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05-17-2009, 03:45 PM | #1 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lake City FL
Posts: 343
| Best methods for potty training Ok, when I bring my baby home next month I am going to need to know the BEST way to housebreak her. My dad will be home with her during the day BUT takes lots of naps. What would be the best method for housebreaking her considering he will not be able to take her out every hour. When we housebroke our chi I was on maternity leave and was able to take her out every hour and she house broke wonderfully. I don't know if Roxy will be able to do this. Should we pee pad train her? Should we use a crate during dads naps (dont normally exceed an hour). If he is going to nap for more than an hour should I use a playpen with a pee pad? I did this with Leia (my chi) and she never used the pee pad (she held it) and she wasn't confined to a crate for a long period of time. Also should I get a washable pee pad or disposable one? Does one work better than the other? Oh the questions I have....... |
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05-17-2009, 05:48 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chicago Suburbs
Posts: 3,306
| When I crated Loki and he had to go potty he would cry or whine loud enough where I would wake up (like in the middle of the night) and we would go out. If you already have one that is house trained and you have someone home for most of the day I would definitely take her out every hour when possible, confine her to the crate during naps and take her out immediately after. Probably what will happen is that if your dad can play with her and wear her out, she will nap when your dad naps. Get a crate that is small enough so that she does not have accidents. Don't put a pad in the crate, since that defeats the purpose of crate training. If you decide to use pads use them in a pen instead. I don't think you will need them. Any accidents she has from being so small will probably stop once she is around 4-5 months old and it would take more effort to pad train her in that time and confuse her. You can't just put pads in the pen and expect them to just use them, you have to actively watch them and reward them and actually train them to use the pads. Since you already have one trained to go outside I would just stay consistent with that. My two ring a bell to go outside - maybe you could try that so that when she is older and has more freedom she can ring the bell to wake your dad up when she needs to go out? |
05-18-2009, 04:33 AM | #3 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lake City FL
Posts: 343
| Thanks so much for all the advice. As for bell training, thats a great idea. Do you have any ideas on how I can do that when she gets older? |
05-18-2009, 06:35 AM | #4 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chicago Suburbs
Posts: 3,306
| Bell training is great because it teaches them to give you a signal when they want to go outside. A lot of dogs learn quickly that the preferred spot to potty is outside - especially if they learn potty outside = treat The problem is often that they don't know how to communicate that they need to go out. Loki would gently scratch at the front door and whimper and i wouldn't hear him. Sam lays on the mat - but if I'm upstairs how do I know? Some dogs walk by the door, start to circle, bark (but you don't know why) or other signals they basically "make up" The bell is a great way to help them choose a signal you can both understand. You just put a bell by the door (either a register bell on the floor, or a bell on a ribbon hanging next to the door - two products out there are Tell Bells and Poochie Bells) Every time you go out, take their paw and ring the bell, act like they did it and praise them, and then go directly outside. After they get it, start encouraging them to ring it without help. If they stand by the door say "ring your bell" and encourage them to do it. Again praise them and go right outside. If they do it on their own, even if it's just to try it out, go right outside. ANY time they ring it, go right outside. This makes them associate the bell with going out! Don't worry, once they are trained you will learn if they are ringing it for real or not. Mine don't ring it just for "fun" but they do ring it when they want something like more water. We just figure out what they need and then we all go outside anyway. They also went from having no signal to ring bell...wait... ring ring ring... wait... lay on the mat and be cute...wait... whine, bark, run in circles, come get me and bark at me, etc. when they want to go outside. When they were puppies it was more like ring..wait..pee on floor if no one comes So I would just have to drop what I was doing to let them out (I don't now, they can wait 5 minutes as long as I let them know I heard them) I'd rather drop what I'm doing to let them out than to clean up an accident! I hope that helps and good luck! OH, I almost forgot. The very most important aspect of Yorkie house training is going outside with them to give them the treat as soon as they go (AND make sure they actually go and are not being sneaky!) Otherwise if you just give them a treat when they come back in they have no idea why they are getting the cookie. Do that for the first month or two until you get a good routine and it will help tremendously. So many people just let them out in the backyard to explore and then they come back in and pee You have to go out with them and make sure they are empty. I still go outside with Sam after dinner to make sure she poops after dinner because otherwise she gets distracted by birds, squirrels, leaves, etc. Now I mostly just stand on the porch and just watch them, but I remember many days when training them that I spent walking back and forth on the driveway waiting for them to go! Feeding on a schedule helps too. It helps you predict when they need to poop. Do 2 or 3 meals a day and you'll get 2-3 poops a day, generally right before or after a meal. |
05-18-2009, 08:13 AM | #5 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Lake City FL
Posts: 343
| WOW! GREAT REPLY!! I am definately going to try bell training. Not only is it cute and effective but I think it sill make a huge difference! As for going out with them...I will always be going out with her as we have some rather shady neigbors that I don't trust not to steal her or do something to her. GRR its a shame at people these days. Oh well, thanks for the advice. I will definately try everything you said. |
05-18-2009, 08:24 AM | #6 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chicago Suburbs
Posts: 3,306
| You're welcome! I didn't know about the bell until Loki was a little older and trained, but he would still have accidents by the door because we didn't know he needed to go out. He didn't do anything wrong, it was us He picked up the bell in like 2 days and once he realized "cool, i ring this, i get to go out, i get a cookie" he was good to go Sammy took a little longer to figure out the bell, even with Loki's help, but she got it. I feel like a butler some days but that's OK because I can let them be wherever they want in the house. I used to have to keep them in the same room as me because they would be napping and then wake up and need to go out and I would have no idea. Now they sleep wherever and when they wake up and want to go out, they ring the bell. It's awesome! The bell is just awesome because it teaches them they need to ASK to go out and that we will respond. That seems to be the part of the training they don't get right away. My two are to the point where they come and yell at me (!!) if I don't come right away. So they definitely get it! |
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