NEED HELP Housetraining-- He's threatening to Make Me get rid of him
 

Please help =[

So we've had Bentley since April, he was born in February and since then I swear we have tried every single method and just cannot get him to stop going in the apartment. We tried the regular being him out on a schedule method, using treats and praise, limiting water intake, belly bands, strictly watching him, he's crate trained, and now we've taken to keeping him tethered 24/7. It's 9:30 AM, he's already been taken out 3 times and gone at least one time on each walk and still... we let him loose for 15 minutes and he went behind the couch.

It's so just... frustrating! He KNOWS that if he goes outside, he gets a treat. He'll jump right up at me for it right after he goes... but that doesn't stop him from going in the apartment all the time. He doesn't go in the same spots all the time, he just goes... all the time. I swear, we'll let him loose for an hour and find 3 different spots around the apartment.

We're at a complete loss. Boyfriend is losing his MIND. We've just bought a house and are moving in January and he's saying that if Bentley isn't trained by then, we have to give him away. I'm devastated. I don't know what to do. If that were to happen, I don't think I'd ever forgive BF but at the same time, I understand the frustration and I'm just at a complete loss. Help?

I would go out and get the book how to train your dog in 7 days.

How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days (Revised):...
I would not allow him to have run of the house. I would have a xpen. Or confine him to the kitchen and put up gates. I hope this helps. There is a lot of ideas if you search the YT site also. Good luck and keep us updated

Thank you! I ordered the book =]

Yeah, I've been lurking here forever. I don't post much, but this is sort of a last cry for help to see if theres anything I'm missing...

I feel your pain. I have a 15 month old Maltese, whom I've had for almost a year and he's still having accidents in the house. He's never had an accident in his crate, though. I've tried all that you've tried as well. I'm at a lost, too. I also have a 4 yr old yorkie who has an occasional accident as well. The problem is that I can't teach them to let me know when they need to go out. I've tried the Poochie bells and the tell bell with no luck. So, I'm not too sure what I've done so wrong with my maltes. :-( My biewer (6 months old) came to me pad trained, but doesn't mind going outside, so he's been a breeze. He caught on to ringing the tell bell all too well. He rings it everytime he wants to go outside, and not to potty, but to play. LOL. Maybe you could try the tell bell.

Yeah this isn't my first either... and I've NEVER had a dog this difficult. Ever. =/

My yorkie was the WORST to train and now it seems like my maltese is going to be the same way.

Forgot to mention, my Maltese started using the pads after seeing Bentley use it. I was shocked when he tried it for the first time, because I had never taught him about pads. He's not consistent, but I'll take it. I wanted strictly outside pottying, but if pads will make my life easier, I will have to accept it. LOL

Don't let him loose anywhere, keep him in a x-pen with a roll of linoleum on the floor until potty trained, then no more accidents around the house:D

Try reusable pee pads. Some just take along time. But at least if he goes on pee pads your not cleaning up carpet. Or indooor grass. Moki is hard to train. He goes on the porch on his grass pad. But I have a pee pad inside when he's stubburn. He goes on that all the time. Do give your dog free run either. Baby gate him to a room.You can use a belly band also when you are playing with him in the house.

These endearing little stubborn terriers...they will use any methbd they can to show THEY have the upper hand!! I just LOVE that about them! Of course, I am the very same way, so it is an ongoing challenge with each of my dogs, about exactly WHO runs the show, and I have learned, you have to let them think they have won whatever the battle is, while actually you have successfully trained the behavior in your little soul! (FYI: This theory works just as well with BF's)
FIRST: It takes absolute persistance, consistance, and determination on your part, that this strong willed little mite is going to do what YOU want....of course, you being the thinking, reasoning adult, you are going to have to adjust your desires to make them "fit" the capabilities of the baby! Get your book, read it thoroughly, and then follow the method given. I NEVER let mine run the entire house, unattended. They are allowed to roam around the room I am in, where I watch them constantly. If necessary, I would try the tethering technique. I PERSONALLY never had luck with washable pee pads when I was training dogs...they could NEVER understand how they were to know THAT rectangle piece of quilted material is a pee pad, and THAT rectangle piece of cloth OVER THERE, is my RUG!!! All pee pads around here are disposable! There is no way they can confuse my rug for a disposable pad. You have to know the QUEs you baby gives you, that he is looking for a place to potty. Then you have to WATCH him every second...if you see him in "hunt mode", ie nose down to floor, running all over the room, clearly searching for SOMETHING, you MUST, once again, for the tenth time in the last 5 minutes, take him outside to potty. Or, confine him in his ex-pen which is lined in pee pads.... If at any time, for ANY reason, you can not have your eyes on him so you can interrupt his indoor-on-the-floor potty behavior, you have to confine him or take him with you to another room (the tether method works great). CONSISTANCE!!! PERSISTANCE!!! COMMITTMENT!!! DETERMINATION!!! (and a little suggestion from an old lady that has been where you are in your life stage....I would "train" BF to understand HE can control the yard, the garage, the car, etc, ANYTHING outside the home....but YOU control the inside of the house, and the budget....if you think you need his assistance in those two areas you will ask for help, otherwise BUTT OUT AND DONT BE ISSUING ME ULTIMATUMS!.....you will determine who stays and who goes from the inside of the house, you are the homemaker and the inside of the home is the females domain....the house and the budget are under YOUR control.....he can have all the rest. If you have managed to snare a control freak who wants to rule the entire kingdom, well you best find out about THAT now....it will save you a whole bunch of heartache, money and trouble later down the road!) Good luck with both your precious little Yorkie and that "rule issuing, ultimatum declaring BF"!!!

:thumbup: You're a marvel Yorkiemom1!!!! :D

I personally wouldn't give a Littlie of your baby's age run of the whole house - it's asking for trouble. What if he pee'd on something electrical? :eek:

Also - has he been neutered? He might be marking, and that would cut down on the problem.

Has he been checked by your Vet - excessive pee-ing might be a sign of a UTI.....

Good luck, and please stick with him! :) Sally x

One thing getting an ultimatum with your dog. But it's the same thing if your girlfriend says the inside of the house is mine outside is yours. If you pay 1/2 you can keep the dog on your 1/2. If I pay 100% maybe I'll let you keep your dog in a room. My money I budget it. You budget yours. I pay for everything. I let my wife have what she wants. I still control all the $$.I make it all. I keep my dog in my room because it's my dog. She works and keeps all her $$..Why do I still share mine?? But back to the topic. Sounds like you give your dog free roam that need to stop.

Bentley is still a puppy correct? Was your BF part of the process of getting Bentley? I promise I am not trying to make you feel bad but I really think you need to tell the BF to get a grip. House training requires patience and consistency. A lot of people have given great suggestions and I totally agree with not allowing him free roam. We noticed Georgie's accidents occurred at night so we took the steps away from the bed. He won't jump and is forced to wake my husband or I up if he has to go potty. He has been accident free since. There is a solution but your BF has to be on board too and not take the easy way out by rehoming him.

Even if you do get him trained... expect severe backsliding when you move... they usually need retraining in a new home.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Excellent post!

Thank you so much for all the advice. We signed up for an obedience class with our vet so *fingers crossed* that if it just a behavioral issue where he feels more dominant, we can change that. We're also going to have him checked for UTI just in case, though it doesn't seem likely.

And hurrah for backsliding... at least when we move, we're moving into a house rather than this apartment and we have a lovely fenced in back yard! Hah!

Kiki uses a potty pad I would prefer outside but the first 9 months of her life she was never allowed out doors( first owners) she has accidents when our schedules change and when she first moved here. She is crated trained and I place her in her crate after an accident and tell her bag dog. I do believe she understands but we are taking baby steps to outside

Well I would get rid of my boyfriend before I got rid of my furbaby! :p Haha. Just kidding. We trained Rosie by limiting her access in the house until she was fully potty trained. It worked wonders! She WILL NOT go potty in the house. Period. I even beg her to use puppy pads sometimes and it is a NO!

Mikki on the other hand, we got at 1 year old. We immediately gave her full run of the house and have had lots of potty issues with her. I now have puppy pads down and if that don't work I am going to limit her freedom until we get her fully trained. It worked so well with Rosie it is worth a try.

Sounds like you have good advice and a plan (classes). Good luck and hope it works for you!

Any training you do use, please make sure it is positive based. The dominance theories have been debunked so don't ever use them-they don't work and will make things worse. It is also true that when you move to a new house, you have to start training again.

I have a 6 year old Yorkie and he still isn't 100% trustable. When it is wet outside, he doesn't want to go outside. Peeing is a hit and miss at night so he wears a belly band for the night. When he isn't feeling well, he sometimes poo at home and that is understandable for me. If you do decide to give him away, just make sure you won't regret it down the road because if I were in the same situation, I will resent my partner for making me rid of my dog because there is just no way I would do it. Sorry to say but I find that dogs are most loyal to their owners compared to their man.

I am not an expert but here is what I do. Continue to crate train him. Don't let him run around if you can't watch him. Try to take him out on a schedule. Take him out first thing in the morning. Take him out after he eats or drinks. Don't let him drink or eat in the evenings. This is something I use on my puppy Khloe and my older dog Kirby. " No potty, no freedom". I try to take them both out around the same times each day. If they don't use the potty they stay in the crate. Make sure you are using a cleaner such as nature's miracle to wipe up any accidents. Make sure when you take him outside go the same spot and praise, praise when he goes potty. Don't give him away because of house training. It takes patience and work. You may two may need to tag team the potty training. Can your mate take the puppy out when you can't? Remember never punish or scorn him. This will not help the probem. If you catch him about to do his business inside, pick him up and rush outside. Please keep in mind that sometimes they may have accidents . Dogs are not perfect just as we are not perfect.

Here is the link to my site and the tips for potty trainnig that I have used for each of my dogs with success !

Training Tips - Dawn's Yorkies

Hope it helps ...

Helped me...thanks Dawn

Potty training
 

I will live without my precious Yorkie being trained before I cage her. All she wants is to love and be loved. She is my companion, my friend, my guardian angel. I am diabetic, severe arthritis, and narcolepsy. She comforts me when I hurt, warns me when something is awry. It may take longer my way, but it will be worth it in the long run. :r

Once they have established their scent in a marking spot even a house trained dog will have the urge to go over it.

You must remove all the scent, steam clean, paint the wall, block thay spot from access again until potty training is completed sucessfully.

I am printing this for future reference! You are so righhhttt and wise!

I would try the puppy pad too like some others have mentioned. I know some yorkies who go outside and on the pad. My Cruz hated the puppy pads, he was would shred them to pieces! One thing that worked for me when Cruz was a puppy, was always taking him out the same door. Eventually, we would find him standing near the door and we would immediately take him out. Also, taking him out a lot!! But it seems like you are doing that. I would always take him out after a nap or after he was playing a lot. I remember noticing that he always had to go after playing.

Dog give up! Hang in there! He can be trained! :)

I was just wondering how things are going with your pup. . . . And also your BF

Potty training ways
 

I have raised and trained many many yorkies. Please remember that it can take upto a year to housetrain a small dog, especially yorkies. The method I use it keeping them in a gated area inside the house. My favorite was a play yard you can find them in the childrens section of a walmart. This is usaully tall enough he cant jump over. Break it down and only use 4 pieces. Only put in it a bed and a potty pad. I always use two pad holders with the pads. Make sure to put one on the inside of the gate directly under the other one making a "L" shape. This will give him a place a potty if needed. Or you could a potty patch "grass like" but make sure you put a barrier so he doesn't shoot out of the playpen. The key to this is CONFINING his space. Giving him access to the entire house is BAD NO NO. He has no idea where he is suppose to go so he goes everywhere. Taking him outside and giving him a treat is teaching him nothing. Now taking him outside and waiting until he potties and saying at the EXACT time he is going, "POTTY" and rewarding with a treat when exactly finished is making that connection of potty outside good. When he potties in the house. Stop him immediately and run him outside do not yell or say anything just stop him for going in the house and take him outside, if he then goes outside at the EXACT time say potty and reward. Remember the key to any kind of training is rewarding at the exact time they do what you want. Running him outside after eating with make him potty. Take him out and play play play. What I am thinking you are having a hard time training him is because of the timing and probably that you dont have a large enough area outside gated that he can run in. When using a leash to take a dog out to do his business it can be very difficult for a young puppy because their attention span is so short. So maybe you could buy a few of the play yards and put them together to make one big one for him to run in outside. Keep him in the play yard inside the house only or in your arms. If you can't watch him 1000% then play yard him. It takes time it does, MONTHS sometimes years. The KEY is keeping him confined. If you work long hours and can't take him out every 3 hours then you must give him a place to relieve himself. I have a three pound yorkie and she can't hold it for more than 4 hours so I use PishPads for her. They are awesome. Please dont give up on him read the books and do your homework after all you have already invested in a life rehoming him is unfair to him.

You are very welcome !! :D

I can understand why you dont crate your pups with all of you medical problems. Thats great that your pup is such a great companion for you, plus I never said that it was for everyone. It es a trial and error process with each and every pup. I have fortunately had great success with it.

There is nothing better in this world than a cuddle from a YOrkie !! :)

Simple Solution
 

My pup was not going on the puppy pads very well, and I was determined to outside train her. I bought this spray at the pet store. It is called "Simple Solution" Indoor\Outdoor Repellent. I sprayed it almost everywhere, and after a week, my girl was completely outside trained.

Is there a smell to the spray? That humans smell