[Friley]

My husband and I have two yorkies, Baloo & Belle. We are getting the feeling lately that yorkies are not the best breed for us. We knew that yorkies are high maintenance but knowing is not the same as realizing. Our two yorkies are still puppies both 6 mos old. There are a couple of things about them that make us believe they need more attention than we can give them.

The number one issue we have is the potty training. When we are not in the same room with them or we're not home during the day they forget themselves and urinate and defecate where ever it pleases them. They are gated in the kitchen with two pee pads, a kennel for sleeping, food, water, and toys. They have even started eating their own feces which gets everywhere cause they drag it back to their kennel. We've read that most puppies will outgrow this stage (eating their poop) and when we're home we usually clean up the feces before they begin to eat it. When we are home we do all the training we can with them, take them to the pee pad and wait for them to go and praise like crazy. They have both shown progress in finding the pee pad and using it (about 60% of the time), but like I said before when we're not home they seem to forget all their training. The other issue is at night, we got to bed around 9:30-10 & crate the dogs in a kennel in our room, when they're not in our bedroom at night they whine. So either my husband or I have to get up around 2am to let the dogs out to use the pee pad. This is cannot be a long term solution as we both work during the day, but we cannot trust them in the kitchen at night since they've proven that they'll pee where ever and they whine and bark. Since we live in an apartment our neighbors will be bothered by this noise.

Our 2nd issue is their constant need of attention, whining, & barking. Our typical routine during the evening is the dogs use the pee pad for their business before we take them out to play, since Belle will pee anywhere in the apartment. We then take them out to play or run around for 30 minutes, about which time Belle usually stops to find a corner to pee in. They then go back in the crate to rest or to allow us to eat dinner. Then we do the process all over again, if its nice outside we'll take them on a 20 minute walk. But anytime we crate them they whine and bark like crazy, even when its time for them to eat, they'll ignore their food and just sit and whine. We try to ignore them because otherwise it just encourages them to bark and whine louder and longer. I've read that whenever they whine or bark not to take them out of their crate because it teaches them to whine and bark to get what they want, which of course interrupts the routine we're trying to establish and they get less play time.

We do know these two can be great dogs, some nights when we get home we've found they've escaped the kitchen or the x-pen and when they're not penned in they greet you like everything is hunky dory. They don't go nuts on you and have to lick your face off, they don't cry or bark like mad either. But they're not at the point that I can trust them to use a pee pad on their own. When we get home we have no idea where either of them might have peed since their messes are so small.

We're looking to make the best decision for these two babies and we do want to keep them if we can. But if this is how things are going to be for the rest of their lives then I know they would be better with someone who is home all day to give them the attention they deserve. We are not financially able to have one person stay at home right now. Our thoughts are to wait 6 mos, when these two will be a year old, and see if they improve since we've also read that this is a difficult breed to potty train. And hopefully as they get older the need to whine will diminish. Its just frustrating to have them in a crate that is in the same room as us no more than 2 feet away and they whine or to have to clean up pee and poop every night, we've been doing it since September.

I'm sorry if some of you may be frustrated by this post because its so long and it just sounds like the same complaint over and over. But please help us help the pups! If what we have to give isn't enough then we're more than willing to own up to that and give them a better chance to find that. Thanks!