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09-18-2005, 11:39 AM | #1 |
YT Addict Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 358
| Potty Training Methods I thought it might be a good idea for us to tackle the most frequent issue with training Yorkies (housebreaking). To do this, I thought it might be nice to get everyone who has gotten their potty training perfected to share their methods here for others to read. I'm kinda curious to see what methods have worked, and which haven't, and to consider trends that might help influence new puppy owners to make informed decisions about their methods. I'll begin with the way Chewy was potty trained. I'll allow that it might have been easier for me because Chewy is about three times as large as your average Yorkie...but it worked when he was smaller also, so perhaps this isn't so much of a factor. We had this working semi-reliably in weeks, and it was solidly trained in about three months. No accidents in god-knows-how-long. I've lifted this summary from an older thread so that some of the potty training people here today might read it. Type: Outdoor On-Command Method (learned from "Puppies for Dummies") Allowances: My Yorkie is big, that might have helped. He is not crate trained, but somone has always been at home to watch him. Stress-poo was not considered an accident but a result of his seperation anxiety. We ignored that and it slowly went away on its own, seperate from his other training. He is walked once or twice a day. Result: 100% accident free for many months, goes on command. -------------------------------- Potty training went VERY smoothly. He had the basics in a week or so, and had it down by 7 months age. We NEVER scolded him for going inside, we ALWAYS cleaned up the messes using a commercial (or vetterinary grade) pet-odor remover, being careful to leave no trace. We also followed the directions for out-door potty training that were listed in the "puppies for dummies" book. We went by the letter and it worked really well for our Yorkie, you might give it a try...Here's a summary of the method: First recognize the signs, and keep a mental timer, always wonder "hmmm, does Chewy need to go?" If I saw him walking in circles, suddenly aport playing, sniff the ground as if tracking something but not going a really specific direction, and walking "that walk", then I knew. When I wasn't sure, I took him out anyway. Have a phrase for regular out-door visits for that purpose. We chose "Pee-break!". Get excited, it's FUN to go on a pee break! Yay! We always make him sit on the mat in front of the door (using a treat until he gets used to the ritual) while we clip to his harness. This gets him in obedience mode. I notice he's different when in "working mode" than when in "love me" mode, or "play" mode. Then, we use the short leash and bruskly walked him to a specific out door location that we used every time. If he sees rain or feels like being a pain, he'll try to stop and make me drag him. To avoid this I pull the leash to my hip, and give it almost no slack and pull UP. This leaves him almost suspended by the leash and harness, but not really and not painfully. I'm sure msot of you know all this, but just for the new yorkie owners DO NOT FORCE ANYTHING WITH A COLLAR ON A YORKIE. NEVER tug a yorkie by the neck, you migh kill your dog. Anyway, the tight leash pull-up should make him scramble his feet to keep up with you, kinda air-walking and mostly supported by back paws. Don't overdo this, but I found it a critical part of the process. A Yorkie will likely see rain or smell something odd or just feel like going inside where it's warm...gotta be firm. Usually the tight and up leash trick gets him back to obeying and walking along with me. In 20 seconds, I have brought him to his place. At this point, be all-business, completely serious. "Chewy, watch me" To get hte eye contact... "Go Potty!" Happy voice. Look away from him and wait. Don't make eye-contact until he begins. Don't let him pull me elsewhere or anything. The leash is fixed to my hip (by my thumb) like a training lead. He's not going anywhere and not getting one ounce of attention until he does what I need him to do. Since he's a puppy, and he hasn't gone in a while or didn't last time I took him out, ect, I KNOW he's got to go. So I wait. Once he "assumes the position" I begin prasing: "Goooood Potty Chewy, Good boy! Good potty!" When finished I give him a treat and let him lead me about the yard if he wants, or go back inside at a leisurely pace. His understanding becomes "business first" and fun thereafter. Chewy took to this system VERY quickly. In the total time I've had him (~3 months) there have been something near 30 total accidents. 1 in the last 30 days. ----------------------- Those of you with 100% potty trained Yorkies should also contribute to sharing your methods here! |
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09-18-2005, 11:54 AM | #2 |
Love my Yorkies Donating Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: New Port Richey, Florida
Posts: 2,339
| 100%! Well thats not Bell, but here is my 2 cents (for what ever its worth) Bell didn't like wee wee pads, She ate them, She cried non stop when put in a kennel or cage! So we put her in the laundry room when ever we were not around. She ripped the walls open, and did whatever damage she could. But what I did do right was the bell hanging from my back sliding glass door. We rang it everytime we went out.. I must have rang that darn bell 1000's of times, and she never paid it much attention, or so I thought. Then one day we hear this bell ringing. Could it be!! To our surprise Bell was ringing the bell, and she uses it everytime she wants out. It has worked for us, mostly except you really need to get up and let her out when ever she rings it, even if she is driving you crazy ringing it every few minutes to go in and out. Because that first time you don't listen, there goes the accident. Now we have Lilly and she stays in her kennel all night, when I take her out I put her on the wee wee pad and she does use it most of the time, I have just moved the pad to outside and now she uses the one outside too! She is also staring to ring the bell, even though I don't think she knows why yet! She is only 3 months old.
__________________ Karen~ Bell, Lilly and Peter's Mom Rest in Peace <3 |
09-18-2005, 12:13 PM | #3 | |
YT Addict Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 358
| Quote:
Just a suggestion! Oh yeah, the bell method works wonders *or so I hear*. Last edited by Hamoth; 09-18-2005 at 12:14 PM. Reason: forgot to say: | |
09-18-2005, 12:19 PM | #4 |
BANNED! Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: California
Posts: 1,043
| Bailey's FINALLY (at 8 months) almost 100% potty trained. I've always used crate training as a way to help potty training. And NONE of my dogs have taken this long, they've all 'gotten it' within a month. I don't agree with 'wee wee pad' training, I don't want my dog to go to the bathroom in the house. So we started him on outside training right away. We'd take him outside every 20 min when he was tiny and then at night or when we weren't home he was put in his crate. He NEVER went to the bathroom in there, thank goodness. When he got a little bigger we'd take him out every 30 min and then every hour, ect. We'd ALWAYS say "Bailey go potty" when we were outside with him, I think being consistent helped. I started putting a belly band on him last month and that has helped as well. At first he peed on it (himself) but for a week or two now when I take it off of him, it's been dry. And he hasn't had pooped in the house in a few months now.... |
09-20-2005, 03:53 AM | #5 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 19
| When we got Zoe we were up with her about every 2 hours or whenever we heard her move in her sleep crate and we took her outside. We found that she just liked to sniff everything and play. She also did not like us to watch her and we were afraid to not watch her because she was so tiny, so we decided it was best to just train her to go inside. We bought a crate that was big enough to put the Nature's Miracle pad in them and every two hours or if she moved we put her in it shut the door, we then left the room (about 5 minurtes) to give her privacy. If she went we gave her a treat, if she didn't we put her back in her sleep crate, which was just big enough for her to move around in. (She only had one accident in her sleep crate and it never happened again we made sure to wash it good to get any smell out.) After she slept awhile and when she woke up in the morning we would put her immediately in her potty crate and shut the door and she would go. She was not out of our sights or out of her hands grasp until she was fully potty trained. It took about 2 weeks to a month and she was fully potty trained. If we saw her sniff around we snatched her up and put her in her potty crate. If we were not able to surpervise her, then she went in her sleeping crate. She did not have a chance to make many "mistakes", becuase we watched her like a hawk. She will not go unless she has a pad, so we make sure we have them whereever we go. She is now 17 months and all we have to do is put her down in the morning when we get up and tell her to go potty and she runs to her crate and you hear her jump in it and she goes immediately. We do not reward her with treats anymore, we just tell her good girl if we see her do it. However she does have hangers ever now and then so if we see her cowering in a corner or not answering when we call then we know she has a hanger and we have to help her get it off. I was amazed at how quickly she learned. It took alot of sleepless nights, but it was definately worth it in the long run. We got her when we both knew that one of us would be with her at all times that way her training was 24/7. It was after my first year of graduate school for psychology, so I guess you can say Zoe was my first experiment. I guess behavior modification paid off. My advice try not to give them a chance to fail, becuase they do want to please you. Make sure you set boundaries with them and be consistent. Pretty much just like raising a child. Hope that helps and good luck.
__________________ (¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ Allison - Jennifer - Grayson -Zoe '´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯) Last edited by TexasYorkie; 09-20-2005 at 03:56 AM. |
09-24-2005, 02:06 PM | #6 |
Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 291
| Fagan is almost 5 months old and we are training him to go outside. We have a crate but he was peeing and pooping in it pretty consistantly so we got an x-pen. When we are going to be gone, we set up the pen in the kitchen. His crate goes in there with the door open. We also leave water bowl and put down a pee pad. So far so good. He pees on the pads, but if we aren't gone too long he's holding it more and going outside when we get home. We tried just leaving him (and the older Corgi ..who is totally house trained...) in the kitchen when we were gone but he peed all over. Too much freedom I think. Also, when we are home we have gates up in the kitchen..we spend alot of time in there...but have no pads down. He has started to whine or yip at the back slider to go outside and is doing it pretty consistantly. We always praise him for "telling us" that he wants to go out and we [B]never[/B] ignor a request...even if he just wants to go in and out because I want him to solidly know if he makes noise at the door it will be opened and he can go out. We use a belly band when he's out of the kitchen, but he's never peed in it. Anyway..I agree that you have to be very consistant in whatever method you use to train because otherwise it confuses them. We never yell at our baby if he has an accident in the house.. I tell my hubby.. Go get the paper and whack me with it ..because I wasn't watching my dog!!1 Bad Owner!! |
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