Need Expert Help On Potty Training!
 

Hi all,

My name is Frank and I have two puppies. I have a female maltese at 5 months old, and a female yorkie at 2.5 month old.

The problem I am having is with the yorkie. I have had her, Violin, for the past 3 weeks. When I got her out of the breeder's house, the breeder told me that she's potty trained with training pads. The breeder also told me that she missed sometimes because she is such a baby.

The first night I had to put her in my bed since she was winning (most likely because she has had separation anxiety since she left the mother too young). Big mistake! She did it right on the bed!

I was going to use the same routine with my maltese, which was I would put diaper and diaper guard on Violin. But since she is so small, even size xxs is still too big as of this day, she could easily slip through it. Yet again, she soiled my bed again.

She has had problems with training pads as well. I use pens to set her a space in my bathroom (about 3 ft long). I put down the diaper at one end, and her bed at the other. She soiled her bed the first day. Immediately, I washed her bed and she did it again 2 days later. She would go #1, #2 in her bed, please note that I usually shower her at least once a day.

She usually would go do her thing on training pads, then she would tear apart the training pads, then #1 and #2 all over the floor. I have tried putting her in crate, she first chewed on the bedding and I had to remove that. I put rags or t-shirts in instead according to other people's suggestion. I have listened to the advice which is given her food and treats and toys in crate, yet she still soiled her crate.

The incident that I just had 30 minutes ago happened when I went downstairs in my apartment to have dinner. After I came back to her in the pens (I had her in crate previously, she went #2 on training pads and I knew she needed to go #1 any time), she was on the rugs which below it was her crap. She had it all over the floor, and her too, not to mention the rugs. I have run out of ways to train her at least not that in the crate or on the floor all the time. I read about that dogs do not soil their beds and where they eat. Well, not my yorkie. I have done putting her on training pad and ask her to "get busy" every morning, before and after breakfast and dinner, and every 3 hours in between. After she had done that, I would praise her. She sometimes would do good, but sometimes would be bad. Just like today, I had to gave her a bath twice.

Would someone please give me advice on how to resolve her issues on housebreaking? Obviously I have to do so indoors since she is too young to be outside. I would also be very happy to see not to #1 or #2 all over the place and not covered in those bacteria all the time.

Thank you all in advance to read through soooooooo much introduction!

Frank

First I want to say welcome to you and your furbabies!!
There are a lot of very caring people here!!

I am very sorry, I don't have an answer for you, as my Abby messes in her crate at night and sometimes on her blanket:eek:. At this point, I put her in a crate at night. Don't want to take the chance of her messing in my bed. Once I think I can trust her, I will let her sleep in my bed
It just makes me crazy. She is much older than your little one. Abby is 8 months old. I have had 2 other yorkies and never had this problem. I too am looking for an answer.
I will say good luck to you. I hope things start to straighten out for you and your little one. Please let me know how she does.

AbbysMom08
 

AbbysMom08, thanks for your reply, i am glad someone shares the same pain...:p

Just a quick question, when will yorkie start looking like yorkie? I mean, the golden hair comes out.

hi and welcome..
You should check out the thread that is ALL ABOUT potty training there are hundreds of post on it and you may find the help you need... Good luck. FYI. Yorkies are well known for being very slow to learn the potty ropes....Patience is the key.. a BIG KEY...... I have 2 five month old siblings, so I know what I speak...

The only advice I have to give is "PATIENCE". :eek:
Sohpie is just coming up on 8 mths. and sorta kinda sometimes has the potty training thing down pat.
And then there are the other days......

Time & Patience
 

I'm echoing what everyone else says. From what I've read, Yorkies don't have full control of their bladders/stool until they're about six months old. Even so, they are notoriously hard to potty train (I'm finding this out, as we have one who's about 6 mo. and another 4.5 mo.).

As everyone else here has said, PATIENCE !!! As frustrated as you may get at times, don't yell/get mad at them, they can't help it. It will set the potty training back.

When we first got ours, they slept with us in the bed, and yes, there were "tinkle" accidents on the comforter. Then we became "attuned" to them when they woke up (2 a.m., 4 a.m., etc.), if they were moving toward the foot of the bed, we knew it was time right then to take them to their pee pads. Make sure to praise profusely when they go where they're supposed to !!!!! Good luck, hang in there.

This is good advice. I didn't even think to mention it. It really takes a keen eye and sense of your dog to "predict" when they will have to go. Most times Sophie will bark to go out (potty). But how do you tell between the bark to play and the bark to go out? I don't know, you just learn it. But what I do is everytime she barks, she goes out. NO MATTER WHAT. Sometimes she'll just sniff the ground in front of me. Sometimes she'll bite my toes. I've learned there are many ways she tells me she has to go potty and as they get older (beyond 6 mths like previously stated) it does get more and more obvious. Otherwise, controlled feed/water (which I don't agree, I free free/water) and crate training. They just don't really get it till about 7+ months. But your consistency and patience until they get to that age is where the difference is between finally getting it or forever having accidents in the house. It doesn't seem now that your hard work and persistance is paying off. But it will. Hope that's a bit better advice than I gave before. I'm not an expert. This is just my personal experience. I'm sure other things worked better for other people.

Sorry...one more thing. 3 hours between potty breaks may be a bit too long. I hate to say it but try every hour. Then every hour 1/2 and continue to increase the time every couple weeks or so. Sophie didn't last 3 hours until she was nearly 6 mths old. And even to this day, she'll go every 2 hours if left out of her xpen. If she's in her xpen or it's night time, then she can hold it 4-5+ hours.

Please be patient with your little baby =). They are little stinkers lol but I feel you on having pee and poo over the room and even on bed :eek: but have you ever tried the potty training aid spray? Thats how I taught Mimi to go on pad. She used to rip up her wee wee pads too. Then I got the wee wee pad holder. its like blue and a white frame that goes on top of it and the sides have locks. Hopefully she will master potty training soon =D

Everyone, thank you very much for your heartily advices.

I would like to mention a few things here first.....

I have read every tread on this website and at least 20 others on potty training before I asked these common questions. I read books, watch videos, etc constantly. I have done my homework, at least I thought so.

I have no problem with my maltese whom I first got when she was 3 months old. She was in confined area with training pad but she missed at lot. However, she only soiled her bed once, mine twice, but that's it for 2 months (she's 5 months old now). My yorkie is the tough one, she would chew on training pad (which my malese now started to do that after she watched what her little sister did), and make sure that she soiled all over the floor plus my bed.

I really want to be able to sleep with them everyday, because they are so cute. I feel really bad when maltese sleeps with me and yorkie in the crate (she has learned a lot more about crate being her bed and not soiled since two days ago). Yes, patience, I know. I am learning that from all the mess...lol

KJLive, to your problem, I recommend using "TellBell" from Amazon.com. They work great and you can also put the two bells in different locations so the dog can learn to ring one for potty and one for play. Read the reviews, a lot of people did that. I do have one myself and had trained my 5 yrs old chihuahua to use it, really great product!

Thanks again!

By the way, can anyone tell me when their hair will grow out of black?

I did try the spray. I used Simple Solution. She licked on it.....gee.....

Thanks for the great recommendatin. Unfortunately, I already tried the bell. That's in another thread on here somewhere :eek: It was a disaster. The first time my DH rang it, she cowered. Then about 2 weeks after it she came in from going potty and was all excited and accidentally sat on the bell and it rang. Scared the living bejesus out of her! It was funny to watch though, I must say. We used a desk style bell. Can't use the hanging bells as I have three cats. No need to explain that one any further! LOL :D

News Update
 

Hi guys,

Thanks for all your help. Violin is doing slightly better. However, she would at least go #1 or #2 once a day in her crate....

For example, this morning I checked her crate, everything was fine. I put her in her travel crate with me at work, but she still made a poo poo in crate even though I took her out one hour prior.

Is it just me that feels like she does that intentionally? Also, she never noticed herself but when she was on the training pad, she moved around and got all the pee on her feet. Any advice for that since I am considering letting her have long coat when she grows up? Thank you.

Very funny! :D

2.5 months is still pretty young. She'll get better, she really will. Looking back I can see I was one of those mommies who just had to get inside the head of my dog to try and figure out why she did this or that. And now that she is 98% potty trained I can honestly say that I made the whole thing seem more like rocket science than what it really was. 2.5 months is still very young. I know when Sophie was that age I too thought she should be doing better and potty training. But looking back it was like asking a newborn infant to sit up on it's own. She just wasn't physically mature enough to do what I thought she should be doing regarding potty training. But each day we kept doing the same thing over and over. And when she did get a bit older, she figured it out. This is why my first response was "consistency and patience". I cannot say that there is any one "magic" thing I did. She was going to have accidents until she was old enough to understand that she had to go potty, feel the urge to go potty and then, be able to tell me she had to go potty. But if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, that is what she will associate with potty training when she does mature into it. Keep in mind, I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination. This was just my observation/learning experience with my own dog. I've read about many mommies on here who have their furbabies trained in no time flat. And I was envious! LOL! Good luck and keep me posted!

You could try not putting her in your bed, when I first had Choko he was really scared to be left alone, so I would put him next to my bed where he could see me and with a couple of stuffed animals. That's the only way he didn't felt alone/abandoned. Made up a confined space, so there was space for his crate and his pee pad. Just be patient, but if you don't want her to go on your bed (she'll keep doing it cause she's so small!!!) just put her in place she can do her business, sleep and still see you around :)

Thanks so much for encouraging me! I know patience is what I need but I just kept feeling bad because I was physically tired from work and still I had bath her twice a day, never-ending clean-up, and stopping her from attacking her 5 months old sister (I am so worried that if Piano gets pissed, she'd bite Violin to death, I have seen them playing, trust me, never nice unless I was there). Violin did very very well today, she did not soil her crate at all. Although I did manage to find a very small piece of poo on the blanket but I think that's from her coat. Overall, I am sooooooo proud of her today!:animal36:animal36:animal36

Do yorkies generally have problem with being potty-trained?

My experience with Sophie is that she would have a good morning and a terrible afternoon/evening. Then progressed to a good morning/afternoon with a bad evening. Finally to a good day then a bad day. So, be proud of her today (jump up and down and clap and be happy and she will be happy with you...it's cute and fun to watch them). But don't be disappointed if tomorrow is back to square one. Many will say that Yorkie's are difficult to potty train. This is for several reason. One being that they are tiny dogs with tiny inside workings. This in of itself makes potty training (IMO - take longer) than say a Lab. Add in their "stubborn" nature and you have double duty trying to get them to potty. But they are trainable. If I may suggest, I purchased a book when I first got Sophie. It was called "Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies". And it covered everything about them (in a very straightforward, humorous way). It was one of the best things I did for myself. I'm not implying your intelligence level in anyway, it just so happened to be the title of the book. :) I bought it at my local PetSmart. Truthfully, if Sophie has an accident (most times) at this point (8 mths old) it is my fault. Either I missed the signal, or thought "she couldn't possibly have to go she was just out an hour ago". And looking back, many times the errors were my own. Keep doing what your doing. Determine what you are going to call it, use the same word each time, treat when she goes, do the little doggie dance/potty dance, and move on. Do not scold her if she has an accident that you do not see happening. Only scold her on the ones you see happenening. (No hitting! Only a stern "bad girl". Disappointing you will be enough punishment for her cause she wants to make you happy) As they can't remember they went potty in the crate 2 hours ago and now you are scolding them for it. Sophie was 12 weeks old when I got her. I can honestly say that she really didn't start to get it till she was about 5.5 - 6 mths old. Then she got spayed at 6 mths. and we had a short set-back. Now, unless it's raining outside, she comes and barks to go out almost every time and actually does know when she's done bad (pee/poo in the house) as she'll go running off if you say "what did you do". This morning, for example, she left a little poop on my living room rug. But you know what? We had gotten out of bed and I know that the first thing I need to do is get her outside. But no....I thought I had a moment or two to feed the cats. Guess what? I didn't and she left a little poopy on the floor. So was it her fault? Nope, I don't think so. I was trying to push for a few more minutes knowing full well she probably had to poopy even though she hadn't started asking yet.
Another thing to keep in mind is that once they do learn the "i feel like I have to go potty" it's often at the last minute. You will see that progress also. It will all work out, as long as you stay consistant and patient. Hope today was another good day!! :D

Hi everyone...
new to this site and I must say, so far all the posts I have read in response to Violin's potty training issues are everything I went through with my yorkie, Bailey. Bailey is 4 years old and I still have minor issues with her doing her business inside...I tried everything from crate training (I also read dogs will not soil their crates...definitely not the case with Bailey), wee wee pads, diapers, standing outside for 45 minutes in the dead of winter to see who was more stubborn, me or Bailey-Bailey won! Some days were great, some days were horrible! Yorkies can definitely be trained to go outside, but I personally have come to realize that all of Bailey's business will never be outside. As we all know, yorkies are tiny-Bailey is only 3 lbs. and since she is 4 years old, she is done growing. I have realized that she can only hold it for so long (even compared to other yorkies), so I expect accidents. So, we have a compromise, and that is that the accidents are where I let them happen and when I let them happen. Unfortunately, due to my work schedule, Bailey is in her crate for approx. 9 hours a day (I know...horrible...I feel so guilty!). Since she is so small, I expect Bailey to have an accident in her crate b/c she physically cannot hold it that long. I don't like it, not just because she is peeing in her crate, but mostly b/c my poor baby has to sit with the pee all day. So each day, I replace the towel in her crate with a fresh one (Bailey has her own set of towels). At night, Bailey sleeps in our bed (this started happening when she was approx. 1 year old, before that she was in her crate at night). We put down two wee wee pads in our room (in the same spot every night) and Bailey uses those for her business, while we are asleep-otherwise we would be up every 2-4 hours taking her outside, even at 4 years old. These two instances are the only time "accidents" are acceptable and Bailey knows this...believe me. I say "accidents" in quotes b/c I no longer look at these as accidents-they are the nature of her extremely tiny bladder, my long work schedule, and my need to get some sleep so I can function. So, this works for us. Obviously, you need to find what works for you and I'm sure some people (especially dog trainers) would not agree with my methods or thinking, but I think you need to find what works for you and your yorkie. Good luck and don't get discouraged...it may take awhile...it did with Bailey, but we finally found what makes us all happy! Sorry everyone for the long-winded post.

Hi KJLife,

I fully agree with what you said, it would be my fault as well. For example, I was too tired in the morning to put them in the confined area, there you go, pooped on my bed and carpet. This afternoon I took Violin outside for 20 minutes when I was on the phone, I did not really see if she had done her business before I took her in, there you go, another pee-pee in crate. She was barking madly and I thought it was because I was away, and yet, not really. I have to say "consistency" makes all the difference.....

To be honest, I never scolded at her. She has heard my complaints about her, but that's about it, lol....

It is extremely difficult for me due to work so I really hope that she would start to get it soon. I know that I need to have more patience; however, I was just trying to see if there is any other alternative since books and articles always said that dogs do not soil their crate.

I have read the book you suggested. It is a very good book for beginners but lack of details that I am looking for. For example, if the concept of crate training is that dogs do not soil their beds and where they eat, what if they don't get it after 1 month? I think I would really want to read all the Q&A of such crate training. Hopefully Sophie and Violin can learn faster on housebreaking soon!:D

Honestly, I wouldn't expect her to hold it in her crate for more than 30 minutes. If she is in there longer than that, soiling her crate is not unusual at that age. Keep in mind that she is SO young, she may not even know when she has to go ahead of time. So the key to things now is to keep her empty. That means going outside, waiting for her to go, and immediately praising her and giving her a treat. Give her a little playtime and then she can go back in the crate until the next trip outside a little while later. Alternatively she can stay out if you are supervising her and ready to take her out if she begins to sniff or look for a spot. It will improve significantly by the time she is 4 months old and then again by 6-8 months.

Please keep in mind she is so young - it would be like expecting a 6 month old baby to be potty trained. She will grow quickly so give it a few more weeks and you will have much more success.

Also, please invest in a steam cleaner. It will save your carpets and allow you to clean things up without stressing. Ours was about $60 (Bissell Quicksteamer) and it's lasted through housetraining both dogs and I still use it for puke and drink spills. Best $60 ever spent. :thumbup:

I'm not picking on you, but this is important. My two are housetrained but that still means that when they gotta go, they gotta go :) When they wake me up in the morning they give me a little leeway (usually by sitting on my pillow and staring at me until I wake up) but when they go to the door and start whining, they NEED to go out or they will pee on the carpet. They ask to go out and will wait for me to finish what I'm doing, but they won't wait around while I sleep til noon. We go out around 7-8 and they eat breakfast and then we all go back to sleep.

You need to teach her the proper place to go. She's not going to guess where it is. Just because they are small does not mean they are like cats who know to use a litter box. They really do have to be taught the proper place to potty and once they realize it makes you VERY happy when they do that, they will continue to do it. Good luck! (My dogs are 3 & 4 and they still run back to me after going outside, as if to say "Look! I peed in the yard! I'm good! Give me cookie." :D)

Even at 3 or 4 pounds she shouldn't be going out every 2-3 hours at night. Heck Loki drinks at least a quart of water a day and he still sleeps through the night. She probably isn't sleeping at night because she sleeps all day. Can you leave her in a big pen during the day, rather than in a crate? The purpose of crate training is to prevent accidents, not to encourage them or even allow them. You are right, she knows better but can't hold it. You might solve both problems by hiring a dog walker - then she would not pee in her crate and she would sleep through the night.