Good Potty Days & Bad Potty Days ... HELP! - YorkieTalk.com Forums

aprilclo · 01-23-2006, 07:32 AM

Minni is 7.5 month old. We have had her for 4.5 months of that. We are training her to go in a litter box in the kitchen. She has 2 boxes, one for #1 and one for #2 because she won't do them both in the same OR if the paper is the SLIGHT bit dirty... which is understandable. I have also tried 3 times to replace the newspaper with pellets. She doesn't go in the boxes after she realizes that she won't get treats unless we see HER GO because you can't see the mess on the pellets to give her the reward. So now we are back to the newspaper in the box laid down over a plastic garbage bag - which I can deal with although pellets are better-not as many times to cleanup. My problem is that some days (sometimes even for a week straight) she will go every time in those boxes even without the gate up to keep her there. She will be so faithful to the boxes and even if she's way in the basement or playing she will beeline right to them to go. Then ... I don't know what happens ... her determination for the box stops. She will just run across the couch (sometime just sits on the couch and goes) and urinate, poo on the carpet, pee ANYWHERE, pee alot on the kitchen floor but NOT in the box. Last week she was playing with my husband and ran across his chest and peed!!! Obviously he was not happy about that. Then we go back to putting her in the kitchen behind the gate every 1.5-2 hours and walking over the gate, tell her "potty in the box" and come back 2 minutes later and she has gone in the box ... sometimes. Do the treat thing, be very happy with praise and "good potty" and hug her, and let her come out into the house where we go. We have been going back and forth. Any suggestions?

Ladylavender · 01-23-2006, 10:02 AM

The only suggestion I have is to be right there waiting for her to go potty in the box. Don't leave her site. Keep telling her to go potty the whole time. When she is in the act of going pee or poo, praise her then, and give her her treat after she goes.

Leaving her and then coming back removes you from the opportunity to reinforce the behavior as it is happening. When we were training Millie, someone was with her every single time we wanted her to go to the bathroom. We did not rely on her to know what to do until she was over 7 months old.

Even though we told her to "go potty" every single time, she did not actually learn to go on command until she was around 6 months old. (If your little one does not know to go on command, then she is not sure what you are asking her to do) The only way to teach her is to be there every time.

I think you need to continue to take her to go potty every 1 - 2 hours until she can reliably let you know she has to go. When she is telling you she has to go, then you can start training her to go by herself.

It gets old fast, I know, but Millie was 6 1/2 to 7 months old when she was 100% housebroken. We never let up on her until I knew she absolutely understood where she was allowed to go. After awhile, it becomes, not so much that she knew where to go, but she had the preference to go outside and not in the house.

Tiger's Mom · 01-23-2006, 11:36 AM

Have you ever considered "crate training".

I have the same dilemma as you but not as bad. My Tiger was 90% pad trained when we brought him home at 8 weeks and he continues to do so (now 16 weeks). The worst days are Mondays when he gets so disorented that we are not home all day (because both my husband and I work full time). He is strictly confined to my Laundry room when we are NOT home. I had seeked a friend's advise who has a mini schnauzer that is fully housetrained. She suggested that we be firm from day one, although starting now isn't too late.

Being that Tiger is still a puppy, he has learned to hold his pee for up to 4 hours only, but this is when we are doing errands and at puppy school. At home he pees more frequently because his "area" is always available. They need to learn to hold it so that you do not have to worry about them peeing everywhere (unless you have decided to train your yorkie to go outdoors on his own). Tiger has been in crate training since last week and so far is doing wonderfully. This week we move up to 5 hours. Because he is now being monitored at all times no more "out of bounds" messes. I plan to add an hour every week so when he is able to hold it for 8 hours, I will continue to crate him until he is doing okay for a few months . . .then we shall see what happens.

I live in an area where there is lots of snow and lots of trees so I cannot have him relieve himself outdoors without my supervision. He is so tiny he could be eaten by an owl or deer easily . . . when the weather is warmer, I plan to take him outdoors whenever he needs to go . . . my ultimate goal is to have him pee in the morning before I go to work, then as soon as I get home and before going to bed. . . . .

He has been sleeping with me since he was 9 weeks and he has never had an accident . . . .

This plan seems to work best for me, since I work full time. I am trying to nip this problem in the bud while he is still young . . . If this suggestion won't work for you, am sure there will be others that will post on this site to help you with your problem. Good luck!

ralphie's mom · 01-23-2006, 04:33 PM

I am having the same problem with my Ralphie. he is somewhat trained but seems to only be trained when he feels like it. Just recently he has gotten wose with it and I am not sure why. I have taken time off from work so that i can spend these precious puppy hours getting trained, still i am not sure what to do. I take him onto his pee pad and tell him to potty and try to make sure he smells old spots to know to go and he just looks at me like I am crazy and then maybe 3 mins later he will go in the floor. He does not go in our bed when he sleeps with us or in his crate so I know that he has the ability to hold it. I am wondering if the regression is part of his "manly-ness" coming out in him being that he is getting older (8 weeks now) ... should i start keeping him in his crate then taking him out to go then playing with him and re-crating or .. what kind of schedule do you all use with crate training. Any and all advice is helpful. Thanks

aprilclo · 01-24-2006, 10:38 AM

thanks everyone. she is crate trained and she sleeps with us and will sleep in the bed for 8+ hours sometimes with no messes. she doesn't go in her crate either. yes, she is worse on mondays because we go back to work but there is someone with her 99% of the time during the week also. my husband works nights and I work days. she does better for me then him. BUT she was trained for about 2 weeks!! then she just stopped and ever since it's back and forth. I live where it is too cold and miserable for her to go outside until the spring. she will go outside also. yes, she knows "go potty" because that was how I started training her, standing by her side. (she will still do it when I tell her. that's what I tell her when I stand on the other side of the gate.) but now, that is not enough, but standing on the other side of the gate is. then she knows she can come out with us and she also immediately gets a treat and that usually works immediately. but if we are not right there every hour or so to cage her in the kitchen, she goes wherever. but why does she dart to the box sometimes and not others ... sometimes for a week she'll go correct! does this just take quite alot of time for some dogs? I have had other dogs and they were easy to get to go ... outside. but I heard some yorkies can take some time to train. maybe I'll just go back to standing right there again. I know I need to get all the members of my family to do the training the same way. my husband leaves her in there for hours until she goes becaues he doesn't feel like taking her back and forth. so does my son. I put her in for 20 minutes and if she doesn't go take her out and then try again in about 30-60 minutes until she goes and then every 1-2 hours. I have more patience then them

maybe that has alot to do with it too. she's such a good girl with just about everything but this. thanks for all of your help!

Athina · 01-24-2006, 10:49 AM

[QUOTE=aprilclo Last week she was playing with my husband and ran across his chest and peed!!!QUOTE]

Ruby is completely house trained and is 1 year old, but she would sometimes jump on my BF and pee on him

She did this about once a month for 5 months.
My boyfriend was scared to hold her due to this. He would get really mad because she would only do it to him and she didn't really listen to him. I told him the only way it would stop is if he scolded her for it (not me).
Eventually she stopped and hasn't done it in a few months.

01-23-2006, 11:36 AM	#3
Tiger's Mom Donating YT 8000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 9,272	Have you ever considered "crate training". I have the same dilemma as you but not as bad. My Tiger was 90% pad trained when we brought him home at 8 weeks and he continues to do so (now 16 weeks). The worst days are Mondays when he gets so disorented that we are not home all day (because both my husband and I work full time). He is strictly confined to my Laundry room when we are NOT home. I had seeked a friend's advise who has a mini schnauzer that is fully housetrained. She suggested that we be firm from day one, although starting now isn't too late. Being that Tiger is still a puppy, he has learned to hold his pee for up to 4 hours only, but this is when we are doing errands and at puppy school. At home he pees more frequently because his "area" is always available. They need to learn to hold it so that you do not have to worry about them peeing everywhere (unless you have decided to train your yorkie to go outdoors on his own). Tiger has been in crate training since last week and so far is doing wonderfully. This week we move up to 5 hours. Because he is now being monitored at all times no more "out of bounds" messes. I plan to add an hour every week so when he is able to hold it for 8 hours, I will continue to crate him until he is doing okay for a few months . . .then we shall see what happens. I live in an area where there is lots of snow and lots of trees so I cannot have him relieve himself outdoors without my supervision. He is so tiny he could be eaten by an owl or deer easily . . . when the weather is warmer, I plan to take him outdoors whenever he needs to go . . . my ultimate goal is to have him pee in the morning before I go to work, then as soon as I get home and before going to bed. . . . . He has been sleeping with me since he was 9 weeks and he has never had an accident . . . . This plan seems to work best for me, since I work full time. I am trying to nip this problem in the bud while he is still young . . . If this suggestion won't work for you, am sure there will be others that will post on this site to help you with your problem. Good luck! __________________ Tiger and Annika - official members of THE CRAZY CLUB & PINK CLUB www.mygofetch.com

01-23-2006, 04:33 PM	#4
ralphie's mom Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL Posts: 19	Same problem I am having the same problem with my Ralphie. he is somewhat trained but seems to only be trained when he feels like it. Just recently he has gotten wose with it and I am not sure why. I have taken time off from work so that i can spend these precious puppy hours getting trained, still i am not sure what to do. I take him onto his pee pad and tell him to potty and try to make sure he smells old spots to know to go and he just looks at me like I am crazy and then maybe 3 mins later he will go in the floor. He does not go in our bed when he sleeps with us or in his crate so I know that he has the ability to hold it. I am wondering if the regression is part of his "manly-ness" coming out in him being that he is getting older (8 weeks now) ... should i start keeping him in his crate then taking him out to go then playing with him and re-crating or .. what kind of schedule do you all use with crate training. Any and all advice is helpful. Thanks

01-24-2006, 10:49 AM	#6
Athina YT Addict Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 467	[QUOTE=aprilclo Last week she was playing with my husband and ran across his chest and peed!!!QUOTE] Ruby is completely house trained and is 1 year old, but she would sometimes jump on my BF and pee on him She did this about once a month for 5 months. My boyfriend was scared to hold her due to this. He would get really mad because she would only do it to him and she didn't really listen to him. I told him the only way it would stop is if he scolded her for it (not me). Eventually she stopped and hasn't done it in a few months. __________________ Athina, Ruby, Bella

01-23-2006, 07:32 AM	#1
aprilclo Yorkie Talk Newbie! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 7	Good Potty Days & Bad Potty Days ... HELP! Minni is 7.5 month old. We have had her for 4.5 months of that. We are training her to go in a litter box in the kitchen. She has 2 boxes, one for #1 and one for #2 because she won't do them both in the same OR if the paper is the SLIGHT bit dirty... which is understandable. I have also tried 3 times to replace the newspaper with pellets. She doesn't go in the boxes after she realizes that she won't get treats unless we see HER GO because you can't see the mess on the pellets to give her the reward. So now we are back to the newspaper in the box laid down over a plastic garbage bag - which I can deal with although pellets are better-not as many times to cleanup. My problem is that some days (sometimes even for a week straight) she will go every time in those boxes even without the gate up to keep her there. She will be so faithful to the boxes and even if she's way in the basement or playing she will beeline right to them to go. Then ... I don't know what happens ... her determination for the box stops. She will just run across the couch (sometime just sits on the couch and goes) and urinate, poo on the carpet, pee ANYWHERE, pee alot on the kitchen floor but NOT in the box. Last week she was playing with my husband and ran across his chest and peed!!! Obviously he was not happy about that. Then we go back to putting her in the kitchen behind the gate every 1.5-2 hours and walking over the gate, tell her "potty in the box" and come back 2 minutes later and she has gone in the box ... sometimes. Do the treat thing, be very happy with praise and "good potty" and hug her, and let her come out into the house where we go. We have been going back and forth. Any suggestions?

01-23-2006, 10:02 AM	#2
Ladylavender YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Soddy Daisy, TN Posts: 705	The only suggestion I have is to be right there waiting for her to go potty in the box. Don't leave her site. Keep telling her to go potty the whole time. When she is in the act of going pee or poo, praise her then, and give her her treat after she goes. Leaving her and then coming back removes you from the opportunity to reinforce the behavior as it is happening. When we were training Millie, someone was with her every single time we wanted her to go to the bathroom. We did not rely on her to know what to do until she was over 7 months old. Even though we told her to "go potty" every single time, she did not actually learn to go on command until she was around 6 months old. (If your little one does not know to go on command, then she is not sure what you are asking her to do) The only way to teach her is to be there every time. I think you need to continue to take her to go potty every 1 - 2 hours until she can reliably let you know she has to go. When she is telling you she has to go, then you can start training her to go by herself. It gets old fast, I know, but Millie was 6 1/2 to 7 months old when she was 100% housebroken. We never let up on her until I knew she absolutely understood where she was allowed to go. After awhile, it becomes, not so much that she knew where to go, but she had the preference to go outside and not in the house.

01-24-2006, 10:38 AM	#5
aprilclo Yorkie Talk Newbie! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 7	thanks everyone. she is crate trained and she sleeps with us and will sleep in the bed for 8+ hours sometimes with no messes. she doesn't go in her crate either. yes, she is worse on mondays because we go back to work but there is someone with her 99% of the time during the week also. my husband works nights and I work days. she does better for me then him. BUT she was trained for about 2 weeks!! then she just stopped and ever since it's back and forth. I live where it is too cold and miserable for her to go outside until the spring. she will go outside also. yes, she knows "go potty" because that was how I started training her, standing by her side. (she will still do it when I tell her. that's what I tell her when I stand on the other side of the gate.) but now, that is not enough, but standing on the other side of the gate is. then she knows she can come out with us and she also immediately gets a treat and that usually works immediately. but if we are not right there every hour or so to cage her in the kitchen, she goes wherever. but why does she dart to the box sometimes and not others ... sometimes for a week she'll go correct! does this just take quite alot of time for some dogs? I have had other dogs and they were easy to get to go ... outside. but I heard some yorkies can take some time to train. maybe I'll just go back to standing right there again. I know I need to get all the members of my family to do the training the same way. my husband leaves her in there for hours until she goes becaues he doesn't feel like taking her back and forth. so does my son. I put her in for 20 minutes and if she doesn't go take her out and then try again in about 30-60 minutes until she goes and then every 1-2 hours. I have more patience then them maybe that has alot to do with it too. she's such a good girl with just about everything but this. thanks for all of your help!