are you all using pee pee pads

[crowmtn]

It seems everyone here loves the peepee pads. I need some basic instructions. I have been training our yorkie (11 weeks) to go outside for about the past 3 weeks. Needless to say, we aren't getting the idea. He will go potty outside everytime I take him, but he will go again in the house anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes later. There are so many variables I am getting frustrated. However, I can't get him to go on the pee pee pads. He runs right off and pees somewhere else. I can't even keep him on them. Any ideas? BTW - he ate 2 meals of dog food today!!! That's a record Thanks

[fasteddie]

Have you tried 'dabbing' the pee pee pad with a bit of his pee? Then he can associate the pee smell with the pee pee pad and know that the pads are where he should go.

[crowmtn]

sorry, one more question. Do I still crate him or just confine him to a room? Thanks for your expertise!

[fasteddie]

Has he been having a lot of accidents? If not, then just let him roam about and follow you around, but make sure you try to let him out every hour or two until he is fully trained.

[Higgin's Mom]

Higgins is trained to both the pee pads and outside. We don't like to let him out at night because we have some hefty predators in the area, particularly a big, hungry looking owl. So after dark, we put pee pads down. We also put them down if we are going out for a long time. He is VERY GOOD about peeing on them. However, he poops anywhere is feels the urge to poop, the little devil!

[crowmtn]

I already wrote this in another area of the foruml, but thought I'd get any ideas I can in the training area too.

What do you think about this potty training idea?

They took one of the huge dog crates and opened it up and put it upside down. Then you put the 2 door ends together. This basically makes a confined area with 2 seperate sides and a plastic bottom. You put their food and bed etc on one side and then the potty pads on the other. After about a month, they recommend moving the bed side and the puppy should go to the potty side on his own. I am going to give it a try. I bought 2 huge crates, one for each level of my house.

He better get the hang of this soon, or I might faint! After having 4 human children, he is requiring more than they did, I swear. I keep telling myself, this is a front loaded job. If I spend the time and do it right now I will reap the rewards for many years. Sorry about the length! I'll keep you up to date. Thanks again!

[schatzie]

I love using pee-pee pads. First time actually with our Schatzie pup. She seems to use them great for days, then badly for days. It's always a guessing game. I am also confused on how many to put in the house, for example, one for each room ??? She uses a baby playpen at night with potty pads on one end. Yorkie's are tough to housebreak I hear, and am agreeing!! Good luck and let me know your success stories.

[Maddie-Rudy-Mom]

I didn't use pee pads with Maddie, just took her out. She was easy to train, I thought because of Lucky, Maddie would go out with her. With Rudy I have tried pee pad, with no luck. He drags them all over the house and he has been a little toot to train and when he goes out with the girls he plays and I guess forgets to pee. They are smart, Maddie will use the pee pad when I am gone and I nver taught her, but I guess she was listening when I was trying to get Rudy to use it. It does take time to train them, I haven't given up on Rudy yet............Cindy

[bettyeanne]

Crowmtn ... I think everyone has their own personal preference for potty training ... whatever works! Personally, we love the wee wee pads because it works for us. We started training Toto beginning the day we brought her home and it wasn't easy ... took lots of patience!! But we are so thankful we did it this way. We use the praise and reward method! She is 14 months old now and we still take the time to tell her "Good girl, TeeTee" and give her a little piece of Honeycomb cereal each time she goes!! If we are in another room, she comes to "announce" that we need to come see!! We found a way to stretch the wee wee pads since "Miss Prissy Paws" won't use a pad but once either!! We get the "Simple Solution" pads which come 56 to the pack for $15.99 from PetSmart online [for some reason they cost more in the PetSmart store down here] ... go figure! The Simple Solution pads are more evenly padded inside ... we had to get another brand one time and they were all lumpy and uneaven inside! I cut a pad down the center then cut those two in two ... giving me 4 ... then when Miss Prissy pees a spot I just put 1/4 square over that spot and she's happy!! Usually, I start the day with a clean pad and just cover her spots! She's really funny when she pees, she doesn't want her paws to touch the pee pee and she will not use the pad again if the spot isn't covered!! We put the square over it, give her a big "Good Girl, TeeTee" along with a little piece of Honeycomb cereal and she is estatic!! AND she always goes back to the pen and checks up on us to make sure we did OUR job by putting down her clean pad!! We are glad she doesn't want the pad wet because her coat is really long [takes daily brushing to maintain] and we like to know when she pees so we can dry her with a paper towel and I use the dog bath wipes a few times a week between baths ... yes, I know she is a dog but I can't stand it if she smells like one!!
By the way ... may I ask where you live? The reason I was curious about "crowmtn" ... there is a place way up in northern Alabama called "Crow Mountain"! There are orchards up there and we drove up a few weeks ago and bought some beautiful white peaches!!

[crowmtn]

We are from Utah. We live next to a mtn called Crow Mtn. I have used this name on other sites and always have someone ask. Guess it must be a common name. Hitch is getting the idea of the pads. We are using the confined area mentioned in my first note, but he follows us around most of the time. I have been putting him back into the area about every 30-45 min and he runs right over and goes. Then we immediately get him out and love and praise him. This way too he gets the idea that if I go I get out. We are really excited with his progress. Thanks for your help!

[schatzie]

After a month or so using the pee-pee pads now, I am finding that Schatzie is liking the idea of using the old fashioned "potty outdoors" method. However, she will still use the potty pads in her playpen upon morning wakeup and if she has been in the pen awhile. However, I would like to "wean" her upon maturity off the playpen and have her use her own bed at night to sleep. First question to this reply is for those using potty pads, are your pooches locked up at night or do they have free run? If so, are they finding the pee-pee pads at night? Also, my next concern is since Schatzie enjoys the outdoors to do her business it will be winter soon. I heard that cold/wet/iced conditions are not safe for Yorkies. Should I try to lay a pee-pee pad in our room at night and NOT lock her up during the night to see if she will use the pads on her own? Or do I take her out in the mornings come winter time? Im real curious to see if she is able to sleep at night in our room without being locked up? Id put her in bed with us but I am too afraid she will fall off and her her legs.

[fasteddie]

Yoda sleeps with us. When he wants to go, he will stand on the edge of the bed and yelp or get our attention. If he needs to go, since it's getting cold now, we let him in the back patio (which is partially covered by the roof) to pee on the pee pads or poop anywhere he pleases out there. We try to let him out just before bed and we usually let him out to pee after he wakes up as well. He usually wakes up around noon.

[bettyeanne]

Originally Posted by crowmtn

We are from Utah. We live next to a mtn called Crow Mtn. I have used this name on other sites and always have someone ask. Guess it must be a common name. Hitch is getting the idea of the pads. We are using the confined area mentioned in my first note, but he follows us around most of the time. I have been putting him back into the area about every 30-45 min and he runs right over and goes. Then we immediately get him out and love and praise him. This way too he gets the idea that if I go I get out. We are really excited with his progress. Thanks for your help!

Utah? Surprised me! Thanks for clearing that up! Forgot I had asked the question here so ... please disregard my repeating the question in the other thread!
I am so glad Hitch is showing progress with his potty training! It didn't take Toto long to get the hang of it ... especially knowing she would get all that praise and a little treat really gave her incentive! We use that method every time we teach her something new! Now, regardless of where she is in the house, she will jump up and head towards her pad like she is "on a mission"!! She is tooo funny ... if we don't notice that she used the pad, she comes and "tells" us and watches us like a hawk until we cover the spot and patiently waits until we give her a tiny little [about 1/4] piece of Honeycomb cereal for a treat!! They are so smart ... it's scarry!! Good luck!

[mmyorkies]

Originally Posted by crowmtn

It seems everyone here loves the peepee pads. I need some basic instructions. I have been training our yorkie (11 weeks) to go outside for about the past 3 weeks. Needless to say, we aren't getting the record Thanks

Your first problem is trying to get an 11 week old yorkie to be housebroke. Most yorkie puppies at 11 weeks are still with their mothers, until at least 12 weeks, so he is very young to expect him to train easily. If you are using pee pads, get a play pen or a plastic play yard pen and set it up in the area of your house that you spend the most time in. Line it completely with piddle pads, put some toys and a water dish in it. DO NOT let him out of the pen unless you can keep your eyes on him 100% of the time he is out, and watch for signs of him having to go potty. After a couple of days remove one pad and watch to see if he continues to use the remaining pads. You will remove the pads one at a time until there is only one left for him to use. When he is using the pad all the time you can then let him loose and place the pad where you would like him to go. He should then look for the pad to use. This does take time, persistance, and patience.


Good luck in your traing.

[RubyC]

Crowmtn: sounds like Hitch is getting the hang of it.

My Cookie is almost 5 months and she's pretty much got the hang of the wee wee pads but still has her accidents, mostly when she's overly excited. One thing she did do is she would sniff her pad, get her nose right up to it but pee right off the pad. I couldn't figure out why b/c obviously she knew where her pad was in the corner of her room. Well with time I figured out that she didn't like to step on the soiled wee wee pad so now I rotate it or simply put a clean one down. Talk about a fussy Diva!! Getting her to poop on the pads has been a much s l o w e r process. I've come to realize that she will poop at certain times of the day, like right in the morning and before bed time so i'll watch her and when she starts sniffing and going in circles i know to pick her up and place her on her wee wee pad. Luckily we are making process. I have also taken her outside and she has her spot now where she will go pee pee and poop. Its a shame that winter is coming and I will feel bad taking her out in the winter or even a cool fall morning. How cold is too cold for a yorkie?
It just takes time and patience. Regardless she gets a treat and who ever is around will shower her w/ praises everytime she goes on her pad.

-RubyC