The YT Potty Log

[Sandysbabies]

Just watching to kinda keep an eye on where she is and what she is doing and taking her out like every couple of hrs. or so. I am really at a disadvantage too because I am still recovering from a back surgery a few months ago and it is really slow going. I am still in some pain so that makes it hard too. I am not suppose to even bend over. Try cleaning up tee tee without bending. lol!!!! All we can do is just keep trying. Maybe one of these days she will get it. Hope so. It would be hard to confine her with the other two running around. SHe would probably scream her head off. She is just spoiled, bad. I know, I know, its our fault. THey look up at you with those sweet little faces and I forget all about where she has tee teed. We have created a little monster. I just hope Simple Solutions never goes out of business.

[QuickSilver]

Oof, well I hope you feel better soon! Yeah, I think it will be really hard if you can't watch her with both eyes. Sometimes even two eyes isn't enough!

Can your husband watch her while you are recovering? I used the crate as a motivator. Thor does not like being locked in it very much, so once he figured out that pee was his way to freedom, he got very motivated.

You might also consider an xpen for her with a locked down potty pad. Ultimately, you are the boss, and it won't kill her to have less freedom than the other dogs for a few weeks or months. I guess you have to decide what's more important to you. Given your situation, you would probably need to get creative to figure out a workable solution. On the other hand, if she is un-training your other dogs, you might find yourself ankle-deep in pee.

[Sandysbabies]

I wish there was an easy solution. I had my carpets cleaned and they put a covering (for lack of a better word) on it to protect it from pet stains. Along with the Simple Solutions it looks great and thank goodness my house doesn't smell. You would never know we had 3 little dogs. Tina is 12 and she has been housebroke for years. Lexi has only pottyed (thanks to Kayla) a couple of times but has never tee teed on the floor. It just Kayla with the tee tee problem and I will have to say its better than it was. She just thinks she can come back in and potty on the floor. I don't think Lexi would have done what she did if she hadn't watched Kayla and thought it was okay. I was pretty stern with her and she minds alot better than Kayla. My husband took off a couple of weeks when I had the surgery but he is not home during the day so its just up to me. I am doing alot better but I have a steel plate in my back and screws and it takes along time to get over that type of surgery. I have good days and bad days. Hopefully this little wart won't be a senior citizen when she learns to go out to tee tee.

[mblab]

Well, we were on blissful day 4, I was seriously thinking things were going great and maybe this was going to be it .... yeah, turns out I was totally deluded. Of course, it was severe thunderstorms all night long here. It's like when the weather gets bad she forgets and it's anyone's guess of what's going to happen. Not necessarily defending it, but she had been shaking on and off, scared of the weather (which she really hadn't done before, but then again it hadn't been this bad since the first weekend she was home with us).

Anyway, Zoe pooped on the couch!!!! She has NEVER EVER made on the couch before, EVER!

I'm not sure what to make of it exactly. I wasn't able to stop her because we were running frantically around the upstairs to close all windows to prevent any more water from getting in (I realized way after the fact that the bedroom window was open and it was practically flooded around the window/bed...) We came back and there was poop on the couch! She can't climb off it, so I'd bet if she could she would've pooped on the ground somewhere though...

Ugh! It's encouraging to see days she does well and how well others are doing. We've got her confined to small watchable areas (and crated*** whenever there is an accident we cant catch), I think maybe it's all finally working and soon it'll all come together. And then ... we start back up like we have to today, today is day one once again.....

***I cannot say enough praise (no pun intended) for crate training. I know people think it's cruel, especially with little ones like Yorkies (though I know a Labradoodle Mom that couldn't bear to crate her boy, even though he was at least 30-40 pounds, as a puppy!). But it really makes a difference. Even though we're still struggling, if look at people's success stories, 99% of them seem to have used crates! It does work, you just have to be more dedicated and stubborn than your dog!

-Vicky

P.S. I want to thank everyone for all of their kind words, support, and suggestions! I know it makes me feel better, I'd like to think everyone else feels the same too!

[JMuedog]

So, I've been back at day 1 every day... going good today so far, but its only 11am. Not only are we potty training Gwenni, but all of a sudden Finnigan thinks he can resume going #2 in the house!

I know he hates the rain and its been raining everyday, but he hadn't had an accident in the house before we got Gwenni in at least 6 months! So, now we've had both dogs in their crates.

I'm so aggravated with Finnigan! It took almost a year to get him potty trained, and now this! I think after we used his crate last night he now understands that we're not going to stand for his acting out.

[linz06]

We made it through day 1 yesterday. Overnight Layla needed to go so she peed on her pad. This morning she wanted out so I let her out and she peed on the pad on the deck. She didn't want in yet so I thought she might poop too. After about 10 minutes she scratched at the door to get back in, so I let her in and saw no poops. Not even 5 minutes later she had pooped on the floor beside her pad inside
Now we're back to 0 again.

[QuickSilver]

Aw, sorry to hear about the rain interfering with your yorkies in training! That's part of why I decided to use pads for Thor, because I realized that he hates the rain so much he'd probably rather go indoors and face the consequences.

I don't know if this will help, but I think the most daunting part of potty training is the first week, when you have your eyes glued to them. What helped me a lot during this period was to get Thor a ton of exercise outside (again, tough in the rain). That made "watching" him a lot easier, because 90% of the time he was napping on my couch.

Sorry to hear about the poo on the couch. It does sound like maybe she would have picked a better spot (maybe right by the door?) if she weren't scared and in an unfamiliar situation.

Every time I think Thor is the worst dog ever when it comes to potty training, I find something to be thankful for. While he is very free with his pee, he's pretty judicious with his poop.

[Sweetlips6]

I have noticed that Bonnie will squat on the pad to poop, then before it "falls" to the pad she runs off and it falls off a few feet away. If I get to her in time, I will hold her on the pad til it lands.
What to do? I have put the poop on the pad and given her a treat
Should I be doing that? I want to praise her for squatting on the pad. She has the best intentions. Your opinions please

[ParrotLady]

Originally Posted by Sweetlips6

I have noticed that Bonnie will squat on the pad to poop, then before it "falls" to the pad she runs off and it falls off a few feet away. If I get to her in time, I will hold her on the pad til it lands.
What to do? I have put the poop on the pad and given her a treat
Should I be doing that? I want to praise her for squatting on the pad. She has the best intentions. Your opinions please

I give treats if Penny thinks she did it on the pad. Many times she goes on the edge of the pad and she hasn't a clue what a mess she left for me to clean up.

[QuickSilver]

Originally Posted by Sweetlips6

I have noticed that Bonnie will squat on the pad to poop, then before it "falls" to the pad she runs off and it falls off a few feet away. If I get to her in time, I will hold her on the pad til it lands.
What to do? I have put the poop on the pad and given her a treat
Should I be doing that? I want to praise her for squatting on the pad. She has the best intentions. Your opinions please

Hm.

I have two thoughts. First, Thor was having this problem, but he only goes 1x/day, usually around the same time, so I was able to catch him and make sure he stayed on the pad until he was finished (he's a stroller). I don't know if Bonnie is that regular, but I think that will be the most effective. Generally, a dog's back will start to hunch a lot right before it's going to poop.

Second, if you aren't catching her, I would reward her for getting it anywhere near the pad, until you are sure that she knows she's at least supposed to start there. Then raise your standards, until you only reward for a deposit on the pad. She should get the idea.

[QuickSilver]

Well, I guess I spoke too soon, and Thor did exactly what ParrotLady described, not once, but twice yesterday. Oh well.

Other than that, he is doing really well! I still haven't given him completely free rein in my apartment, but we are getting there, and he hasn't had an accident here in forever. He's used the pad correctly in my office too.

We're still getting a lot of micro-pees when I'm cooking something on the stove, or I'm eating something he wants a piece of. And I'm still rewarding him for every pee. Not sure when that will stop, but probably not before I trust him everywhere in my apartment.

[QuickSilver]

Well, I just made a bold, some might even say reckless, move!


I took the boxes blocking the dining room table away.


I am pretty trepidatious about providing this smorgasboard of chair and table legs practically begging to be marked... but Thor is going to have to face this challenge at some point.

[lilshortyss]

I've had my yorkie puppy for a week and a day and she has been using the paper for two days now im so happy!!!!

[ParrotLady]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Well, I just made a bold, some might even say reckless, move!

I took the boxes blocking the dining room table away.

I am pretty trepidatious about providing this smorgasboard of chair and table legs practically begging to be marked... but Thor is going to have to face this challenge at some point.

I will be interested to see how it works. I sure hope Thor is up for the challenge. Penny has started leaving one "pile" a day in front of the refrigerator. This morning she even had a fresh pad, so no excuse accept that is where she wanted to go.

[lilshortyss]

I'm starting to thinks she's using the paper for the cookie not because she had to go. but at least she's using it