[AngelFae]

Originally Posted by kjc

Just want to add: If you're trying to build confidence in a dog or working with an abused rescue, sometimes reprimanding them is too much for them and the behavior could get worse. In that case, I would suggest walking the dog outside until he/she poops or keep the dog in it's padded area til the deed is done and praise and reward.

When I first got Sapphire as a 2 year old, she would pee close to the pad, or sometimes on it, but was clueless. If I interupted her, she would do the cutest ever head tilt with the 'Oh yes Mommie, you want me?' look that just destroyed me every time. There was no way I could say 'no' and be stern to that innocent, clueless face. Plus she was quick, I never caught her in the act on the pad to reward her.

So I tried teaching her the phrase 'Go potty' first, and I happened to catch her 'going' on the rug, so I started there.... real quick I said 'Go Potty' and gave her a treat. This actually got her out of hiding so she was no longer fearful of 'doing the deed' in front of me, and then I was able to catch her 'going' on the pad. I raised the praise up about 10 notches and gave her a treat for hitting the pad, and after 2-3 times I saw the 'lightbulb' go on in her head, and I knew she understood what is was that I wanted her to do.

Some Yorkies are so smart when you tell them 'No' to pottying, they think that 'pottying' anywhere is bad, so they continue to hide it. They may not understand that you mean 'No potty here'. And some like attention so much, they'll take 'bad' attention along with the good attention they get when they do something right. In those cases, it's important to just ignore their mispotties, clean it up and move on, and only 'praise' the good behaviors.

I totally agree with this! Basically, with training of any sort it comes down to YOU knowing your dog. You need to try a few things to find out what works for you with their personality. What works for some dogs won't work at all for others (same goes for owners, LOL!) That's what I love about this site- people aren't scared to share the different techniques that they use. There is no one "right" way to do things and if one thing doesn't work for you there are always more options to try. =)