Age Old Question Are Yorkies Harder To Potty Train
 

Okay all of my fellow Yorkie lovers, I have two burning questions: In your humble opinions, are Yorkies harder to potty train than the other small breeds and secondly, how many of you have Yorkies that are let's say 90-99% potty trained? Over the years, I've had 3, one was 99% potty trained to go outside, second one had an untimely death at 5mths so I can't really say and the last one was 80% potty trained. It's like she would do so well running to her paper when she had to use it and it's like she would get amnesia and drop and squat on the carpet. She knew she was wrong when she did it, because she would run and get in her bed afterwards or go hide under my bed. I just don't get it.

I want another Yorkie so bad I can hardly stand it but I have carpet in EVERY room with the exception of my bathroom and the kitchen. Lastly, I've had dogs all my life, 2 poodles and 1 Pekingese and a Chihuahua and they got the hang of it fairly fast. They would all "hold it" all day.

I anxiously await your replies.

I love Yorkies I really do :)

Good question :) Miko for example, was 100% potty trained at an early age in a fairly short amount of time. It all depends on the doggie I think, but I think they're really intelligent and quick to learn things :)

Joey was about 95% trained at 4 months. It's *my* belief that Yorkies probably aren't any harder than other breeds who are as small as they are, but are definitely harder than larger "small" breeds.

for those that had dogs that trained early...
 

what method did you use? My little guy has done great today but only because I have taken him out every hour!!!! :D

excellent question Lisa
 

yea First Yorkie, inquiring minds want to know - what did you do to get yours on board with the program!!

Chloe is not 'all yorkie' so I am not sure if that has something to do with it but she is 99% potty trained and has been at least since I got her at 10 weeks.

The 1% is only for new things. If I buy her a new blanket she pees on it one time and then doesn't again. (marking territory I guess)

She always lets us know when she needs to go outside. If it's dark and everyone is asleep she will just quietly go on her puppy pad and go back to bed.

Wow
 

Wow, she's such a big girl and a cutey too. You are luckeee

Good question! Did most of you crate train? I want to be consistent from the beginning.

Shelby was 99.9 % wee pad trained by about 5 months. if your home is mostly carpet get a water proof shower curtain or piece of linoleum and put the expen on that with the wee pad for a safe place when you aren't home.

put another one in the kitchen and gate it off. this way the pup has 2 places to go potty in the house. every time you see her do a good potty, give her a treat. as you see her making progress, give her a little more freedom and see if she goes back to the right spot.

if she does have an accident be sure to clean it up immediately and get rid of the odor.

it works.

With my experience. I have potty trained 3 and tried to a Shih Tzu and Yorkies are by far the easiest. Wyatt has started to jump over in the tub if it's really bad weather outside raining really hard he will go upstairs and jump in the tub. I've got to say I would much rather pour a little bleach in the tub as to be cleaning the floor.

I've found that they are harder to potty train than any other dog we've ever had. I'd say that Gracie is 99% potty trained and Rebel is 95% potty trained. Will once again have to do this with London which I am NOT looking forward to. :rolleyes:

We potty trained him to go on puppy pads...Of course at first he didn't know where to go, but when he peed off the pad, we dabbed a little of the pee up with the pad, so that his scent would be on it. Then, we put that pad down in its place.
If that makes any sense to you guys...I can clarify if need be. hehe
Also, the first day, we let him show us where he wanted to pee, meaning that if he picked a spot where he liked to pee, we would put a pad down there. That way, he always peed on his pad, and we would tell him "good boy" and throw a "PARTY"! He loved how excited we got over that and responded very well. Positive reinforcement is definitely the way to go, hehe :)
Then slowly, we started taking away pads, and putting them where we wanted him to go, moving them over just a little each time until we got them in the right spots.
He was completely trained within 2 months :)
Sorry about the long post, I just wanted to be as detailed as possible :)

Thanks for the advise!!

It's gotta be the bells
 

Loki is fully housetrained. He is trained to go outside only, no pads. We crate trained, and he still stays in his crate when no one is home (not all day). He's a year old. He has been reliable since about 8 months, but still had the occasional accident. HOWEVER, since installing the bells he's had no accidents. I love the bells. My little monster is pretty awesome too!

ETA: We had lots of potty parties too! And he still gets a treat for going outside.

bunjee's 18 weeks now and we're going on 2 weeks without an "off pad incident". he'll actually look for the potty pad to pee now instead of going on the potty pad if he see it, or anywhere he wants if he doesn't. he'll even poo on the pad, but he'll also take the poo off the pad and play with it or eat it. (bleh)

but i want to note, he's pottytrained at home. he's not as reliable elsewhere. i still have to watch him like a hawk in other people's homes.

Emmie was 99% trained by at least 1 year if not sooner. We live in the country and she is the first indoor puppy we have had. She is trained to puddle pads since we do not have fenced yard and have to worry not only about coyotes and owls but neighbors' large dogs. We now have a new puppy who is proving to be as difficult to train as Emmie was. If I keep her in an enclosed area she goes right to her puddle pad and when I get her up during the night I take her to the laundry room where the floor is covered in puddle pads and she goes to one pad and uses it consistently. But, if she is running loose in the house she will wet and poop on the carpet every time. I feel that in time she will get the hang of it just like Emmie did, it just takes lots of patience.
Barbara - Emmie Simone and Izzy B's mom

Baxter is 13 weeks old and is 99 % potty trained on a pee pad. I have one in the kitchen and one in his x pen. He is in his x pen when we are gone and then relates to this when the gate is open, he will run in there rather than go all the way in the kitchen. He has been way easier to train then my mini dauchshunds. I say 99 because he is 100 percent pee but occasionaly has the accident with the #2. He also gets treats (nutro puppy drummies) and loves it when he is praised. I have never scolded him, thought he would react badly. he is awsome. :animal36

About a year or so ago Emmie used to come and tell me when she had an "accident". She would scratch on my leg and then hang her head. I would go to see what she wanted and would find a "spot". I could not believe she was telling me she had messed up!!! I have had to take it really easy on my new little girl, Izzy B. as she has had seizures and lots of vet visits and medical care, so I don't want to traumatize her by being too strict with the training. I think she is doing really well for everything that she has been through.
Barbara
P.S. I sure wish I could get my little girls' pictures under my name. I have tried reducing them over and over to the required 75 x 75 pixels but it just won't work. Obviously there is a way because everyone else seems to be able to do it. I have the computer guy coming out next week and I am going to see if he can get it done for me!!!!

go to the for sale section and look at avastars by passionfruit...shes great

:thumbup: That's great, lisakurth! That's exactly what needs to be done! Take him out (or to a pee pad, whichever method you choose) as often as possible so that he gets used to feel of the chosen substrate under his little feet. You want to try to minimize the number of times they get to practice doing it wrong.

I'll tell you more about what I did with Joey (but it will be long :rolleyes: )

Whenever Joey went potty outside, I gave him a high value treat - tiny tidbits of cheese or leftover meat - and praised him lavishly (in an excited, little girl voice: "you are the best puppy ever! You are so smart! I am so lucky to have you"). Then, we could run around the yard and play; no playing before pottying.

When I caught him pottying wrong, I said "no" and hurried him outside to finish. If he did, he was rewarded as above. If I found pee or poop after the fact, I said nothing, but I expect I did sigh heavily. That's all it takes for a dog to understand you aren't pleased. [There is no need to reprimand a dog more than I what I've described - all you teach them that way is that it isn't safe to potty around you. Then they go run and hide to do it.]

I contained him in the laundry room which was covered in newspapers when I couldn't keep an eagle eye on him. (He came to me about 50% paper trained). I made no comment whatsoever when he pottied there. Personally, I wouldn't have minded him being trained to use both - outside primarily but newspaper under special circumstances, but he gave up on the newspaper (no treats earned there).

Also, when he was learning, while he was pottying outside appropriately, I said softly (so as to not distract him) "go potty". This was so that he would learn what "go potty" meant. You can't just order a dog "go potty" and expect him to understand what you mean. :animal36

Once he caught on to pottying outside, I remembered that I'd had success with other dogs with hanging a bell on the back door knob so they could alert me that they need to go out. In retrospect, I would start that early on. (Training to ring the bell is another post! ;))

I also have to tell you that it was right when I was about to give up on him, when I decided that I hadn't made one iota of progress, that he suddenly "got it". It was like a light was suddenly switched on for him.

It'll happen for you, too, LoveMyYorkie and LisaKurth! Just hang in there and be consistent!!!

that was so sweet FirstYorkie
 

I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to go into detail, the steps you took in training your baby - very very thoughtful. I am continually amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone is in this forum.

I may ask you to explain how you got your baby to understand the concept of the "ringing of the bells" at a later time.

Again, many thanks :)

You are very welcome! Let us know how it goes!

My yorkie is 13 weeks old and WILL NOT go potty outside no matter how long we have her out.Have been trying to paper train her for the last 4 weeks with no luck, anyone got any tips? This is the first yorkie we've had so don't know if this is "normal".
nanabanana

:( I was told and it has worked when I have had to potty train, that if you put a pee pad where ever they keep going potty at that they will start going on the pee pads. Just keep the pee pad in the same place. It has worked for me but might not work for everyone...Who knows...

It depends on each individual dog. That's the best I can give you. Just reinforce it and reinforce it and reinforce it.

Thanks for the replys. Putting pee pads where she most often goes would mean covering our entire dining area and kitchen floors,"Precious" goes where she feels like it. Any other suggestions?

Baxter gets confined to a x pen when we cant watch him or are gone. This works well for us as he only goes ont he pee pad then. Now I just say to him when he is playing Baxter Pee Pad and he runs to it. Good Luck, but I think confining them to a space with a pee pad definetly helps.

on the subject of stubborness and potty training. i find it very interesting that bunjee can go all night without having to potty if he's in bed with me, but when he sleeps in his crate, he will inevitably wake me up sometime during the night for potty. yorkies stubborn??? really??? :rolleyes:

You're So Lucky
 

Do you know how lucky yo are that your baby was so quick to grasp not only pottying outside but ringing a bell as well - he's really smart!! I'm in awe...

Maybe he sleeps more soundly when he sleeps with you...