Hi Reese's Mommy! Thank-your for responding to my post too!
I am sorry that you and little Reese had to deal with him being sick. I have been pretty fortunate so far[knock on wood], Tinkie has been very healthy. Thank-goodness too, cause it would cause me much cognitive dissonance if anything happened to her!
About the potty training: Tinkie used her potty pads right away (to pee), which is really strange, because then about a week being at home with us, she decided it would be more fun to eat them! ack! I don't know if this is true or not...but I get a sense that Yorkies are more intellegent than a lot of dogs. This is my first yorkie, but I have had other dogs, and Tinkie is so dang smart she sometimes stuns me! For instance: it took ONE time to get her to understand the potty pad was for peeing! What I did was when she pee'd on the floor and wiped the pad with the pee then took her over to the pad and had her take a quick sniff and then I praised her. Everytime she started to sniff around, I picked her up and put her on the pad. And, today I started in the morning and with her ears...I didn't tape them...I just praised her for having them up and tonight when I started to say, "Tinkie I love your cute little ears...good girl" she raised them and tried to keep them up! I like her ears up because she is sooo much more expressive that way. She will cock her head to the side and lift one ear when she is wondering what I am doing or trying to understand me. The poo training has never worked. I even tried to put seperate pads in two different locations for her to pee on one and poo on the other, but she didn't do it. I am now wondering if poo'ing is more embarrassing for her in public view...kinda like a cat doesn't like to be watched when they use the litter box, because she always finds a remote area to poo. right now it isn't too difficult to clean up, they are small and on the wood floor which is easy to clean up with clorox wipes. But, when it is warmer outside then we are going to train her to go outside instead.
I wonder if Reese knows what the pad is used for? I wonder if the pee smell might not be strong enough to elicit the pee'ing response? Maybe you could try wiping it with his puddle on the floor and then gently say no and then carry him over to the pad and have him sniff the puddle on the pad and then really reward him a LOT for it!
For Tinkie, I think we have a power struggle going on big time. She realized within a week that I was at her beck and call and she took advantage of that. Sometimes she acts like a toodler who has a fit. For instance: she was trying to get my sock off tonight, and I told her NO and she barked at me then turned around and started tearing up my shoe, throwing it all over the place..like a temper tantrum. Anyway, our potty training has completely been stalled till we get into the training classes. First, we need to get her to behave then she will probably comply much more...crossing fingers!
Good luck with little Reese, I am sure he is just not smelling the odor from the pad. Do you use the pad in the crate? Does he use it? Or, does the pad cover all the space on the floor of the crate? If you do then maybe try folding it in half, so he can recognize that some of the space is not the right place to pee..this may carry over to the potty pad outside of the kennel.
Thanks again for your post and it is a delight to meet you!
Annie |