Help! Potty training 3 yr. old rescued Yorkies - YorkieTalk.com Forums

jjz · 04-12-2005, 07:22 PM

My husband and I rescued 2 female Yorkies Feb 1st. They were not abused, but they were neglected by the previous owners. Snicker and Doodle are sweet as can be and 3 yrs. Old. We were told they are potty trained and know how to use a doggie door. We do not have a doggy door, but we do let them out consistently and take them for walks, etc.

Our biggest problem is that we have had them for over 2 months now and they still have accidents in the house. We take them outside constantly and give them a small treat every time they potty outside. When they have an accident, we tell them "No" in a stern voice and put them outside.

Sometimes they will potty in the house 5 minutes after we've let them in from being outside!

They can usually go all night (11:30pm-7am) without an accident and they sleep in bed with us. Recently, they have started peeing on the carpet in the middle of the night. I know they know better and we don't know what to do anymore, as their potty training is getting worse. It's getting very frustrating and we don't want to have litter boxes or pee pads laying around.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions, thank you.

yorkieagility · 04-12-2005, 07:53 PM

I don't think you can call them potty trained. My advice to you is to treat them like they have never been potty trained(since they aren't) and start from the beginning.

Good luck!

lily's mom · 04-12-2005, 08:20 PM

Bless your heart for giving them a loving home! I am so glad there are people in the world willing to take in neglected and or abused animals. I agree that you should start over with potty training. They will get it eventually and you get the rewards of their affection.

AIM · 04-14-2005, 12:38 PM

I hope that people have some good advice for you because my husband and I have almost the exact same situation with Lucky! We adopted her from a Humane Society almost 2 months ago. She is two and we were told she was potty trained, but she still has accidents in the house. Essentially, we started over using similar methods to yours, and I am happy to report that she no longer pees in the house, but she does poop (and it's nowhere near the door), sometimes shortly after we take her out. In addition, I have become a bit sleep deprived because she also wakes up and needs to go out at least once during the middle of the night. She sleeps in a doggie bed next to ours at night and we keep our bedroom door shut. Interestingly, she wakes me up to let me know when she has to go out in the middle of the night, but she does not signal during the day. We are trying to train her to ring a bell that hangs from the door, but so far we haven't had much luck. Let me know if you find a method that really works or if you have any breakthroughs.

Just out of curiousity, do they have any other behavioral problems? We adore Lucky but she is very challenging to take care of.

jjz · 04-17-2005, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AIM

I hope that people have some good advice for you because my husband and I have almost the exact same situation with Lucky! We adopted her from a Humane Society almost 2 months ago. She is two and we were told she was potty trained, but she still has accidents in the house. Essentially, we started over using similar methods to yours, and I am happy to report that she no longer pees in the house, but she does poop (and it's nowhere near the door), sometimes shortly after we take her out. In addition, I have become a bit sleep deprived because she also wakes up and needs to go out at least once during the middle of the night. She sleeps in a doggie bed next to ours at night and we keep our bedroom door shut. Interestingly, she wakes me up to let me know when she has to go out in the middle of the night, but she does not signal during the day. We are trying to train her to ring a bell that hangs from the door, but so far we haven't had much luck. Let me know if you find a method that really works or if you have any breakthroughs.

Just out of curiousity, do they have any other behavioral problems? We adore Lucky but she is very challenging to take care of.

Hi, It sounds like our dogs may be from same litter! Ours do the exact same thing. We just started from scratch with the potty training all over again, and they are doing better now. We lift their water bowl around 9-10pm, and let them out a lot and also right before we go to bed at night (around midnight) We close them in our bedroom and they usually last until about 7am. Sometimes they get up and want to be let out around 4-5am and we just deal with it because we don't want any accidents or pee pads laying around the house. Isn't it interesting that they wake you up in the middle of the night to go potty, but during the day you have to read their minds? Ours are just like that. Snicker is afraid of everything, especially other dogs, so we are doing our best to socialize them. Sometimes they don't want to eat, so we put a little shredded cheese in their food. They have severe separation anxiety and start shaking whenever we have to leave. Hopefully they will get over that and realize that we are always coming back! Good luck with Lucky, feel free to write back if you have any other questions. Snicker and Doodle's mom.

Rem&Silkmom · 04-24-2005, 04:18 AM

same problem here...Silk is 1 1/2 years old and she will go when I take her out which is constantly however...she wears a diaper in the house because she would then come in the house and pee and poo everywhere. He breeder said that she was paper trained and went out a doggie door. I don't have a doggie door and I put pads down and she never used them. I have to crate her at night because she will get up in the middle of the night and poo and pee. Now she poos and pees in her crate. I think maybe she needs to be in a smaller crate?

AIM · 04-25-2005, 06:57 AM

Hi jjz,
The similarities between our dogs are very funny. I just wanted to let you know that we are making a lot of progress with Lucky so there IS hope. We went to my parents' new house this weekend and it turns out that Lucky might be signalling and we didn't even know it! My mom saw Lucky sitting by the back door in her house a few times when she needed to go out. She still doesn't bark or anything, but sitting by the door is progress. If she was doing that in our house, we probably wouldn't notice because the door is near her bed, food, and water, so we probably just assumed she was going over there for some other reason. It was more noticeable in my parents' house because it is huge and the door is offset from anything else in the house. In any event, all of a sudden, Lucky just stopped having accidents in our house. Even though she doesn't blatantly tell us when she has to go out, it is like she holds it and trusts us to take her out frequently enough. Of course, our progress might be partially due to the nicer weather. We live in Wisconsin, enough said. I'm hoping she doesn't regress again when winter comes!

04-12-2005, 07:22 PM	#1
jjz Yorkie Talk Newbie! Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2	Help! Potty training 3 yr. old rescued Yorkies My husband and I rescued 2 female Yorkies Feb 1st. They were not abused, but they were neglected by the previous owners. Snicker and Doodle are sweet as can be and 3 yrs. Old. We were told they are potty trained and know how to use a doggie door. We do not have a doggy door, but we do let them out consistently and take them for walks, etc. Our biggest problem is that we have had them for over 2 months now and they still have accidents in the house. We take them outside constantly and give them a small treat every time they potty outside. When they have an accident, we tell them "No" in a stern voice and put them outside. Sometimes they will potty in the house 5 minutes after we've let them in from being outside! They can usually go all night (11:30pm-7am) without an accident and they sleep in bed with us. Recently, they have started peeing on the carpet in the middle of the night. I know they know better and we don't know what to do anymore, as their potty training is getting worse. It's getting very frustrating and we don't want to have litter boxes or pee pads laying around. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, thank you.

04-14-2005, 12:38 PM	#4
AIM Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 95	I hope that people have some good advice for you because my husband and I have almost the exact same situation with Lucky! We adopted her from a Humane Society almost 2 months ago. She is two and we were told she was potty trained, but she still has accidents in the house. Essentially, we started over using similar methods to yours, and I am happy to report that she no longer pees in the house, but she does poop (and it's nowhere near the door), sometimes shortly after we take her out. In addition, I have become a bit sleep deprived because she also wakes up and needs to go out at least once during the middle of the night. She sleeps in a doggie bed next to ours at night and we keep our bedroom door shut. Interestingly, she wakes me up to let me know when she has to go out in the middle of the night, but she does not signal during the day. We are trying to train her to ring a bell that hangs from the door, but so far we haven't had much luck. Let me know if you find a method that really works or if you have any breakthroughs. Just out of curiousity, do they have any other behavioral problems? We adore Lucky but she is very challenging to take care of. Last edited by AIM; 04-14-2005 at 12:41 PM.

04-25-2005, 06:57 AM	#7
AIM Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 95	making progress Hi jjz, The similarities between our dogs are very funny. I just wanted to let you know that we are making a lot of progress with Lucky so there IS hope. We went to my parents' new house this weekend and it turns out that Lucky might be signalling and we didn't even know it! My mom saw Lucky sitting by the back door in her house a few times when she needed to go out. She still doesn't bark or anything, but sitting by the door is progress. If she was doing that in our house, we probably wouldn't notice because the door is near her bed, food, and water, so we probably just assumed she was going over there for some other reason. It was more noticeable in my parents' house because it is huge and the door is offset from anything else in the house. In any event, all of a sudden, Lucky just stopped having accidents in our house. Even though she doesn't blatantly tell us when she has to go out, it is like she holds it and trusts us to take her out frequently enough. Of course, our progress might be partially due to the nicer weather. We live in Wisconsin, enough said. I'm hoping she doesn't regress again when winter comes!

04-12-2005, 07:53 PM	#2
yorkieagility YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: House Of York Posts: 1,055	I don't think you can call them potty trained. My advice to you is to treat them like they have never been potty trained(since they aren't) and start from the beginning. Good luck!

04-12-2005, 08:20 PM	#3
lily's mom Lily Loves Maximus Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Missouri Posts: 2,633	Bless your heart for giving them a loving home! I am so glad there are people in the world willing to take in neglected and or abused animals. I agree that you should start over with potty training. They will get it eventually and you get the rewards of their affection.

04-24-2005, 04:18 AM	#6
Rem&Silkmom YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Chesapeake, VA Posts: 833	same problem here...Silk is 1 1/2 years old and she will go when I take her out which is constantly however...she wears a diaper in the house because she would then come in the house and pee and poo everywhere. He breeder said that she was paper trained and went out a doggie door. I don't have a doggie door and I put pads down and she never used them. I have to crate her at night because she will get up in the middle of the night and poo and pee. Now she poos and pees in her crate. I think maybe she needs to be in a smaller crate?