Belly Bands/Neutering...
 

My girlfriend has a 1.5 year old male who's destroying her apartment carpet AND marking all over the furniture. About 2 months ago she had an accident where another dog ended up in heat and nature took its course and it sounds like that has accelerated the problem. She does crate the dog while we're at work.

I have several questions.

1. How much will neutering help if she were to do that right now?

2. She wants to breed him. Is there anyway for a vet to... "Harvest his seed"... so that he could be neutered now and still be studded out?

3. WHERE IN THE HELL DO I HAVE TO GO TO BUY THESE BELLY BANDS... NOW!!! RIGHT NOW!

I'm about to start taking a lot of the advice around here. Please help me. I've never owned a Yorkie before, but I'm CRAZY about my girlfriend. I don't want to live in pee and I know how much the dog means to her - therefore it means that much to me. HELP!!!!

Thanks in advance!

The Globemaster

At his age it would be hard to get him to stop even with him being neutered now, as he has formed a very strong habit. But neutering him would be your best chance. It would also be beneficial for his health and lower his risks for many health issues such as certain cancers...

The marking is one reasons to get them neutered before a year, after that it is really hard if not impossible to stop the marking especially if they are bred. A belly band would most likely, as already suggested would certainly help to save your house.

You can get belly bands at most petstores including Petsmart, many also make them on this site. Do a search for belly bands.

As for "harvesting his seed" it most likely is extremely expensive and only done for dogs of exceptional quality for show quality stock.....

Thank you so much for the advice. Is 18 months really to old to teach a very young dog new tricks?

Also, I'm reading soooooo many horror stories on here that I'm worried. Why are there so many difficulties training them. I've grown up with English Setters, Springer Spaniels, and Cocker Spaniels and they were all trained in less than a year.... I just don't understand.

THANK YOU!

I think you can teach him to potty train or at least cut back dramatically on the marking. If you cant find belly bands-i'd go with a doggie diaper if i were you, but will probably have to train him to wear them too. I know doggie diapers are wayyyy expensive cuz i've seen them at petsmart, BUT maybe you could buy a box of huggies and cut a hole where the tail will go?

Also-maybe you could crate him & not allow him to have free run of the apartment unless supervised, but giving him plenty of time out of the crate of course.

I wish i could help you more.

Yeah... I'm worried...
 

I just can't live like this. I'm can't tell you how CRAZY I am for my girlfriend. I'm not gonna just give up on getting the little guy house trained, but I'm dreading where this is probably headed. I just don't understand why someone would want a dog that is essentially unhousebreakable when not neutered at an early age. I don't know whether I was just raised different or what.

I will say this... I REFUSE to give up. I'm gonna make it very hard on him to go in the apartment and as rewarding as possible to go outside, but sometimes you can't break an instinct and I WILL NOT have my things destroyed by a dog. I also can't live with the stench...

They're not un-housetrainable, it usually depends on who is doing the training. Jackson is about 4 months old and is very close to being housetrained. He's had two accidents in the past 4 days and that's it. But for the most part, I've been extremely consistant and constantly letting him outside and on a schedule.

Twice in 4 days seems like a ton of times to me, but definitely NOT for a 4 month old. You did give me the words I wanted to hear! Just as long as its not impossible I'm gonna get to work and the effort will be there.

Yeah, I mean, I sure hope he's not going that much at over a year old, lol. But right now, it's fine. Most of the mistakes are my fault, me not paying attention. He's still learning. And the two accidents were right by the door. So him knowing WHERE he's supposed to go makes me feel better.

Don't be too scared by all the "horror stories" on this site. Keep in mind, it's a forum for support, so a disproportionate amount of the posts on here are from people who are having trouble and are seeking help. Most people who have happily housetrained dogs don't feel the need to comment or ask questions about why their dog is so well behaved. ;)

I agree that neutering is your best option to start on your way to having a fully potty-trained dog, but it's also true that it probably would have been best to do it at under a year. Still, it may help you anyways, and I'd give it a shot. It certainly won't hurt matters!

With potty training, you have to be insanely diligent about watching them, to the point where it will drive you completely insane probably, lol. But it's worth it. My boy is a little over 5.5 months old, and we haven't had an accident in over a week now. And that is in no small part thanks to how much time and effort we have devoted to watching him constantly, taking him out often, and some crate training in the beginning month or so. Potty training these little guys is undeniably a bit difficult with their tiny bladders and independent streaks, but it is not impossible with enough effort and patience. I am working hard on putting the time in now, so that hopefully the years to come will be that much more stress-free for us AND the dog.

Your young dog is old enough to have formed some pretty bad habits, so it'll be that much harder to break them, but I think that if you are both devoted enough to tag-team this issue religiously for long enough, you can succeed. Good luck. :-)

Lauren & Nikko

First, don't give up yet. You are receiving some really good advice here, and as the previous poster mentioned, the horror stories don't paint the real picture.

I've got two yorkies and both are completely housetrained. One does wear belly bands because of neurological damage that has left him with a bit of a "drip", but that's not purposeful. So I have LOTS of experience with belly bands. You may have already purchased from PetSmart, but I rec. you order a few from one of the great ladies on this site. I can personally recommend several, send me a pm if you are interested. The PetSmart bands are okay in a pinch, but you want something that fits right and will last. Otherwise the pee has a way of sneaking out.

Stay away from the "diapers". Most are made for females, and lets face it, things are not in the same place as on males. Diapers will fall short of their mark.:)

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the support. Restricting his movement has been working. The lady that told me to keep him on a leash has helped a TON. He hates it, but maybe he'll figure out the connection. I've also started giving him 2 treats when he goes outside that has helped too. I was REALY hard on him the last time I caught him.

I think we haven't been taking him out enough too. I had a talk with my girlfriend about it and she seems to be on board. It has required TONS of effort, but I don't care about that as long as I don't have to do it for the rest of his life...