At my wits end....
 

My Yorkie is 6 months old and when we got him a month ago, he was trained to go potty outside or on his potty pad. I had him neutered last Friday and ever since he has been going to the bathroom everywhere, but the potty pad. What is going on!!!!???? He was doing so well and I was praising him...now it's like he is doing the opposite. Has this happened to anyone else, where it's lilke starting over. We only had him two weeks and then my husband deployed to Iraq. I don't know if that makes a difference or not, but he hasn't been himself for the last week and it's a rare occurence when he goes on his pad. What do I do??????? I'm here by myself with him now and am so upset with this digression. Help!!! :mad:

I'm sorry to hear you are having troubles. I'm not sure what advise to give you. Trixie was crate/kennel trained, so I never dealt with potty pads (which I am regretting on those nights when I take her out on below zero temperatures ;) ) I guess I would say, keep sticking to it. Praise him when he does go on the pad. When you catch him in the act, tell him 'no' and carry him to the pad. I think eventually he'll remember.

I hope you are doing well with your husbands deployment. I know what that's like :usastar:

What I have noticed with my own dog Ted is this....
If something in his life changes or he goes through
something traumatic in his eyes he also will regress
for a short time. Stay consistant with him and it
shouldn't take long for him to get back on track.

potty training
 

I am not an expert on this, other than my own experiences. I find that whenever I make even a subtle change, to my yorkie's life, she has set backs. Even now when she is over three years old. If he was at the vets office overnight or more, that could have changed his training habits. I only have owned females and my yorkie spent a few days at the vets office, after being spayed. Therefore I would think that even at the best vets, they do not take care of them in the same manner as we do. They are caged overnight and even if there is someone there, they will be so busy that they will not tend to every whimper or whine.

Just being in different surroundings, possibly at times, even a groomer, will change their ordinary behavior. I know that beside being excessively tired, Reese tends to be very withdrawn and almost angry that I left her at the groomers. She is never put in a cage and does not understand that concept at all, anymore. We stopped using her crate at about six months old.

I would do just as the other member said, consistency is the best policy. Even if it means going back to the beginning. He will pick it up again very quickly. Don't give up though. I bet in a few days he will be back to himself. It just takes time. I also felt when I was uptight about her setbacks, she must have felt it and would behave even "worse".

Just last week Reese decided that she doesn't want to sleep in her bed, which is right next to ours. I felt as if I was the mom of a newborn baby again. I wouldn't let my husband make a sound at night, gd forbid he coughed or moved. I literally spent the night wondering if she was going to wake up and cry out for me to take her out ( she sleeps in a crib and can't get out herself). We went through everything I might have changed. From the sheet on her crib, to her stomach bothering her, to her needing the television on, to her stomach bothering her, to her being too cold.. you name it. I put an insert inside of her crib, I put a blanket on her.. yes, I am nuts.. and if she makes it through the night without crying or trying to climb out, it is reason to celebrate. I had also had a rescue group come to my home to do a home visit for approval and her own rescue urinated on my area rug.. for a few days Reese started having accidents. So, like I said, it doesn't take much to set them off from their regular schedules and behavior.

I am sure he will go right back to his appropriate housetraining.. just work with him and continue to be patient and loving. He will come around. They are very similar to humans, and they will experience various changes in their behavior every now and then. Good luck to you.

Randy and Reese

Oh my gosh...I seriously don't know what to do. I actually caught him in the act a second ago and I said no and put him on the pad, but he was already done. I put him in his crate. I know I shouldn't use that as punishment, but I can't keep letting him pee on the floor and then clean up and leave. I spend a lot of time with him so I don't know what the deal is. He was so good up until a few days ago!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

at my wits end
 

Like I said, you just have to wait it out. It is like having a newborn. If he was left in a cage, he was free to make as he wished. He was scared and confused. I really do not necessarily believe in punishment, especially in the crate. The crate is supposed to be a place that they love going into it. You want him to feel safe and secure in there. At this point you will end up adding another problem.. he will bark and cry when he is placed in his crate. The only thing that can ever be done is what the other person said:

If you catch him in the act, you pick he up and bring him to the pad and praise him when he is done.

If you do not catch him in the act most professionals say you can stand on your head, yell at the top of your lungs and they will not know what you are upset about. I get the feeling that they do know, so I usually just say no, bad girl and show her the pad. It is all about patience, commitment, and love. Good luck.

What I have done with Teddy in the past is I put his leash
on him and attach him right to me so I know where he is at
every second. Then I just keeping bringing him outdoors like
every hour. When he does what he is suppose to we have
potty parties to get him back into the routine that going out
side is the good thing. It only takes a couple of days and he
is either sick of the leash or sick or going outside so much
that he just falls back into the good habits once again. The
main thing is be patient and be loving. The bigger deal you
make of it the bigger deal it will become.

I can't help you much but I can say I know what you are feeling. I have 2, yes 2 babies and I am going nuts most of the time. My boy is great about going outside. Everytime we go out, he does both his thing but the girll! No way. She will if giving tons of time. They do use the paper in the house lately but They all regress for various reasons. Sometimes, you just need a break from them. Mine are so naughty that I sometimes regret getting them but then...they look at you with such love. Hang in there.

When Dudley was fixed he did the same thing. I called the vet and he said it was the steroids that they shot him with. He has no feeling there and will go back to normal when he heals. This must have been true because after a couple weeks he started to use his box again. Maybe you should call your vet to see if they used steroids on him too.

I am actually going through something similar with CoCo. She is actually almost 7 months old. She was spayed on Nov. 22. She poops everywhere. Before she was perfectly potty trained. I am beginning to think she's doing it on purpose because when she sees me coming she runs and hides in her crate. I don't know what to do.