Is your Yorkie potty trained? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Mister Big · 03-02-2011, 04:11 PM

If so, please tell me your training methods, thoughts, and suggestions! Thanks.

miabellaamoure · 03-02-2011, 04:17 PM

Ummm...not every day!

Sorry...I just couldn't resist! Here's the thing, Yorkies have small bladders and are also very stubborn...so, not all Yorkies are 100% potty-trainable (IMO!).

When at home we do potty breaks every 2-3 hours and always have piddle pads available for those just can't wait moments or they just don't care moments.

Maximo · 03-03-2011, 05:43 AM

Yes.

My boys are both pad and outdoor trained. I believe the key to our success is praise. We throw parties for every good potty. Both inside and outside, they receive lots of positive attention for doing it right: "Good boy! Woohoo!" My younger boy dances. I often give a kibble reward.

Having ready access to a pad or outdoors is also important. If you use pads, make sure that the pad isn't on the other side of the house from where your pup usually spends time. For outdoors, give your pup ample opportunity to get outside. Teach the pup to use a bell (either on the floor or hanging from the doorknob) to tell you that he/she needs to go outside.

My boys also like the process of cleaning up or taking care of their business. They follow me when I pick up the pad to bring it to the trash, and outdoors they want their poopies picked up with a bag. It's a positive ritual to them, if that makes sense.

Good luck!

Maximo · 03-03-2011, 05:51 AM

Want to add: don't scold for accidents. If you find a spot, casually clean it up with an enzyme cleaner to eliminate the scent that may attract the pup to return to the spot and potty again.

If you catch your pup in the act of going potty in the wrong place, say "uh uh uh" or "uh oh" and bring your pup to the appropriate place, pad or outside. By that time the pup will probably not need to potty, but it is a good way to reinforce the idea. Use keywords and phrases to indicate where to potty.

Make everything a positive experience.

yorkie cuddling · 03-03-2011, 06:49 AM

I had my girl outdoor trained at about 12 weeks. She even started asking for the door at that young age. I was able to be at home every day and I would bring her out every half hour to and hour to go pee, and every time she went I would give her a lot of praise and love. When I brought her outside I would say" go peepee", and now I can tell her to go peepee and she will squat and go on command. If she made a mistake in the house I would bring her to it and say "NO, NO" and then bring her outside. I can't remember the last time she went pee in the house and she just turned a year old. This was successful for me, I hope you find something successful for you and your little one.

Britster · 03-03-2011, 07:06 AM

I believe that any dog can be potty trained 100%. It's up to the owner and how much work they put into it.

Jackson is 99% outdoor potty trained. He has never ever gone in someone else's home (and we dogsit so I visit a lot of other peoples homes) and is completely trustworthy to be set free in a strange home. He is 100% at my dads house where we sleep one or two nights a week.

The only reason I say 99% is because if I ignore his signs, he will go to the other side of our house and poop in the living room but it's rare that it happens. It's always my fault... sometimes I'll have just brought him inside and then he starts barking at the door again but I ignore him thinking he just wants to go play outside again, and that's when he will go poop in the house, lol. Needless to say, I don't ignore him anymore and an accident hasn't happened in a long time. I also give him a ton of freedom, the house is rather long, if I just kept him back in my section of the house, he would never have an accident period.

As a pup, I had him on a very strict schedule. For about 3 weeks, he was in the crate whenever I could not keep my eye on him 24/7. We'd wake up around 7am, go outside to potty and I'd praise and treat like crazy when he went. Then we'd have our playtime from about 7-8am where I never took my eye off him. Then back in the crate he'd go, etc, we'd do this throughout the day. If I took him outside and he did not go, he'd come right back inside and go in the crate so he did not have a chance to have an accident. Set them up for success. He has had free roam of house now since 5 months old.

I see so many posts where people are like "omg! he won't get housetrained!" but they are giving the pups free roam, they are taking them outside and when they don't go, they bring them back in and let them have free roam and THEN they go! And then people don't understand... "He was JUST outside!! Then he comes inside and goes!! I don't get it!!" Well puppies aren't programmed to know English or know what we want from them... we have to teach them. If pups lived in their own perfect world, they'd go potty wherever they pleased.

tammyjo · 03-03-2011, 07:54 AM

Molly is 13 weeks and we haven't had an accident in the house yet. I take her out regularly. We get treats when we come in if we potty outside. At night she sleeps with me about 8 hours and doesn't have to pee until we go out when we wake up. I think it has a lot to do with how observant you are. And always remember they have little bladders so not long after drinking or eating, playing, and napping they will usually need to potty. And the positive reinforcement with treats has always worked. And with Molly she does her business a lot quicker when she knows she will go in and get a treat if she does.

gumbysuz · 03-03-2011, 09:22 AM

Dori is totally trained. It took 9 months of supervision and consistency. I taught her to ring the bells and her sitter taught her to use a doggy door and AstroTurf patio pad. The patio pad really came in handy during our several snow days this winter. I am retired, so she was never out of my sight. At 3 months, she slept through the night 8-9 hrs. in her kennel.
IMO the key is consistent routine and vigilance.
I am also a big advocate of crate training.

baby yorkie · 03-03-2011, 10:46 AM

Ally and Tia are both 100% potty trained outside. I think it helped that I was home all day. I put a superyard xt in my back yard when we adopted Ally at 8 weeks. I put her in there to potty and tried not to let her out until she did. Sometimes I ran around the pen to get her excited to make her go. I spent many nights walking her before bedtime also so she would go before she went to bed in her kennel. Praise alot, puppy treats if your baby likes them, and make a word/phrase for potty. Ally soon learned that after she pottied, she could run around the back yard and play. She did not do well in her kennel at night away from me or when we were away from home. When I switched her kennel to my bedroom at night, she was perfect!!!! When we left the house, I put her with our elder pek in the family room (puppy proofed). Although Ally is tiny at just over 3 lbs, she can hold it the longest. Tia did very well also, but recently had an accident in my living room. The terrible recliner scared her to death, she paniced and pooped on my carpet. Other than not feeling well and being scared out of their little bodies, I trust them 100%. Mine did not do well with puppy pads. Ally shreds them and Tia eats/chokes on them! Good luck!

yorkietalkjilly · 03-03-2011, 11:57 AM

Yes, Tibbe was 9 mos. old when I got him. He was "wild" and un-pottytrained but after months of crate-training, he is totally clean in the house. Oh, yes, and he was neutered shortly after I got him which I've read makes a big difference in males, at least. And when I say "crate-training", I mean anything but "jail" with a poor little baby left for long period behind bars. Just get some of the online articles and a book or two about appropriate crate-training methods(or a smaller pen - which didn't work as well to me so changed to a 3 X 2.5 ft crate). Good luck on your efforts.

JasmineNoelle · 03-03-2011, 12:01 PM

Yes...was crate trained..now uses a doggy door.

Hobofan · 03-05-2011, 07:59 AM

Our pup was housetrained at about 6 months for both. We have trained her for outside pottying. She caught on to the signals for "pee" quicker than for "poo".

We hung a small windchime beside the door and everytime we took her out we hit it and said "outside". She began to associate the windchime, outdoors, and pottying and pretty soon would "nose" the windchime when she wanted to go out.

The only other tip I have is that I wrote out a schedule so I could see when she needed to go out and then followed that for a while (I'm at home during the day so this worked well).

You'll start noticing your dog's signals soon. For us the signal was pacing.

Good luck!

MinniesMom10 · 03-05-2011, 08:13 AM

Minnie is trained for the pad, we have had a really harsh winter and I did not want to take her outside in the freezing temps. Her sweater took almost 4 months for fit her and she is 6 months old. She goes on the pad during the day but I noticed at night she does not. There is another dog here that does not like her and she is not ours. We have to keep him away from her. I plan on taking her outside for lots of walks everyday when the ground dries up which it has been completely saturated here in Missouri for over a month. She loves it outside though.

dawn27 · 03-05-2011, 08:45 AM

On thing that I alwys did when training my dogs was to first teach them their NAME.... And than the command "COME" using a lease and gently pulling it toward you while saying "name and a firm COME command" is the best way to accomplish this. Once they know that it's easy to get them potty trained. You call them to you (name and a firm COME command) and when they come to you (say - lets go outside and go potty) get them excited about going outside. And of course after they do praise, praise, praise always!

I have some more training tips on my web site if you want to read them, hope they help !!

backwardsrain · 03-06-2011, 02:26 PM

To train my puppy I got at 9 weeks in December, we took him out every 45-60 minutes. The weather was just awful for weeks after we got him, it was miserable. We wrote down when he went so we could keep track of when he needed to go next.

By 18 weeks he was reliably ringing a bell and we started allowing some free roam, but lately (at 22 weeks old) he has started to go in the house again! Very disappointing, so we are going back to watching him and putting him in a pen which he will (almost always) not potty in. He also can't hold his pee through the night, and will wake up 2 times usually to go out. He is almost 9 pounds, so the size of his bladder shouldn't be a problem. I really hope he will be able to hold it through the night as an adult.

We are planning on getting a doggie door when we can find someone to install it. Hopefully that will make everything easier.

03-02-2011, 04:11 PM	#1
Mister Big Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Lexington Posts: 30	Is your Yorkie potty trained? If so, please tell me your training methods, thoughts, and suggestions! Thanks.

03-02-2011, 04:17 PM	#2
miabellaamoure ♥YORKIERESCUE.com♥ Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Menifee, CA Posts: 8,708	Is Your Yorkie Potty Trained? Ummm...not every day! Sorry...I just couldn't resist! Here's the thing, Yorkies have small bladders and are also very stubborn...so, not all Yorkies are 100% potty-trainable (IMO!). When at home we do potty breaks every 2-3 hours and always have piddle pads available for those just can't wait moments or they just don't care moments. __________________ Jo Ann Abby, Bella , Phoebe & Violette....

03-03-2011, 05:43 AM	#3
Maximo ♥ Maximo and Teddy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 25,041	Yes. My boys are both pad and outdoor trained. I believe the key to our success is praise. We throw parties for every good potty. Both inside and outside, they receive lots of positive attention for doing it right: "Good boy! Woohoo!" My younger boy dances. I often give a kibble reward. Having ready access to a pad or outdoors is also important. If you use pads, make sure that the pad isn't on the other side of the house from where your pup usually spends time. For outdoors, give your pup ample opportunity to get outside. Teach the pup to use a bell (either on the floor or hanging from the doorknob) to tell you that he/she needs to go outside. My boys also like the process of cleaning up or taking care of their business. They follow me when I pick up the pad to bring it to the trash, and outdoors they want their poopies picked up with a bag. It's a positive ritual to them, if that makes sense. Good luck! __________________ Kristin, Max and Teddy

03-03-2011, 05:51 AM	#4
Maximo ♥ Maximo and Teddy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 25,041	Want to add: don't scold for accidents. If you find a spot, casually clean it up with an enzyme cleaner to eliminate the scent that may attract the pup to return to the spot and potty again. If you catch your pup in the act of going potty in the wrong place, say "uh uh uh" or "uh oh" and bring your pup to the appropriate place, pad or outside. By that time the pup will probably not need to potty, but it is a good way to reinforce the idea. Use keywords and phrases to indicate where to potty. Make everything a positive experience. __________________ Kristin, Max and Teddy

03-03-2011, 07:06 AM	#6
Britster Action Jackson ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 17,814	I believe that any dog can be potty trained 100%. It's up to the owner and how much work they put into it. Jackson is 99% outdoor potty trained. He has never ever gone in someone else's home (and we dogsit so I visit a lot of other peoples homes) and is completely trustworthy to be set free in a strange home. He is 100% at my dads house where we sleep one or two nights a week. The only reason I say 99% is because if I ignore his signs, he will go to the other side of our house and poop in the living room but it's rare that it happens. It's always my fault... sometimes I'll have just brought him inside and then he starts barking at the door again but I ignore him thinking he just wants to go play outside again, and that's when he will go poop in the house, lol. Needless to say, I don't ignore him anymore and an accident hasn't happened in a long time. I also give him a ton of freedom, the house is rather long, if I just kept him back in my section of the house, he would never have an accident period. As a pup, I had him on a very strict schedule. For about 3 weeks, he was in the crate whenever I could not keep my eye on him 24/7. We'd wake up around 7am, go outside to potty and I'd praise and treat like crazy when he went. Then we'd have our playtime from about 7-8am where I never took my eye off him. Then back in the crate he'd go, etc, we'd do this throughout the day. If I took him outside and he did not go, he'd come right back inside and go in the crate so he did not have a chance to have an accident. Set them up for success. He has had free roam of house now since 5 months old. I see so many posts where people are like "omg! he won't get housetrained!" but they are giving the pups free roam, they are taking them outside and when they don't go, they bring them back in and let them have free roam and THEN they go! And then people don't understand... "He was JUST outside!! Then he comes inside and goes!! I don't get it!!" Well puppies aren't programmed to know English or know what we want from them... we have to teach them. If pups lived in their own perfect world, they'd go potty wherever they pleased. __________________ ~ Brit & Lights! Camera! Jackson! CGC ETD TKP ~ Follow Jackson on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jacksontheterrier

03-03-2011, 06:49 AM	#5
yorkie cuddling Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: USA Posts: 37	I had my girl outdoor trained at about 12 weeks. She even started asking for the door at that young age. I was able to be at home every day and I would bring her out every half hour to and hour to go pee, and every time she went I would give her a lot of praise and love. When I brought her outside I would say" go peepee", and now I can tell her to go peepee and she will squat and go on command. If she made a mistake in the house I would bring her to it and say "NO, NO" and then bring her outside. I can't remember the last time she went pee in the house and she just turned a year old. This was successful for me, I hope you find something successful for you and your little one.

03-03-2011, 07:54 AM	#7
tammyjo Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: ottumwa Posts: 72	Molly is 13 weeks and we haven't had an accident in the house yet. I take her out regularly. We get treats when we come in if we potty outside. At night she sleeps with me about 8 hours and doesn't have to pee until we go out when we wake up. I think it has a lot to do with how observant you are. And always remember they have little bladders so not long after drinking or eating, playing, and napping they will usually need to potty. And the positive reinforcement with treats has always worked. And with Molly she does her business a lot quicker when she knows she will go in and get a treat if she does. __________________ Tamara <3's Molly

03-03-2011, 09:22 AM	#8
gumbysuz Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: WA state Posts: 250	Dori is totally trained. It took 9 months of supervision and consistency. I taught her to ring the bells and her sitter taught her to use a doggy door and AstroTurf patio pad. The patio pad really came in handy during our several snow days this winter. I am retired, so she was never out of my sight. At 3 months, she slept through the night 8-9 hrs. in her kennel. IMO the key is consistent routine and vigilance. I am also a big advocate of crate training. __________________ Suzi & Dori Vicki, Meggie, Snookie, Peach

03-03-2011, 10:46 AM	#9
baby yorkie YT 500 Club Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: USA Posts: 947	Ally and Tia are both 100% potty trained outside. I think it helped that I was home all day. I put a superyard xt in my back yard when we adopted Ally at 8 weeks. I put her in there to potty and tried not to let her out until she did. Sometimes I ran around the pen to get her excited to make her go. I spent many nights walking her before bedtime also so she would go before she went to bed in her kennel. Praise alot, puppy treats if your baby likes them, and make a word/phrase for potty. Ally soon learned that after she pottied, she could run around the back yard and play. She did not do well in her kennel at night away from me or when we were away from home. When I switched her kennel to my bedroom at night, she was perfect!!!! When we left the house, I put her with our elder pek in the family room (puppy proofed). Although Ally is tiny at just over 3 lbs, she can hold it the longest. Tia did very well also, but recently had an accident in my living room. The terrible recliner scared her to death, she paniced and pooped on my carpet. Other than not feeling well and being scared out of their little bodies, I trust them 100%. Mine did not do well with puppy pads. Ally shreds them and Tia eats/chokes on them! Good luck!

03-03-2011, 11:57 AM	#10
yorkietalkjilly ♥ Love My Tibbe! ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: D/FW, Texas Posts: 22,140	Yes, Tibbe was 9 mos. old when I got him. He was "wild" and un-pottytrained but after months of crate-training, he is totally clean in the house. Oh, yes, and he was neutered shortly after I got him which I've read makes a big difference in males, at least. And when I say "crate-training", I mean anything but "jail" with a poor little baby left for long period behind bars. Just get some of the online articles and a book or two about appropriate crate-training methods(or a smaller pen - which didn't work as well to me so changed to a 3 X 2.5 ft crate). Good luck on your efforts.

03-03-2011, 12:01 PM	#11
JasmineNoelle YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: USA Posts: 2,774 Blog Entries: 1	Yes...was crate trained..now uses a doggy door. __________________ Jasmine's, Prissy's and Maggie Mae's Mommy

03-05-2011, 07:59 AM	#12
Hobofan Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Chesterfield, VA, USA Posts: 60	Yes it will happen! Our pup was housetrained at about 6 months for both. We have trained her for outside pottying. She caught on to the signals for "pee" quicker than for "poo". We hung a small windchime beside the door and everytime we took her out we hit it and said "outside". She began to associate the windchime, outdoors, and pottying and pretty soon would "nose" the windchime when she wanted to go out. The only other tip I have is that I wrote out a schedule so I could see when she needed to go out and then followed that for a while (I'm at home during the day so this worked well). You'll start noticing your dog's signals soon. For us the signal was pacing. Good luck! __________________ Hobofan

03-05-2011, 08:13 AM	#13
MinniesMom10 No Longer a Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Columbia, Missouri US Posts: 274	Minnie is trained for the pad, we have had a really harsh winter and I did not want to take her outside in the freezing temps. Her sweater took almost 4 months for fit her and she is 6 months old. She goes on the pad during the day but I noticed at night she does not. There is another dog here that does not like her and she is not ours. We have to keep him away from her. I plan on taking her outside for lots of walks everyday when the ground dries up which it has been completely saturated here in Missouri for over a month. She loves it outside though.

03-05-2011, 08:45 AM	#14
dawn27 2+2=4 X the Love ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Bean Town Ohio Posts: 9,456 Blog Entries: 1	On thing that I alwys did when training my dogs was to first teach them their NAME.... And than the command "COME" using a lease and gently pulling it toward you while saying "name and a firm COME command" is the best way to accomplish this. Once they know that it's easy to get them potty trained. You call them to you (name and a firm COME command) and when they come to you (say - lets go outside and go potty) get them excited about going outside. And of course after they do praise, praise, praise always! I have some more training tips on my web site if you want to read them, hope they help !! __________________ Mommy to: Quincy, & Ruby Bella / Miah & Brandi Gone but Never Forgotten Visit: Bella Dawns for all of your Custom Pet Wear needs.

03-06-2011, 02:26 PM	#15
backwardsrain YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Nashville, Tennessee Posts: 290	To train my puppy I got at 9 weeks in December, we took him out every 45-60 minutes. The weather was just awful for weeks after we got him, it was miserable. We wrote down when he went so we could keep track of when he needed to go next. By 18 weeks he was reliably ringing a bell and we started allowing some free roam, but lately (at 22 weeks old) he has started to go in the house again! Very disappointing, so we are going back to watching him and putting him in a pen which he will (almost always) not potty in. He also can't hold his pee through the night, and will wake up 2 times usually to go out. He is almost 9 pounds, so the size of his bladder shouldn't be a problem. I really hope he will be able to hold it through the night as an adult. We are planning on getting a doggie door when we can find someone to install it. Hopefully that will make everything easier.