My Yorkie does both. My dog goes potty on the washable pads in my closet, and he goes potty in my backyard. It took me longer to potty train Josh, because I taught him to do both. I wanted to make sure he could go potty at inconvenient times like during the night, bad weather, and when I am not home. I taught my dog to do both by going through a systematic process. I taught my Yorkie to use the washable pads first. Ten minutes after my dog ate, I put him on his washable pad and said go potty. After he goes potty, I gave him a treat or praised him. Once he learned how to use the washable pads independently, I started teaching him to go potty in the backyard. Ten minutes after he ate or played, I took him outside to go potty until he started going to the door to tell me he needed to go potty. I taught him when to use the washable pads or backyard to go potty by where he was located in the house. I have a two-story house. I taught my Yorkie to potty outside when he was downstairs, and I taught him to go potty on the washable pads when he was upstairs. I watched him closely. If he ran upstairs to go potty, I then took him downstairs to go potty in the backyard. He automatically used the pads if he was upstairs. He learned quickly when to use the washable pads or backyard to go potty. I am glad that I taught him to do both, because if I am not able to take him outside to go potty due to bad weather or busy then he used the washable pads instead. Teaching my Yorkie to do both made living with my dog easier for me. |