Feeding Schedules
Most puppies will eliminate within an hour after eating. Once you take control of your Yorkie’s feeding schedule, you will have some control over when he needs to eliminate.
•Schedule your Yorkie’s meal times so that you will be available to let him out after eating.
•Avoid giving your puppy a large meal just prior to confining him or he may have to eliminate when you are not around to take him out.
•Have food available for only 30 to 40 minutes, then remove it. (this is recommended, but may not be possible depending on your daily schedule. Puppies cannot go without food from morning until you come in from work. Please schedule accordingly.
•The last feeding of the day should be completed several hours before he is confined for the night.
Expect Some Mistakes
Left on his own, the untrained puppy is very likely to make a mistake. Close supervision is a very important part of training. Do not consider your puppy housetrained until he has gone at least four consecutive weeks without eliminating in the house. For older dogs, this period should be even longer. Until then:
•Your puppy should constantly be within eyesight
•Baby gates can be helpful to control movement throughout the house and to aid supervision
•Keep them in the crate when unsupervised.
When you are away from home, sleeping, or if you are just too busy to closely monitor your pet's activities (which are all ok, so don’t feel guilty), confine him to a small, safe area in the home.
Nervous Wetting
If your Yorkie squats and urinates when he greets you, he may have a problem called submissive urination. Dogs and puppies that urinate during greetings are very sensitive and should never be scolded when they do this, since punishment inevitably makes the problem worse.
Most young puppies will grow out of this behavior if you are calm, quiet, and avoid reaching toward the head during greetings. Another helpful approach is to calmly ask your dog to sit for a very tasty treat each time someone greets him.
Direct Him Away from Problem Areas
Urine and fecal odor should be thoroughly removed to keep your dog from returning to areas of the home where he made a mess.
•Be sure to use a good commercial product like Nature’s miracle available at pet’s mart or online to control doggy odors and to discourage “those favorite spots” they tend to find under your bed. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for usage.
•If a carpeted area has been soaked with urine, be sure to saturate it with the clean up product and not merely spray the surface.
•Rooms in the home where your dog has had frequent mistakes should be closed off for several months. He should only be allowed to enter when accompanied by a family member.
Don't Make Things Worse
It is a rare dog or puppy that can be housetrained without making an occasional mess, so you need to be ready to handle the inevitable problems.
•Do not rely on harsh punishment to correct mistakes. This approach usually does not work, and may actually delay training.
•An appropriate correction consists of simply providing a moderate, startling distraction. You should only do this when you see your dog in the act of eliminating in the wrong place.
•A sharp noise, such as a loud "No" or a quick stomp on the floor, is all that is usually needed to stop the behavior. Just do not be too loud or your pet may learn to avoid eliminating in front of you, even outdoors.
Practice Patience
Do not continue to scold or correct your dog after he has stopped soiling. When he stops, quickly take him outdoors so that he will finish in the appropriate area and be praised. Never rub your dog's nose in a mess. I’m saying this again incase you missed the first time. There is absolutely no way this will help training, and may actually make him afraid of you. This is one of the most important parts of our questioning process for new buyers. We don’t always come out and ask straight away, but we do get a read sense of buyers throughout the process. Ill treatment happens the very most with regard to accidents. If you can’t handle them, puppies and kids are not for you. I’m not trying to be astute with this comment; however, I really have a problem with people blaming their pets or kids for poor potty training. It is all about your routine and consistency.
The basic principles of housetraining are pretty simple, but a fair amount of patience is required. The most challenging part is always keeping an eye on your active dog or puppy. If you maintain control, take your dog outdoors frequently, and consistently praise the desirable behavior, soon you should have a house trained Yorkies.
Crate training:
Training a puppy to be comfortable in a crate is a popular way to provide safe confinement during housetraining. The majority of puppies will rapidly accept crate confinement when you make the introduction fun. Since it is important to associate favorable things with the area where your puppy is confined, it is a good idea to play with him there, or simply spend some time reading or watching television nearby as he relaxes with a favorite chew toy. If he is only in the area when you leave, it becomes a social isolation area that he eventually may resist entering. Our dogs love their crates. When the kids are getting on their nerves, they head straight to their crate to relax. We rarely have to close a crate door for confinement.
Store his toys in his crate so he will enter on his own to play. You may even want to occasionally hide a treat in the crate as a nice surprise. Our crates are never associated with “punishment.” Without exception, our dogs and puppies can be sent to their crates with the door remaining open when told to “go to your room.” They know immediately that the behavior exhibited is inappropriate and must have a “time out” period. After a few minutes, we call them out and give them positive reinforcement. Sometimes they “peek” out to see if they are still in trouble.
You should not use the crate for periods that exceed the length of time the pet can actually control the urge to urinate or defecate. If you are gone for long periods each day, you will need to provide a larger confinement area. You may want to consider using an exercise pen or small room. We use exercise pens from
Wire Dog Crate, Exercise Pens, Rawhide Bones, Chicken Dog Treats, Jerky, Pig Ears & Pee Training Pads. We use the 36” black with walk through gate
Taking Care of Your Yorkie’s Health Finding a Veterinarian
Just like you, your new puppy needs high-quality health care on a regular basis. If you are local, we generally suggest you use our vet since he is familiar with your specific puppy. If you are not, ask a number of friends and your local humane society to recommend a veterinarian, then choose one with these factors in mind:
• Education and experience. Find out how long the veterinarian has been practicing and if he or she is a graduate of a well-regarded veterinary college.
• Specialty. In urban areas, it may be possible to find veterinarians who deal exclusively with the special problems of dogs and cats.
• Location. This factor should not override the areas of education, experience and specialty, but should nevertheless be taken into consideration. A drive across town during a medical emergency can be frustrating and delay needed treatment.
Spaying and Neutering
Spaying or neutering your new puppy is the right thing to do if you're not planning on breeding. For most pet owners, the expense, time and expertise involved in breeding dogs responsibly is beyond their reach. Here are some advantages to having your puppy spayed or neutered:
• For females, there is no mess to deal with during their 21-day heat cycles, which occur every six months—the heat cycle begins in females sometime after six months of age.
• Spaying a female before her first heat cycle will reduce the chance of mammary tumors or uterine diseases.
• Neutered males tend to be less aggressive than unneutered males.
• With a neutered male, the urge to mark territory may lessen.
• A neutered male is less likely to want to roam in search of potential mates.
When to spay or neuter
Dogs should be spayed or neutered by the time they are six months old. Both operations are performed under anesthesia and may require an overnight stay at the veterinarian's office. Recovery time is quick, with most dogs resuming normal activity in a few days. Spaying (for females) consists of an ovario-hysterectomy. Neutering involves the removal of the testicles.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR YORKIE’S WORLD
Puppies usually pass time or break the boredom by using their mouths, which may result in destructive behavior. Household destruction occurs because puppies are simply entertaining themselves. Sometimes we unwittingly contribute to a puppy's problem by improper training. Puppies are unable to determine the difference between old shoes and new shoes, or between stuffed toys and the corner of a stuffed couch. Likewise, tug-of-war games can set the puppy up to fail. A puppy or dog entertained by tearing a towel is tempted to attack curtains fluttering in a breeze.
• Choose a variety of good quality, safe products. When your puppy shows you what he likes, buy several more of the same type.
• Hollow rubber toys work well since biscuits can be wedged inside for your puppy to pry out. This gives him a job to do and helps keep his focus away from your possessions.
• Another way of keeping your puppy focused on putting his mouth on the toys is to teach him to play fetch.
• Never take proper chewing for granted. Take an active roll in rewarding desirable chewing with lots of encouragement and praise.
• Give your pet plenty of praise every time he chews on his toys. Occasionally give a small reward to strongly reinforce the behavior.