on in the back of the crate and in the front she is laying. I put some water in the front area by her and her toys. I plan on feeding her in the front area. It is sorta like a small play den for her I suppose. She has enough room to move around a bit and a place to potty. The only problem that I can see is that she walks on the pee when she goes back in the back of the crate where the pee pad is and I don't want her to start getting stinky from the pee on her hair. Wow this is harder than training my kids!!

[sandraj]

Sounds like you have found a solution. My puppy is only outside trained. I had six weeks school holidays at home when i got her and that helped with training. When I went back to work, my daughter came home at lunch time to let her out for the first two weeks. She is left in an ex-pen with her basket, crate, newspaper,toys,chew, water and kibble. She goes from 8 am to 3.30pm without an accident usually,although my son who is the first home has to remember to get her out quick!She sleeps with me and generally goes all night,but wakes me up if she needs out.When we are home she needs to go about every 1-2 hours.We have the occasional accident if her supervisor gets on the playstation-my son- and forgets to let her out,but she is pretty good at 24 weeks now.What makes it easier is that my garden is just off the kitchen,out some sliding doors-she doesn't have too far to go!

[SnowWa]

My pup is nearly 9 months old now and often doesn't pee the 7 hours or so that I'm gone. (He is confined in my kitchen/laundry room area.)

Apparently my dog prefers going outside. Whenever we go outside, he just pees his little heart out. And - I take him out every two hours or so when I'm home.

Pee pads don't work - all he does with them is rip them up into a million pieces. To him, they are a toy. Very rarely, he'll pee on one or near one.

*** If I don't take him out every two hours or so when I'm home - if he has to go - he'll just pee anywhere.

He wears a belly band at night (but very rare pees during the night).
He wears belly bands when we go visiting......I don't want him having an accident on anyone else's carpet.

He doesn't pee often when he's wearing a belly band - almost every morning when we get up, it is completely dry.

So - the older my puppy has become, the less frequently he pees - and this is what is most responsible for him having fewer accidents in the house.

Carol Jean

[sims822257]

What about doggie doors - does anyone have doggie doors for their dogs so they can go outside and potty while you are not there? Just curious! I just ordered one this week. This way my yorkie can let himself in and out if he needs to go. I have a spot blocked off for him on the patio so he can go there and I do not have to worry about him getting hurt in the yard or in trouble while I am not there!

[alisonJ]

Edie goes outside only. She has a doggie door which leads to a small, secure back yard with a locked, high fence. I leave her alone during the day while I am at work. I know she spends most of the time in the house, but she goes outside when she needs to do her business.

If you are going to do this, make sure your yard is SECURE. I check our fence all the time to make sure there are no ways for her to get out. I keep it locked with a padlock so no one can get in. THe fence is high, and it is wood (you can't see into the yard).

It works for us.

[alisonJ]

oh--one other thing.

My husband and I are house hunting. There is a good chance we will be moving out where there is a lot of wildlife (coyotes, hawks, etc) and I have a plan for this....

We will have a doggie door to the outside but it will lead to a TOTALLY enclosed outdoor pen. THe sides and the top will be enclosed so nothing can get to Edie. We'll make sure it is well secured to the ground so it cannot be moved.

[TatumsMom]

Tatum is two years old and only goes potty outside. I thought we would try the pads when she first came home to us but I knew I wanted her outside trained 100% eventually and decided she would get confused. I won't lie to you, it has been quite frustrating for us. From the time we got her until she was almost 1.5 years, we were living with my MIL while building our new house. She decided that the rug right inside the back door was where she was supposed to pee. What she'd do is go sit by the back door waiting for someone to notice and if we didn't, she'd pee on the rug. Well, the area back there is set up so that you can't see the back door from anywhere else in the house so we didn't notice when she did that. We took her out to potty probably once an hour or so to train her (every 20-30 minutes when she was really little).

Well, it's finally happened. We moved into our new house last summer and made sure she went out ALL the time. She's only had a couple accidents in the house. NOW she finally has started talking to us when she needs to go out. She sits by one of the doors and does the talking/growl thing until we come let her out. Just recently she has actually come to our feet and given a little woof if we don't hear her by the door. Let me tell you, that's such a relief and I'm so proud of her.

I guess what I'm saying is that it does take a while and diligence will pay off.

And Alison..... that's a great idea with the doggy door going out to the enclosed area. We too are in the country so we can't have a doggy door. If we had a door that went out to an area where we could do something like that, it would definitely be worth considering.

[SnowWa]

I posted this on another thread - but thought I'd share it with you.

My pup pees "outside."

------------------------

My little pup decided that he "didn't want to be potty trained ....wanted nothing to do with it." He rips up his potty pads and plays with them. I've quit using them.

He is about 9 months old now and pees a lot less frequently than he did when he was a pup. He often doesn't pee when I'm at work (6 to 7 hours). He sleeps all night without peeing. And - he pees his heart out whenever we go outside. (He is confined to the kitchen/laundry room area when I'm at work - and if he did pee here - it's a quick clean up - and not damage.)

So - I am taking him out every two hours or so (thank God for summer!) - and we have very few accidents in the house....almost none. But - if I didn't take him outside - he'd pee anywhere.

So - I'm the one who is potty trained - not him. But it works!!!!

And - I still use belly bands - at night - etc., if we go visiting (don't want him peeing on someone elses carpet), etc. And - his belly band is almost always dry. I really only use them for "just in case."

So - just getting older is a big help with these pups as far as potty training goes.

***** I think he's starting to let me know now when he wants to go outside. If I'm busy - and he comes up to me and barks or whines - I take him outside - and he always pees. Hopefully, he's beginning to want to pee only outside and is going to let me know when he needs to go out.

Good luck!

Carol Jean

[chris_e]

My guy Lick is 10 months old and is trained to go outside exclusively. Actually like some of your pups, he made the choice himself. I do have pee pads laying around the house for Pinot, my Maltese (she is 5 months old) so he has access, but he will hold it for the walks. He has held it for 12 hours before (girlfirend "forgot" to take him out before she left for work on several occassions, which I gave her the dickens for) and he never went in his crate, although I keep a little food and water in the little clip on dished that attach to the crate. It took a long time for him to catch on to the concept though, and I did go through two area rugs before he was housetrained. If I am home he goes out every 4 to 6 hours, and on workdays he routinely holds it up to 8 hours. My Maltese is now able to hold it for about 8 hours at night, but she has acess to her pee pad if I am at work. These guys are very smart, but they are also stubborn and if they don't get it you can't force them too. Just keep reapeating the process, either outside or pee pad until they get it, or pick one.