Serious problems with my Yorkies
 

:confused: Im so frustrated with my boys! I need some advice or help!

I have 2 8month Yorkie brothers. They are doing great, but they are not house breaking at all. To make things worse, not only do they go to the bathroom all over my house but they know they are wrong, since they cower and run away from me after I notice it, I work during the day so they are locked into a small area of my kitchen. I realize this is not an ideal situation for training, but its the best i can do. I let them out on a schedule, first thing in the morning, as soon as I get home from work, after they had their dinner and then again before they go to bed for the night. They do go to the bathroom outside and I do praise them for that, but they go inside too, whenever they 'feel' like it.
Worse yet, this morning one of them lifted a leg and peed ON ME!!! Right on my foot & shoe. This is a first!! What does this mean? He took off before I even realized what he did and hid for about 5 mins. I didnt or dont know how to handle this.

Also, they are EATING everything!!! Anything that is left out they eat, shoes, socks, clothing, belts, cords, walls, molding around doors, their bed ... I know puppies chew but this is out of control. They ate 3 pairs of shoes last week alone. They will actually nose the closet door open when Im sleeping and pull them out & eat them. (I say eat b/c they actually chew & swallow the pieces, there are no shreds left around).

Im at my wits end with these boys! I want to have fun with them, not constantly be yelling at or punishing them. I use treat incentives when they do good, what kind of punishment would be more effective for doing wrong?

Please any advice at all would be MUCH appreciated!

Losing my sanity! :eek:

quick addition
 

Dexter is about 5lbs and has been fixed. Fletcher (the one who peed on me) is a big yorkie at about 8.5lbs, he is NOT fixed yet. (I thought we were going to breed him, but we are not, so he'll be fixed in June). BOTH dogs pee in the house, but the unfixed one lifts a leg everywhere (which I get that, hes marking more than likely)

Do not "punish"...
 

Many folks use "time outs" when the dog is CAUGHT doing something wrong. If you don't catch them until after the act, then don't do anything. Never ever smack your pups or yell and scream. They just don't get it. Being firm and stern will work so much better. They really only want to please you and will suffer more if they think you are mad. But over doing it only makes them frightened.

I think you need to start over from square one and begin potty training again. They are definitely at the backsliding age. You may want to consider confining them to one area to save having to pick poo and pee up all over the house.

BELLY BANDS are an absolute necessity!! Just about all the YT retailers carry them. And if they are pooing too, you may want to consider diapers until you know that you can trust them again.

As far as chewing is concerned, again, confining them to one area when you cannot be with them will cut this problem. Also supplying them with chew toys they enjoy will help. You have to rotate the toys often, as well. Dogs get bored sometimes playing with the same things.

Good luck!

My first suggestion is to confine them more. They should be confined to a small area or a crate when you are busy and cannot keep an eye on them. You need to crate them at night when you go to sleep. (they can't get into trouble if they are crated or confined.)

And I promise you, your boys don't know they are doing wrong by going in the house! They cower and run away because they know you are angry at them. They don't know it's because they went in the house. (They may know that you get angry when you find their urine or feces, but they are NOT able to discern that it's because they went in the house instead of outside.) You really need to KNOW this, so that you can redirect your training. If you understand that they don't know they have to go outside to be acceptalble, then you can start the housebreaking process all over again but be more diligent. The best way to train a yorkie is to not allow them the chance to have accidents. This will mean taking them out more often then you already do, and to crate or confine them.

thanks so much!!
 

They are confined during the day when I am at work... during this time, they chew on the walls! I did something terribly wrong with them, I dont know what, but they wont housebreak or stop chewing. I let them sleep in bed with me, they have been for about 6 months now. Is this bad? They can hold it all night, the second I get up, I let them out and they go pee outside and I praise them and even give them treats for it. YET they STILL go in the house too.

Also my pups have lots of toys, and I buy them new ones at least once every 2 weeks and throw away the ones that they destroyed (like pull the squeaker out of it, or the stuffing) my dogs are very destructive. is this normal for a yorkie?

I agree whole heartedly. They are not deliberately being bad,. They don't know any better, they see the expression on your face or hear the anger in your voice and cower because of that.

Limited the space they have to run, give them more exercise, keep your closet doors latched, and invest in belly bands.

They really do want to please you, they just need clearer directions in learning how.

You need to get an x-pen or use a crate. By using the x-pen or crate you are confining them and making sure that they are away from the walls, and anything else they can chew on. Only keep their toys and beds in there. I would not necessarily leave food or water, when you are away at work. Once you get them away from the walls and things to chew, you can start to re-direct their chewing by reprimanding them when they chew on inappropriate things and give them something that is ok to chew, instead.

You really need to constantly and consistently keep a watch on them. You need to re-direct any inappropriate behavior. This is going to take a lot of work! and you need to be prepared that it may take up to 2 or 3 months. But you really must not for one minute let up on keeping a watch on them! I know you will be tired and not feel like doing it after you get home from work, but if you want a lifetime of good behavior, you need to put in this work now! if you have too, keep your babies on a leash tied to your waist so that they have to stay with you.

I can only tell you that I work all day and my Millie does not tear into things or chew inappropriately when I am not there. She will be one year old next week and she was never a "terror" in that respect. I always kept her confined in her crate when she was smaller and then an x-pen when she got older. I established a habit with her and she learned to behave when I was not there.

Use an x pen to make a complete play area where they cannot get to the walls. Have you tried rawhide chews, they seem to want the leather.

Letting them sleep with you should not be a problem, unless it is causing them to not respect you as the top dog, which could account for the one peeing on you.

The dog whisperer says if they pee on you, they don't respect you. Here is a link to his site.

http://www.dogchannel.com/dog/expert...aspx?WT.srch=1

I hope this helps Good Luck

When you have them confined in your kitchen, do they mess there or just when you let them out. Also, what are you using to confine them, a gate or door to close off the kitchen, or are you using a puppy pen? If you are using just a gate or door to confine them to the kitchen, then I would suggest getting a puppy play pen or a crate. Until they are housetrained, they should be confined to a crate for a majority of the time. Make sure the crate is not too big to where they can go to the bathroom in one part of the crate and lay down in another part of the crate. As far as house training them, you have to go back to step one. Keep them in crate during the night, put the crate beside your bed. When you first wake up, take them outside to go to the bathroom. If they go, then praise them. If they do not go, you need to put them back in the crate and check on them in about every 15 minutes to take them outside, continue doing this until they go. After they go, reward them by letting them play for a little bit. The point you are trying to get across to your boys is this... In order for him to get play time or time out of the crate, they have to go to the bathroom first. You need to keep track of how often your boys go to the bathroom each day and how often they poop and pee to split it up even further. This will tell you how often to take them out and how often they pee and poo. This should tell you how many hours you have to wait before you need to take them outside. By crating them it will teach them to hold it, and to go when you take them outside otherwise they go back in the crate. The only reason they are allowed out of the crate is to go to the bathroom outside, play or eat. They won't like this at first, but it is the best way to do it. Once they grasp the concept, they can get more privileges. Note- before you take them outside to go to the bathroom, stop at the door and making sure you have their attention, ask them in a high pitch voice, do you have to go out? Do this everytime, eventually, they will recognize this later and will be able to tell you themselves that they have to go potty. When they reach this step they can have most of the run of the house. This is the last step and will take time to get to this point. Also, once on the ground outside give them a command such as "go potty" or "do your business", this will let them recongnize the command so that when you give it, they know what is expected of them. Do all of this for a couple of weeks, and then if you think they are doing good increase their time out, if they mess up, simply go back to step one. Being patient and consistent is they key for this to work! I have trained all of my dogs using this method and if you do it correctly it will work for you too. As far as the chewing problem, give them bones such as nylabones for them to chew on, also give them durable chew toys that are meant to be chewed excessively. I wouldn't give them soft toys or toys with squeakers while you are away, all they will do is tear it apart costing you money because you have to go out and buy a new toy. Also to keep them entertained try using interactive or smart toys to keep their mind stimulated and free of stress and boredom. I hope this helps you. Good Luck and let me know how things go!

MyTrixie143- Excellent!

Exactly what I was trying to get at without typing it all. This is exactly what you need to do. If you do this exactly as she has outlined it you should see some real improvement in about 2 -3 months!

You've received a lot of good advice on how to keep them out of trouble when you're not around. Here's something for when you're around.

Yorkies are smart. They will run away from you the instant they sense "trouble". They dart, they run. By the time you "catch" them, they have forgotten why they're being rebuked or yelled at (neither is good in any case).

I had similar situation; Aggie would go in the house and when we find it, it's always after the fact. My trainer suggested this: leash them. No, not tying them to an object. Rather, tie them around you. I know it sounds silly but it works. Tie your boys' leashes around you. That way, the instant you see them sniffing, ready to go, scoop them up and put them at the appropriate place. Over time, they will know where they should go.

Aggie will still have the occassional accidents but it's she knows where she SHOULD go. Now, all we have to do is point at her accident and say, "No, Aggie." She'd look sad and remorsed but she wouldn't run away.

I definetely think you should crate them at night, even if the crate is next to your bed. To me this seems like a bit of a dominance issue. Good luck and hang in there!

i would love to have a camera on the wall and see what they are doing

HI All,
Thank you so much for all the advice. I also went to that website that jeanieK posted. I read an article that said a good way to get your dogs to know you are top dog is to take them for walks on the leash but have control of the leash. My friend and I took my dogs for a walk last night for about 20 mins to a 1/2 hour. We kept the leash short and MADE them walk beside us and would not let them cross in front of us or anything. They didnt like it but after awhile they started realizing they were not getting away, and they did better.

I also used a commanding voice last night when I let them out, telling them to "go pee" and when we were eating they were trying to jump up and instead of just putting them down I said "GET DOWN" in a commanding voice but not harshly. I realized that my dogs KNOW these words. They just choose not to listen, probably b/c they don't take me seriously. Last night they did though, and we had NO accidents in the house, either last night or this morning. I let them out and they did their business outside so I praised them. Then I shut the door to the room I was in with them in it so I could watch them constantly. They whined a bit at not having their normal freedom, but I watched them and they behaved.

As for the locking up during the day, I have noticed that their accidents are getting less & less. and they can hold it all night while they sleep. I don't want to crate them at night b/c they will HOWL all night and I cannot afford to lose sleep over them, plus they don't have accidents at night, just in the morning or in the evening. I will definately use the 'watch them constantly' method. I will not scream or hit them, but I will be more commanding in my voice when I want them to do something, especially now that I know they understand and just choose to ignore me.

Thank you sooo much for all your help! I know I need to get my other guy fixed too and that will help. The vet did not want to fix him until it was mandatory, that way he had a chance to be as big as possible. He is definately sexually mature now, marking and such, he goes after my mothers female dog, but I have not seen signs of "IT" if you know what I mean... I see him mounting her and making the motions but when I pick him up, there is nothing sticking out. Hes 8 months old. Do you think this could be a problem?

OH, another thing, I use gates to shut them into the kitchen, but I moved the gates so they are in front of the wall, not behind it, so they cannot get to the wall and so the wall chewing has stopped. They have rubber bones, rawhide bones, nylabones and many rubber toys to play with during the day. I had to take their bed and throw it away and Im holding off buying them a new bed b/c they literally ATE their bed. So now they have a blanket folded up big enough that they both can lay on it, but not too big where it becomes their whole play area so they dont pee on it. so far, that is working out better than the bed!

I hear Yorkies are very smart, but hard to train, is this true?

It sounds like you are making some good improvement and if you stay with it you will notice a bigger change soon!! You have to set the rules and make them live by them, if you catch them let them know...but do lots of praise when they are behaving!!

And remember that some of this is still puppy and as they grow up and mature some of this will calm down but you have to stop it now, which sounds like you are doing a great job of!!

Yes, yorkies are very very smart but also VERY stubborn which makes them hard to train....they know what is right but have their habits that they like and that makes it hard to break!! Once they have it down they don't usually forget...

Don't give up you are doing great and before long you will have the best two boys to play with!!

too funny..."they literally ate thier bed" bad boys no bed for you. I do agree that they know who is boss and who is not. My husband tries to tell my boys what to do and they don't listen to him. he he but they do listen to me. :D

Yes, thats the problem! They literally EAT things.. not just chew... I had this awesome bed for them.. nice foam bed with a big cushion that flopped forward, it was all cushioned and cost a pretty penny! I got home from work one day and there were some foam pieces, i cleaned them up and didnt think much... the next day, their bed was in TATTERS!!! so I cut the cushion off the bed and left them the cushion and threw away what was left of the bed, so they ate the cushion, I found zipper pieces everywhere! UGH!! hahahaha
I wish I had a camera on the wall too LOL to see what they do all day! They are wonderful boys, they are just ALOT of work. I expected it, but not THIS much... so I guess I did not expect it. I knew it would be a challenge with just me and my work schedule!

They eat shoes.. chew & swallow... they leave no pieces behind... they are crazy!!! :)

Are Yorkies hard to train???

In my opinion, no, I've heard that too, but I've only had Kirby for about two weeks and your dogs sound like him when I first got him. He wasn't hoase broken and didn't mind, whined in the crate, chewed on things he wasnt supposed, etc...

Now, only 2 weeks later and he is house broken, he sleeps in the crate without whining, doesn't chew on things he's not supposed too, he knows what toys are his and can chew on, he knows, sit, stay, laydown (and shake sort of) also, I had problems with him jumping on the couch whenever he wanted too, know he comes up to the couch and sits down and looks at me for persimssion and if I say know and show him my palm, he just lays down by my feet. if i say "okay, up" he loves that and jumps into my lap and kisses my face and snuggles into my chest, I think that is his favorite thing in the world.

Anyway, I am a true beleiver in the 'alpha' role, he knows I'm in charge and training has been a piece of cake. It sounds like your dogs think they are in the alpha role. And also, consistency has been very important in training Kirby, you HAVE to be consistent for them to understand what you are trying to teach them, consistent in your commands, rewards, scolding etc... for example if you want them to learn to stay and they break before you told them too, don't just say "oh well okay here's the treat anyway", this sends the wrong message and they never learn what they're supposed to do. Say, no, pick them up put them back where they were and say Stay, and start all over agin and they will learn very quickly if you are consistent.

Anyway, I think crate training is the best way to potty train, Kirby would go in at bed time and come out in the morning and we would go directly outside and he would do his business and get lavish praise, it only took a couple accidents in the house for him to make the connection, "oh outside-Good" "Inside-I get in trouble", but again, consistency is absolutely key.

Your dogs may howl at first but it will probalby only take one or two nights before they learn to accept it and then they will learn that the crate is a safe place, their private space and will learn to like the crate.

Hope this helps.

Oh, yeah, Kirby is the same age, about 7 months I think.

Most of us have had problems with our little puppy Yorkies - the same that you are having -- peeing, chewing, etc..... but you have two Yorkies --so you have "double trouble." Just having this "much more trouble" may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for you. I don't envy you!!!! My pup (8 months old) does all the things yours does -- but I have "only one pup."

I can make you feel better a little bit. As your pup gets older - he'll be able to "hold his pee longer," and this helps a lot as far as training goes -- plus summer is upon us, which means we (people) will be more willing to go outside more often.

Chewing - this is primarily a puppy thing....(or first year). So, this should automatically get better as your little guys get older.

I don't have any wonderful advise. I do know that if I get off my butt and take my pup outside every two hours or so - he almost never pees in the house. But, if I don't - he'll pee anywhere or whenever he wants. He is getting so that he almost never pees in the kitchen where he is confined when I work - 6 -7 hours four days a week. And - like yours - he doesn't pee at night. So -- he's coming along.

My pup doesn't chew a lot anymore - but he certainly has done his fair share of damage and continues to do this to some extent. He has done most of this chewing damage when he has been in a different part of the house than I am in. So -- keeping our pups closer to us (so we can keep an eye on them) is probably a good idea.

My pup does wear belly bands....whenever he has full run of the house. I know for a fact that this has significantly cut down on whatever pee damage he could be doing. (I just use washcloths and pin them.)

I wish you the best of luck. We really should get these little guys when they are two years old - but they are such cute pups!!!!!!!


Carol Jean

One more thing on crate training, if you don't want to put them in at night, it's okay to crate them while you are at work, this will speed up potty training a LOT I'm sure. I wouldn't crate them both, at night and while you're at work thta would be too much time in the crate, but which ever period you are having more trouble with them misbehaving and having accidents, that sounds like when you are at work, so that's when I would crate them.

This really will help immensely in their behavior and house breaking. It may take a day or few for them to get used to it but that is all it will take.