I just talked to a trainer today at PetSmart. I was at the checkouts and overhead her talking to another lady about housebreaking her dog. I went over to get in on the conversation because I've had trouble with the younger Yorkie going potty in the dining room, sometimes right after I bring her in! She said that you should not react when they have an accident, just clean it up when they aren't around because if you react, they are getting attention. She said their bladders are not like ours and it takes them more times to pee before they are empty and should not be brought back inside until they have peed several times. She said they have 10 minutes to potty and if they don't, she puts them back in the crate and tries again every 1/2 an hour until they do. She also said not to let them run out in the yard freely to potty, but to put them on a leash and take them to one corner of the yard, which is their potty place. She also stated that she potties her little dogs before she takes them for a walk because she doesn't want them pottying around the neighborhood. I can see that her way of potty training would probably work, but it sure seems time consuming. I suppose once you have them trained, it wouldn't be. I ask her if Yorkies are harder to train and she said absolutely not!
I used to have a Lhasa that I taught to ring a bell when he wanted outside. I hung the bell on the door knob, low enough for him to hit it with his nose. If he hit it, he went outside whether he wanted to or not, to teach him that ringing the bell means going outside. I had a friend whose dog rang a bell and I thought it really clever. Wish I had done that with the Yorkies! Maybe I will try it with the new puppy. |