YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post

Psychoyorkie · 10-20-2010, 06:31 AM

Hello, I'm new to this forum so please forgive me for taking so long.
I have two yorkies. Brother, "Teddy", and sister, "Baby". The male is neutered. I got them at 4-1/2 months old. Unfortunately at the time I didn't know what their house rules were. They were being raised with their mother and father but also two or three other large breed dogs. So I thought it was great that they got along well with other dogs. My problem is housebreaking! I know it's a common problem because they are small dogs, but my problem is that they have too much room in my house and I can't confine them. Baby taught Teddy how to climb! So gates are worthless. In the very beginning, we kept them in our master bath at night and if we went somewhere and the door has grooves in it from "baby" trying to get out and the finish nearly off of the door handle from her jumping at it. This all because the crate doesn't work so well. Even at night with the cage right next to me, Baby gets hysterical! Then her energy goes to Teddy and he misbehaves. If we need to go somewhere for long periods or I know the timing I bad and they are likely to have an "accident", we will put them in the large cage and it's no different.
They are 2-1/2 years old now. These dogs have really screwed with my theory on dogs! In my experience with dogs in general, females have always trained faster and listened better in general. Not these two! Teddy, being around ten pounds, has always done pretty good. He tries to let us know when he needs to go and holds it well. Baby on the other hand, being only five pounds, has gotten better through monitoring their meal timing, but still would rather find an inconspicuous spot to go. The thing is though, from the beginning I tried newspaper, piddle pads, littler pan w/ dog litter. I tried all these things, and they won't use them. Even with the urine spray and wiping their doo-doo or pee on it.
Sooooooo, to top it off, my daughter brings home a "Pom-Bichon" which was given to my 6month old grandson for christmas! Yeah! She was a year old on Oct. 4. She on the other hand is excellent with her crate! Regardless of the time of day. She was a handful to housebreak, but all in all, she's done well. And now at least if she does have an accident, she does so near the door! I was hoping her behavior might help the yorkies, but that hasn't happened. So I have a complete wrap-around porch, we decided to gate it and had to put chicken wire so they can't get between the pickets, (the pom taught the yorkies how easy it is to get through and jump. Before that they wouldnt have even considered it!) and they have the run of the porch! Problem now, they
still don't wait, they just go around front and go on the porch!! Although this is
still much better than going on my hardwood floors, now they are ruining my
porch! Winter being so close, that part of my porch faces north and get all the snow and I'm going to have a muddy poopy mess if I don't figure something out. I watch my grandson and it isn't always feasible for me to take them out when they might have to go. I've thought of the grass potties, but I've wasted so much money trying things and right now I'm in no financial shape to experiment if there's not a good chance of it working.
Any suggestions! My house and yard aren't laid out for convenience of a fence or kennel either. And they cannot be left out on their own.
The other thing is the barking. I know why dogs bark, but once Baby starts, there seems to be no shutting them off!

10-20-2010, 06:31 AM	#1
Psychoyorkie YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Pa. Posts: 6	Help! Hello, I'm new to this forum so please forgive me for taking so long. I have two yorkies. Brother, "Teddy", and sister, "Baby". The male is neutered. I got them at 4-1/2 months old. Unfortunately at the time I didn't know what their house rules were. They were being raised with their mother and father but also two or three other large breed dogs. So I thought it was great that they got along well with other dogs. My problem is housebreaking! I know it's a common problem because they are small dogs, but my problem is that they have too much room in my house and I can't confine them. Baby taught Teddy how to climb! So gates are worthless. In the very beginning, we kept them in our master bath at night and if we went somewhere and the door has grooves in it from "baby" trying to get out and the finish nearly off of the door handle from her jumping at it. This all because the crate doesn't work so well. Even at night with the cage right next to me, Baby gets hysterical! Then her energy goes to Teddy and he misbehaves. If we need to go somewhere for long periods or I know the timing I bad and they are likely to have an "accident", we will put them in the large cage and it's no different. They are 2-1/2 years old now. These dogs have really screwed with my theory on dogs! In my experience with dogs in general, females have always trained faster and listened better in general. Not these two! Teddy, being around ten pounds, has always done pretty good. He tries to let us know when he needs to go and holds it well. Baby on the other hand, being only five pounds, has gotten better through monitoring their meal timing, but still would rather find an inconspicuous spot to go. The thing is though, from the beginning I tried newspaper, piddle pads, littler pan w/ dog litter. I tried all these things, and they won't use them. Even with the urine spray and wiping their doo-doo or pee on it. Sooooooo, to top it off, my daughter brings home a "Pom-Bichon" which was given to my 6month old grandson for christmas! Yeah! She was a year old on Oct. 4. She on the other hand is excellent with her crate! Regardless of the time of day. She was a handful to housebreak, but all in all, she's done well. And now at least if she does have an accident, she does so near the door! I was hoping her behavior might help the yorkies, but that hasn't happened. So I have a complete wrap-around porch, we decided to gate it and had to put chicken wire so they can't get between the pickets, (the pom taught the yorkies how easy it is to get through and jump. Before that they wouldnt have even considered it!) and they have the run of the porch! Problem now, they still don't wait, they just go around front and go on the porch!! Although this is still much better than going on my hardwood floors, now they are ruining my porch! Winter being so close, that part of my porch faces north and get all the snow and I'm going to have a muddy poopy mess if I don't figure something out. I watch my grandson and it isn't always feasible for me to take them out when they might have to go. I've thought of the grass potties, but I've wasted so much money trying things and right now I'm in no financial shape to experiment if there's not a good chance of it working. Any suggestions! My house and yard aren't laid out for convenience of a fence or kennel either. And they cannot be left out on their own. The other thing is the barking. I know why dogs bark, but once Baby starts, there seems to be no shutting them off!