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Originally Posted by RebeccaMoore923  Alright, so I've come to know that Yorkies are VERY hard to potty train.. I have a 4 month old Yorkie named Riley.. and we're having such a hard time.. We're pad training him, b/c weather here is so unstable, that its our starting process... Anyways.. He goes on the pad in his "caged area" but when we have him out and about..he SOMETIMES goes on the pad, and the other times he just goes.. More so in the kitchen.. and he poos more often in one specific spot. We get really excited and praise him when does go on the pad, and when he doesn't we show him, say bad and take him to the pad.. I could be going about this ALL wrong..So this is why I come to you, fellow Yorkie owners, who TRULY know the experience I'm having.. Does anyone have any kind of advice that might help me at all..whatsoever.. because somedays I'm at wit end and I just dont know what to do!  |
Welcome! Here are a couple pointers to get you started:
- Generally, you can determine the # of hours your yorkie puppy can hold it by taking the # of months in his age and adding 1. So a four month puppy should be able to hold it for five hours in general.
- Clean up all accidents with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle, particularly if he is choosing one spot over and over again.
- Amazingly enough, dogs don't seem to connect their bathroom actions with what actually results on the floor. This means that they may know you'll get upset if there's poop on the floor, but they usually don't connect that to the fact that the poop comes out of them. What this means is that if you don't catch them in the act, they won't know why you're upset later. If you find an accident after the fact, consider it a lesson learned.
- If you find accidents, that means that you need to watch your pup more closely, or confine him more. I found that I needed about ten days where I really did nothing but watch Thor. Even when I kept "an" eye on him, rather than both eyes on him, he's so small and fast, I'd STILL find accidents! You can make this easier on yourself by getting him a lot of exercise during this period so that he sleeps most of the time.
- A lot of pups have trouble determining the difference between rugs and potty pads. I use Nature's Miracle pads because they are supposed to smell different. You can help this along by blotting a fresh pad with his pee and/or poop I can't tell myself, but I think Thor can. You'll want to make sure your pup eventually figures out the difference. Otherwise, he will decide it's by location, and he will potty there even if you move the pad. Someone posted a while back about how the sun would come in through her window at a certain time of day and make a white, squarish shape on the floor. You guessed it, her puppy thought this was a pad and would proudly potty there.
- A regular schedule helps. Before you go to bed, put him on the pad and tell him "potty". Do the same thing when he wakes up, and every few hours during the day. Expect him to poop within an hour after a meal. Dogs also need to pee when they play.
Best of luck to you! Let us know how it goes.
