lord have mercy on you! my puppy's not a yorkie, but she is a house training puppy.
i'm able to be with her all the time and house training is still a nightmare! it really is like watching an infant. i'm not doing crate training because my puppy is so clingy that she's right with me all the time - literally sitting on my feet or right behind my butt. i do put her in the crate if i'm doing laundry or taking a shower - anytime i can't watch her completely.
she STILL manages to pee in the house! she'll get up to do what i think is exploring or looking for her bone and low and behold - she squats! i have always caught her in the act and ran to her as fast as possible while saying, "outside, outside, outside!!" i then put her outside quickly even though it's usually too late. i also cleaned up her pee with toilet paper before and put the pee soaked toilet paper in the grass where i wanted her to pee. that's similar to what someone else said about getting the scent on the pads. it makes sense to me!
i've heard that no dog (regardless of age) should be in a crate for more than 8-9 hours. a pup's time is much less than that. i know it's hard if you work, but if there's any way at all you can have someone let her out - you should.
i had planned on having my pup sleep in a crate, but i changed my mind because i think it really was distressing to her. i think crate training is the most effective in general, but i adopted my puppy, and she was very clingy/timid/etc. i think she had been abandoned - anyhow, i let her sleep with me - figuring she wouldn't pee while lying in my arms (and if she got up to squat - i would feel her moving) at which time i would take her outside!
it's worked so far - her last meal/water is a few hours before bedtime. she has never gone during the night - and i think sleeping with me has made us bond. i figure the better the bond, the quicker the desire to please me. at least i'm hoping! |