different housebreaking options...HELP

[carlyn6884]

hi everyone, if all goes well i will be getting my first yorkie baby boy in april/may... I have never housetrained a puppy before....

originally i was planning on crate training. I am a stay at home mom so the puppy really wont be in the crate for long periods, but it seemed convenient...the whole "safe place" idea, and having somewhere the puppy is secure during the night... so i was going to exclusively do that, and housetrain him to only potty outside... the biggest problem i see with that is I live in Buffalo and it's Freeeezing during the winter, not sure he will like that very much.

then i started reading about pee pads? i really dont even know what these are. I keep a baby gate up and close off the kitchen for my daughter so puppy will spend his time in the living room with us...there is a small entryway off the living room he was also have access to which is tile flooring. from what i'm assuming the pads are put on the floor and puppy goes on them? The only thing I'm wondering with that is, I'm thinking it may be harder to get him to go outside then? If he thinks it's ok to pee on the pads?? But it seems a lot of people use them...

The last option i'm considering is putting a dog litter in the entryway. My friend has a chihuahua/yorkie that is litter trained. A question i have with this is will the cat use the "dog" litter? I am also concerned my house will smell like poop whenever he uses the litter. But again, if it works seems like it would be good so he didn't have to go outside in the winter? Anyone have experience with litter training??


Ok, any help anyone can give me I would 100% greatly appreciate... like i said i have never housetrained before and with a yorkie i have read it can be harder, but there also seems like more options b/c they are so small. I definately want to do it right so he doesn't get confused and prolong the process b/c of my mistakes... THANKS in advance

[Honeys Mama]

Here's what i've done with my yorkie puppy. I use the puppy pads while i'm home. They haev a blue bottom and a white cottony surface. They are supposta attract the dogs to use them but i dunno . Either way honey uses them when i forget to take her outside or i get sidetracked. As you know yorkies have VERY small bladders and i live in a 5 story bldg, all stairs. It came to a point when she was learning to use it outside, she'd go in the hallway! UGH! anyway. when i'm not home she stays in a room with a puppy pad. Shes only ever gone in the room TWICE! weird? And at night i lock her in the crate in front of my bed. She only whined a few nights and i just yelled "NO" and she got the idea. Our biggest problem right now is she loves to go on my bathroom mats. guess they remind her of the grass outside. I now just close the door so only places she can go is her room, living room, and kitchen and its working out pretty well. I never did the litter box training so i cant help you with that. But the puppy pads are great. you can buy them at wal-mart i'm pretty sure. And i know some people on here sell washable pee pads. It helps to lay out a bunch of the pee pads and then narrow it down to just a few. I lined the entire kitchen and living room with them and now we're down to just a corner where she goes. Just be sure you dont let her wander off, they're sneaky lil buggers i'll tell ya! Keep us updated on how its going!

Btw, honey is about 5 months just so you know

Also i live in germany so i know how its hard to go in the snow. and yes it is a turn off for the pups. I usually scrape off a small spot for t hem to go. Honey would pee no problem but getting her to poop has been quite a challenge!

i dont have carpeting in my house so seeing a spot has been a lot easier. BUT if you have carpets be sure to buy some industrial strength carpet cleaner!

[lemonlauren]

Hello :-) I wondered about this whole pee pad thing at first too. They sound so convenient! But I ended up choosing to housebreak outside only, and I would have chosen that even if I lived in a really cold climate too. I totally understand why many people use pee pads, and I'm not knocking it, and there are definitely situations where it's necessary (like for people who have to leave their pups alone for more than a few hours every day, or people who live in an apartment where it's a big ordeal to get to the outdoors). But for a regular situation where you CAN train to go outside only, that would be my choice.

First, dogs that are pee pad trained can temporarily (or in rare cases permanently) confuse pee pads with rugs. I'd rather just have indoors be completely off-limits, no exceptions. Pee-pad trained dogs, from what I've read, also seem to more commonly have trouble in other people's houses, just like they will tend to have trouble if you move the pee pad in your house from one spot to another. Add to that the extra expense and waste of disposable pee pads, or the extra time and grossness of constantly having a load of pee and poop cloth pads to run through your washer. Plus, you'll have pee and poop in your house all the time - either you'll be constantly picking up the pads to dispose of them or wash them, or you'll have the smell of doggie pee and poo in the air in your home.

And so, although pee pads sounded convenient, I thought that the cons of pee pads outweighed the pros, for my situation anyways.

If you get your boy in early spring, then you'll have hopefully at least 6 months of warm weather to get your dog used to peeing only outside, if that's what you chose. Hopefully by approx 9mo old, he'll be doing pretty well with the potty training. Then as the weather gets colder, he'll just figure out that he should get his pottying done quicker so he can come back inside quicker! Some people even say that potty training when it's cold outside is the best time to do it anyways, so that the pup doesn't confuse potty-time with outdoor play-time!

Anyways, I'll stop rambling, sorry I went on for so long. Just wanted to share the thoughts I had in the beginning when I was considering the potty pads as well.

Lauren & Nikko

[carlyn6884]

thanks for your response, i originally was going to crate train (for the rare times he will be home alone) and train exclusively outside, I'm pretty sure this is what I'm going to go with. I totally agree with your con's with the pee pads. plus we have another dog and cat and kids so the pee pads seem kinda gross to me anyway plus i 'forgot' he is a boy, and when/if he starts lifting his leg i dont think it would work out. so i'm going to stick with my plan to train outside.

so i have also read of course that yorkies can be hard to housetrain. and of course read horror stories. Does anyone have any advice that worked, and any stories of pups that were trained nice and easy for some encouragement??

[lemonlauren]

I think there are a handful, not many, of people on here who have trained their pups in no time flat, lol. I was dumb and overconfident enough that I thought I could be one of those people too since my DH and I could basically tag-team and be constantly watching him like a hawk, praising him, taking him out, treats for potties, and so on. Unfortunately it wasn't as "easy" as I'd hoped, but still, we're not planning on being one of the horror stories either. :-) Nikko will be 6 months old at the end of February (we've had him since he was 3mo old), and right now we are one day away from two whole weeks without any accidents... and we are VERY VERY cautiously happy about it. I've heard that you can only consider your dog potty trained after he's gone for a whole month without a single accident, so one month is our goal.

Nikko is my first dog, so I'd never potty trained a pup before now... here are a few things I learned that I hope might be helpful to others.

1. It will take longer than you expect. Try not to be mad or sad, just continue being diligent. Even with other and larger breeds of dogs, many experts will tell you that a dog isn't completely in control of his bladder until about 6 months.
2. Enlist help whenever you possibly can. It can be overwhelming at times, and you will really really appreciate someone taking over sometimes, whether it's for you to take a nap or just to have a little calm alone time.
3. If you possibly can, designate one door for pottying and a different door for everything else (going for walks, going for car rides, seeing other people come in and out of the house, etc.) Literally one door ONLY for pottying, and preferably that door leads directly to the potty zone.
4. Make the treat for pottying outside a treat you never give any other time, and make sure it's the most awesome treat in the world. We have tried a couple different treats, and had the best success with peanut butter baking chips that we break into thirds.
5. Every accident is your fault, not the dog's. And the only way to make an accident a learning experience for the dog is for him to be caught in the middle of them, stopped, and allowed to finish and be treated outside. That's part of why it's so important to watch him constantly.
6. Potty train with a leash, even if you have a fenced in backyard. You need to watch their every move... Once these smart little guys catch on that they get a treat after they pee, they can start "fake" peeing! If you don't catch these fake-outs, you won't know when your pup actually does have an empty bladder. You can also use the leash to help redirect if your pup gets distracted (and btw, EVERYTHING is a distraction, lol).
7. Praise & treat immediately after the good deed. If you wait until you both walk back inside or back to the doorway, the dog will think he's being rewarded for walking back to the door instead of for peeing outside. So every time you take him out, carry two treats with you in your hand. One in case he pees, one in case he poops too. Put them back in the bag (or wherever) if he doesn't do any business on that trip outdoors.
8. Crate training really does help. But try to tire your pup out before he has to go in his crate - he'll nap in there easier that way, and whine/bark/cry/growl much less. It's really hard on us moms to listen to the let-me-out cry. :-( The best-behaved puppy is the one that's asleep, so exercise him as often as you can. :-) This'll also help him to sleep through the night.
9. Expand his area gradually... start with someplace tiled (like the kitchen, or a part of the kitchen) so accidents are easier to clean up. If you can watch him, he's gotta be in his area. If you can't watch him, he's gotta be in his crate or in your arms. Don't expand his area too quickly, don't give freedom too quickly, and never take your eyes off him unless he's in your arms or in his crate. Easier said than done, but try. :-)

Hope that helps a little... it's just some of the stuff that worked for me. Other people have different methods, or will give some different tips. Take your favorites from everyone, and good luck! Just remember to not get too frustrated at first... it really isn't easy, but it's worth it. I'm sure you'll be fine!

Lauren & Nikko

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by lemonlauren

I think there are a handful, not many, of people on here who have trained their pups in no time flat, lol. I was dumb and overconfident enough that I thought I could be one of those people too since my DH and I could basically tag-team and be constantly watching him like a hawk, praising him, taking him out, treats for potties, and so on. Unfortunately it wasn't as "easy" as I'd hoped, but still, we're not planning on being one of the horror stories either. :-) Nikko will be 6 months old at the end of February (we've had him since he was 3mo old), and right now we are one day away from two whole weeks without any accidents... and we are VERY VERY cautiously happy about it. I've heard that you can only consider your dog potty trained after he's gone for a whole month without a single accident, so one month is our goal.

Nikko is my first dog, so I'd never potty trained a pup before now... here are a few things I learned that I hope might be helpful to others.

1. It will take longer than you expect. Try not to be mad or sad, just continue being diligent. Even with other and larger breeds of dogs, many experts will tell you that a dog isn't completely in control of his bladder until about 6 months.
2. Enlist help whenever you possibly can. It can be overwhelming at times, and you will really really appreciate someone taking over sometimes, whether it's for you to take a nap or just to have a little calm alone time.
3. If you possibly can, designate one door for pottying and a different door for everything else (going for walks, going for car rides, seeing other people come in and out of the house, etc.) Literally one door ONLY for pottying, and preferably that door leads directly to the potty zone.
4. Make the treat for pottying outside a treat you never give any other time, and make sure it's the most awesome treat in the world. We have tried a couple different treats, and had the best success with peanut butter baking chips that we break into thirds.
5. Every accident is your fault, not the dog's. And the only way to make an accident a learning experience for the dog is for him to be caught in the middle of them, stopped, and allowed to finish and be treated outside. That's part of why it's so important to watch him constantly.
6. Potty train with a leash, even if you have a fenced in backyard. You need to watch their every move... Once these smart little guys catch on that they get a treat after they pee, they can start "fake" peeing! If you don't catch these fake-outs, you won't know when your pup actually does have an empty bladder. You can also use the leash to help redirect if your pup gets distracted (and btw, EVERYTHING is a distraction, lol).
7. Praise & treat immediately after the good deed. If you wait until you both walk back inside or back to the doorway, the dog will think he's being rewarded for walking back to the door instead of for peeing outside. So every time you take him out, carry two treats with you in your hand. One in case he pees, one in case he poops too. Put them back in the bag (or wherever) if he doesn't do any business on that trip outdoors.
8. Crate training really does help. But try to tire your pup out before he has to go in his crate - he'll nap in there easier that way, and whine/bark/cry/growl much less. It's really hard on us moms to listen to the let-me-out cry. :-( The best-behaved puppy is the one that's asleep, so exercise him as often as you can. :-) This'll also help him to sleep through the night.
9. Expand his area gradually... start with someplace tiled (like the kitchen, or a part of the kitchen) so accidents are easier to clean up. If you can watch him, he's gotta be in his area. If you can't watch him, he's gotta be in his crate or in your arms. Don't expand his area too quickly, don't give freedom too quickly, and never take your eyes off him unless he's in your arms or in his crate. Easier said than done, but try. :-)

Hope that helps a little... it's just some of the stuff that worked for me. Other people have different methods, or will give some different tips. Take your favorites from everyone, and good luck! Just remember to not get too frustrated at first... it really isn't easy, but it's worth it. I'm sure you'll be fine!

Lauren & Nikko

Great Post!

[carlyn6884]

thank you those tips are awesome, i'm really trying to prepare before we get him and my fingers are crossed for the housebreaking process.

one thing i've heard that i wanted to ask about.... I have heard that while housebreaking to only go outside to "go potty". We are going to get the pup in spring/summer, does this mean no walks or trips anywhere? my son plays baseball and then soccer into july and i walk almost every day. Can puppy come or will he get confused? Will it be ok as long as I stick to the treat when he goes outside even if we are out for "pleasure" and not potty?

which makes me think of another question (haha sorry, 1st puppy )... pups shots aren't finished until 12 weeks right? or is it later? and they shouldnt be out before then??

thanks agian, you guys are awesome!!

[Sunny95]

Lemonlauren : Excellent Post! Great tips there. THANKS!!!

[browniesmom622]

2 tip's i could give is if there not being watched they much be crated or pened If they have an accident You weren't watching it's your fault not the dog's.
2nd Dont scold for doing wrong Only Praise the good.
Praise like you just won the lottery!!

[PiePiper]

I crate trained my first yorkie (male) and pottied outside. I got him in April and he trained so easily. After a few weeks he was completely trained. I had him for 13 years and he never had accidents. Although Connecticut winters aren't as bad as Buffalo's it does get pretty cold. Chip would make a point to go outside and do his business very quickly. I got Piper this summer (13 years since I had a puppy) and thought I would try the piddle pads and save myself having to go out in bad weather. I hated them. She would shred them even though they were in a tray. She would miss the tray or not bothering even using it. Since it was summer I decided to train her outside also. Piper didn't housebreak as quickly as Chip did but eventually she caught on. Like Chip, Piper learned to go out and do her business very quickly when it was cold and snowy.

[Britster]

Originally Posted by lemonlauren

Hello :-) I wondered about this whole pee pad thing at first too. They sound so convenient! But I ended up choosing to housebreak outside only, and I would have chosen that even if I lived in a really cold climate too. I totally understand why many people use pee pads, and I'm not knocking it, and there are definitely situations where it's necessary (like for people who have to leave their pups alone for more than a few hours every day, or people who live in an apartment where it's a big ordeal to get to the outdoors). But for a regular situation where you CAN train to go outside only, that would be my choice.

First, dogs that are pee pad trained can temporarily (or in rare cases permanently) confuse pee pads with rugs. I'd rather just have indoors be completely off-limits, no exceptions. Pee-pad trained dogs, from what I've read, also seem to more commonly have trouble in other people's houses, just like they will tend to have trouble if you move the pee pad in your house from one spot to another. Add to that the extra expense and waste of disposable pee pads, or the extra time and grossness of constantly having a load of pee and poop cloth pads to run through your washer. Plus, you'll have pee and poop in your house all the time - either you'll be constantly picking up the pads to dispose of them or wash them, or you'll have the smell of doggie pee and poo in the air in your home.

And so, although pee pads sounded convenient, I thought that the cons of pee pads outweighed the pros, for my situation anyways.

If you get your boy in early spring, then you'll have hopefully at least 6 months of warm weather to get your dog used to peeing only outside, if that's what you chose. Hopefully by approx 9mo old, he'll be doing pretty well with the potty training. Then as the weather gets colder, he'll just figure out that he should get his pottying done quicker so he can come back inside quicker! Some people even say that potty training when it's cold outside is the best time to do it anyways, so that the pup doesn't confuse potty-time with outdoor play-time!

Anyways, I'll stop rambling, sorry I went on for so long. Just wanted to share the thoughts I had in the beginning when I was considering the potty pads as well.

Lauren & Nikko

Good post! I totally agree.

[JasmineNoelle]

I have potty trained two and am on my third now. I trained the first two to go outside to do their business and am doing the same with Jasmine. We also crate train, we do not use a leash when going outside to potty, but do go to the same area each time (yes, we have a fenced yard) and we don't use a reward treat when she does potty, however we give her a lot of praise. When we take her outside to potty we always use the same two word command just like we did with our first two. It does take some time, patience and lack of sleep, but in the end it is worth it for sure. Good luck!

[Britster]

There's a bunch of threads in training section too

But I still 100% agree with lemonlaurens post!

[ParrotLady]

Lauren, you did GREAT!