[SIZE=1] Here is what helped me with my frustration. This is from the Mistiblue website.Successful housebreaking training takes patience and careful anticipation of your Yorkies needs. A crate serves multiple purposes and by far is the easiest way to housebreak your new Yorkie. Dogs are den animals and are happy to go to their crate when they want some alone time.
Dogs are naturally inhibited from eliminating when confined to a limited area, which is why most owners choose to crate train their dogs.
The crate should contain a bed. Use something soft like a large towel or a fleece bed. The crate should be large enough for your Yorkie to turn around. Do not feed or water your Yorkie in the crate. The crate is for short term stays like a trip in the car, while you go out to dinner or to the store, when you do not have time to monitor your little Yorkie. It is not meant for long term stays like when you are at work.
You must think of the crate as you would a playpen for a child when you can not directly supervise them. The crate will keep your Yorkie from hurting itself or being destructive towards your furniture. You will know that once your Yorkie is in the crate that he or she is safe and out of trouble. Keep in mind that the crate is not a punishment device like sending a child to his room; dogs do not understand this punishment. The crate gives you a reason to come home and praise your Yorkie for being good instead of yelling at the Yorkie for the mess they made while you were gone.
Responding "after" your Yorkie has had an accident makes for a bad housebreaking experience for you and your Yorkie, it also makes your Yorkie fear you. Your dog will not understand what they are be punished for. Remember they do not speak your language. I would never hit or punish a dog to housebreak it. Your Yorkie will respond to you better if it has a wagging tail then when its tail is between its legs. Your Yorkie learns faster if it is having fun (which you can identify by its wagging tail). Your Yorkshire Terrier will not respond "at all" if all you do is yell at her/him. I am a firm believer in the positive training methods because I can achieve results faster with them.
Is there a sure way of house breaking a Yorkie? Yes, by being consistent. Pay attention to what your Yorkie is doing. If you do not have time to watch your Yorkie then crate him/her. Before crating make sure your Yorkie goes out side and remember when you remove your Yorkie from the crate to also take her/him outside first.
How long does it take to housebreak a Yorkie? How long can you be consistent? Each dog and its trainer is different. If you are training your Yorkie to go outside to potty the more accidents you have inside the longer it will take to to housebreak your Yorkie.
DO NOT give your new Yorkie run of the house until it is house broken. You will not be able to watch and react to what your dog is doing.
How often does my Yorkie need to go out?
As soon as he/she wakes up in the morning.
As soon as he/she wakes up from a nap.
Right after eating.
After every time you play with them indoors.
After you wash and dry them.
Just before you put them to bed for the night.
Before you put them into the crate.
After you remove them from the crate.
Every couple hours in between activities.
I have read many different ways to housebreak a dog. I think trying to find housebreaking utopia is the main problem in getting any dog housebroken.. Above all be consistent and your Yorkie will be housebroken in no time. The real secret to housebreaking any dog is to watch your dog all the time. If you can keep your dog from having accidents in the house your Yorkie will take less time to housebreak.
Where I live we get well over 100 of inches of snow a year and it can be quite cold. All my dogs are housebroken. They either use dog litter boxes that are lined with paper or they go outside, some do both. However I do not recommend this dual method (indoor/outdoor) unless you have a lot of experience housebreaking dogs. It can be confusing to the dog to know where and when it should go inside and outside. My point with this statement is that house breaking a dog is easy if you are consistent and you will have a sense on accomplishment when you are done.
Decide if your dog is going to go inside OR outside then stick to that plan..
Do not push their nose in the potty; it is natural for them to go potty. Your dog will not know why you are doing this. This action only makes your dog afraid to go potty and then you have two things to correct. Remember he/she does not understand or speak your language.
You need to begin potty training day one. The first thing you need to do when you get your Yorkie is to say hello and let it go potty. Pick a spot in your yard that you what your Yorkie to use as its potty area. Place your Yorkshire terrier in this area and tell it to "go potty" or some other word you would like to use (remember always use the same word be consistent). Keep repeating the word till your Yorkie goes potty, then praise the heck out of him or her. You can also give a special reward like a small bite of roast beef that they only get when they go potty. If you do not wait for your Yorkie to go potty he or she will go as soon as they get in the house, which is not your objective. Always, always praise your Yorkie for doing a good job so he or she will do it again on command when they hear the words "go potty". You will spend a lot of time in the first couple of days waiting and hoping for the big moment, just remember if he/she does not do it outside they will do it inside. The more accidents your puppy has inside the HARDER it will be to housebreak her/him.
If you see your dog going potty in the house, the key word here is "see" this is not the same as finding potty in your house and knowing that your dog is the only one who could have done it. If the latter is the case just clean it up and do nothing to the dog. If you catch your Yorkie in the act, move quickly pick your Yorkie up and take it to its potty place. Use the phrase "go potty" or select your own phrase. Once it finishes it's business praise your Yorkie. Praising your Yorkie is the most important part as your Yorkie wants to please you. Giving her/him a treat will speed up the process too.
Do not rush your Yorkie when potty training, it may be cold, rainy ,nasty, you had a bad day at work, you are tired, if you make this a bad experience for your Yorkie it will take considerably longer to house train. Remember your new friend does not speak the language but they can tell if you are happy with them or not base on how you speak and treat them.
In the beginning you "must" go out with your puppy (not matter what the weather) you must be there to praise them and to use the "go potty" phrase so they know what you expect. If you plan on taking your Yorkshire terrier with you on trips, having them trained to go on command is a benefit. [/SIZE] |