Please Help Me!!!!!!!

[jrh1581]

I've had my Yorkie Nicky for a few months now and he's about 6 1/2 months old. He had learned to use the puppy pad in his exercise pen (because I'm in school and that's where I keep him when I'm not here) and was doing BEAUTIFULLY, pretty much NEVER having an accident in the apartment and going in the pen to use to bathroom on his own. I taught him to use the pads indoors b/c i live on the 3rd floor of my apartment and going outside didn't work b/c by the time we get downstairs, he's forgotten why he's down there in the first place and gets SOOO distracted by everything outside. I recently bought a pen cover (b/c it's kinda gross seeing a stained peepad in the exercise pen or smelling his waste when I walk by even though I change it regularly on a daily basis) and now, he doesn't even know that's where he's supposed to go anymore!! It's like a new place to him and NOTHING HAS CHANGED!! Is he really that unintelligent? I thought Yorkies were supposed to be one of the smartest breeds. I tried to re-teach him to use the pads and he just stands there and looks at me like I'm stupid. It's like he thinks its a different place or he's afraid to use the pads. Are yorkies afraid of the dark or something (and it's REALLY not even dark in there)? We literally sit there forEVER and he won't go. Then he'll come out, hold it for a while (even though I put him back on every 20 minutes or so if he won't go the first time) and then he'll pee LOTS of urine on my carpet!!! He refuses to pee unless I put him in the exercise pen and won't let him out until he goes. Even then, he goes halfway on it and gets pee all under the bottom of the pee pad! Arghhhh!!! I'm sooooo frustrated.

Also, he doesn't come when called. I've tried TONS of treats when I call him (been doing this for weeks now) and he still looks at me like i'm an idiot but yet he follows me EVERYWHERE in the house. He seems to like my company enough to follow me, so why won't he come when called??

I don't know if anybody else has this problem, but unlike a normal dog, he won't let me pet him. He moves his head all over the place, trying to bite me or look at my hand and won't just hold his head still. He does that to EVERYBODY and I'm afraid people will stop wanting to pet him because he bites and licks at their hand. I've thumped him lightly in the nose and told him no when he bites at me, and I've also yelped really loudly. Nothing seems to work. He STILL does it.

I don't know what to do. I'm SOOOO frustrated. I don't know how much more I can take. Seems like I've tried everything and he still does the same things like he doesn't know right from wrong. Does anyone have some advice?? Also, does anyone live on a high floor in their apartment? What do you do as far as potty training your Yorkie? PLEASE HELP ME!!!

Jennifer

[Deegan's mom]

Hi Jennifer - I can see that you are at your wits end by reading your post. I have little guy too who seems like potty training is going to be impossible. One day he has an awesome day doing everything right, then the next day he does everything wrong... meaning inside the house.
I know it takes a long time to potty train this breed,and I feel like giving up sometimes, but you have to keep on, keepin' on. He will eventually get it. Some people on the forum have said that they pups were about a yr old before they were trained.

As for the coming to you thing. You say that treats don't work... so have you maybe tried a favorite toy of his. My Deegan is finicky with food, so he doesn't always come for that either, but he absolutely LOVES his squeeky toys. Maybe give that a try and see if it works for him.

And the petting thing too... Deega has started his biting phase and won't let anyone pet him because he wants to bite our hands. So when he does that I put a little bit of the bitter apple spray in my hand and if he bites... he gets a taste of that. He even bites my ankles as I am walking, and once again if he does that, he get more bitter apple. Vainchick5 recommended the bitter apple to me because her Coco was doing the same thing. I've only been doing the bitter apple thing for two days now, but I do see an improvement in him biting less and less.

Hopefully I was of some help to you. Let me know how things progress.
Ciao for now and take care!

[babi1542]

With biting the bitter apple worked. I tried the water spray bottle but she seems to like it. I also yell real loud "ouch" and that has helped us. For Potty training my is also 6 months and days and still not fully trained. Boy do you have to have patience. Mine loves to be petted , so I can;t help you in that department. I am sure that a lot of us have gone through this so someone here will help you. All I can tell you is that they are very smart dogs, but they are very STUBBORN! Have patience, a lot of us are going through what you are going through, including me! BTW welcome to YT!

[yorkieagility]

Jennifer,

I don't know if you realize this but you are WRONG and Nicky is right. SOMETHING HAS CHANGED. You put the pen cover on. You don't think it is a major change but in the dog world it a MAJOR. That major changed probably messed him up.

As for peeing ALOT on your carpet. Well, he couldn't hold it any longer so he had to go somewhere. I know you have the pee pee pad but as long as the cover is there, it isn't the same place he used to go pee pee.

[Chester]

Originally Posted by babi1542

I am sure that a lot of us have gone through this so someone here will help you. All I can tell you is that they are very smart dogs, but they are very STUBBORN! Have patience, a lot of us are going through what you are going through, including me! BTW welcome to YT!

You are so correct... yorkies are very stubborn... not that they are intelligent.. i think they are too smart for there own good. It can get very frustrating.. but when they get it... you are so happy.

I find once you train a yorkie to do something one way they get used to it.. and don't when to change. chester was trained to go out side before we even got him.. he would not go on pee, pee pads. I had to wait until he could hold it. Cause he does not like to mess himself. so what I did was leave him in his crate then set up the wee,wee pad and put him on it and say go potty. I styed thier with him for 1 hour. Nothing. So i put him back in his crate.. then let him out 1 hour later .. did this process for 10 hours... I kid you not . Finally he went on the pad because he could not hold it anymore. He only went a little bit.. , but at that moment lots of treats and hugs... you have ot make a big commotion. Then finally he went.

What i think will help you is. put out the wee , wee pad by it self let him use it. Then use the same wee, wee, pad and put it in the pan then pray he goes... if not crate him, and try again. Once he goes then treat and praise.

I hope this helps. At first my yorkie was not a huging puppie... Now he is older he likes hugs but still will not stay with you... he is not a lap dog... he is a bouncy dog. He is very smart...

[orinskye]

i went through everything you just posted....lol, and persistence pays off.... it does eventually get better. this is a stage that my boy went through too, the come thing is easily fixed.... just tie a leash (i used a retractable) to his harness and when you want him to come and he refuses just tug on the leash a little bit and when he gets to you reward him.... the potty thing is just frustrating, but he will get it

[Tuck'smom]

I doubt we will ever see a book entitled "Foolproof Quick and Easy Potty Training for Yorkies". If we did, I wouldn't waste my money, I know better, after three of them - patience is the key and I imagine a compulsive clean freak would go nuts through the process. (Not implying you are, but I have some friends who have just freaked when my babies have gone on my new carpet EEEEk!!!) Jeez, it'll wash, no big deal, not saying I like it, but it just comes with the Yorkie territory. Actually, Tucker, now just over 7 months is doing incredibly well with his litter box with only about one or two pee pee accidents a week and he's actually pooing in the box now too!!!!! Yay!!!! He always comes running to tell me so I go clean it out and I make a BIG deal about how great and wonderful and smart he is... My first two, who are no longer with us, took at least a year before I was shocked and concerned if there was an accident when I returned home but they were mostly trained to go outside. The litter box is the best thing since sliced bread in my opinion - portable, safe, allows for sleeping in, no worries about bad weather, etc. Yay for the potty box!!!! Best of luck and welcome to YT!!!!!
Dana

[jrh1581]

Originally Posted by yorkieagility

Jennifer,

I don't know if you realize this but you are WRONG and Nicky is right. SOMETHING HAS CHANGED. You put the pen cover on. You don't think it is a major change but in the dog world it a MAJOR. That major changed probably messed him up.

Do you at least have any advice for me? I know I may be "wrong" but I'm already feeling horrible and discouraged and honestly that makes me feel even worse. That makes me feel like it's totally my fault that he doesn't know what to do now. To me it's not about me being wrong or Nicky being right, I accept that he doesn't know now and just want him to learn to go in the right place like he was doing so beautifully for 2 months. I understand he may have a few accidents here and there, but it's like I'm starting from scratch and all the hard work I did before was for nothing. He used to even run to me when he used to pee pad if I didn't see him go so I could see that he went and praise him with a "potty party." This has also been an extremely stressful time for me considering the fact that I took my National Dental Board exam last week, this week is dental school finals, and I recently got out of an abusive relationship.

As for everyone else, thanks SOOO much for the encouragement. I will definitely try what you have told me. I love him to DEATH and I'm being patient, but it's been really hard. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted!

[jrh1581]

Originally Posted by Tuck'smom

The litter box is the best thing since sliced bread in my opinion - portable, safe, allows for sleeping in, no worries about bad weather, etc. Yay for the potty box!!!! Best of luck and welcome to YT!!!!!
Dana

How did you go about teaching yours to use the litter box? The same way as using the puppy pads? I would LOVE to teach Nicky to go in a litter box. That would be GREAT! Do they absorb odor better? Nicky's poo smells SOOOOOO bad!!

Jennifer

[yorkieagility]

Jennifer,
I'm sorry I stress you out and made you feel bad. I didn't mean to do that. I only meant to point out that dogs are more sensitive to changes than we are. I would suggest you take off the pen cover for now and re-introduce him to the pee pee pad and get him back on track. With what you are going through right now you don't need another thing to stress and worry about.

Then when everything settles down and Nicky is more confortable with going to his pee pee pad, re-introduce him to the pen with the pen cover. Unfortuantely it might be that you have to retrain him over again. However, it's not unusual. Yorkies(i.e. small dogs) are harder to potty train.

I saw some great advices posted and persistence does pays off.

Good luck with everything. Especially FINAL EXAM!

[jrh1581]

That's okay. No offense taken Thanks so much. I think that's what I'll do: take the cover off and re-introduce him to the pee pad. Once he gets used to it again, maybe i'll then GRADUALLY cover up the pen so that he still knows it's the same place and the change isn't so abrupt. Thanks for the advice!

[Marie]

Jennifer,
I really don't have any other advise than those the others already posted. I will tell you breath, try to relax, and retrain him. He probably is confuse cause you change his potty space. To you is the same but for him the cover just makes it different. Yes, Yorkies are very smart but they need your patience and consistent to be housebroken. My baby Gucci is 1 yr old and use the pee pads. She sometimes has accidents, but is only a 5%-10%. Yes sometimes she pees on the edge but is beacuse she thinks she is standing on the pad. To me that is not really an accident because she did when to the pad. Going back to your situation, you might need to clean your carpet because as long he can smell it he will pee on it. Good luck. Welcome to YT.
Don't forget consistent and patience is the key.