[yorkietalkjilly]

I got Tibbe at age 9 mos. & he was not neutered yet nor housebroken. I had him neutered 2 1/2 mos. later and he has never marked in my house but I crate-trained him for almost a year which does not mean he lived in the crate - far from it. He lived his life out in the house and on a pretty strict schedule so I could predict when he would need to relieve himself and was only crated when I was engaged in a project or doing something where I could not watch him closely or when I left the house. The rest of the time he was kept out of the crate but kept to a play/eat/nap/potty regular schedule and could look to certain activities & being taken out on time and came to rely on that schedule, learning to hold himself for the outing he knew was coming up after naps, food/water, playtime, crate time or grooming. After a year of this schedule-intensive training where he was crated only if I couldn't watch him to that he couldn't have an accident in the house and set a precedent, the crate was put away and he was free to roam at will at all times. By that time, he'd really learned how to hold it well, preferred to go outside & mark out there where other dogs could smell his scent, which is more natural to dogs, did unbelievably well, becoming totally clean in the house by the time he was 22 - 24 mos. old. He will be 5 years old in August and has never marked and his only "accidents" in the house were when I was gone over 12 hours under circumstances beyond my control. So if you keep them to a good, reliable schedule & don't trust them to roam too soon, together with a good, long, solid basic training program, they will reward you with staying clean in the house.