Need advice NOW!

[Kelly-rn]

Ok, I'm not expecting miracles with Maddie and I'm probably confusing the heck out of her so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Maddie is 12 weeks, 1.9 pounds, have had her 1 week. I want her trained eventually to go outside but for now just trying to paper train. I've read conflicting instructions....feed, put in crate for 20-30 min then to pad....feed, take outside, return to crate for 20 minutes, take outside again........don't feed when she gets up, place on pad, play 30 min then feed, put in crate 20 min then take outside. Well Maddie, I think, is thinking "nah....I'll poop and pee when I feel like it." What is happening is my entire waking day is consumed with trying to "catch her moment". ANY good advice out there? Oh, and another issue I have is a 87 yr old mom that lives with me. She thinks Maddie is adorable but has unreal expectations of time frame for potty training! Thanks for replies in advance!

[Maximo]

Your puppy is very young and small and her bladder is still developing. Yorkies have a reputation for being difficult to potty train, but not all are. I believe small dogs are more difficult overall than larger dogs, so I would advise your mom to be patient.

Crate training is a lot of work. Is she pottying in her crate? Usually they don't, but it happens. I would take her to the pad or outside right after she eats, in addition to your other training schedule.

Use keywords like "go potty" and whenever she does do it in the right place, praise her profusely, "Good potty! Good girl!" and give her a tiny treat.

If you want to try a method other than crate training, you can confine her to a small area, as small as a 4 x 4 xpen, and have the pad available to her at all times. Then when you are ready for 100% outdoor potty, move the pad closer and closer to the door until you remove the pad completely.

Whichever training method you use, keep in mind that small dogs need frequent outings all of their lives -- not every 20 minutes, but frequent.

Good luck!

[Marilize]

Hi Kelly. It's very unrealistic to expect a 12 week old puppy to be potty trained, or even remotely near it. At 12 weeks she can't hold it in for very long at all. That said, most dogs have a certain pattern that you start to recognize after a few weeks. They need to go either after they eat, sleep or play, but it depends on the puppy and the schedule.

Take a deep breath, reassure your mother that she'll be potty trained by the time she is an adult and keep taking her out as often as you can. Use the same command every time she is almost finished potty'ing and praise her when she does it. Good luck!

[MandiesMom]

You've gotten the advice I would give. Just hang in there and have patience. Patience, consistency, and more patience. Mandie is 10 months old and still has an occassional accident, but very rare. But she is by far the hardest pup I've ever had to potty train.

12 weeks? you have a long way to go and there will be some regressions, too. Expect that and just take a deep breath and keep going.

[gemy]

Consistency is key; routines are life savers. which-ever one you choose stick to it.

I did have a problem with Razzle, of course it wasn't his problem it was mine. Never having tried to "indoor" potty train a dog, and the year I got him, it was freaky cold with lots of snow, and I could not stand to see him shiver outside - so I tried to "indoor" potty train him.

I did a lot of things wrong, but the key thing I did wrong was to be inconsistent!. Added onto the fact I had way way too many potty pads around. By the end of Feb almost 2mths after he came home - he still did not consistently go on the pads - my husband was livid. Small messes yes, but they were messes. And btw I do know better lots better; but hey what can I say, sometimes your brain deserts you when most needed.

So our whole routine changed. I play penned him when I could not be home; or when I needed to do housework, with a peepad inside the pen.

Then I had two peepads beside our back door, because eventually I wanted him pottying outside. Immediately after a meal, we went down to the den (where the peepads were) I placed him on his peepads, and watched - when he started to go potty - I did a little ooowee good boy. I also walked him on lead in our backyard after we had shovelled out a walkway for us. He pee'd outside I was even more excited. "usually" though in the cold of late Feb early March that did not happen too often.

Within two weeks he was not having any more accidents in the house. It also helped that his big bro and big sis were constantly going outside to potty.

The other thing you need is a good enzymatic cleaner to clean out the mistakes. That smell lingers a long time to a dog's nose. Soak the area and let the cleaner sit for the recommended time frame. Also if you get a "black light" you can see all the areas that you might have missed cleaning.

Oh and yes Razzle was crate trained with-in one wk, but I only use the crates for sleeping in and never buy one large enough that a dog feels like eliminating in.

Have patience - and get a play pen when you can't be watching him 24/7

[pinkpatty]

Take out, or to pad after she eats, after she plays, after she wakes up. Use crate only to confine when you can not watch her. Feed out of crate, I put no food or water in crate and only confine when I can not be 100% watchful. It has worked every time, no matter the breed of dog. Remember you have a small puppy there and she is real young, truly has no control over bladder or bowels at this time. It is through repetition that you will succeed in house training her.

[Kelly-rn]

Answers to a couple of the questions....yes I have a pen, small to medium size. I started out putting her in there with pee pad and few toys. She barked constantly to get out and then started missing the pad entirely. The first three nights were sleepless! I then bought the crate and put her in for 20-30 min after feeding...took her out to the pad. Sometimes she went, other times she just looked at me. When she does go I praise her profusely....to the point that I'm embarrassing myself I have had her in a small crate at night though sitting on my bed. At least I can sleep now....but she has peed both nights and pooped last night. I put her on the pad as late at 1am and up at 7 so a 6 hr timeframe.

I totally get the need for time and patience.....I just want to be doing it the right way as to not be confusing Maddie. And I'm sure she will develope a pattern that I need to pick up on.

[MandiesMom]

If you are going to crate her during the night at this young age..you'll need to set your alarm and get up every 2 hours. They just can't hold it that long at that age..just think, her bladder is the size of a pea right now.

Sleepless nights? Yup..that's the name of the game being a new puppy mom. Just make yourself get thru it and it will pay off for you in the end. I promise. Yes, you will live on coffee and red bull for a couple of weeks, but your reward will be priceless. And, you will finally get your DESERVED sleep

(if you can't take her out every 2 hours, do NOT crate her...this will just teach her to be ok with laying in her own pee and poo)

[kimp5]

We got a puppy apt. Its great She has one room just big enough to sleep in and can walk through to go potty in a separate area. It worked great and the best thing is you didnt have to wake her to go outside.....

[gracielove]

A lot of people use X-pens for their puppies. That way when you cannot watch the pup it is in a small confined place but has a potty and a comfortable bed.
As someone already said a puppy the age of yours cannot control the bladder and bowel functions. It has to be near the potty at all times.
If you keep the pup with you as much as you can you will learn it's little signals that it does when it is getting ready to potty. They tend to sniff the floor or go in circles. That is your signal to make sure the pup gets on the potty pad. When they are that young they do go often since they have tiny bladders.
It is almost a full time job at first. Don't get discouraged. It gets better but it takes a lot of time and consistent training.

[Kelly-rn]

Thanks for all the advice.....today has been a very nice, NO accident day Loving my "Maddie girl".

[KendraE]

Great!! Just be patient!! She's just a baby!