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Originally Posted by hairhome  Wow...you're amazing! Thank you for the details...I THRIVE on details, since I'm such a novice. My husband has been trying to get her to do her business outside. But true to what I've heard....it's hit or miss. He is SO happy when she makes a poop outside (she clearly gives signals for when she has to poop in particular) but she is FAMOUS for going outside and forgetting, or becoming distracted, and then coming back inside, and running to the pad to poop. It's almost as though she's saying, "whew, thanks for coming back inside....i've been wanting to poop and I needed to see my pad to poop!"
So.....for this breed....though it will get easier over time, and she'll be 100% trained one day....we need to understand that she'll always need to have the ability to go in the house...? Since we aren't home mid day, (unless we hire someone)...we have to realize that this kind of dog, must always have pads to go on? My husband had a large dog growing up, so he's been thinking that it'll be like his childhood dog....he walked his dog in the morning, the dog apparently held it all day until like 4:00pm and then he walked it when he got home. So I'm right in understanding that this is not realistic for a yorkie/shorkie? He was hoping to have our shorkie do all eliminating outside.....?
We do have someone come every day (a neighborhood teen who is GREAT with our shorkie) but she cannot come until 4:00 pm. I'm home by 6:00 pm. We leave in the morning at 7:30 pm |
I believe it's more the lifestyle than the breed that dictates the method of potty training. for me, I decided to peepad train (as opposed to outside) for three reasons:
1- I live in a condo building. Just wasn't realistic to run to the elevators, wait, get in, get out, find a spot away from the entrance, and let her go....EVERY couple of hours!
2- I work full time, and I was going to be away a few hours at a time. I wanted her to have a backup in case there was an emergency, and didn't want to confuse her as to where it's ok to go and where is not. Although now she gets walked every day and she does do her thing outside, but she knows that she has access to her pad whenever she wants.
3- Canadian winters!!!! It might be ok for bigger dogs, they might even enjoy being out in the cold and running in the snow, but NOT yorkies. At least not MY yorkie. She hates cold weather. And i'd be nervous to expose her to that kinda weather for long and too often in winter. We have indoor doggy parks here that I take her to during the winter months, at least couple times a week. Or I take her to the mall and underground pathways connecting the malls. That way she gets to walk and see the outside world without having to go out in the cold. But that's not something I could rely on for regular potty training.