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mistyinca · 07-05-2007, 11:14 AM

Getting through the nights

When we brought Chloe home, she cried in the crate for the first three nights. The key is to NOT go to them or you will teach them that their cries get them out. After the third night, she has been quiet all night since.

When yorkies are young, they physically cannot hold their bladders for very young. The rule of thumb is # of months + 2; so for example, a 2 month old yorkie can hold it at most 4 hours (this is at night only). Your goal is to get them to hold it for as long as they physically can at their age, but don't push it too far. Set your puppy up for success.

Take away food and water after 7pm in the evenings to make it easier. So for nighttime, we set up our crate like this (see picture below). The crate is in an x-pen with a pad for potty. Place a used pee pad in there, so they know that is where they are supposed to go. The first week, I kept the crate door closed, and I got up after 4 hours to let her out and put her on the pad. Make sure to make the night-time potty break business only. (Don’t use it as a time for sitting on the couch and cuddling because that will encourage her to cry in the night to be let out. Take care of potty, give her a quick praise, kiss, and back in the crate.) After that, we left the crate door opened in the night, so she could go out on her own to potty. This was also the method we used when we would leave the house for more than 2 hours.

After 4 months of age, I found that most nights, her pad was clean in the morning, and she had been holding it all night anyway. So I decided to shut the crate door one night and see if she could make it through the night without an accident. Well, that first night, she did have an accident. Make sure to always clean out their crate and bedding if ever there is an accident. You want them to like having a clean den (which dogs do by nature anyway) and don't want them getting used to sleeping in it.

So that first night with the door closed, she had an accident. We cleaned it up, decided she was not ready, and waited a whole week before trying it again. When we did try it again the following week, she made it through the night. Since then, she has slept in the crate, accident free.

The next post, I’ll talk about potty training during the day…

...to be continued...

07-05-2007, 11:14 AM	#17
mistyinca No Longer a Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: USA Posts: 4,143 Blog Entries: 2	*Getting through the nights* When we brought Chloe home, she cried in the crate for the first three nights. The key is to NOT go to them or you will teach them that their cries get them out. After the third night, she has been quiet all night since. When yorkies are young, they physically cannot hold their bladders for very young. The rule of thumb is # of months + 2; so for example, a 2 month old yorkie can hold it at most 4 hours (this is at night only). Your goal is to get them to hold it for as long as they physically can at their age, but don't push it too far. Set your puppy up for success. Take away food and water after 7pm in the evenings to make it easier. So for nighttime, we set up our crate like this (see picture below). The crate is in an x-pen with a pad for potty. Place a used pee pad in there, so they know that is where they are supposed to go. The first week, I kept the crate door closed, and I got up after 4 hours to let her out and put her on the pad. Make sure to make the night-time potty break business only. (Don’t use it as a time for sitting on the couch and cuddling because that will encourage her to cry in the night to be let out. Take care of potty, give her a quick praise, kiss, and back in the crate.) After that, we left the crate door opened in the night, so she could go out on her own to potty. This was also the method we used when we would leave the house for more than 2 hours. After 4 months of age, I found that most nights, her pad was clean in the morning, and she had been holding it all night anyway. So I decided to shut the crate door one night and see if she could make it through the night without an accident. Well, that first night, she did have an accident. Make sure to always clean out their crate and bedding if ever there is an accident. You want them to like having a clean den (which dogs do by nature anyway) and don't want them getting used to sleeping in it. So that first night with the door closed, she had an accident. We cleaned it up, decided she was not ready, and waited a whole week before trying it again. When we did try it again the following week, she made it through the night. Since then, she has slept in the crate, accident free. The next post, I’ll talk about potty training during the day… ...to be continued...