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Old 10-26-2007, 09:01 AM   #13
Tammyh
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Washington
Posts: 399
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Quote:
Originally Posted by momof4CA View Post


Potty training takes lots of time and patience.

You should expect to have accidents in the first few weeks. My little guy, Leo is 17 weeks and anytime he has an accident it is usually my fault...I missed his potty signal.

Leo is pad trained so somethings will be a little different for you.

Here are a few ideas to try:

**The first thing you have to do is make sure his crate is only big enough to lie down and turn around in. You can use boxes to fill up the extra space.

**I control all his food. I feed Leo every 4 hours during the day. I never let him have food and water in his crate. I believe the crate is only for sleeping and quiet time. *If you give them food and water in their crate they can't get out to go potty.

** keep a journal at first. So you can see patterns in his behavior.

** You have to learn his "potty" sign. For most it is sniffing around or running around in a circle... like they can't find something. I sat and watched my dog for the first few days so I could "watch" for his signal. Once you see it, you do not have a lot of time to respond. Their bodies are so small they can not hold it for to long. When they have to go...they mean right this minute.

** If you are going to allow him out in to house. Gate off a small area...for me it was the family room. I did not allow my dog any more space until we had a few days of no accidents. Then I added another room...the kitchen.

**Never leave your dog alone to have accidents. They have to be with you at all times or in their crate. For the first two months that we had Leo he was never left alone. Where ever we went, Leo did too. If he couldn't go, someone stayed behind.

** Do not put pressure on yourself!! You have to figure he will get it with time. He is a baby! You would not expect an infant to be potty trained!! Go into it with a relaxed attitude. Most yorkie's take a year to potty train. If family won't watch the dog until it is potty trained...find someone else. That is to much pressure.

** He will have to go potty in the morning. After play...watch for the potty signal. A few minutes after eating or drinking. After any naps, as soon as his eyes open and he startes to stir, take him out.

** Getting potty training down is a full time job, in the very beginning. But, so worth it! The more time you put in now the better. I would rather put all my energy into it now then to have a life time of troubles.

I hope this helps!
Wow, excellent advice! I crate trained Bella and she's 8 months old now and hasn't had an accident for at least a month or two. We don't use pee pads, she only goes outside. We got her at 3 months & it did take until about 6 months to get her trained to the point that she goes to the door and tells us when she has to go. I agree with everything Cindy says and watch him like a hawk when he's out of the crate. Bella never messed in her crate so I didn't have to deal with that, hopefully making the space smaller and or time will resolve that problem. Remember, patience, patience and then more patience. You'll get there. Good luck!
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