the ever popular potty question
 

HI y'all,
I tried using the search function but didn't find what I was looking for. We just got an xpen for zoe to be in until she becomes potty trained (except for snuggle time of course). We have her food/water, small crate, toys and a pee pad with a pee pad holder thingy. The problem is she doesn't use the pee pad at all...she just sleeps on it. I've tried the spray stuff and I've mopped up her accidents with paper towelling and dab it on the pee pad but she doesn't go on it, just sleeps on it. She will go outside randomly but she won't go inside on the pee pads. How can I get her to use the pads and not the floor?

Often when we take her out in her pen, she'll just sit there and shiver. I've tried staying with her out there for up to 30mins, i've given her the command and then ignored her, I've tried taking her out when she whines or sniffs for only a few minutes and then putting her back into her xpen when she goes in until she either pees outside or on the pee pads.

I would love to hear your advice!
D-

Right now she's all curled up on her pee pad :rolleyes: She's such a little cutie, I cannot possibly get mad at her lol

No takers? lol. Well, I spoke to her vet yesterday who told me not to free feed anymore, but to do it at intervals (I forgot to ask how much/long so I'm feeding her 3 times a day for a couple of hours each time...maybe this way she'll actually eat without me having to hand feed the little marmoset). She's going potty MUCH faster outside so I'm thinking maybe we just won't use the potty pads although I kind of want to leave them in her pen for when we go out just incase she gets really desperate.

D-

Hey..umm as for potty training..it can be a hard core for some yorkies..all dogs have minds of their own and can be hard headed like us adults on issue. My yorkie Darla was hard to potty trian..I ended up getting a pen that connects to her crate and lining it with the puppy pads and she got the hang of useing them..it took a while! I mean she didn't just start useing them overnight. Alot of people think it is awful to keep them in a certain area for long periods of time, but you can't just let the baby rule the house and use the bathroom where ever she wants because you will never get her trained! Just be patience and take her out often and don't just let her run freely all the time. Feeding..I just leave food out for Darla and let her eat when she wants it but I take it all away after 7 at night, so she won't be eating all night and extra trips to bathroom.

Good Luck:)

Thanks so much for the input! ITA about keeping them confined in one area, she had two days of semi-free run of the kitchen and living room but it was too much freedom so we got her an expen and we put her crate in the middle with a potty pad and her food, toys etc. Hmm...maybe I should cover the bottom with potty pads and that will get her used to it and save the carpet LOL.

I'm just glad that she's starting to get the going outside part. This am she did her poo right away (probably because it was so cold out) :D

We started pee pad training Meka at 9 wks and at 10 mo's she's just about 95% there. IMO it is best to feed them on a schedule...and its a lil more helpful for you to have an idea of when they have to go potty. The first thing I was told was that you should take your pup to the pad within 10-20 min after they've drank water and about 30-45 min after they've eaten...and should you see them "sniffing around" in between. Also, making sure you have set command words is helpful... like for Meka we tell her: GO POTTY ON PAD or POTTY ON PAD and she will go downstairs and potty on her pad. There are times when she doesnt have to use it and will just sit on it. But I tell her NO SIT on pad and she understands. I think maybe when you see your pup sit on the pad, let her know that the pad is not to sitting. Also, if possible try putting the pad a little further away from her bed, toys and water... that might help a little.... Aside from that, just be persistant... she'll get it :)

If your baby is anything like most yorkies, the road to potty training is long and winding. It sounds like you're doing exactly what you should be doing, gathering information and educating yourself. But keep in mind, patience is the key......You can have all the info and knowledge in the world about housebreaking but, Zoe's gonna do what Zoe wants to do!!!! Such is the way of Yorkies. Good Luck, be consistent and remember patience...I'm sure you'll do fine. Congratulations again on your new baby girl.

If you insist on using the pee pads there is a spray you can buy at petsmart that i guess smells of pee to dogs. If you spray it on the pee pad it should encourage her to use it. i bought it and sprayed it outside in the area i wanted morgan to potty in. also feeding on a schedule will help you figure out when she has to potty. the food should be given three times a day for 20 minutes.

ahhhh i feel the same way!! i live in an apartment.... in the hallway i have both bedrooms shut but leave my bathroom open since this is where her piddle pad is. i feel so frustrated!!!!! there's gotta be something i'm doing wrong. when she goes anywhere but on her piddle pad i do the sticking her face in her mess in the wrong place and direct her to where she should go. my problem with going outside is that allllll the millions of other dogs go outside so i'm having to worry about what shes eating, what im stepping in, what shes stepping in... and she's already gotten rid of her bad parasites she had when i got her and i don't think she should be out with all the other doogs messes... am i wrong? i've been thinking once it actually starts to get nice out i'd do the outside thing... and try to train her to jingle the bells at the door... am i a crazy owner? i feel like it's never going to end! my other issue is that she absolutely hates her crate... after the first two nights of no sleep i decided to let her stay with me. it's a nuisence* sometimes but it's better than no sleep. she hates the feeling of being contained..... so when i'm at work for 8 hours (come home for lunch to let her out) and school on the other days.... she does her mess right in her crate, she doesn't care...she'll sit in it.

Oh my gosh pnkcandle9, I hear ya. My girl cries and barks all night long in the crate. The only thing that works (somewhat) for me is that I moved her crate in to the family room outside my bedroom and put it in an xpen and my poor mom has been sleeping on the couch next to her for the past couple days and she ignores her unless she persists barking and then takes her out to potty and straight back to the xpen. She's a trooper. The funny thing is this girl basically never barks otherwise except now that we've been keeping her in the xpen more often than not (until she figures out the potty pads or is housetrained) she will bark for 30 seconds or so and then shut up and be quiet for the rest of the day until she gets put back in (and now, she barely barks at all when we put her in the xpen, she just goes to sleep or plays with a toy.

I have been so tempted to just let her sleep with me but i'm paranoid about rolling over her (not likely though as I've slept with my friends tiny dog before and it wasn't a problem..i once slept on her kinda and she didn't make a peep and was fine) but mostly about her falling off the bed onto the hardwood floor or pottying in the bed.

There I go rambling again! LOL

D-

I was scared of my baby sleeping on the bed and my husband rolling over and squishing him, but believe it or not, they move. I live in an apartment and was trying to avoid a complaint, so we moved his crate into our bedroom because he would cry and cry and cry. Once we put the crate inside the room, the crying stopped. He just didn't want to sleep by himself. He now has his own bed, but gets on ours to make sure we're ok and then sleeps on his all night.

Put the crate on your nightstand where she can see you, hopefully that will help

Thanks everybody so much for your feedback! I think this little girl will just never use a potty pad, but fortunately she's been really good at going outside the past 2 days. I took her out twice this morning and she did pee and poo on command...i was so proud. She got lots of praise and treats and when she comes back in she gets to snuggle with me or play oustide of her xpen. Last night, she only barked twice and my mom took her out. She didn't do anything either time but she went right back to sleep and slept inside her crate voluntarily all night, which is inside her xpen.

So it looks like she can last the night and hold it in if she has to. YAY. We're still taking her out every time she barks or whines b/c I want her to learn that the only time it's okay to bark or whine is when she wants to go outside. Bark/whine= taken outside to potty and straight back inside to xpen if she doesn't or if it's sleep time.

Thanks again!
D-

Thanks for the info negra! I did have her in her crate on my nightstand for awhile but it actually made it worse b/c she could see me and smell me and just wanted to snuggle with me. Since she's going to be a bigger girl, I don't think I would have a problem with her sleeping with me once she's full sized and potty trained and I get a rug for my room and some doggy steps. Until then I'm gonna keep her in her crate inside her xpen (or playpen once that arrives). I also think it will help me establish my position as alpha dog (or whatever theory you want to use).

Thanks!!!
D-

I don't have time to read the entire thread...here's what I did, I used "shaggy" bathroom rugs that I wiped a little of her mess on. I think the shag made her feel like it was grass tickling her....who knows it worked - she slept on her pee pads too!;)

Congratulations on her going outside! If you want to train her on pads, once she understands the "potty" command, or whatever command you are using, you can try placing a pad in front of the door. When she goes to the door to go outside, you can place her on the pad and give her the command. Good luck!

Thanks again everyone for the advice! I have given up on potty pads for now, since she will go outside on command now. In the future, I might think of adding potty pads for those times that she can't go out but she seems to be holding it longer. She isn't normally home alone for more than 2 hours at a time max and even then she'll still hold it for another hour or two after we get home usually. I just took her outside and she did a poopy on command. Last night, she barked twice and she went potty both times as soon as she was taken out so things are going well.

Now if I can only get her to sleep through the night without barking lol.

D-

I wish I could take my little one out to potty, but it is too cold here. She only weighs 1.6lbs and so she gets cold really fast. My other two go outside but they are bigger.

I am having a really hard time with her using potty pads too.

Just got my baby
 

how long will it take him to quit barking after we put him in the pen? I'm trying 20 mins at a time..worked so far but she barked 10 mins of it.

Darrell,

I think if outside works for you, then go for it! I potty chloe outside, and I personally think that they train much faster when they're trained to go outside. I know many say that yorkies are hard to train, but Chloe was housebroken by 5 months, and we potty her outside on command. I thought she was rather easy to train, but of course each dog is different.

good luck!

I'm far from an expert, but I just thought I'd throw in my .02 worth. Max NEVER peed on a pee pad. When we first got him, we'd put him in the bathroom if we went out with a pee pad, his food and water, and close the door. NEVER once did he use a pee pad! We were lucky at the time, b/c we were in a house that had tile and some aggregate flooring (don't ask, but I've got pics, LOL)...but the thing at first that made me shake my head is that I'd take him out, thinking he needed to "go" ....he'd run around chasing butterflies, running after shadows..whatever....everything BUT pee or poop....he'd wait til he got into the house to do that:rolleyes: . I had read that it's not any use to scold them for things like that and I am a true believer of that philosophy. Once they've done it, it's gone out of their mind. So, I just kind of tried to pay close attention and take him out at the 'crucial times"....when he first woke up, after he ate, after any running around (exercise, not errands:p ), if he was over excited by anything..that sort of thing. He STILL does not sit in front of the door and bark when he needs to go out, he'll sit in front of the door and just wait there patiently til I open it up, but I pretty much know when he needs to go. And this is pretty much how I break it down: IMMEDIATELY upon waking up after sleeping all nite....OR INSTANTLY after he eats in the morning. (it used to be the first thing he did, but maybe now that he's a little older, he can hold it longer so he prefers to eat FIRST and GO after?), and then if I notice him standing near the sliding doors, I'll just open them for him and see if he wants to run out to the back yard..if he has to go, he will....if not....he won't, but at least he's got the opportunity. And I always let him out just before we go to bed at night. He may or may not go, but it sometimes helps me not have to get up at 2 or 3 AM to let him out (and sometimes he'll sleep all thru the night) but if he gets up and jumps down from the bed, I know to just get up, open the door and let him go..and he does. I know it was more work than I remember, but now it really seems like it was pretty simple to train him. When it was really cold outside, he did prefer to poop on the carpet :cool: but he's pretty much grown out of that now so the ONLY time we have any 'accidents' would be if it were OUR fault that we weren't paying attention to him, which is never.

We put Max in a crate next to our bed the first night we had him, and he was really good. But I felt so bad, that we have kept him in bed with us ever since. I will say that sometimes, we don't get the BEST sleep we could (esp. if we're staying at my mom's where the bed is just barely big enough for all of us, but maybe neither of us is such a sound sleeper that we'd actually roll over and crush Max....and he always moves when he needs to. Anymore, I couldnt' even imagine crating him at night. And if we get another Yorkie, it will sleep with us too:) .

I only give her about 5 mins max to go outside then, if she doesn't potty, she goes back inside and in her xpen. Everytime she barks I shush her and if she continues, she goes outside. If she does her potty, she gets a treat and gets some free time outside of her pen and can snuggle with me on the couch.

D-

Thanks Misty! I think you're right, I've totally given up on the pee pads and I'm fine with it. Going outdoors is working. She still has one accident a day on average but she's definately getting better and is now sleeping through the night as well. Now I just need to work on getting her to tell me she has to go out clearly--maybe I need a training bell?

D-

the bells do help!! i trained morgan to ring them when she needs to go out. instead of waiting to figure out their signs you can teach them one.

Hi nvnvgirl, thanks so much for the info! I agree with you, the pee pads would have been good for one day when I move into a condo but until that day, I'll just stick with going outside, it seems to be working for us. Zoe loves to sleep with me but I move her into the crate in her xpen when I'm falling asleep at least until she's potty trained and bigger (she's gonna be a bigger girl, according to the breeder and vet) and once I get a soft rug under my bed and some doggy steps. Then I'll let her sleep with me and I suspect she will consistently sleep through the night then.

Thanks again for the advice, it was really helpful!
D-

u kno i've only had happy for bout 5 wks or so and have accomplished so much. i feel a whole lot better knowning i'm not the only 1 that had problems
potty training. i feel even luckier to have a yorkie that isn't giving me too much of a problem (knockin on wood). i'm using the crate training. i noticed he does better in our room @ nite, I MEAN NO BARKING AT ALL! when he whines i let him in our restroom he does his bizz and back in the crate. i don't have pee pads either sound like thats just askin for lingering odors, imo. we do a good clean up and ristrict him to the rr when weathers bad he used to stay in his crate all nite long and in the morning it was a mess! i started getting up every 3 hrs so he could go. SOUNDS CRAZY i know, but he's a pup and hey babies do that all nite long. well, i'm up to 4 1/2 hrs now and ABSOLUTLEY no messes yet. durin the day he goes out usually right after he eats and it takes a while, but thats cool cuz he needs to run n e way. oh he now know sit, stay, working on lay down and beg. he's getting turn around pretty good :cool: i havn't got this down, but its a working progress. i used the same method on my boxer, it works! he did better over nite tho.

Totally off topic, but anthroboi...you should be a modle!:D

Awh, thank you so much Kanda! :D *blush*

how do you train them to ring a bell??

don't mean to steal your thread D, but this may help you too if you decide to use bells.

I bought some poochie bells because i cannot make anything to save my life. The first few days i would say lets go outside, and i would hit the bells with my hand then open the door and take her out. after a few days of this i brought her over to the bells, said lets go outside and took her foot and smacked the bells with it. then took her out. She wasn't a fan of this. So after a few tries of this i decided to hold the bells out to her to get her to smell them with her nose. the second she put her nose to the bells i said outside and took her out. a few days of this then i would make her hit the bells with her nose herself so that it made noise and then we would go out. Now she will go over to teh bells herself and hit them quietly then come find me and stare. When i ask her what she wants she'll run back over to the bells and hit them (or attempt to hit them) then come running back. i'll ask her if she has to go potty and then she'll run back over and hit them harder. Then we go out.