New Yorkie Owner HELP!!!

[DebraMS]

Hello everyone,
My name is Debra and I have an 8 month old CKC registered altered male . His name is Penner. He is a doll. He is gregarious, fun and interested in everything..as in everything is his!
I got him at 8 weeks old and his potty training began in earnest immediately. He is trained on pee pads in the house which are within his exercise pen 4x5 feet but of late he has taken to urinating all over the house.
He knows where is pads are and know how to use them but he is refusing. He will mark a fresh pad and then once it is soaked he will start peeing all over the laminate flooring which is starting to become ruined. He also has a terrible neurotic fear of not being able to drink. He is obessive about drinking and will drink and then pee immediately and then back into the water dish.
My vet said do not withhold water but my husband and I have begun to only put down the water at intervals so he can drink and then take it back up.
We have two other dogs in the house, an 11 year old Shihzu and a 3 month old female Yorkie, my baby girl Piper who is Penner's 1/2 sister..they have the same poppa!.
Penner is super with her but we have to get a handle on the peeing thing..any suggestions. He doesn't even warn us that he has to go so by the time he hits the pee pad..it's too late.
He has never announced he has to go out but will go willingly if we ask him to.
Thanks..I know this lengthy but I just want my funny playful Penner back. Both my husband and I are starting to lose our tempers with him and yell at him which we all know WILL NOT WORK...any help I will gladly accept.
Debra

[Sunnie]

Hi Debra
First, let me say welcome to Yorkie chat. These little sweeties are so darned smart that it can be a challenge getting them 100% trained. I am so glad to see that you are aware that yelling at them won't help (although sometimes it can be so frustrating) You may have to go back to square one. Here are a few tips that may help.
1. Is he nuetered? I ask because if he isn't nuetered yet, that in and of itself can be the whole problem. Males that remain un-nuetered start marking in the house and it is almost impossible to stop it. Since you have a new baby girl in the house, he may be marking to proclaim her as "his". (he doesn't care if it is his 1/2 sister)
2. You may have to start all over with him and confine him to a crate or x-pen anytime you cannot give him 100% attention. If you give him consistancy and structure, he will learn quickly. Place him in an x-pen with a bed, his food and potty pads. Take him outside every hour or two and stay with him until he goes. Praise him and give him a special treat everytime he goes. When you bring him back in, if you are not going to be giving him 100% attention, place him back in the x-pen. Consistancy and praise here will work wonders. He WANTS to please you. so if you give him the praise, he will continue trying to please you.
3. If he is not nuetered yet, that would be my first step.

Good luck
Sonya

[DebraMS]

Hello Sonya,
Thank you for replying to my post. Yes, Penner is neutered. Unfortunatley he was diong this before we got Piper.
I was thinking of getting another x-pen and using both of them as we both work and Piper is in Penner's old pen now as he has been out during the day with our older dog in house. He has always been very respectful of the house and has NEVER ever gotten into anything. My hubby is home at lunch and takes all 3 out for a pee and then lunchtime.
I know he is probably marking because of her being here now but I have to try and find a way to stop it now.
I guess it's back to pet store for another x-pen.
Thanks again!

[TeresaM]

Hi! Welcome! You'll love this place I'm sure you'll get a lot of good info on here.

My first concern is that he's drinking so much water. I'm sure you've talked to your vet about this, but I think that perhaps it would be a good idea to have some blood tests done. Excessive water drinking can be an indications of diabetes and the frequent peeing, although probably caused by all the water intake, could be an indication of a UTI. It's very possible that he simply can not help this behavior. Also, as pointed out by Sunnie, if he's not neutered, that could also play into this. Blood tests are a quick and relatively inexpensive way to rule out a lot of questions.

Assuming it's not something medical, going back to the potty training methods may help, but you may also want to invest in some belly bands. This won't stop him from marking/peeing, but it will help with the unpleasantness of cleaning up accidents. There are several YT members who make them, or you can do an internet search for belly bands to find them.

Good luck, let us know how it goes. OH!! And post pictures of all your babies as soon as you can. We Love Pictures on YT!!

[ScootieBootie]

The excessive drinking could indicate a medical issue, as a previous poster stated. I would have that ruled out.

Neutering should help if this is a marking issue.

If you can't watch him, crate him. Another option would be to attach a leash to your belt loop and keep him leashed to you at all times. Then you will be able to watch for his "potty' signs.


Make sure you are using an enzymatic cleaner to discourage him from re-visiting places he's pottied at before. The smell of previous accidents, his or others, will encourage new accidents to happen.

Use a liquids measuring cup (different from solids) and fill a bowl to see how much he's drinking a day. Put the bowl down, let him drink what he wants and then pick it up, making sure he's the only one drinking from it, which you can do if your putting it down at intervals for him. At the end of the day, place what's left into the measuring cup and calculate what he's taken in. This will give the vet an idea of if he is drinking excessively.

How often are you changing the pads? Have you tried changing them more frequently?

[Dara311]

Yes, frequent water drinking can be a sign of diabeties or cushings disease. I was worried about Fiona when I got her, because she used to drink, and drink, and DRINK! now, that she is a bit older i guess she has stopped drinking so much.

They do say that yorkies are the HARDEST breed to potty train. When I got Fiona, I would pretty much take her out every hour on the hour, and it got to the point where if she had to go out, she would scratch on the door or bark. When I took her out, while she was urinating or deficating i would come up with a command word. In this case, I would say "good pee pee" or "good poopy" and now I can take her out and say those command words, and poof she goes on command now! Being consistant is key! so if you come up with a command word, make sure EVERYONE in the whole house is using the same one!

Good LUck!!!!!

[DebraMS]

Originally Posted by ScootieBootie

The excessive drinking could indicate a medical issue, as a previous poster stated. I would have that ruled out.

Neutering should help if this is a marking issue.

If you can't watch him, crate him. Another option would be to attach a leash to your belt loop and keep him leashed to you at all times. Then you will be able to watch for his "potty' signs.


Make sure you are using an enzymatic cleaner to discourage him from re-visiting places he's pottied at before. The smell of previous accidents, his or others, will encourage new accidents to happen.

Use a liquids measuring cup (different from solids) and fill a bowl to see how much he's drinking a day. Put the bowl down, let him drink what he wants and then pick it up, making sure he's the only one drinking from it, which you can do if your putting it down at intervals for him. At the end of the day, place what's left into the measuring cup and calculate what he's taken in. This will give the vet an idea of if he is drinking excessively.

How often are you changing the pads? Have you tried changing them more frequently?

Thanks for the suggestion of the water measuring, I will try this and monitor him. So far, almost everyone who has responded (and I am not singling you out or the others either), keep mentioning whether he is neutered or not, he is as I said in my first post.
I have been working with my vet about the water intake and he can and does go without drinking but when he gets playing or excited or nervous, that is when the drinking occurs. We have been putting the water down, he drinks, we take it back up and when he goes to check for the dish, if it is not down he soon goes and gets involved with other things, like of course, playing with his sister. The vet said he could be neurotic about this.
I know all about cushings as I lost a bichon-shizhu to this very disease so I am ever vigilant now.
Thanks for your suggestion and I will definately try this with his water intake.
The pee pads are changed as soon as I think they are too wet and also when I see those tiny wet prints going across my clean laminate flooring.
Hopefully I will soon be able to find some time to post my kids pics.