Zip is 5 mos. and doing pretty well with training. Or I should say we are trained. We always crate train. My problem is she won't go out without me and especially at night and we have a dog door! We have two other big dogs and she will go out with them in the daytime but I have to take her to her spot to poop. I have learned she poops at 8am, 10-12 after breakfast and 5pm! I am well trained! LOL! Think she will get more brave as she gets older? She is really bonding with our Lab.

Hey, hope everyone is well! I have to be honest in that I have not read the entire thread. I have an 8 week old that does not stay in a crate. I use an exercise yard...found it at babies r us. I have a piece of linoleum from home depot under to protect the floor. He is using news paper with pee pads under, that is spread out in 2/3 of the pen which I will make smaller over time. I hope that I will one day be able to litter train him. I really am not concerned with going outdoors since he will remain somewhat small . I also have a potty patch I bought from petsmart. The reviews online for the "as seen on tv" potty patch were impressive so I thought I would try it. So...am I doing something wrong by not using a crate? Not really wanting him to go outdoors to do his business? Does anyone else litter train? I figure if a litter box is good enough for my 20 pound cat, my little Henry baby can make it work.

I got my girl 3 weeks ago and started crate training her at 9 1/2 weeks old when I got her. I didn't actually train her to go into the crate, I made her go in there nicely and made sure she had toys, her food and water bowl, and the crate is big enough for her to walk around, stand up in, have a sleepy area, her food, ect. I put her in there, shut the door and she whined for a few minutes and realised the crate is good, now she runs in there to sleep if I have her out about in the house...She knows its her den lol.

She hasn't once peed or pooped in her crate. I'm a housewife though so I am home all day to listen for her cue's, and she gets a lot of free time out for play time/exercise time. I bought her a potty patch like thing, not the same brand but similar...I have it in my spare bathroom where I want her to go because I live right off the ocean and my grass is not fenced, when the tide comes in it can be very dangerous so I don't want her outside roaming on the beach to pee and poo! She goes on her potty patch 90% of the time, there are still accidents, usually a few inches away from it or somewhere else ( my fault! ) if I'm not paying attention. So here's what I've done so far... I'm still learning myself! lol :P

So she'll be in the crate all night I wake up twice hearing her whine to let her go pee pee, she's small so it's not surprising she has to go, the breeder told me his puppies are night pee'ers and made a joke about one of his puppies that went to someone else that called him up complaining about how they're like newborn babies at night haha. So everytime she has to go, day or night I pick her up out of her crate, give her lots of kisses and greet her...Carry her to the bathroom where I have the 'potty patch'. I use a pee pad inside the potty patch thing, and also put a pee pad under it now since she sometimes misses the grass thing by a few inches and hits the floor, it's been better that way. Everytime she has to potty she goes to the potty patch, she knows the bathroom is where everyone else in the house does their business and where she does it too. I place her on it and keep putting her on it if she roams around sniffing the floor, until she pees on the patch. When she goes peepee on it I give her a potty only treat like dried liver. She associates that favourite treat of hers with potty only, from that they learn everytime they go on the potty patch or litter box they get a treat after releiving themselves.

If the puppy misses and goes near it, thats okay it means its trying and you should still reward the puppy, but don't reward the puppy for household mistakes outside of the area you want it go, and dont reward the puppy for going too far away from the spot and relieving without any warning. If you catch the puppy during playtime/outside crate time about ready to go, sniffing, crouching, ect. pick up the puppy take it to the potty patch, keep putting the puppy down on it until it goes if it tries to walk away from it, and give a treat. If puppy has an accident somewhere just clean it up, don't make a fuss or scold or even acknowledge it, just clean it and forget about it. Spray/wipe the area with disinfectant pet odour remover stuff, never anything ammonia based because they will think its pee still, so no bleach based cleaners!

Eventually, they will smell their peepee/poopoo on the area potty patch and over time they associate that's the place they have to go. It's really challenging but if you give treats and be consistent it will happen in no time at all. What helps is when you place the puppy on it, give them 1 treat, get them excited about it make them realise that even stepping on it means a treat. When they go, give lots of treats, like 2 or 3 at a time, like a jackpot reward, oh yeah they love that! Also praise them and give them little massage and scratchies, it gets them very happy and they feel proud.

To clean the potty patch, the grass part, stick it in the shower and squeeze dish soap on it, run it under the shower stream until the water runs clear off it. Do that once every couple days or once a week, whatever you feel is best. Shake it to dry it out and stick it back on the plastic frame thing. From my experience poop doesn't stick to the fake grass, I just pick it up with TP or a baby wipe and flush it because my girl will not go where there is already poop, she wont even pee on a spot if she sees a poop there she's picky about that.

Also I recommend using velcro under the fake grass on all four corners of the frame, puppys even the tiny ones grab it and pull it off the frame thinking its a toy to chew on, the velcro stops them from being able to do that! All you need is the adhesive kind, it sticks to it well even through washing, and if any edges of the grass fray just clip it off with scissors. If you ever need to replace it or want better grass the hardware/DIY store sells peices by the metre for a good price!

The reason why crates are great is because it limits the puppys access to where it can potty, and is a safe haven, thats it really. If you can give your puppy 100% attention or dont mind having papers/puppy pads in an xpen then thats fine too. In your case I think it would work good if you waited until the puppy finds a particular spot on the pee pads you have laid down in the x pen and as you slowly remove the pads and allow more freedom, stick the potty patch over the pad on his preferred spot. It might take some experimenting lol!

Another thing you can do, since you mentioned the xpen, put the potty patch at the furthest end away from the bed/crate side of the pen, put lots of toys on the floor between the two, thats the puppys play area and they wont pee right next to their toys for some reason..what they will do is go to the most available space which would be the potty patch.

Hi, no its not true about the bladder size and how long it takes for them. I've known people with shih tzus and pekes that have had those puppies broken and on the grass within a month without any accidents. It just depends really on how consistent and rewarding you are with the puppy, also some puppies can be really stubborn and each one learns at their own pace it could be 1 month, 1 week, just keep up the training and be very very diligent about it and it really should take no time it all, its really hard to when you work to be 100% obsessive about when and where they potty but don't lose hope!

Thanks rainbows!

Yorkie Potty Training
 

We have had the hardest time training our two Yorkies. Then the weirest thing happened...we took them to camp!

My husband's family has owned a campground for many many years. On the ground is a trailer, with indoor plumbing, electricity...all the comforts of home. So, we spend a lot of time there.

Last winter we had the whole family there for Thanksgiving dinner (in the indoor pavilion out back) - yes it doesn't sound like camp but it is in the woods LOL. My husband and I decided to spend the entire 4 day weekend there. We took the dogs out regularly and for the entire time there they did not have a single accident.

Once we got home, we kept with that schedule and if there was a time in between that they had to go, they started letting us know. So, we gave them a treat if they asked to go out. It kind of became a rule...they only got a treat if they asked to go out, not if we took them automatically. IT WORKED!!

Now, several times a day, they let us know (one dog is much more vocal than the other) and they get a little treat when they come back in. They have made me one proud Mama!!

im at my wits end kayla my 3month old yorkie thinks that outside is just for playing she never uses the potty outside she waits till shes back inside then she goes what am i doing wrong

Greetings from St. Louis. I'm a YorkieTalk newbie, but not a newbie to Yorkies. I have had my first Yorkie for 2+ years. She was fairly easy to housebreak (though I remember those COLD nights the first winter standing out in her potty area!). A couple of days ago, I adopted a second female Yorkie, 6 months old. Kali had many issues developed from her first home. She was very timid and pottied in the house. My issue is that I take Kali out for 15-30 minutes, and she does not pee. At times, she will poop, but no pee ... until she comes in the house. I have been reading the vet's pdf on the schedule for training. I work at home, so I can follow the schedule (though we don't have a crate large enough yet). Has anyone else run into the problem of taking so much time outside and not peeing or pooping? Thanks in advance, and to YorkieTalk, thanks for the great site!

Finally! Got our Yorkie housebroken...
 

I cannot say what has changed, other than she is now almost 6 months old, but she even stands by the door growling or wakes us up growling if she wants to go out.

We were pretty much using the crate methods described in this or other areas of this site. For a while it was pretty tense and I was taking her out multiple times per day.

A neighbor has a female Yorkie who was housetrained in 4 months. She was VERY rigid on the crate training schedule/time and I don't see how she did this but her dog was taken outside exactly every 4 hours. I believe she got a neighbor to take the dog outside when she was at work. Our Gracie might hold it during the night that long, but I am not sure she could hold it that long in the daytime...

Cathie

To the person in Jamaica
 

I can sympathize with you in your struggle. I thought I would lose my mind there for a while. One thing my neighbor from the post above mentioned that might be of help to you: she felt walking the dog on a leash every day morning and evening contributed heavily to her housebreaking...

Also, a trainer at Petsmart suggested getting two kinds of pet spray: one for a "no no area," the other for a "go here area." He said to get some pea gravel and create a small area in the yard with the gravel and spray the "go here" spray over the peat gravel. Take her/him to this area on a leash every single time you take her/him out... Perhaps walking combined with this might help. You are supposed to use the "no no" spray in areas where you have seen the dog go after it is well cleaned up.

Good luck!
Cathie

"elliminate" housebreaking issues and consider
 

Hi Catherine

I also wanted to share the concept of an indoor dog toilet with your great article. I am a physician, and I work 9 hours a day. When I am work, my dog has learned to use the Piddle Place Home Page - Piddle Place When I get home I take her for a walk. I am new to this forum, but see so many questions on this topic, and as a physician I don't understand why a dog should not allowed the same comfort that I enjoy. Being able to relieve myself when I need to. Gone are the days messy puppy pads, and the stink and odor. As we rethink some basic freedoms for our pets, I think this should be a priority for any dog that stays inside while we are at work. Remember, housebreaking issues are the number one reason people abandon their dogs.
David

another great housebreaking article for thought.
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David

I have a 16 weeks old for about a week now. I have been consistently taking him out on a schedule after he wakes up, play time, feedings, before bed, etc. but he never goes when we are outside. Instead he would go after we get inside the house, and this is does not matter how long I keep him out (more than an hour). I even tried taking him in, wait 10, 15 mins and out again. Still does not work. I watch him and get all the signs so I know that he needs to eliminate, but the outdoor is just too distracting for him. Any thought?

16 week old
 

Recently, I read an article written by a vet. This stated that the puppy could become used to the substrate (surface) he learned to eliminate on. She also said that changing this would be best accomplished at around 8 weeks of age.

I don't know if this is correct or not. If it is correct though and the dog is used to wee wee pads, I would crate the dog and set the crate in a playpen whose surface is half wee wee pad and half grass or fake grass. Watch and see if the dog eliminates on the wee wee pad only. Perhaps gradually reducing the available area of wee wee pad might help him learn that a grass or fake grass surface is acceptable...

The other thing I saw at a pet store was a crate that was half bed and the other half an area for elimination. There was an opening between the bed portion and the elimination area (which was covered with grass or fake grass.) This would probably be the easiest choice in my opinion.

If you have access to a housebroken dog that your puppy gets along with, sometimes they learn well from one another in the yard...

Cathie

Thank you for the advice. We don't crate him, just put him in a gated tile bathroom with his bed and toys. He generally does not eliminate there but pretty much everywhere else in the house, tile or carpet, right after walks. We always take him out when there's signs indicating that he needs to go, but as soon as he gets out, he is more interested in exploring. Like this morning we were out for 4 hours and nothing.

Anyway, I will definitely try the fake grass idea. Hopefully it works. Thank you.

16 week old puppy
 

Good luck with the grass. I am not sure puppy will get the idea he is supposed to go over to the grass area though if he can still get to a floor surface, newspaper or wee wee pad like he is used to eliminating on.

You might be able to put his bed and the grass in a totally blocked off small area, so that he is either in his bed or on the grass with no other surface available for him to walk on. Most will not potty in their beds. This might help puppy understand it is OK to potty on an area that feels different to his feet than smooth wee wee pads, newspapers or the floor itself.

We tried different things with our Gracie. One thing that seemed to work well was to crate her with the crate door open and the crate pushed up to our open patio door.

Good luck!
Cathie

Those of you who have had success in potty training your Yorkie, what do you do (outside of just saying "no" firmly) when you do spy them going to the bathroom inside? I don't want to put them in their crates as punishment, because this is their comfort zone and I don't want it to be associated with punishment. Any advise - I need it! I have two Yorkies - one that is 2 1/2 and one who was rescued at 6 months but is now 1 1/2. My 2 1/2 year old was just getting the hang of the potty training until little Francis came into our lives. Now they both poop and pee where ever and when ever they want. It is like a potty festival in our house! I do take them out on a regular basis however within 15-20 minutes of being inside one of them will have an accident. It is almost like a competition for them. Funny thing is they don't have any in their crates or at night when they sleep with us. I don't leave them unattended, they follow me everywhere, and I do crate them when I leave or when I can't pay attention to them. I absolutely love these two little munchkins, but we are growing tired of constantly cleaning up after them. Help!
p.s. Just ordered the book mentioned in the earlier thread, hope those ideas coupled with consistency help

I am potty training my pup too and for a while I couldn't get him to go when he is outside but he would go within 15 mins after we get inside. So I changed to wee wee pad for now. I place wee wee pads in a block off area (you can use your bathroom for easy cleaning at first) with his bed, food and toys. Naturally he would go at the furthest corner away from his food and bed, which is where you have covered with wee wee pads. Use a few of them at first because most likely your pup doesn't get it right yet. I started with 4, now down to 2. When the pup gets to be out and about in the house (with close supervision) if he has accidents, I would immediately pick him up and bring him to the pads. Sometimes he does continue his business on the pads and I give him lots of treats afterward. But most of the time he would stop all together and would sneak off later. My problem is he knows where to go when in his 'room' now, but around the house he would just hold until he gets back into his 'room' to go instead of using the pads I have by the kitchen for him.

Gosh...from what I am reading this seems to be a struggling topic for a lot of us. Mine is 19 weeks and I only crate her at night. Since I starting using our old baby monitor and I can hear her wake up and whine, we have had NO accidents. This leaves the rest of the day. I have pee pads in 2 areas and it seems that miss bailee will go everywhere else and sometimes on the pee pads. I am in the process of bell training her to go into the garage. We have set up a plastic fenced area for her to go to. We have also started taking her outside on the leash and she will always do her business out there. It is frustrating to constantly clean up the pee/poop. It is my fault because I give her way too much freedom. I have had dogs before and didnt want to get a dog that was kept in a crate all day.

Feeling Frustrated...

Hey at least your Bailee does go when she's out on a leash. Eventually you can have her go outside for potty. For Oliver, he never goes when we are outside so far. One time he held it in for 4 hours! Good thing is we haven't had to clean up his accidents much, he's been going when he's in his 'room' wee wee pads.

Is Oliver crated during the day?

Bailee will never be able to be let out to potty as we have a hawk and a coyote that roam the neighborhood.

We have 2 schnauzer/yorki pups. they will be 4 months old next week. Pup #1 (Chewy) is doing well. puppy pad trained for the most part. Pup #2 (Juno) is not training at all. seldom uses the pads unless she has no choice. Juno went to another family who (unknown to us) kept her confined to a small crate all day with a puppy pad inside. She was doing well with pad training when they took her. After 3 weeks decided they no longer wanted her as she wasnt trained so we got her back. I have to keep her confined to small area in the kitchen that is lined with puppy pads and her crate is there for her to lay in otherwise she pees everywhere and anywhere.She has no problem going in her crate but most of the time she wont. she gives me no indication that she has to go. Ive seen her run full speed- stop squat pee-and take off again. I take her outside she refuses to go, bring her in and she pees on the carpet. she can have no freedom at all in the house or im cleaning up messes. Im at the end of my rope with her. Ive trained other puppies fairly quickly and easily but nothing seems to work with her. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!

Housebreaking issues
 

My Jaz hates to go outside when it's raining. Is the grass set when your dog is going outside? Her indoor dog toilet works great for these days so we don't have to worry about the carpet. I can tell she is a more comfortable dog now. She used to get stressed when she thought she would have to be outside in rain or cold. To look at options Welcome to Puppy Litter Boxes | Puppy Litter Box Reviews

Crate training VS privileges help eliminate neurotic behavior
 

I so agree. I think it sad to leave any dog crated all day. If you create a safe environment for the dog, they can be much more comfortable. Perhaps try this...
Have a crate with her bed, but leave the door open.
Attach a little fenced area around the crate. I bought mine at baby r us for about $25
Set inside the gated area her water, plat toys, chew toys, a d her indoor dog toilet
I also leave the television on.
These simple privileges made for a non-neurotic pet

I agree, but I think I posted my support of your comment in the wrong place....you have my vote

fayem
 

Omg this baby will be the death of me.i have tried to potty train for two and a half months. i use praise n treats and take him out frequently like every two hours or sooner if i see the signs. some time he goes and sometime he will come in and 10 minutes later hell go into the office and relieve him self. He will whine at night and i take him out and he goes but the daytime. ??? recently when i take him out he thinks its play time. he reaks havoc he runs to the back fence where two small dogs live n begins to bark then he runs to the side yard and barks because there is a mastiff that lives there.total bad behavior. i think he forgets to potty.im at my whits end! but i sure do love this dog.so cut n playful and loveable.can someone give me suggestions?

No we never crate Oliver. He has this gated area as his 'room', about the size of a queen bed. We have his bed at one corner and and pads on the other end. Of course toys and food during the day when we're at work but we remove them at night so he knows it's bed time.

My Oliver thinks outdoor is playtime too. So i just let him play to get used to the outdoor now. He's a pup so his urge to explore is crazy. We are pad training him and hoping eventually when he's used to the outdoor more, we would take him our with his soil pad and transition to indoor potty to outdoor potty.

dog
 

Well I got mad at JoJo for peeing on the side of his dog crate so I bought a potty pee pad. The kind with the grass in it. Spud has used it and now I hope old Jo will too. It would be great to stick that fake grass outside and the Yorkie goes to it every time. I really feel for all of us who have little sneak a pee pets. I have to get a flashlight and hunt for pee spots. All for the love of a Yorkie! It is worth it.

pee spot hunting
 

Hahaha I know what you're talking about. Especially we have carpet upstairs and gosh the first week I kept stepping on his pee when go looking for this sneaky boy. He's a lot better now with pee pads but I gotta say I learned to literally 'watch where I'm going'. Even now, once in a while he disappears and comes back to be, he always looks so suspicious to me and I have to put on my Indiana Jones hat and go do my rounds around the house hunting for pee spots.

Help...desperate pee pee pad training
 

Hi all.....I have posted before about this same problem. Seems I am a bit winded and need to vent and seek help!

I am so frustrated with my 10 month old Winston. I wanted to pee pee pad train him as I travel for the winter and wanted to be able to keep him in the condo when I am away. It would have been so much easier as we go out of the country and it is a little difficult to find places to potty him.
Well I have been successful in that when I put him in his special crate to potty(sort of a puppy apartment type of crate it is expandable) and tell him to Pee Pee he instantly does it. But......he will very very seldom go in on his own to do his business. That puppy apartment video shows the dog jumping in and out on his own....really does it work that way. Maybe the idea is good but I need the video to see how they train them. Maybe I did something wrong in the training process?

We just came back from Mexico and taking him was extremely stressful. He had multiple accidents. I try to keep up with him every couple of hours but sometimes I got caught up in cooking ect...and would forget to potty him and he would go right on the rugs. I had to pick up all the owners rugs and tuck them under beds. Of course there were two I could not pick up and those he chose to use. When we went out for extended amounts of time I would leave him in his pee pee area and he chose to pee pee somewhere else. A couple of times he did go into his area (walk in shower with glass doors that shut) this was when I too was in the bathroom with the bathroom door closed and he was stuck inside the bathroom.

He also has been neutered and had his extra baby teeth pulled. He had many chewing toys all over the condo but instead chose to chew the furniture. I was so upset having to find things to repair the furniture in the condo.

He is 10 months old now. Is this normal? Do I keep up with the same routine that it will eventually kick in and work? I have had many yorkies and all were easily potty trained. I potty trained all of them outside though.

He is not sleeping in the area where he potties. I only put him in the side that is divided when I am not going to be home for a long time.

In Mexico we let him sleep with us in bed as he didn't want to sleep in his play pen and would fuss and wake me up at night. It was no problem as he slept in a king size bed with us even though he insisted he needed so sleep right next to me. Upon our arrival home last night, I did put him in his crate next to our bed. He fussed a bit but did fall asleep. I don't have a king size bed at home and so really don't want him to sleep with us as I won't get sleep. So he sleeps separate to where he potties.

So this morning I placed a bell on the door and thought we would try the outside potty thing. Maybe he just isn't going to catch onto the pee pee pad thing and needs to go outside I thought. He refused to go outside to pee pee. Even yesterday after holding it a good 8 hours he would not go at the dog relieving spots at the airport. He held it until we got home and went in his potty crate. So this morning he wouldn't relieve himself outside not even outside on a puppy pad. After about an hour or so I just gave up and put him back inside the house in his potty crate and he went. Needless to say the morning was stressful for both of us.

Since we just got back from being away for two months I thought let's start with a fresh approach and use the bell on the door idea.

This morning I let his paw hit the bell then took him out to a spot with his pee pee pad. He wouldn't stay there or go. Then I brought out the play pen and put the pad in there to confine him a bit. Nothing....just jumping and getting all worked up. Took him back in and crated him on the bed side. Took him back out to the outside potty pen. Did this for about an hour. Nothing and he had to go as he held it all night. Now it is raining where we live and also cold. Hard to train him in these weather conditions. He hears the rain and get's scared and also doesn't want to get his paws wet. HA! Funny

Appreciate the help from anyone. Would love the indoor thing to work. What to do?

I just don't know what to do. I am so perplexed and I really need some helpful advice. I love him so very much. He is a ma ma's boy. Can't help but think I just can't get this to work. I just don't like him much though when he does these bad things.

Help please. Many thanks in advance.