[kinseysj]

Hi - (Sorry ahead of time for the book - but it is nice to share success)

My little one is almost five years old and I still remember the first year all to well. One of the first things my vet told me was that yorkies are very stubborn and not to expect her to be fully house-trained for 1 year (I am a single working doggie-owner - if you are a stay-at-home worker it may be quicker). And, true to his prediction, it took about a year.

I know a lot of folks may not approve, but I used dog treats a lot in the house training process. When I took her for walks, I took small pieces of biscuit with me and every time she went potty praised her and gave her a little treat.

Inside the house, we used the potty pads - surprisingly she never tried to eat them. Every time I saw her going potty off of the pad, I told her no, picked her up and put her on the pad and said the potty command (go pee-pee) and then praised her. Then when she did actually go to the potty pad to pee, well, it was like the 4th of July, lots of praise and a little treat.

Also, if you can find a fresh little spot where your little one has peed and dab it with the potty pad then let the puppy smell it, say the command, and then praise. Try to stay with the same command and use an even or happy voice - try to stay away from the angry or annoyed voice as it just scares the puppies - hard to remember sometimes, but...well worth the effort. I also took her to the pad every hour or so when she was really little and told her the command - sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Also, I had a lot of potty pads out for her to use, and eventually weaned her down to two (one by the back door and one in the bathroom).

House training is a lot of work and takes a lot of consistency. One of my friends has two yorkies that took about two years to house train - mainly because she did take the time and effort to train her dogs (she has tiled floors thought mopping was less stressful). Anyway, she got a roommate last year and after about 6 months with the roommates help and persistence, both of them are now trained.

I did not really crate train mine initially (bad owner, I know). I gave her run of the guest bathroom (make sure you always put the toilet LID down) and put a small crate on the bathroom floor for her. She stayed in there while I was at work and out of the house or just needed a nap (she too was very needy for the first 6 months or so). Occasionally I would come home from work and find her sleeping in the crate. (Oh yeah, forgot to mention - I slept on a pallet on the floor with her for the first two months because she cried so much - they really are pack animals. Once she was next to me, she curled up and went right to sleep.)

I bought a travel kennel for her when she was about nine months old and worked with that - which took about 2-3 weeks. I put one of her blankets in the kennel and left it on the floor with the door open and let her sniff it. Yes, I even put a few little pieces of biscuit in the kennel for her to go in and get. Then I worked on putting her in the kennel and closing the door, talking to her and then letting her out. We did this every hour or so for a day. Then I put her in the kennel and walked out of her sight then came back and gave her snuggles and praise - I don't think you can over-praise a puppy. Then I started putting her in the kennel and leaving her for short periods of time leading up to longer ones. Very time consuming, but worth the effort. I did a lot of this in the evenings and on weekends and did not really seem too bad. Mine now loves her travel kennel and she can often be found napping in it. The best advise my vet gave was never to use the kennel/crate for punishment.

My dog has free reign of the master bedroom and bathroom when I am at work. I have her potty pad, water bowl and a bed in the bathroom (course, she can usually be found snuggled in the pillows).

Hope this was helpful. Sorry to have babbled so much.

On a side note, if you plan on letting your little one on your bed(s) think about getting a doggie ramp to help them to safely get on and off of the bed. I bought a ramp for my master bedroom and stairs for the guest bedroom and love them both. I do not have to worry about her jumping on/off of the bed and hurting herself. I custom ordered mine and they are really nice - the seller offered many stains for the wood and carpet types for the stairs/ramp to match your house.

Kinsey