Learning to Hold It - Potty Time

[Brianna]

Hello! Since this is my first post, let me just do a brief introduction. My name is Brianna, and I am the proud mommy of a 20 week old Yorkie/Maltese mix named Louie! We picked him up at 12 weeks old from a breeder, who was very kind and clearly treated her babies very well. Louie is a sweet, playful, and affectionate pup, who always wants to be around the family. He's also very smart if I do say so myself (though this is our first dog so I guess I wouldn't really know, haha). As of now, he is 4 lbs 12 oz, and the breeder estimated he should be between 5 to 6 lbs as an adult.

Anyway, on to the topic. I'm looking forward to discussing things with you all. I apologize in advanced if this has been asked before, but I've been Google-ing like mad and haven't found a thread on any Yorkie, Maltese, or other small dog web site that really answered my one big question.

---

Potty training was a nightmare the first two months. Louie pooped and peed in his crate every day. We constantly had to wash the bugger, which gave him dry skin and made him all itchy. We had no clue when he would pee or poo, as there was no consistency. He got a urinary tract infection from the new food we put him on (it royally screwed up his pH), which threw him off when he was starting to get better. He then got neutered soon after the infection cleared, which further screwed things up. Through it all, we did our best to stay as consistent as possible even though he wasn't, lol!

Now, our attempts to potty train seem to be paying off as he has been improving greatly. He has not peed or pooed in his crate, overnight or otherwise, for a full four days. In those same four days, he has only had three accidents, which is a huge improvement! He has learned to bark to let us know he has to go outside when he is crated. When he is out of the crate, which is the vast majority of the time, he'll either scratch at the baby gate or ring the bell to go outside, whichever is closer.

He is now predictable. He'll poop and pee in the morning at 5:30am, then he eats at 6:00am. He'll bark between 8:00am and 9:00am to let us know he has to pee. From then on, he asks to go out to pee almost exactly every 2 hours. He'll poop again somewhere between 11:00am and 12:00pm. He eats again at 4:30pm, then poops between 5:00pm and 6:00pm. He pees one last time at 10:00pm to 11:00pm, then goes to bed. Aaaand it starts all over again!

Bottom Line/TL;DR
We don't want to have to wake up at 6:00am every morning for the rest of our lives, and we don't want to have to take him out every two hours during the day!!! We're slowly pushing his evening meal to 5:00pm, then we want to push his morning meals to 7:00am and eventually to 8:00am. I understand that he's a puppy and he can't hold it for too long right now. That said, here's my big question: WHEN will he be able to hold it for more than 2 hours at a time during the day, and when will he be able to hold it for more than 8 hours overnight? Will that ever happen?

Thanks!!!

[Shicks]

Well, I have always been told for every month of age is one hour. So, 3 months 3 hrs. Our little guy was taken out a lot, talking about 2 times a night and a lot during the day till he was 7 months. Then sleeping at 9:00 to 5 or 5:30-6:00 in the morning. Be patient it will get better. Good luck

[leslieann79]

Just take him out to pee early in the morning and put him back in his crate and go back to sleep.

[Brianna]

Originally Posted by leslieann79

Just take him out to pee early in the morning and put him back in his crate and go back to sleep.

That's what we do. Then he wakes us up again 2 or possibly 3 hours later, haha.

We'd like for him to hold it till 8:00 at least. I'm sure he can't do that now, but as an adult I hope he can.

Thanks for the replies!

[DBlain]

at 20 weeks my last two pups could easily go from around 10 till 6 am which is when we get up, but not all are able to hold it that long. My lola is bell trained but there is a period of time after they get bell trained when they ring the bell more because they are bored and want to go outside not because they HAVE to go potty. Eventually you will begin to pick up between having to go potty and wanting to go outside. Lola uses the bell to let us know she wants out, but I don't just let her run out loose, she goes out on a lead and does not wander all over the yard, she goes out to potty. Once she finishes she comes in for a treat. I don't like to confuse going out by the bell to be fun, it's for business and when we walk or go out to play it's by a different door. At 20 weeks if your pup is holding it at all you should be happy. Yorkie type dogs are hard to house break and at 20 weeks I think you are doing better than average, so stick with it

[DBlain]

Originally Posted by leslieann79

Just take him out to pee early in the morning and put him back in his crate and go back to sleep.

honestly that kind of sucks, not everyone can go back to sleep that easily.if the human caregiver sleeps no more than 7-8 hours the pup should be able to adjust to that schedule and hold it that long. Even my pups that were not 100% housebroken could last through the night. I am also a strong believer in not letting your pups roam the house at night. Lola and a few others I had were put on the bed when I went to sleep and stayed there till I awoke and a few others spent the night in their crate.

[tokiphd]

I rescued my little guy about 6 months ago and he was already housebroken. He is 7 years old. He only needs to go out about 4 times a day, and always stays in bed until I get up in the morning (between 6:00 and 8:00, depending on the day).

All that to say that your little one will definitely get better!

[gracielove]

Please keep in mind that the muscle that controls the bladder does not develop to the point of being able to hold back urine until the 16th week after birth and that is just the start point. Up until then it is pretty much a matter of the dog being near the potty when it needs to go, which obviously is up to it's human.

When you crate train you have to be there to get the puppy out to potty very regularly and you have to time those outings along with when the pup last ate and drank.

Most busy people do not have the time to be near a crate for the amount of time it takes to properly crate train. All you have to do is be off in your timing a few times and the pup starts to learn that it has to potty in the crate. There is noting else the pup can do. They have no control and can't let themselves out.

Many people here use puppy play pens rather than crates because the puppy has access to puppy pads when no one is able to get the puppy outside to potty.

Gracie was trained to puppy pads and when she was older we started taking her outside regularly so she learned to potty outside (which she prefers) This was much easier for me than having to run her outside all the time when she was tiny.

It is time consuming to train a puppy and you have to do it right or you will end up with a grown up dog that does not understand what you want it to do. I have seen dogs that know what they are NOT supposed to do but they never learned the behavior that their owner actually wanted them to do instead. It's very sad.

[yavenay]

Have you considered potty pads? My Duchess goes outside and she is also potty pad trained. I work during the days so no one is here to let her out. I love the potty pads especially during the winter and rainy days. Also I don't have to take her out a night or get up too early in the mornings. Plus I live in a 3 sty town home. Getting up in the middle of the night for potty breaks was way too much work.

Some people prefer only outside for potty but for me having her do both outdoors and potty pads is the perfect solution. Personally speaking, I prefer not to force my little one to hold it. I know how I feel when I have to hold it. So with that being said, I provided an area where she is allowed to go whenever she feels like it.

[Brianna]

Potty pads were considered, but our boy just tries to rip them apart. He thinks it's a play toy, haha. We wouldn't trust him with it while we're gone, he'd probably eat it. It's disappointing... We have a TON of wasps and ants and icky bugs down here (woot woot Florida) so I was hoping he'd like the pads.

I was thinking of possibly getting a cat litter box and lining it with a pad. Then maybe he won't try to gnaw on the pad since it won't be loose.

He likes to go outside to potty, though. Especially after what happened the other day... We caught the neighbor's dog pooping and peeing in our yard. I said "Hiiii" to the dog, he barked at me, and Louie went insaaaaane barking and growling, which he NEVER does. Woulda' chased after the other one had he not been on a leash. He was pissed for at least thirty minutes afterwards, even after bringing him inside! LOL

[ColesMommy01]

Some yorkies just won't have that great control of their bladders unfortunately. But your yorkie is still a baby, I wouldn't expect much when it comes to potty training until 6 months at most and he still will have accidents. Even adult dogs soil their homes, their bladders are so tiny. Plus if they have water access at all times, I would expect them to relieve themselves 30-45 minutes after eating/drinking. Best solution is an indoor pottypad/litterbox. There are several to choose from. We have a UGODOG, but there's also FreshPatch, PiddlePads,etc

[AZME]

Finn is 7 mos and although he got a little off track while we were packing an moving we've had pretty good luck w/ a combination of things. Instead of a crate I moved him to what I call 'his condo' which is a doggie pen (open at the top) that you can make into various shapes. I made mine into a small 'run shape' about 3 feet x 7 feet . I put a pee pad at one end (a cloth one so he won't rip it) and his bed and a couple of chew toys at the other end. I got him to use the pee pads accidentally one night when I got up to pee myself and took him in the bathroom w/ me (so he wouldn't wake everyone up and planned to take him outside after I was finished) I peed and he peed. Hmmmm I thought this could work out. So from then on if he got up in the middle of the night I took him and a pee pad to the bathroom and there he went) He still goes outside but he will go on the pad if he really needs to. He was about 20 weeks when I made this discovery...fast forward. He is now 7 mos. we just moved to a new home. There is a fair amount more desert surrounding us meaning more hawks, owls, javelina, coyote and a sprinkling of bobcats now and then. Our yard is nicely landscaped with cactus and agave...rather a prickly situation all around. I found out that fake grass is often antimicrobial so I got a 3X15 patch and stuck it in the garage...first day he looked at me with that 'really' look on his little puss. Today up at the very crack of pre-dawn he peed and pooped there like he was doing it all his life. This solves the hawk/owl issue, the middle of the night issue and the rainy day issue. If you take them where you want them to go when they REALLY have to go and can't hold it you are in good shape starting that pattern. Try the cloth pee pads, make the space Louie is in perhaps a little bit larger with a pee pad at the end (love the name btw! I had a Louis that was a character) and you should be on your way. I free feed my little Finn but he is still pretty predictable (now that he's a little older) Potty training is definitely an adventure and Yorkies have no shame when it comes to squating if your not paying them attention. Try and keep things predictable stretch out the time a little longer when your up and confine them to a smaller space if they are going out of sight to pee or poop. At least this is what is working for me. Good luck with Louie!

[Shicks]

That's a really good setup you have going. I plan to use the x pen with his crate inside of it. I've never used potty pads but may put one in too, just when I need to be gone for a couple of hrs. I get my love of my life in 4 weeks. Wee!

[JadeD]

I have a 9 year old Yorkie, that I just got 6 weeks ago. He was housebroken when I got him and only had 1 accident in the house the day after I brought him home, which is not bad at all. Then a couple weeks later I left him with my teenage daughter and he went to the door to be let out, but she was busy putting her make up on in the bathroom and didn't notice so he pooped on the floor right near the front door. Not a big deal really as it is vinyl there and would have been easy to clean up if she hadn't then stepped in it and tracked it all over the carpet in 3 rooms plus into the bathroom. I come home a little bit later to what I now refer to as "The big poop episode." Needless to say, I cleaned it up and she watches the dog better now. LOL

Back onto the puppy though. Have faith. Yorkies are difficult to potty train, as I am about to find out when our new puppy arrives later this spring. However, my Teek sleeps in our bed. I take him out about 10pm or so as I am preparing to go to bed and he sleeps curled up with me. My husband gets up at 6am and Teek will sometimes lift his head and look at my husband as if to say "are you insane?" and flop it back down against my leg. During the week when I get up at 7 to get kids to school he will usually get up when I start to, but sometimes I have to ask him if he is going to get up with me or stay in bed, at which point he reluctantly gets up and stretches and lets me pick him up to take him upstairs. However, on the weekends he will not wake me unless I sleep past 9:30. At which point he will pester me to wake up and take him outside. It will get better.

Teek is the most amazing dog I have had and we just adore each other. The fact that he likes to sleep as much as me is wonderful!

Luckily the new puppy is actually my daughter's dog so hopefully she will be getting up with the puppy if it wakes early. I am hoping to pee pad train him so that at night he will use the pee pad if he needs to go and then during the day I will be home all day with the puppy, my Yorkie and our 80 lb English Setter so house training during the day should go well, I hope. I take the dogs out regularly. Teek only needs to go out morning, night and then once or twice between, usually twice because that is what the big dog likes to do and I can walk them together.

Good luck and hang in there. As he gets older he might not tear up the pee pads as much too.