Housebreaking regression

[dropmyload]

Good morning,

At the outset let me say thanks for adding me, I just got a yorkie puppy and found this forum online and it seems very helpful.

My puppy was born on 31 May 2018 and I got her on 28th July.

We have been working on housebreaking and so far she has done quite well, just a few accidents.

She normally goes for potty in the garden except at night, when we have a puppy pad in the bathroom for her.

So far she has been ok, but suddenly over the last week she has stopped using the pad and does potty on the tiles. I have no clue what has happened but its very frustrating.

Any idea why the regression/refusal to potty on her pad?

Below is her daily routine:

Wake at 5.30 am to potty on puppy pad indoors
Back to sleep
Wake at 7.30 am, play in garden, potty, have breakfast
A full day playing inside and outside with family members and house helps, potty mostly outside with occasional accidents indoors when someone has forgotten to take her out
Dinner at 7pm, potty outside
Bedtime at 8.30 pm
Wake at midnight to potty on puppy pad indoors

[lilgidget]

Hmmm. Am sure someone on YT will have a some good suggestions for you. Went through this with Gidget for a while but soon everything settled down and back to normal. Have there been any physical/emotional changes going on in the household? They seem to be very sensitive to feelings.

[dropmyload]

Nothing of note tbh, its just bau.

I have been racking my brains to figure out why she suddenly doesn't like her pads and prefers the tiles.

[matese]

Your puppy isn't even 12 weeks old, it's still a baby and accidents are going to happen. My 4 yorkies were 100% pad trained at 5 months old, after all vaccines were given (they were 5 1/2 mos old) I started training for outdoor potty only, at 7 months old they were 100% trained to potty outdoors only with no accidents in the house and gained free roam on entire home. Potty training on pads or outdoors is not a over night thing, it takes time and lots of patience with high value treats and lots of praise when she makes where she is supposed to. Outdoor potty should be on a schedule same time every day even if she has made on the pad or floor take her outside. Dogs are creatures of habit, once you start something they expect it every day, reason why a schedule is a must for outdoor potty time.

[KatysMom]

Originally Posted by matese

Your puppy isn't even 12 weeks old, it's still a baby and accidents are going to happen. My 4 yorkies were 100% pad trained at 5 months old, after all vaccines were given (they were 5 1/2 mos old) I started training for outdoor potty only, at 7 months old they were 100% trained to potty outdoors only with no accidents in the house and gained free roam on entire home. Potty training on pads or outdoors is not a over night thing, it takes time and lots of patience with high value treats and lots of praise when she makes where she is supposed to. Outdoor potty should be on a schedule same time every day even if she has made on the pad or floor take her outside. Dogs are creatures of habit, once you start something they expect it every day, reason why a schedule is a must for outdoor potty time.

She's a baby.

Hope you can find ideas in the article at YorkieInfoCenter, "House Training a Yorkie."

[dropmyload]

I agree, she's a baby. However, she listens to my wife LOL but not to me anymore.

[matese]

Regardless, at 12 weeks old if she goes on the pad 1/2 the time and misses 1/2 the time it's not a big deal, it's a big deal when she goes on the pad rewarded with a treat and high value happy praise. Much patience is needed when pad training or house breaking, treats and high value praise,hand clapping, happy dance when she does what you want her to do. These yorkies want to please their humans, if she is food motivated she will want that treat and will try her best to do what she has to do to get that treat. Also, these wee lil babies have small bladders and just cannot hold their urine, may be the reason she is missing her pads.

[dropmyload]

Ok, so I tried to move the pad to the other side of the bathroom. So far, so good, suddenly she's back on the pad.

This is my thinking: The pad was originally next to the bathtub where she gets her bath...which she doesn't like, at all. I just moved it to the other side and she seems fine with that.

Ah the intrigues of my yorkie....I love her!

ps for the last two days she hasn't had to go until 5.30 am after going to sleep at 830 pm.

[KatysMom]

Originally Posted by dropmyload

Ok, so I tried to move the pad tot he other side of the bathroom. So far, so good, suddenly she's back on the pad.

This is my thinking: The pad was originally next to the bathtub where she gets her bath...which she doesn't like, at all. I just moved it to the other side and she seems fine with that.

Ah the intrigues of my yorkie....I love her!

[matese]

Originally Posted by dropmyload

Ok, so I tried to move the pad to the other side of the bathroom. So far, so good, suddenly she's back on the pad.

This is my thinking: The pad was originally next to the bathtub where she gets her bath...which she doesn't like, at all. I just moved it to the other side and she seems fine with that.

Ah the intrigues of my yorkie....I love her!

ps for the last two days she hasn't had to go until 5.30 am after going to sleep at 830 pm.

That's really great news, these lil yorkies have quirky lil ways soon you will find this out lol. At 12 weeks old and using the pad that is really great progress for this breed. Remember treats and high value happy praise is a must for success.

[dropmyload]

I dont give treats but I praise and cheers her when she gets it right. This is only for the night, during the day she does he potty outside in the garden.

[matese]

Giving food reward gives dogs more incentive to do what you want them to do, once they have learned what you are training them to do the food reward can be stopped and voice praise only used. Cheerios is a great food reward, they will work hard for that one tiny little cheerio.

[matese]

Forgot to add, your 12 week old puppy should not be outdoors until she has had all her vaccines, although your outdoor garden may be fenced in and safe to you, wild critters such as squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, moles, birds all carry disease that your puppy can be affected by. Your puppy should be kept indoors until fully vaccinated.

[KatysMom]

Hi there,

My little one is about six weeks older than your sweetie. Based on our vet's advice, she had her first "ground about" this morning.

Based on this morning's experience, Little Dutch sees the outside world as one big salad bowl. EVERYTHING has been put there for her sniffin' and lickin' pleasure--that includes every ant, twig, pine cone, nut, seed, bird dropping, leaf and flower.

Needless to say, she'll be on the leash and under a watchful eye for quite a spell, until we are confident she has some "consumption" control.

Admittedly, the schedule this little one has been on lags by several weeks compared to that which applied to our late senior sweetheart. Katy (d. March 2018) didn't suffer any puppy health issues, but I know now that was as much luck as anything else. I'm also far more aware of what "could happen." We made the decision that it just wasn't worth rushing things.

Gotta love these little ones. --KatysMom

[canana]

Glad to hear you've found a solution by moving the potty pad!

My Casie is also potty pad trained (she's turning 3 years in October). She was a tough one to potty train... I had to limit her to one room when I'm away at work. I had to remove all mats from my condo (because she thought those were all her potty pads too). And, I tell her how amazing and how smart she is every time she poops and pees outside.

While visiting my mom's house, I make sure to keep a stash of potty pads there too. I used to put one pad in the corner and she knew to go there. But randomly, she picked a spot on the other side of the large kitchen to pee on (it was apparently she was marking, not 'needing' to go). Each time we went to my mom's, she would pee in both spots, one after another. So we had to succumb to Lady Princess Casie's needs and put two potty pads in each spot so she could leave 2 small pees in each spot. hahaha...