My Yorkie is hurting himself
 

:confused:

When we got Louie, when we'd put him in the restroom for bedtime, with the light off, he was very content in there. Barked for maybe 3-5 mins, and then he'd stop. In the restroom I have his puppy pads in there, (2), his food, water, bed and crate. On the crate, I took the door off so he could go in and out as he pleases, and I put a blanket in there for him to lay on as well, like a second bed. He also has a few toys in there if he gets bored.

Recently he's been scratching on the door because he wants out, but scratching SO hard that he leaves blood on the door & floor! The first time I saw it, I freaked out.. and I looked at his paws and there was a little bit of blood.. you could barely see anything. But he continues to scratch on the door and now in the middle of the night, he just starts barking, past midnight, for like an hour and a half! I don't know what to do!! I don't want him to sleep with us. We already have our youngest daughter in our room in her bassinet but he's beginning to wake up our oldest daughter because the restroom he sleeps in is right next door to her room. I don't want him hurting himself any further either.. I tried putting socks on him but he takes them off.

During the day, he's out in the living room with us for the most part, until he pee's on the carpet.. then we put him in the restroom as a form of punishment, with the light on, because we don't yell at him, but I'm not so sure that's working. He continues to pee on the carpet! Before we got him, we got the stain and odor remover (Nature's Miracle) so we were prepared.. but I want to housebreak him and I'm not sure I'm doing what I'm suppose to be doing. The times I've seen him pee on his puppy pads, which he has access to while in the living room as well, I've given him a treat to reward him.. is there anything else I can do that'll help me!??

Thanks, Audrey.

bumping this one up!

do not put him in the rest room when he pees on the caepit this is why he wants out

First off I would never put a puppy in a dark room with the door shut.
That's too confining and sounds like torture to me.
Keep a little night light on and use a gate across the opening of the door
way. This way he get's to hear noises in the house and knows he's not alone.
Also you can not punish your puppy by putting him in the bathroom.
It's like punishing your puppy by putting him in his crate. If you want him
to like the bathroom you can not use it as a punishment. You are secluding
him off from the family and he is reacting to it. It takes time and lot's of
patience to train a puppy. Don't allow him on carpet until he is trained.
Keep him gated in the kitchen with his pee pad until he get's it right.
They want to please but can't if they are unhappy and scared.
Please do not put him in the dark bathroom again. THink how frightening
it is to him. All they want is to be with us, humans. They are people
loving animals and to be alone in the dark is not going to help in in anyway
but to react the way he is. He's telling you something, you need to listen.
Good luck.

Oh my goodness that almost sounds cruel, I would NOT close the door, maybe if you just purchased a gate, so he could at least see out the door and hear better what is going on... i think you might have a better puppy if you left him in an x pen or put a see through gate ( baby gate) at the door!! My puppy is very nosey and likes to be with us all the time I can imagine locking her in a dark room with a closed door. Sorry:thumbdown

You cannot use the same room he's supposed to feel comforted in to use as a punishment too. I think maybe crate training him would help him fell more secure. Also if he is peeing you cannot scold him unless you catch him in mid-pee, he just won't understand what your mad about. He won't even understand if you catch it moments later, actually you cannot scold him at all when he's learning these things. Positive reinforcment should be used. Here is a website that allows you to train correctly step-by-step. It is as simple as it can get. I understand it is hard to understand what these little things understand from us, so I think you may be sending him mixed signals, which means your family could make it easier for him to understand what you expect from him by taking a new approach. Good Luck, and spend time reading up on a training method and start again. He will learn, just needs a change or two and he'll probably do a lot to impress you. I hope it works for you.
Free House Training for Puppies and Adult Dogs - No More Accidents Starting Today!

OMG:eek:.. Timeout do not work for dogs as a form of punishment-its a fact. Timeout only works for human kids. The only form of punishment when they pee/poo is to ignore it and clean it up and not make a big fuss about it but when you catch them doing something right, praise him huge. That is called positive training and that makes the dog forget about doing wrong and start focusing on doing what is right because they get the good things when they do right. A room with closed door is never going to work with any dog. You need a puppy gate to get the door. As for bedtime, they usually like to be near you coz they love you. Use a playpen, put pads and water and bed in the pen in your room. That would probably help the dog feel a lot better and gives you a better sleep.

Oh No ... you can't let this go on
He is hurting himself and will become traumatized very quickly if you keep this up
Never punish a pup by putting him by himself esp with a light out
Dogs have a keen sense of light and dark
They know when it is daytime and nightime
Puppies and dogs are pack animals and need the closeness of humans or other dogs for them to strive
Try getting a doogy door or a baby gate so he can see out at least
and do not shut the light at anytime during the day
You can also try crateing him for short periods during the day
but leave him out with the TV or radio on so he can hear voices

help.....
 

Hi,
My Kingsley is 10 weeks old....I am using the pee pad with him...he does good in the morning when he gets up....I bring him to the pad and he does both after I say to pee and poop.....
my trouble is as the day goes on...he will pee on the pad but he will poop where he wants ....I watch him closely but he seems to still be able to do it near the back door...
what should I do different? I do put him in a crate during the day for a shor t period of time....since I am home with him I try to keep him out but watch him closely.....help!!:sad:

I always suggest xpens, I think they are the best, and there is no way he can hurt himself in one

Kudos to you to ask for help!

Dogs are pack animals and need to be near their pack which is you and your family. Maybe you could crate him and have him sleep close to you or your bedroom where he at least can see you, hear you, smell you...

Thank you for considering that!

If he's 10 weeks old and is doing that good, good for him. Thats very young for him to be getting the hang of it. Do you have treats on hand to praise the heck out of him when he pees and poops first thing in the morning? Remember, after he eats, its not long before the "poop" sets in, watch him close, if you see him starting to smell or go around in circles, get him to the pad, if a piece falls on or near it, make a big deal out of it. Praise praise and more praise.

thanks phfgkl
I do give him lots of praise and he enjoys the treats.
When I take him outside he loves running around a I have seen him pee outside and sometimes lift his leg...lol
I hope he has less poop accidents....he will be on the pad after his meals and not poop... the minute he runs away ....there it goes ..lolol

The OP has not come back. I do hope she at least saw our comments
and no longer keeps this little one behind closed doors with the lights out!
Sometimes people don't think and I hope she reads these posts and under-
stands this should not be.

I don't see a problem with having him in the bathroom as long as there is:

A nightlight
A lot of toys for him to play with if he's bored
Water (and food if you free feed)
A pee pad
A nice comfy bed and blankets for him to sleep with

I don't see the problem with keeping him there while you sleep, after all, the dog should sleep when you sleep! (As long as you don't sleep for a very long time!) I go to bed at about 12am every night, I leave Chloe in her xpen and she crawls into her bed and gets comfy. I get up at about 9:30 every morning to see her still snuggling in her bed. This is how it should be, but in order to make him feel comfortable, you cannot punish him by putting him in the place he sleeps at night. This will make him feel very uncomfortable, which is probably why he is scratching so hard while he is in there.

It's good that you asked! Hope this helps!

Ps - Ignore all the rude posts of people telling you that you are torturing your dog. You are doing what is best for your dog by asking for help to fix this problem! Good for you!

the "OP" has not come back? What is that suppose to mean? I'm not familiar with this site so forgive me for not understanding your abbreviations.

Nightlight.. check.
lots of toys.. check.
water.. check.
food.. check.
pee pad (2).. check.
comfy bed.. check.
open crate.. check.
blanket.. check.

Nice to know I'm not doing much bad after all :-D

How's he doing now? I think he probably just had to get used to his new place. ;)

Op=Original Poster (you)
if you look to the left you can see a date when a post is made which is why she said you haven't come back yet



i live right outside of Tampa!

Just checking in to see if you tried some of the options that were offered.
Keep us posted on how he is doing.

OK, this should be simple. First, you should refrain from using a "happy place" as a "bad place." The place where he sleeps is his zone, his area, a comfort zone of sorts. I would not use a bathroom for this purpose. Crate training is effective, but you have to make sure you don't use this crate for punishment, as well. When in the crate, give him treats. You can start by leaving the crate door open and placing his treats inside so that he goes in to eat them. He will soon equate the crate with treats, with good things. By using the bathroom as a bad place, he now thinks that he is being placed in there because he is bad, even when going to sleep. He also can't see out, as with a crate. They are a little insecure and like to know that mommy is nearby...whoever the chosen mommy is... :) I used to sleep with my female in my bed, that is until Jesse came along. They now have their doggie beds next to my bed, and this is where they sleep. I close my bedroom door, I leave a wee wee pad by a night light, and VOILA!!! I make sure their food and water is up by 8 p.m., that they both go out for a pee right before we go to bed, get up in the A.M. and immediately take them out. Same command, "Let's go do pee pee outside." You have to put the animal on a schedule. They are very much like children.

Next, the pad is great, but some Yorkies never get it. It took my female 4 years to potty train, and when she did use the pad, she would stand on the pad, hang her butt of the edge and pee in the carpet. This is going to happen, especially with a puppy. If you can walk the animal, do so. They soon realize that it's fun outside, with all the visual stimuli and smells, eventually deterring them from going outdoors. Reinforce all good behavior. This almost requires walking around with a baggie of treaties in your pocket. This is key. Long walks are also excellent for relieving stress, which is very common to this breed. When weather is bad, they revert back to the pad.

I hope this helped. I think I am going to start a Yorkie Boot Camp... :) We all need help from time....Blessings, Lisa, Lilly & Jesse :aimeeyork