Help with Housebreaking My Yorkshire PLEASE
 

:cry:

Hi Everyone....Here's my problem and I hope someone can help me... :) I need help with Housebreaking my yorkie and I am desperately looking for any advice, tips, tricks..anything. I bought my yorkshire February 10th from a pet store..They told me that he was from a family that bred yorkies for over 15 years...Well truth of the matter...the puppy came from a Amish Puppy Mill....I've read that they are hard to train b/c they live in their own waste....not only that Joey (my puppy) was started on shots at only 3 weeks...and was vaccinated around 4-5 times by the time i got him at 9 weeks. With all this said...Joey still potties in the house...everyday...i'll take him outside and wait for him to potty...but often times he wont go potty until I bring him back into the house...

I'm so frustrated...I just want to cry...someone please help....b/f i run away from home...lol

Thanks in advance~

I am in the same boat as you, even though Tia came from a breeder she really just isn't getting the potty thing. I've decided that tomorrow (she is already asleep tonight) I am going to put her on her leash and keep her like that all day. that way I know ABSOLUTELY what she is doing at all times and if she begins to sniff, I'll take her outside as well as every 45 minutes. That's my plan of action for now - I hope you have luck with your little one!

My mother has a dog that we unfortunately experienced this with. We of course tried to crate train her, but how do you crate train a dog that is used to peeing and pooping in their cage and laying all in it. I will tell you that she did eventually grow out of it. She was 6-7 months before she stopped peeing in her crate. Others wouldn't recommend what we did because you don't want them to pee in their crate but these little puppy mill puppies are different. So we got her a big crate and split it up with half where she could lay down on a blanket and the other half for a pee pad. During the night she eventually learned where to go in her crate to potty and still stay clean. Then when she got older and learned that it was nice to stay clean, then we removed the pad and she learned to hold it. Now she insists on being very clean. She is pee pad trained and won't go on it if it has been peed on more than twice. Oh and when she was a baby she would go lay on her pee pad that she had already used and want to take a nap on it and eat her treats on it. Poor thing was just so confused. Have you thought of trying to pee pad train him first? My mom's dog did better this way, then we introduced going potty outside later on. She does both now and it works out very well. Also remember that yorkies are hard to potty train anyways, so it does take a long time and a lot of repetition. My yorkie is 15 weeks, we have accidents daily. I hope things will get better for you. Hang in there.

I am not really the person to be giving housetraining tips because mine aren't there yet, but I have heard that you really cannot expect them to be totally trained anytime before 6 months of age. Is he 75% trained? That would be expected at his current age.

Are you crate training or wee wee pad training? Is there a bell on the door for him to ring to let you know he needs out? Does he have constant supervision? This is one of the most difficult things about training a dog, but it can be done and it does take time, patience and hard work early on. You might do what Aimee suggested and tether him to you when he is in the house so you can constantly supervise him.

Good luck!

My Gracie is 7 months and at the age of 5 months she went through a stage where should would go outside and play and play until it was time to come in and she would immediately go and potty somewhere in the house. I soon began to take her out on a leash that way she didnt have full run of the yard to play and fool around rather she would want to go inside to get the leash off. Finally she knew to potty when she had the leash on outside and then I would take it off soon as she pottied. It worked really well and now she pottys and doe sher business outside right away otherwise she gets the leash on.

I know the potty training can get frustrating and seem impossible at times, but eventually they "get it," but it may take a while. I got a tip from a neighbor to always take the puppy out the same door to go potty. That way they know that door and that's the door they'll head too to let you know they have to go. Also, when you take your little one out, have a little treat with you and after he goes potty, praise him and give him the treat while still out there. If you wait till he comes in, he'll think he's getting the treat for cominig inside. Also, like Aimee is going to do...take him out every 45 minutes or so and if he goes potty, praise him and give him his treat. If you are bothered by his accidents in the house, you could get him what's called belly bands. That would soak up any accidents rather than soaking into your carpet. They just wrap around the puppy over his little pee pee and velcro at the top. I've heard of people using them or diapers when training their dogs. I have a female, so I got a doggie diaper for her to wear while at other people's homes so I don't have to worry about an accident. If you're interested in belly bands, here's a site that has them. http://queenbk9.smugmug.com/

Best wishes and good luck! Hope this helps!

bell training
 

Have you ever heard of bell training ... teaching the dog to touch and ring a bell when he wants to go for wee or poop?? it is suppose to be wonderful .. I was lucky and did not have much troubles teaching Maia do her stuff outside .. although she still does that when we are out for bit longer time than normally and she can't get out ...

s

Beana Weclome to YT. To train your pup you need to be patient and consistent. I train mypup to use the wee wee pad and so far that had work for me.Like someone already posted you cant expect for him to be 100% train before 6 months aprox. It takes time but they will get it. How old is your pup? Good luck.

I got my first dog from a "backyard breeder". It was her Yorkie's first litter of puppies and they were VERY well cared for, but I'll tell you, it still took me 6 months to potty train that dog. I grew up with dogs, and I had NEVER experienced housebreaking to take longer than a month, TOPS. I was thinking I was a failure but further research showed me that this is common with small breeds. Don't give up, I am sure it will happen, just be consistent!


I did the bell training thing too, and it's so wonderful once your baby starts to understand the idea of it!

Help
 

Here is something that could probably help you with! :)

Here is Link:

http://www.shooterdog.com/alexfaq2.htm#PEE


Hope It helps ya! ;)

I like one of the suggestions above about crate training with a big crate and putting a pee pad in half of it. Then once the puppy's bladder has grown more, take out the pee pad. Maybe around 6 months or so.

I actually don't expect my pups to be completely housebroken until they are 1. My 8 month old is doing really well, and my 3 month old is acting like a 3 month old still. But I say don't expect overnight success, it takes a lot of work!

Thank you all so much for your tips....I hope to get this little booger trained soon.....YT's definately do things at their own pace..... :animal-sm

We're in the thros of "potty time" too. I take Trace outside every 30 minutes and after every nap. I always repeat "go potty". At first, I might have had to wait with him for 5 or 10 minutes for him to go. If he sat down, I stood him back up and repeated the phase that pays...LOL. I think now though he is getting the idea because now he'll generally go immediately It's time expensive, but we haven't had any accidents. He is not allowed to roam unsupervised in my house. I take him to the same area each time, at work and home. I am hoping eventually he will let me know when he has to go. Good luck
:animal-sm

I got some spray at the pet store to spray Ruby Girls pad and it really does work she is now 5 months old and she looks and smells for that scent to pee pee and another thing don't let them run the house they will go in diffrent room while your back is turned and pee pee every where I learned to block her out of rooms and place a pee pad in her sight like at the end of the hall way so she can see, that way she cant go under the beds and chairs and furniture, no that she has learned she is not allowed to run the rooms when her baby gate is not up she will go to her pad so its kind of like a kid what ever you teach them it works about 2 weeks of blocking off if you don't have a baby gate modicise use a laundry basket upside down I know when people come over they think? what? But it's better than cleaning up alot of pee.peee! :D

Let me know ! It worth a try! :D :D :D :D :D :D

My Toto is house trained. The way to do it or the way i have been tought is leave some pee on her training pad when you see that he about to pee take him to it he'll smell it and pee (at least he should) it sounds nasty but he should be drawn to go back to it. The same with poop smear a little bit (very little) and he should be drawn to go back. Keep the pads in the same area. Praise him with treats when he goes on the pad (animal cookies) from PETCO work good. It's going to take awhile it took mine at least a good month. TIP: flush the poop in the tiolet so your house won't smell. And buy some spray to put on the areas that he is not to do potty on so he won't go back to those spots. Good Luck. I know how you feel. The first night i brought Toto home i put him in my bed to sleep and i felt this wetness in the middle of the night he pooped and peed on my comforter the bad part it got between my toes somehow i took him to the kitchen practically crying because i felt that potty training was going to be difficult, now he only pees and poops on the pad. But he won't go on the pad unless its clean now. So now its the opposite. He doesn't like dirty pads. The training pads are cheaper to buy at Walmart 50 pads for $12 dollars and their a good size. Everywhere else is so expensive. Good Luck.

New here - Bell training?
 

I'm a new member. I've not gotten my Yorkie yet, but expect her in about a month. I'm trying to think through the different views on housetraining, and reading all I can.

Several of you have mentioned bell training. This sounds great!! Please tell me more!!

Carla

Take your pet out after naps, food and play. Don't expect a puppy to be trained until about 8 months or so. Lower your voice and repeat the same command, potty now or whatever. Lift up your voice with praise and a treat when they finish. I took mine out every 45 mins when I first got them, but I am retired so I could do that. Go to the same spot in the yard. They will get it. I'm not a fan of the pet pad but some people testify to their worth. The main thing is patience and consistency. I said "potty NOW" so many times my husband just about killed me it got on his nerves so badly. Now, at age 3, they will do just that, potty on command, NOW.

LOL! I have said if I had a nickel for every time I said, "go potty" I would be a millionaire. But you know what, both of my boys will "go potty" when I say it. My Rexy never has accidents in the house, but Rowdy is not neutered and he marks sometimes - but mostly just little sprinkles and it comes and goes :rolleyes: Anyway, both my boys did very well with us taking them out about every 30 minutes. And my Rexy always "went" when I put him on grass - it was the cutest thing - when his feet hit the grass, he went potty. Of course, he also "went potty" in the house before he figured out he was supposed to potty ONLY outside. It didn't take long though!

Good luck.

I am new to this site today!! I have had my little "Lily" (Yorkie Puppy) for 2 weeks now and she was born March 12th. so she is just a little over 11 weeks old. I made the mistake of letting her sleep with me and not in her "crate" that she cried in!!lol She did great like that until she didn't want to sleep all night anymore and she wanted to play in the middle of the night!! I put her in her crate last night and she cried but not as bad as I thought it would be. She is very stubborn and just as cute as she is stubborn so it's hard to make her be confined when she cries!!lol I have a "play pen yard" for her outside to go potty so she can't run from me so easy because our yard is not fenced in and she doesn't listen yet at all. She is doing pretty good with going outside to potty but it is constant watching her and like everyone says .. I take her out about every 45 minutes to an hour. I need to know if it is best to divide her wire cage so she can't move around and go to the bathroom at one end and sleep in the other at night or to leave the front part empty and just put something for her to lay on in the back of it and let her potty in the night if she has to in the front?? I can't put newspaper in there because she shreds that faster than I can get out of the shower!! Pee Pads she takes in her teeth and shakes them like a "toy"!! She only weighs aoubt 2-1/2 lbs. and her mommy weighs about 5lbs. and so did her daddy so I think she will be a nice size little girl. She eats real good and seems healthy.
I don't know much about "Yorkie's" at all ... I had a teacup poodle for 19 yrs. and she was the greatest!! I don't remember her being this hard headed!!lol
Any help that anyone can give me I truely appreciate!! What kind of shampoo do you all use and how often can I bath her? Her coat seems real good right now. I try to brush her every day but she is pretty wild with all that too and I have bathed her once and she hated the hair dryer!!lol Oh well it is getting warmer out so maybe she will do better with all that too soon!!
Thanks to you all.......
Karen

Roscoe is now 14 weeks and he is trained to go outside we first tried him on the pads and every accident we had we would give him a stern NO and put him on his pad......but after a week of accidents everywhere I decided to take him outside.......after everytime he went outside we would make a huge deal clapping and jumping and saying good boy and giving him a treat right away.........we would make sure he knew it was a big deal.........and now he goes to the door and jumps at his leash (which hangs at the door).........we still have pee pee accidents cause he doesn't bark so he may be at the door and we don't hear him...........try to make a big ordeal out of him when he goes outside.........good luck

Hey there. Welcome to YT. I have a rescue that I believe originated from an Amish Mill in PA. She had been abused etc. Trust me the potty training has nothing to do with where they came from. Yorkies by nature are hard to train. I should say MOST Yorkies as there are exceptions to the rule. I also had Newman, who passed away a year this August at 10 yrs. old. He came from a small puppy mill operation and was the easiest to train and NEVER did a thing in the house. Consistency is what you need. Start by taking him out every half hour or so and using one word as a command such as the word make. When he goes, make a big deal out of it and use a reward I call mine a cookie. So my girls know when they make they get cookie. When training, I would say Make Make Make and keep saying that word over and over, until they went. When they went I'd say good girl, and praise them and then say cookie cookie and give them a treat. It worked great and within a few days they knew the routine, although they still did have accidents. Try the every half hour, then do every hour, and then maybe every two hours until you learn his cycle. Take him directly outside after he eats or plays etc. It's a long process and could take a year or more but it's worth the troulbe. They are GREAT dogs and very smart.

Elaine

Izzy,
Thanks for your help. I am doing the same thing with "Lily" right now going outside. She is little younger so I have to be patient I know!! She is getting better but when it is wet out in the mornings or raining I have a hard time getting her to stay out long enough to do anything!! I thought about trying the "washable pads" for inside until she gets broke?? She shreds newspaper and shakes the puppy pads like a toy!!lol I don't want to "pad train" her though and confuse her at this point?? Any advice out there on doing "both ways"??? I am ready to try ANYTHING!!
Thanks so much!!!

haha Roscoe used to do the same thing with the pads.....grab them and run around the house......I just had to realize it wasn't his fault he was having accidents....it was our fault for not taking him out often/long enough......I find that his bladder is so little he pees ever 30-45 minuts so I make sure me or my gf take him out and keep him out till he does something.......Roscoe also hates the rain and chooses to do his business directly on the sidewalk instead of the wet grass............but I agree with you...I feel they get too confused trying to learn both.

Ditto
 

I too think I rescued Aiden from a house where he and all the other pups went and ate whatever, but I'm being very carfull,and crating him is working well. He goes only on his pee pad in the crate now. He still goes on the floors,but It's getting less and less. I have him on the best routine I can,seeing as though we're at work/school from 7am until 2:30 when my son is home. The poor little guy..You let him out and he's so happy to see you,but you can't even speak to him or pick him up of he'll pee all over you!! LOL I love him so much, that I figure he's gonna have good days and bad,and he's ony 4 mo. DONT GIVE UP<AND BE CONSISTANT!!!! I find that if I let him out the same door every time,then he goes in the same area,it is better. And when he goes PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE!! Good Luck:D

Hi. We got Anna in March. She was 4 months old at the time. We were told she was going outside. She didn't know what outside was. I called the breeder, and she assured me she was going outside. She didn't know what a pee pad was. She held it for 16 hours when we first got her because she didn't know where to go. I felt so bad for her. Finally, we figured out she was most comfortable going in her crate, and probably had been spending most of her time crated, regardless what we had been told. Long story short, we started over with pee pads. Every 2 hours we would gate her in the kitchen with a pad, tell her to go and wait. It worked better if we left the room. We would make over her like crazy when she got it. If she didn't go, I'd wait 15 min., put her back in the kitchen on the pad, and tell her to "go potty." We also started charting when she went and where. She picked it up pretty quickly.( a couple of weeks) She still wouldn't go outside. She started going on the deck, and in the last month or so has started going in the yard. She still prefers to poop on the pad, but has started pooping outside too!!!! It just took us figuring out what her experience had been and starting over.

Did I understand you right that "you put a pee pad in the crate"?? I tried to divide the crate and just put her in the front part w/enough room to stand and turn around?? That didn't work....she cried all night!! Next night I took divider out and put a towel (she tears up pee pads & newspaper) in the front of the crate and made her a little pillow bed in the back of the crate. She goes on that towel even if I get up in the night and take her out 2 or 3 times?? I don't know if I am doing the right thing or not?? She cries horrible in that crate still and I don't know if she is crying to go out to potty or just crying to get OUT?? Probably both but I thought if I at least put something in the front she will go on it and not lay in it?? She is 12 weeks old and I have had her 3 weeks!! I am getting very frustrated!!lol I can't believe she screams and cries when she is confined in any way!! She HATES it!!lol She will lay in her little plastic cage in the daytime but the door has to be OPEN!! If I close that door she wakes up and throws a fit!!lol She is the cutest baby and I love her to death but she is getting the best of me!!ANY SUGGESTIONS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!
"Lily's mommy"

We played this game too. Our Tucker came from a couple who didn't have time for him because the wife had cancer. They left him in his crate all the time and so he had no choice but to pee and poo in his crate. After cleaning up a million messes we devised a weird but successful system. We bought washable pee pads from Little Bit (a YT member) and placed one under a laundry basket. That way if he chose to use the potty it was absorbed and not so hard to clean up and he could get away from it. It wasn't good for his skin to be bathed EVERY day! After a month or so of this he started to learn that the pad was the place for poo and pee. We also had him start sleeping in the bed with us and that was extremely helpful because he didn't want to pee on the blankets. We had about 4 accidents in the bed, but we are accident free in bed and out now and he is 8 1/2 months old. It took 3 1/2 months to get him completely trained, but it was completely worth it. I think we got lucky because he took 3.5 and Lexie took 1 month to become completely potty trained. If you have any other questions feel free to pm me! Good luck!!!

Ignore ignore ignore!!! It might be really annoying to hear your furbby crying & whining, but after a few days she will get used to being in there & she will stop with the whining & crying. Of course, this is after the fact that you have taken her outside to go potty. If she doesn't go potty when you take her out of the crate, just put her back in there & let her bark & whine & cry all that she wants. Don't take her out of there until she stops complaining, because if you do she will learn that crying & whining equals getting out of the crate. Of course, please do take her out every hour to go potty, but other than that, don't let her out if she is whining & crying. I made the mistake of taking Bear out of his xpen when he was whining & crying & now we are paying for it lol! He is getting better at being in there though, but let me tel you, you do not want that bad habit to start! Good luck!

Amy

Amy,
Bear is so cute!! He's so tiny!!lol So do you think I need to take her outside every hour during then NIGHT out of her crate?? I have a xyard outside that I take her to go potty out there and put her in that outside but she screams out there too!!lol She is just very stubborn little girl. She is 12 weeks old and I've had her 3 weeks tomorrow!!
Thanks!!
Karen

Good advice here. I also recommend the consistent training method. Takes lots and lots of time and patience. The supervision is the key. My Yorkie pup's feet never touched the floor if he did not perform outside. Also, I used a harness and retractable leash for walking him in the area that he was to use.

Lots of good luck! You can do it!