Latest "Incident"... Need opinions...

[globemaster]

Originally Posted by Mom to Hot Rod

It's obvious that you are looking for input on how to deal with this situation. You will find that a lot of responses will be to not rub your poor dogs face in the mess. That is just not right. Just because it has worked (as you say) for other dogs does not make right. I would encourage you to not make a big deal over the accidents and do make a big deal over the correct behaviour. As someone said, have pee pads available if you don't want pee all over the house-let it be one spot that he will know is okay to go. I have 2 yorkies and 2 pee pads inside the house in case I do not make it home on time or get busy with something--and the get walked 4 or 5 times by 5 pm. I think of this way, they are little so their bladders are little. Set the dog up for success and you will have success. And I agree, that poor little guy is probably scared to death of your tone and how you are dealing with him.

She crates him which works great while she's gone. He manages to hold it the entire time she's gone in there. Sometimes I work nights and when I'm here I let him out. He gets treats from me everytime he doesn't go inside, but does go outside from me, but doesn't from my girlfriend.

I completely agree with the setting them up for success comment and I'm here to accept advice on an animal I know little of. He's gonna be taken out every 3 hours from now on period. That will probably eliminate some of the problems. The rest of it is gonna be him taking the training which will take time.

He isn't scared of me at all unless I'm yelling at him. The ONLY time I've ever yelled at him is for going on the carpet when I catch him in the act. He knew what he was doing was bad today which is a good thing. I think that's a good start. I've gotten him to where when I walk to the door he gets excited because he thinks he's getting to go out and get a treat. That's a good thing too. He's actually gotten pretty attached to me since I've started working with him (probably because of all the treats I've given him).

I know this dog is trainable and because he means so much to my girlfriend, he means that much to me. That means getting him trained and that's why I'm here.

[QuickSilver]

globemaster, I think you're right that you need to get your girlfriend on the same page with you. The crate will be really helpful. When I was getting the basics down with Thor, I would let him have (somewhat) free roam for 2 hours max after a potty break. So the next time you are getting busy with your lady, maybe put him in the crate.

There are a ton of potty training threads here. You should look for the ones on training your dog for outdoors only, since it sounds like that's what you are going for. You should be confining him to one room until he really gets it.

I don't think anyone knows for sure why yorkies are so hard to train... I think honestly because they can pee SO fast that they have accidents that aren't noticed, and so even if you think you are being 100% consistent, they still think that a quick pee indoors is okay.

FYI, go get some Nature's Miracle for his accidents so your furniture is not ruined.

[Mom to Hot Rod]

Originally Posted by globemaster

She crates him which works great while she's gone. He manages to hold it the entire time she's gone in there. Sometimes I work nights and when I'm here I let him out. He gets treats from me everytime he doesn't go inside, but does go outside from me, but doesn't from my girlfriend.

I completely agree with the setting them up for success comment and I'm here to accept advice on an animal I know little of. He's gonna be taken out every 3 hours from now on period. That will probably eliminate some of the problems. The rest of it is gonna be him taking the training which will take time.

He isn't scared of me at all unless I'm yelling at him. The ONLY time I've ever yelled at him is for going on the carpet when I catch him in the act. He knew what he was doing was bad today which is a good thing. I think that's a good start. I've gotten him to where when I walk to the door he gets excited because he thinks he's getting to go out and get a treat. That's a good thing too. He's actually gotten pretty attached to me since I've started working with him (probably because of all the treats I've given him).

I know this dog is trainable and because he means so much to my girlfriend, he means that much to me. That means getting him trained and that's why I'm here.

Sounds like he is getting mixed signals from the 2 of you. You 2 need to decide on how to train together and stick with it. The dog will never learn properly if he getting mixed signals. I would only give treats for the times he pottys outside. He doesn't understand what the treat is for when "he doesn't go inside". I'm not sure either of what you mean-in the house or in the crate?

Also, how long does he spend in the crate? A dog should not be crate for more than 4 hours. I didn't crate mine, for the short week before we got our expen, for more than 2 hours-3 hours max. If you or your girlfriend cannot be home to let him out, you can do 1 of 3 things, get someone to let him out for a walk or get an expen and have his crate, food and water and pee pad in there or gate him off in an area with his things. This will allow him to be able to stretch and use his pad when he needs. It is good that you will taking him out every 3 hours, but make it sound so concrete and expect his bladder to conform to your time table. Yes, routine will help but he is just starting his training from what I've read in this post. You cannot expect him to pick it up right away.

My 10 mo old is very good on the pad and going out but one morning about 2 mos ago, before I got a chance to put her harness on, she was still a bit sleepy thought she was already on the grass and peed right in front of me on the carpet. Just be patient and diligent. My 18 mo old is just finishing up his treatment for a urinary tract infection...he is VERY good about pottying, yet he peed 2x on the floor in the laundry room from his uti. So take it slow and just be gentle. Good luck.

[QuickSilver]

Some other stuff:

- it's okay to correct your yorkie IF you catch him in the act. A correction would be a stern voice, hands clapping, and taking him outdoors immediately. If you find stuff after the fact, he's very unlikely to know why you're upset.

- if you are finding stuff after that fact, he needs to either be confined or watched more closely. Help him do the right thing 100% of the time.

[megansmomma]

Reading what you have just posted makes me very upset because I can see that you are very angry. First, I would like to say that a Yorkie is a very delicate dog and not a English Setter or Cocker Spaniel. They have very delicate bones and can become perminently injured or even killed. If you don't believe me just how delicate they truly are please read this story and think about what might happen if you continue to handle this little guy roughly.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...old-puppy.html

Please stop torturing this dog before you seriously hurt him. I have 4 dogs in my house and not one runs in fear of any of the members of my house. If I were to find out that one of my sons treated any animal the way that you have just described there would be hell to pay!

There is no need to train by threats and intimidation. It is a proven fact that all this does is break down the spirit of humans and animals alike. I know that I would not like to live my life with fear of anyone.

If you truly want to correct his house training you need to begin crate training him and stop with all of the forced head jerking and rubbing in the pee. Purchase a crate that is just large enough for him to turn around in. You need to take him out JUST to go potty. Pick him up and take him outside. Put him onto the ground and allow just enough time for him to pee. No more that 5 minute. If he goes praise and bring him back into the house. Allow about 45 minutes to an hour of play time. Then back into the crate and at about 3 hours he can go back outside to potty. No play time, pee, praise inside and free time. If he doesn't potty outside then he needs to go back into the crate. You need to keep this up until he is accident free. You also need to get a good urine cleaner and clean the entire apartment or you will never correct what is going on with him.

DO NOT EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES FORCE THAT DOGS HEAD INTO ITS URINE! If you do not understand how delicate that these dogs are you need to go back and reread that above link and watch that video again. http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...old-puppy.htmlThat puppy has a neck injury that he will probably never recover from~you could easily be responsible as well for injuring your girlfriends dog. There is NO ARGUMENT that this treatment could cause great bodily harm to this little tiny dog. He is not a cocker spaniel or a English Setter~those are both larger and more sturdy than a delicate Yorkie. PLEASE stop what you have been doing.

Even better yet~have your girlfriend watch that video and decide for herself what needs to be done.

[Breeze]

Omg! This thread is making me sick, poor dog.

Please follow the others posters advice.

[globemaster]

Originally Posted by YorkieOwned5

FYI, after reading posts from this guy since 2/19, the dog is about 18 months and hasn't been worked with very much. He loves his girlfriend so much that he is going to continue to use this punishment on this innocent baby until he Learns Not to do it again. He needs to by pee pads and Belly bands, but dosen't know where to buy them, LOL... Anyone on here want to send him a couple of Belly bands so he will stop torturing this poor Yorkie PUPPY!!!!!!! Buddy you need to have a big slobbery mouth dog.. Yorkies are to FRAGILE to be handled this way, Next we will here that he has a broken bone or something...... JERK>>>>>>> It takes a special person to understand the way a Yorkie acts. There is all kinds of info on the web, just type in Yorkie training.......duh...........

How do you think I found this site? The dog has already learned its bad in around a month which is more than he learned in the previous 17. Punishment is part of training. You punish your kids, there are "punishments" at work for underperformance, etc... Its all part of life. You're exaggerating when talking about breaking bones. I understand he's small and he never gets hit. I've yet to figure out how holding a dog's nose in pee hurts it.

This dog is not an "innocent baby". He's a dog that before me was known to pee on the carpet, right in front of your face, at 17 months, 15 minutes after being taken out. Thanks to me he's getting better about it. I can assure you there was zero improvement before me - I've been dating her for over 6 months.

The belly bands are needed to prevent the dog from marking. My girlfriend wants to breed him. The order didn't go through for whatever reason last time. The Ceaser Milan Videos did. If anyone has that link, it would help.

I will have a "big slobbery mouth dog" one day as that is the type of dog I'm most comfortable with. I'm a C-17 pilot right now and can't take care of one full time. However, this dog will probably one day be my dog, so long as I can successfully train it. The dog is VERY important to me. I'm upset that as important as the dog is to my girlfriend, his training is completely UNIMPORTANT to her. I don't care if he barks, chews, jumps up on people, or pulls on his leash - I'm not going to live in a zoo and a house isn't a Yorkie Urinal.

His comfort is also equally unimportant to her as I often ask her if he needs to be taken out and she evidently has no idea how often that should happen. Heck tonight she told me he DIDN'T need to be taken out AFTER he peed. Then she didn't clean up after it while I was walking "her" dog. He peed several times when I took him out - mostly marking.

I've bought books to read on the subject and been reading all kinds of posts on here. I've presented the books to my girlfriend and highlighted pertinent information for my girlfriend to read. She's done nothing to help out with his training.

[QuickSilver]

globemaster, I think it's clear you care about this dog, as you said. How about this: you agree to stop rubbing his nose in it so everyone's blood pressure can go back to normal, and we'll agree you're a nice person. Deal?

[QuickSilver]

Oops, one more thing: if your girlfriend does not have the time / inclination to train her dog, it doesn't sound like she should be breeding him. Please consider getting him neutered.

[Mom to Hot Rod]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Oops, one more thing: if your girlfriend does not have the time / inclination to train her dog, it doesn't sound like she should be breeding him. Please consider getting him neutered.

And this is her 2nd yorkie.

[globemaster]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

globemaster, I think you're right that you need to get your girlfriend on the same page with you. The crate will be really helpful. When I was getting the basics down with Thor, I would let him have (somewhat) free roam for 2 hours max after a potty break. So the next time you are getting busy with your lady, maybe put him in the crate.

There are a ton of potty training threads here. You should look for the ones on training your dog for outdoors only, since it sounds like that's what you are going for. You should be confining him to one room until he really gets it.

I don't think anyone knows for sure why yorkies are so hard to train... I think honestly because they can pee SO fast that they have accidents that aren't noticed, and so even if you think you are being 100% consistent, they still think that a quick pee indoors is okay.

FYI, go get some Nature's Miracle for his accidents so your furniture is not ruined.

Thanks for the advice. Putting him in the crate is a good idea for that from now on. I've gotten advice on here to restrict his movement, but I don't think my girlfriend is doing it when I'm not around. I've always got him on a leash as one poster mentioned and haven't had any problems other than tonight since I started that. I've gotten some amazing advice on here and have even recommended the site to my girlfriend, who's never been on here.

That may account for all the yellow stains that I don't think have ever been cleaned. Because he hasn't been properly monitored, I'm not sure what's from when he was younger and now. I watch him so closely that I don't think he's doing it on my watch.

I'll try the nature's miracle. He's probably gonna mark until he's fixed and maybe after from what I've heard on here.

Also, I liked the name of your dog so much that I actually told my girlfriend about it a week or so ago. Thor... I may not get Yorkies, but that is pretty funny for such a small dog!

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by globemaster

How do you think I found this site? The dog has already learned its bad in around a month which is more than he learned in the previous 17. Punishment is part of training. You punish your kids, there are "punishments" at work for underperformance, etc... Its all part of life. You're exaggerating when talking about breaking bones. I understand he's small and he never gets hit. I've yet to figure out how holding a dog's nose in pee hurts it.

This dog is not an "innocent baby". He's a dog that before me was known to pee on the carpet, right in front of your face, at 17 months, 15 minutes after being taken out. Thanks to me he's getting better about it. I can assure you there was zero improvement before me - I've been dating her for over 6 months.

The belly bands are needed to prevent the dog from marking. My girlfriend wants to breed him. The order didn't go through for whatever reason last time. The Ceaser Milan Videos did. If anyone has that link, it would help.

I will have a "big slobbery mouth dog" one day as that is the type of dog I'm most comfortable with. I'm a C-17 pilot right now and can't take care of one full time. However, this dog will probably one day be my dog, so long as I can successfully train it. The dog is VERY important to me. I'm upset that as important as the dog is to my girlfriend, his training is completely UNIMPORTANT to her. I don't care if he barks, chews, jumps up on people, or pulls on his leash - I'm not going to live in a zoo and a house isn't a Yorkie Urinal.

His comfort is also equally unimportant to her as I often ask her if he needs to be taken out and she evidently has no idea how often that should happen. Heck tonight she told me he DIDN'T need to be taken out AFTER he peed. Then she didn't clean up after it while I was walking "her" dog. He peed several times when I took him out - mostly marking.

I've bought books to read on the subject and been reading all kinds of posts on here. I've presented the books to my girlfriend and highlighted pertinent information for my girlfriend to read. She's done nothing to help out with his training.

Aggragerating about breaking bones. Once again please see the video. He was STEPPED on. His spine is crushed. You could step on a Cocker Spaniel or an English Setter and not crush a spine~they are delicate.

As for breeding this dog if your girlfriend is not able to get his potty training under control PLEASE think twice about breeding. There is a lot more that goes into breeding a dog than just owning one. Unless she has a lot of experience as a Yorkie breeder there really isn't any need to make puppies. If she wants to make something have her make cookies.

[megansmomma]

Furthermore, if this dog is now marking and is not fixed what do you think he will be like after she allows him to breed? It is known that after a male is allowed to breed the marking will increase and their personality changes as well. I can only imagine how he will then be peeing all over her apartment. Look into neutering him, getting him a crate and stop the punishing/nose rubbing.

[Breeze]

I think that he is marking and at his age it can be almost impossible to stop. I think the best chance is to get him neutered, but at his age it might be too late already.

Marking is an extremly strong instinct and this is going to lead to a very unhappy, frustrated owner and a very scared yorkie. You must likely will have to use belly bands at all times especially if you breed him. Most stud dog do have to wear them at all times due to their constant marking. I would seriously perhaps think if you can not stop with the rubbing of his nose in it, or using negative punishments that maybe you should think to rehome him. All the best.

[globemaster]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Oops, one more thing: if your girlfriend does not have the time / inclination to train her dog, it doesn't sound like she should be breeding him. Please consider getting him neutered.

She told me that she's NOT keeping the puppy, but just wanting to breed him because of his genes. She claims she can get $800-900 for one of his pups which I have no reason to question. He is a beautiful dog, she just hasn't trained him at all. He's a very loving dog too. He barks waaaay too much, but my only real issue with him is the constant soiling of the apartment. That is gonna be an interesting argument if she wanted ANOTHER one. I'd be pretty upset, because she's obviously done nothing to train this one, despite her being meticulous about grooming and feeding him.