Help...At Wits Ends Here... - YorkieTalk.com Forums

SweetPea53 · 02-25-2008, 08:43 PM

My lil one just turned a year old...she is in an xpen during the day while I'm at work and at night after I go to bed....here is my problem...I let her out of her xpen in the morning before I go to work and then in the evening she is also out and has the full run of the downstairs....I have pottypads in place for her in my living room which she uses without any problem for pooping....my problem is that she will not use them to potty..she always chooses to go on the carpet...can anyone give me any suggestions/input on how/what I can do to get her to learn that the potty pad is not for pooping only, but for pottying also..she does great in her xpen during the day pottying/pooping on her pad) I also just installed a doggie door that she uses weather permitting...and she has gone potty outside a couple times on my brick patio (which I have highly praised her for and given her a good girl treat). How/what can I do to get her to know that she needs to also use the potty pads for pottying while out of the xpen at night???? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated....I do highly praise her every morning/evening when she poops on the pad by giving her a good girl treat and she now knows that once she does her duties on the pad she will get a treat and she instantly goes into the kitchen and waits........

Ladylavender · 02-26-2008, 04:34 AM

Unfortunately, the best way to teach a yorkie where to go potty only, is to make sure that that is the only place they go all the time. In other words, you must not allow for potty mistakes, which means you must keep an eye on your little one at all times (never remove your eyes from her) as long as you are letting her loose in the house. You must constantly direct her to her potty pads, at least once an hour to reinforce the need to go potty and where to go.

Basically, you are trying to undo what you have subconsciously taught her. You have taught her that its ok to potty on the pads, on the carpet and outside on the patio, because she has been "allowed" to do it, whether you approve or not.

So you have to "un-allow" her, by making sure she ONLY does it on the potty pads or outside, by preventing her from going anywhere else and the only way to do this is to watch her every minute of every second of every nano-second.

Once you have kept this regiment up for several months, she will understand that there are only 2 acceptable places to go and that is potty pad or outside. It may take longer, because your little one has developed a preference of where she likes to urinate and that's on carpet. So you have to re-program her preference to the acceptable texture of a pee pad or outside. This preference has to be constantly reinforced until it becomes her preference and this may take longer than if you were training a new puppy who has not developed the preference yet.

Just my thoughts. It will be a lot of hard work, but it really is the only way.

shurweee · 02-26-2008, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ladylavender

Unfortunately, the best way to teach a yorkie where to go potty only, is to make sure that that is the only place they go all the time. In other words, you must not allow for potty mistakes, which means you must keep an eye on your little one at all times (never remove your eyes from her) as long as you are letting her loose in the house. You must constantly direct her to her potty pads, at least once an hour to reinforce the need to go potty and where to go.

Basically, you are trying to undo what you have subconsciously taught her. You have taught her that its ok to potty on the pads, on the carpet and outside on the patio, because she has been "allowed" to do it, whether you approve or not.

So you have to "un-allow" her, by making sure she ONLY does it on the potty pads or outside, by preventing her from going anywhere else and the only way to do this is to watch her every minute of every second of every nano-second.

Once you have kept this regiment up for several months, she will understand that there are only 2 acceptable places to go and that is potty pad or outside. It may take longer, because your little one has developed a preference of where she likes to urinate and that's on carpet. So you have to re-program her preference to the acceptable texture of a pee pad or outside. This preference has to be constantly reinforced until it becomes her preference and this may take longer than if you were training a new puppy who has not developed the preference yet.

Just my thoughts. It will be a lot of hard work, but it really is the only way.

wow that's exactly what I've been looking for, except Einstein is 8 months old but he won't pee or poo on the pad anymore. I guess I need to be way more consistent! thank you

KathyK09 · 02-26-2008, 08:53 AM

We also keep our 14 wk old Mariah in an x-pen during the day and it works wonderfully.

When we get home we take her out of the x-pen and closely supervise her. At first about every 30-45 min we would walk her back to the x-pen and put her back in her pen. I would then sit on the floor next to the pen and tell her to "go potty". Eventually she would go and I would immediately give her a treat and lots of praise then let her back out. We would follow this routine every 30-45 min or anytime I suspected she had to go. If I could not closely supervise her I would put her back in the pen.

We have now gotten to the point where we coax her to go in the pen by herself and tell her to "go potty". She goes pee on the pad every single time and then we praise and give a treat! It's been working really, really well!

I'm hoping eventually she will learn to go in the pen on her pee-pad and do her business on her own! We are also planning to start taking her outside when the weather is nicer and she is bigger. We live in WI and have had a crazy winter!

So far she hasn't "pooped" on command but she also hasn't had any accidents.

This is new to us too but this is working for us!

MyboyTucker · 02-26-2008, 01:30 PM

Such good advice! I needed it. Tucker does great in his x-pen. His preference is to poop on our area rug in the living room (the floors are wood) or on the carpet in our bedroom. I really need to keep a closer eye on him. He'll "go" outside when we take him every few hours and he gets a treat.

Any other suggestions?

02-25-2008, 08:43 PM	#1
SweetPea53 ~Izzie~ My Lil' Sweetie Donating Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: So. California (Santa Clarita) Posts: 1,416	Help...At Wits Ends Here... My lil one just turned a year old...she is in an xpen during the day while I'm at work and at night after I go to bed....here is my problem...I let her out of her xpen in the morning before I go to work and then in the evening she is also out and has the full run of the downstairs....I have pottypads in place for her in my living room which she uses without any problem for pooping....my problem is that she will not use them to potty..she always chooses to go on the carpet...can anyone give me any suggestions/input on how/what I can do to get her to learn that the potty pad is not for pooping only, but for pottying also..she does great in her xpen during the day pottying/pooping on her pad) I also just installed a doggie door that she uses weather permitting...and she has gone potty outside a couple times on my brick patio (which I have highly praised her for and given her a good girl treat). How/what can I do to get her to know that she needs to also use the potty pads for pottying while out of the xpen at night???? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated....I do highly praise her every morning/evening when she poops on the pad by giving her a good girl treat and she now knows that once she does her duties on the pad she will get a treat and she instantly goes into the kitchen and waits........ __________________ "Member of the Spoiled Rotten Club" Lil' Miss Izzie

02-26-2008, 04:34 AM	#2
Ladylavender YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Soddy Daisy, TN Posts: 692	Unfortunately, the best way to teach a yorkie where to go potty only, is to make sure that that is the only place they go all the time. In other words, you must not allow for potty mistakes, which means you must keep an eye on your little one at all times (never remove your eyes from her) as long as you are letting her loose in the house. You must constantly direct her to her potty pads, at least once an hour to reinforce the need to go potty and where to go. Basically, you are trying to undo what you have subconsciously taught her. You have taught her that its ok to potty on the pads, on the carpet and outside on the patio, because she has been "allowed" to do it, whether you approve or not. So you have to "un-allow" her, by making sure she ONLY does it on the potty pads or outside, by preventing her from going anywhere else and the only way to do this is to watch her every minute of every second of every nano-second. Once you have kept this regiment up for several months, she will understand that there are only 2 acceptable places to go and that is potty pad or outside. It may take longer, because your little one has developed a preference of where she likes to urinate and that's on carpet. So you have to re-program her preference to the acceptable texture of a pee pad or outside. This preference has to be constantly reinforced until it becomes her preference and this may take longer than if you were training a new puppy who has not developed the preference yet. Just my thoughts. It will be a lot of hard work, but it really is the only way. __________________ Sheila and Sweet Millie Sage and Jasmine Rose

02-26-2008, 08:53 AM	#4
KathyK09 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Northeast WI Posts: 97	We also keep our 14 wk old Mariah in an x-pen during the day and it works wonderfully. When we get home we take her out of the x-pen and closely supervise her. At first about every 30-45 min we would walk her back to the x-pen and put her back in her pen. I would then sit on the floor next to the pen and tell her to "go potty". Eventually she would go and I would immediately give her a treat and lots of praise then let her back out. We would follow this routine every 30-45 min or anytime I suspected she had to go. If I could not closely supervise her I would put her back in the pen. We have now gotten to the point where we coax her to go in the pen by herself and tell her to "go potty". She goes pee on the pad every single time and then we praise and give a treat! It's been working really, really well! I'm hoping eventually she will learn to go in the pen on her pee-pad and do her business on her own! We are also planning to start taking her outside when the weather is nicer and she is bigger. We live in WI and have had a crazy winter! So far she hasn't "pooped" on command but she also hasn't had any accidents. This is new to us too but this is working for us!

02-26-2008, 01:30 PM	#5
MyboyTucker Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 48	Such good advice! I needed it. Tucker does great in his x-pen. His preference is to poop on our area rug in the living room (the floors are wood) or on the carpet in our bedroom. I really need to keep a closer eye on him. He'll "go" outside when we take him every few hours and he gets a treat. Any other suggestions?