[daninmilwaukee]

Hello,

I'm an owner of a 19 month old yorkie. He is a really sweet, loving dog. His name is Mason.

Mason has never been able to grasp the concept of going to the bathroom outside. He goes outside in our lawn most of the time, but it seems like at least once or twice per week he goes to the bathroom inside the house. He doesn't really ever let us know he has to go out, I just take him out every hour or so when we're at home because he starts whining (he whines a lot and we are never fully sure what he is whining about).

During the day when we're gone, we leave him in our enclosed laundry room with his food, water and his open crate. He does not have free reign of the house. He has no issues holding it during the day and never has had an accident when in the laundry room or his play pen.

Do you guys think crate training for a few weeks would be helpful? Would this mean putting him in the crate itself, in the laundry room with free reign to the crate, or if we should move the crate to our common area when doing crate training?

My wife and I are very frustrated with the accidents. We are also very frustrated with the general lack of knowing what he is whining about all the time. He is extremely well taken care of (plenty of high quality blue buffalo food, fresh water daily, an hour or so of play time, plenty of cuddling, he is walked frequently in the summer but less now that it is cold - we play a lot of fetch inside instead).

Do you guys have any advice on how to get the dog to notify us that he has to go outside? We have been trying to get him to ring a bell for months, but he simply won't do it on his own. I always put his paw on the bell to ring it, then put the leash on him, then take him outside.

Thanks. Any information will be helpful. Mason is really frustrating us these days.