HELP! He was trained to go potty outside, but now I need him to go inside

[speedyb]

Hello,

I love my little Oliver [just turned 1 year last Friday]. He was pretty easy to housebreak, and is very good at only going to the bathroom outside. I never used pee-pads with him because I was very adamant that he would never learn that it was okay to pee indoors... but that is when I lived in California.

I just moved to Indiana, and trying to
1. get him ready for the winters, and
2. get him ready for the few days I am gone on a work trip and he is home by himself for hours upon hours [my husband usually is out 5:30am - 8:30pm this time of the year]

I am trying to prepare him for this by training him to pee inside. I even got the grass-like mat and the pee-smelling spray. He refuses to use it. I have been trying to be good at this and consistent, but it is turning out to be a mess of accidents and lots of crying from him. It is currently 11:15am and he hasn't gone to the bathroom since 10:30pm last night... I feel like I am torturing him. He cries and runs to the door because he has to go to the bathroom, and I have been dragging this pee pad all over the apartment in hopes that he will understand that if he uses it he will get a treat, lots of praise, and bladder relief.

As long as I am here, I am willing and able to walk him, even in the snow. I will even get him those little booties. But I am not sure having a 6.5-lb. dog in a snow storm would be the best, and more immediately I am worried about my work trip for next week.

I am not sure what else to do. I truly feel like I am torturing him, and I know this will be for his own good come the blizzard season. Please help. I am about to finally take him outside because now I am afraid he is going to get a UTI.

[MY OSCAR]

Originally Posted by speedyb

Hello,

I love my little Oliver [just turned 1 year last Friday]. He was pretty easy to housebreak, and is very good at only going to the bathroom outside. I never used pee-pads with him because I was very adamant that he would never learn that it was okay to pee indoors... but that is when I lived in California.

I just moved to Indiana, and trying to
1. get him ready for the winters, and
2. get him ready for the few days I am gone on a work trip and he is home by himself for hours upon hours [my husband usually is out 5:30am - 8:30pm this time of the year]

I am trying to prepare him for this by training him to pee inside. I even got the grass-like mat and the pee-smelling spray. He refuses to use it. I have been trying to be good at this and consistent, but it is turning out to be a mess of accidents and lots of crying from him. It is currently 11:15am and he hasn't gone to the bathroom since 10:30pm last night... I feel like I am torturing him. He cries and runs to the door because he has to go to the bathroom, and I have been dragging this pee pad all over the apartment in hopes that he will understand that if he uses it he will get a treat, lots of praise, and bladder relief.

As long as I am here, I am willing and able to walk him, even in the snow. I will even get him those little booties. But I am not sure having a 6.5-lb. dog in a snow storm would be the best, and more immediately I am worried about my work trip for next week.

I am not sure what else to do. I truly feel like I am torturing him, and I know this will be for his own good come the blizzard season. Please help. I am about to finally take him outside because now I am afraid he is going to get a UTI.

well i guess one thing you could try would to place a potty pad just outside the door that he uses.
put a leash on him and take him out place him on the pad and encourage him to use the potty pad by saying go potty , if he does praise him like crazy and give a treat.
practice this for awhile. if he gets to use the potty pad outside the door consistently them move the pad inside the door.
when he goes to the door place him on the pad and say go potty if he does give a treat.
you may have to do this a million times.
yorkies are very smart as you know so i am sure he will catch on

[IamYorkie]

Originally Posted by MY OSCAR

well i guess one thing you could try would to place a potty pad just outside the door that he uses.
put a leash on him and take him out place him on the pad and encourage him to use the potty pad by saying go potty , if he does praise him like crazy and give a treat.
practice this for awhile. if he gets to use the potty pad outside the door consistently them move the pad inside the door.
when he goes to the door place him on the pad and say go potty if he does give a treat.
you may have to do this a million times.
yorkies are very smart as you know so i am sure he will catch on

+1

I think a treat is missing in the equation. Let us know how it goes.

[chachi]

I live in Indiana and mine go outside om the winter when its real cold amd snowy they will go outside quickly and do their business if there is too much snow they go on the porch

[southernlady]

Originally Posted by MY OSCAR

well i guess one thing you could try would to place a potty pad just outside the door that he uses.
put a leash on him and take him out place him on the pad and encourage him to use the potty pad by saying go potty , if he does praise him like crazy and give a treat.
practice this for awhile. if he gets to use the potty pad outside the door consistently them move the pad inside the door.
when he goes to the door place him on the pad and say go potty if he does give a treat.
you may have to do this a million times.
yorkies are very smart as you know so i am sure he will catch on

Ah - great suggestion! I'll try that with Reggie. Reggie is completely housebroken and, like speedyb, my main concern is in relation to weather, more specifically severe weather. When Hurricane Isaac hit us Reggie used his pee pad once, and that's because I could not get him outside and he hadn't used the potty since about noon that Tuesday and he finally used it at 3am the next morning. I haven't been able to get him to hit it once since then.

[YorkOfTheShire]

I agree with your feeling that you're torturing him (sorry). Such a good little baby to know he has to go potty outside. It could lead to health issues if he's holding it inside his little body for that long.

Does your hubby not have a lunch hour that he could come home and take him out or does he commute and it's too far from home?

...is there no way that a very trusted friend could come over twice a day to let him outside for you until your husband comes home around 8:30pm? I realize you said you just recently moved, so it's possible you don't know anyone in Indiana, but if you do, I would definitely take that route.

In regard to winters - buy some warm dog clothes and little doggy socks for him - he'll be just fine. There are several members here that live in very cold climates year-round and their Yorkies do very well.

[MY OSCAR]

hey , i hope it works.
yeah, it gets very cold here too and lots of snow.
one winter we got 3 ft in one storm.

[YorkOfTheShire]

In addition to what I said above, whenever we move to a new city (which isn't often but it happens) the first thing we do is look for the best vet in the area with the highest recommendations, reviews and history - I'm sure you did the same.

Is there any way you can contact your new vet and ask if there are any certified veterinarian assistants in the office who would like a new side job for a short time? Perhaps they could come over and let him out twice a day for pay.

I would definitely not trust just anyone, but those are a couple of suggestions (my first post and this one) that I myself would do if I absolutely had to - I wouldn't force my dogs to go inside once they're trained to go outside.

[bobohyde]

Occasionally, we have snowy winters. When we have snow, we shovel an area near a door that Columbo can go in. If you can shovel low enough to get a bit of ground showing here and there, that helps. Columbo really needs to smell the grass or ground to "get in the mood". As far as the long days, you can try collecting a bit of pee to pour on the pee pee pad to see if that lets your pup know that's a place it's ok to go.

[Lula-Mae Famous]

I'm dealing with this issue as well. Just moved back to Boston.
Lula is only 3pounds. When they are that small it makes it a bit more evil to shove them outside on a freezing cold day.

[MikaTallulah]

I would look for dog walker recommendations from neighbors, vets office, groomers, etc. to take him out several times a day.

Mine are fine in the slow- They do potty very quick when it is snowing heavily with wind. Roxy my littlest will go down the steps potty and then come right back. Cozy will play in the snow. Lucy just potties where someone else goes. Mine have gone to Vermont during sky season with snow higher than they were- I just shoveled a path for them and they were fine. I am not asking them to stay out of hours just 5 minutes to potty.

My theory is as long as the potty is outside it is fine. They use the driveway which gets shoveled most often in the winter.

[Cherie6446]

good suggestions here. You could also put up a fence with the pee pad inside the fence and keep the space small. Does he lift his leg? You might add a flower pot for him. lolol

[southernbelle04]

Our KS is indoor pad trained. We used the Potty Training Puppy Apartment system and she did very well learning with it. It was a bigger purchase, but definitely worth the money for us. I no longer buy the pads from their website (www.modernpuppies.com). I buy them at Tractor Supply. When she was getting the hang of it, I would praise her every time I could with a small treat. She caught on quickly. Good luck to you!

[lynzy420]

Originally Posted by Cherie6446

good suggestions here. You could also put up a fence with the pee pad inside the fence and keep the space small. Does he lift his leg? You might add a flower pot for him. lolol

Off topic for a minute so I can laugh...omg this is too funny!!!

You have the same thought process and or humor as me!!! Thanks for the laugh...

Back to topic.....how are things coming along now?

[Minniesmthr]

In our area, there are a lot of pet sitting services who will petsit or just come by during the day to let dogs out. To me, it would be worth it for him to continue going outside to do his business. He is a good boy who knows he is supposed to go outside and you may end up being very sorry if you try to reverse this.

Good luck!

Cathie