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countrylady · 03-10-2010, 06:07 AM

Hi guys. I am a new member as well as a new yorkie mom. My husband and I just adopted our first yorkie, 5 yr. old Sasha from a breeder 2 months ago. She was NOT housebroken. She had evidently been allowed to go on 'paper', but I suspect elsewhere as well. Before this, I have had 2 miniature schnauzers from pups, and had trained them both. It took about 2 months in each case, and once they were trained, they NEVER had accidents. I have NEVER used pee pads, or a crate, and we are not using either with Sasha. We started immediately training her to go ONLY outside, and our philosophy is that OUR HOME IS OUR CRATE, and she must respect the house as off-limits for peeing and pooping, period. Sasha has been doing remarkably well thanks to the vigilance of both my hubby and myself, but then rarely, just when we THINK she's 'got it', she will poop on the hearth or something. So far we have not left her alone for more than a couple hours. She has been fine, but we fear coming home to a mess when we leave for longer---and we MUST on occasion, soon. Two days ago SHE PEED ON OUR SOFA! This was completely unexpected and had never ever happened before. We were stunned! My husband showed her and said "NO!" firmly, and took her out while I blotted and then scrubbed with cider vinegar and water. The sofa is fine, but we have NEVER had an experience with any dog doing this. We are now a bit discouraged. We are wondering if we can EVER go and leave her here with our other elderly dog, who has always been completely trust worthy! Theoretically, it MUST be possible to train them and trust them to hold it, and let you know when they have to go. We just are NOT willing to resort to a crate because we believe she MUST be trainable with persistence and patience. I am just venting now from exhaustion and frustration. We do have a pretty regular schedule, and she had even begun to go to the back door on occasion, and we drop everything and take her out. She gets regular walks, which she dearly loves (and so do we!). She really does so well 98% of the time, but soon we must leave her for the better part of a day, only once in awhile, and MUST be able to get HER to 'GET IT' and restrain herself. We can't help feeling irritation at the breeder who never bothered to train her or took her out as a puppy, and yet we have read that EVERY DOG IS TRAINABLE, EVEN AN ADULT. Maybe we are too frustrated at 2 months of training. I guess we just have to keep plugging away every day, and hope that by mid-April, she may be 100%!!!

03-10-2010, 06:07 AM	#50
countrylady YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 9	potty training yorkie Hi guys. I am a new member as well as a new yorkie mom. My husband and I just adopted our first yorkie, 5 yr. old Sasha from a breeder 2 months ago. She was NOT housebroken. She had evidently been allowed to go on 'paper', but I suspect elsewhere as well. Before this, I have had 2 miniature schnauzers from pups, and had trained them both. It took about 2 months in each case, and once they were trained, they NEVER had accidents. I have NEVER used pee pads, or a crate, and we are not using either with Sasha. We started immediately training her to go ONLY outside, and our philosophy is that OUR HOME IS OUR CRATE, and she must respect the house as off-limits for peeing and pooping, period. Sasha has been doing remarkably well thanks to the vigilance of both my hubby and myself, but then rarely, just when we THINK she's 'got it', she will poop on the hearth or something. So far we have not left her alone for more than a couple hours. She has been fine, but we fear coming home to a mess when we leave for longer---and we MUST on occasion, soon. Two days ago SHE PEED ON OUR SOFA! This was completely unexpected and had never ever happened before. We were stunned! My husband showed her and said "NO!" firmly, and took her out while I blotted and then scrubbed with cider vinegar and water. The sofa is fine, but we have NEVER had an experience with any dog doing this. We are now a bit discouraged. We are wondering if we can EVER go and leave her here with our other elderly dog, who has always been completely trust worthy! Theoretically, it MUST be possible to train them and trust them to hold it, and let you know when they have to go. We just are NOT willing to resort to a crate because we believe she MUST be trainable with persistence and patience. I am just venting now from exhaustion and frustration. We do have a pretty regular schedule, and she had even begun to go to the back door on occasion, and we drop everything and take her out. She gets regular walks, which she dearly loves (and so do we!). She really does so well 98% of the time, but soon we must leave her for the better part of a day, only once in awhile, and MUST be able to get HER to 'GET IT' and restrain herself. We can't help feeling irritation at the breeder who never bothered to train her or took her out as a puppy, and yet we have read that EVERY DOG IS TRAINABLE, EVEN AN ADULT. Maybe we are too frustrated at 2 months of training. I guess we just have to keep plugging away every day, and hope that by mid-April, she may be 100%!!!