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Originally Posted by ZoesMama  Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a good week. I have a quick question regarding potty training. I get Lola in a few weeks and right now I live in an apartment with my son and fiancé. My fiancé works nights so it's just my son and I at night. I've decided pee pads are our best bet right now because I really don't want to have to take Lola outside and drag my son with us aswell. It would be too much of a hassle watching a two year old while waiting on her to potty. Anyways, we are going to be moving into a house in December/January (thank goodness) with a fenced backyard. When we do, I really wanted to train her to potty outside. I'm not in any way against pee pads or trying to offend anyone, I just personally don't want pee pads laying around our new house. Is it possible to go from using pee pads to using the potty outdoors? I'm afraid she will be too comfortable being able to squat on a pad inside where it's warm and not want to go outside where it's chilly. With the house I will be able to stand at the back door and watch her while my son is still inside.
Thanks in advance!  |
When Lola turns 16 weeks (or when she is fully vaccinated), then you can transition her from the pad to outdoors. She should be pretty used to peeing on the pad by then. Then you can do the traditional take-out-every-couple-of-hours method, where you take her out every couple of hours and place her in a designated potty place to do his business. If you would like to, you can attach a bell to the door and ring it whenever you take her out, to get her used to the sound. Perhaps you could rub one of her old, used puppy pads into the designated potty place in the grass to get some of the scent in so she can pee on it?
It would be easier if you could teach her the "Go potty" or some other similar command when you originally pee pad train her--whenever she starts to sniff around or starts to circle around or squatting or looks like she's about to go, then say "Go potty" (maybe with a hand signal as well for additional reinforcement) and when she does, give her a treat(s) (maybe Cheerios would be good) and praise heavily. With lots of repetition, she can associate the command "Go potty" with peeing/pooping. That way, when you bring her outside and say "Go potty", she might have an easier time and feel more comfortable going outside. You could also try bringing the pad out and putting it on the grass at first to have her get used to peeing/pooping on the grass and then slowly transition the puppy pad out of the area.
Some other members have also successfully dual-potty trained (using both pads and outdoors). Some yorkies are picky about the weather (especially when it's rainy or wintertime) so going outside might not always be easy--which is why it is good to use pee pads in some occasions. I asked here on YT about this before:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...-possible.html