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07-08-2009, 11:23 AM | #1 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bavaria, Germany
Posts: 56
| Wee wee pad training - help please! We just got our first Yorkie, he is 11 weeks old now and we've had him for a week. His name is Brody and he's a cutie! We've decided we'd like to paper train him because of the harsh winters and rains here in Germany, but I'm a bit lost as to how we should go about it. Our goal is to have a potty area for him in a tiled part of the house (the gated off kitchen and maybe eventually the mudroom). The first day we had him we let him hang out with us in the house thinking we were keeping a good eye on him. Truth is, you wouldn't believe how many accidents I found when I really went looking. I honestly had no idea. He had gone on the wee wee pad a time or two and I thought he was brilliant and getting the hang of it. I really didn't know how often and how little his pees would be. So this past week we've mostly had him gated into the kitchen (medium sized and tiled) with a wee wee pad on one side, his bed and water and food on the other. He's gone on the wee wee pads a fair amount of times (mostly at night, actually) but he's also gone anywhere else he pleases, including right next to the pad. I understand he's just a baby, and I don't think he even gets the concept of a "potty area" vs. non potty area just yet - but I do not want to allow him to form bad habits. I am just not sure how to best go about that. I read that we should wait for him to potty before letting him out to play with the family. So I've left him in the kitchen (gated off) and reminded him to go potty, put him on the pad, and waited and waited - but he remains clueless. It would seem he's decided during the day to hold it until I give up and DO let him out of the kitchen and then he hightails it to the first rug he can find to do his business. Or else he MAY go in the kitchen, but not on the wee wee pad. I would guess we're giving him way too big of an area with too many options for accidents. So we got him a crate. But I'm not so sure what to do with it. You see, taking him to a wee wee pad on the floor and telling him "go potty" or just waiting for him to do his business has been absolutely useless so far. He just walks off the pad and waits for a chance to go somewhere else. So if we follow general crate training protocol and put him in the crate for an hour or so and then take him outside (or in this case to the wee wee pad) and wait for him to go, I don't feel optimistic that he'd go. Does that make sense? I feel like I'd just be putting him back into the crate, waiting the ten minutes, trying again, and so on...all day long. Who knows how long it would take him before he actually used the pad. Is this okay? Should I just wait it out by keeping him back in the crate until he eventually does go? And if so, how do I keep him ON the pad until he goes? I was given advice that we should keep him in the crate with just room enough for a wee wee pad and his bed. That way he wouldn't soil his bed, so his only other option is the wee wee pad (and not all over the rest of the floor). The theory is that he'll learn that the wee wee pad IS the place to go. To me, it makes a certain amount of sense. But yet when I read about crate training it seems like the whole idea is to make that a NON potty place. So would this just be confusing in the long run? On the other hand, the crate we got is the wire kind with a tray and I actually like the idea of this becoming his actual potty area. Is this an okay idea? Is it okay to close him in so he can do his business and then praise him and let him out - sort of like 'reverse crate' training? Or is that somehow not right? My goal is to have 'his room' be the kitchen, gated off, with his potty area in there. I'd prefer his potty area be something more concrete than just a pee pad on the floor. I *think* his crate is ideal for this purpose, but if anyone has better advice as to how I should proceed - I'm all ears. He's been doing well being mostly confined to the kitchen - except for doing his business on the kitchen floor as well as the wee wee pad. I am home with him during the day and am in and out of the kitchen often. My daughter and I go in and play with him every hour or so, or I take him out and hold him on my lap. We take him out at least once a day into the yard for outside play if the weather is nice. If we go out to run errands we bring him with us. When he's alone in the kitchen he can still see us in the main living area through his baby gate, and although he whines a bit, he then settles down into his bed. He's been doing great at night as well. So I'm not thinking we have a real need for a crate to be his 'holding area' once he's potty trained. So now I just need to get him to understand what the wee wee pad is for and how to distinguish it from the rest of the floor. I'm thinking my two choices at this point are: *use the crate to confine him so that he WON'T potty, and then take him out and put him on the wee wee pads and wait until he goes, putting him back into the crate for ten minute intervals until he finally does his business on the wee wee pad. If this is the best choice, my question would be - what is the best way to keep him ON the wee wee pad until he goes and my concern would be - what if he holds it and ends up being confined to the crate for a long time? What then? OR *use the crate as his potty area. For now, keep him confined in there with his wee wee pad and his bed (for short times) so that his only choice is to use the wee wee pad (hopefully!). Let him out (in the gated kitchen) to play, eat, visit, etc. but if he acts like he's about to go, put him back in the crate. Once he starts to get consistent with going on the wee wee pads and not out when he's in the kitchen, remove his bed from the crate and allow him to stay in the gated kitchen with the crate as his 'potty area' and his bed and food on the other side. My concern with this would be if this backfires and he soils his bed and starts to tolerate that or think that a wee wee pad is an acceptable place to lay rather than to potty. Please be respectful if you disagree with my choices. Understand that I am doing quite a bit of research, asking for a lot of quality advice (hence this thread! , and putting a lot of thought into what is going to be best for Brody and us both now and in the long run. I am also very open to other suggestions I haven't thought of. My only goal is to keep Brody from learning bad habits and to have him trained to go only on his designated potty area. I am willing to be patient and willing to put time and effort in, I'm just not sure as to what the right course of action should be. Thank you so very much for reading this if you have, I know I can be wordy, and I really appreciate any and all feedback and advice I receive! |
Welcome Guest! | |
07-08-2009, 11:29 AM | #2 |
Donating YT 10K Club Member | To train to pee pads....buy an xpen and line it completely with pads. Gradually remove pads until there is only 1 pad left. It is really that simple.
__________________ Deb, Reese, Reggie, Frazier, Libby, Sidney, & Bodie Trace & Ramsey who watch over us www.biewersbythebay.com |
07-08-2009, 11:40 AM | #3 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: newyork
Posts: 115
| hello welcome to yorkie talk .i usetoo use newspaper intill he stared to eat it ,so i change to weepads now he does it there ,but he does have sometimes acidents .he not perfect but i take himfor walks also too good luck |
07-08-2009, 01:15 PM | #4 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Jersey City, NJ, USA
Posts: 35
| That's exactly what we're doing and it's working pretty well. Also, when we take him out of the pen to play we keep one pad in the play area so he has a place to go and sure enough the first day we had him he walked over to it and peed on it. They're pretty smart- you just can't give them to much space and you have to watch them like a hawk. Beckett does a certain move every time he pees or poops so if he's not on a pad I know I need to catch him immediately and put him on it. |
07-08-2009, 09:53 PM | #5 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bavaria, Germany
Posts: 56
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07-12-2009, 11:01 PM | #6 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Misawa AB, Japan
Posts: 582
| I too have an 11 week old It's a male chi/yorkie mix though, but all in all if you have some success let me know! I am needing patience and prayers right now because my already pee pad trained girl is peeing everywhere now.
__________________ "No man can be condemed for owning a dog. As long as he has a dog, he has a friend; and the poorer he gets, the better friend he has." |
07-12-2009, 11:20 PM | #7 | |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Bavaria, Germany
Posts: 56
| Quote:
So today I am starting fresh. He'll be in his crate and then let out into the pen for short intervals and I'll wait and watch, ready to give him his treat if he does his business in the pen, and if not he'll go back in the crate for a short time until I let him out again to try. | |
07-18-2009, 04:10 PM | #8 |
Donating Yorkie Yakker | at first we had Gabby leashed to her cage and a pad right outside of it. At night- she'd be in her cage with a pad on one end. We gated off our family room and slowly gave her more freedom. it's been good, she does have her occassional wanting to pee on our rug though--gonna have to work on that one. |
07-18-2009, 04:44 PM | #9 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Wilmington, DE
Posts: 1
| Could you please tell me what a xpen is? Thank you, Andrea |
07-19-2009, 03:02 PM | #10 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: louisville, ky
Posts: 12
| Try the puppy pee drops. Squirt a few on the pee pads and it "smells" like the place to go. Positive feedback also helps a bunch. When he pees on the pads, lots of "good dog" and pets and a treat may help as well. When mine makes a mistake, I just clean it up. I may say "bad dog," but he never gets hit for it. BCA |
07-19-2009, 05:34 PM | #11 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Panama City, Fl
Posts: 324
| Exercise Pen. You can get them at Petsmart, etc. They are normally pictured with a dog outside, but we set ours up inside when we have to leave Allie along all day, because her pooping is all over the place. She is so good a not peeing anywhere but her pad, but her poop can happen anywhere.
__________________ Rachel, Bobby & Allie |
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