6 months and still not potty Trained
 

Hello,

I am new to this site. In fact the only reason I found it is because I desperately need some advise. My yorkie will be 6 months old next week and just today he decided to pee on the couch and my husband is UPSET. Has anyone else had a Yorkie this old still having accidents. Sometimes I think they are truly accidents and other times I think he does it because he is upset with us for not letting him out (we have him confined to the laundry room when we can't watch him). He is crated during the day and we are training him to use the pee pads. He isn't fixed yet and I don't know if that has anything to do with his behavior or not. Unfortunately the next step is finding another home for him. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

have you limited the pups water intake? I do that and work my way up with how much I give mine until I trust em not to potty in the house. Make sure you are watching him when he is out and about. Mine is 6 months old today and she still pottys in her crate over night. She weighs 4 lbs and doesnt seem to always be able to hold it all night. But other than that she pretty much tells me when she has to go outside. you just need to be consistent with him. I also started giving treats every time mine would go potty. (every time!) I bought those bacon strips and would tear a lil section of it off and give her a lil sliver every time. So she got trained to run to me for her treat every time she would potty. It's a great routine now. So try something like that. But def. don't give up on him just yet. Try different things and hopefully something will work out for you. Good luck!

Most Yorkies aren't housetrained at 6 months. That said, he shouldn't be peeing on the couch. Have you tried crate training? Are you giving rewards when she goes outside? He is not peeing because he is mad at you - don't don't even understand the concept of revenge. You just need to learn how to communicate with each other - you need to get through to him that he needs to go outside and he needs to learn to tell you when he needs to go out. Try to teach him to ring bells, but more importantly crate train him and tether him to you when he isn't crated. Don't allow him on any bed/couches until he is trained and clean up any accidents with an enzyme cleaner like Simple Solution. Good luck! Loki finally started to get it around 6-7 months and then we had some bladder issues but he was reliably trained by about 1 yr old.

Oh, and fixing him will definately help. Loki was fixed at 6 months and he never learned how to lift his leg. You don't want him learning to mark.

Boys will mark more when they are not neutered, but now that he is older and might be used to the behavior, just fixing him may not stop the marking altogether. We had this problem with our male yorkie.

Housetraining is not usually something that happens quickly/easily; it can take lots of time and patience and especially watchfulness.

Every time they have an accident, they are getting used to that kind of behavior and it "detrains" them just a little bit.

So, to answer your question, yes it definitely does happen and 6 months is not unheard of.

IMO, if you need to get him trained in order to keep him, it's going to take some time, dedication and lots of positive praise on your end to get it done.

There are some great resources on here for potty training -- a search using the search option at the top will lead you to tons of threads with advice too!

If you'd like a couple more specific answers:
1. How long is he in the crate for during the day?
2. Does he hold it in the crate all day?
3. Does he have free run of the house other than being in the crate?
4. What techniques are you currently using to get him to use the pee pads?

Good luck, and I'll give you some more tips when I know some more info :D

Thank you to everyone for the helpful tips.

Karaboomer to answer your questions:
-Simba is crated 8 hours during the day (m-F) on the weekends maybe 3-4 hours tops.
-He does extremely well holding it all day. In fact, when he is let out, he doesn't immediately go potty he wants to play and eat first.
-He can not go anywhere in the house without me or my husband. We try to keep an eye on him and give him free range of the room were are in.
-We tell him to go potty and when he does we give him lots of praise and sometimes give him treats. We used to give the treats everytime but started limiting how often we gave the treats.

There are times that he will be out with us and automatically go into the laundry room and potty without us having to tell him and he will do this for days consistently. Then he seems that he forgets and will pee on the floor. He of course now is not allowed on the couch or the bed unless he is in our lap. My husband is now putting him in the crate when he doesn't go potty (like when Simba has been in there all day) for a few minutes and letting him out to see if he will potty.

I think Simba likes to walk around and sniff before he decides to go. Most of the time he will eventually go but there are times that he won't go for a couple of hours. We are trying to be consistent with him so he is used to a similar routine but he will shift the schedule on us and we have no idea why.

We are definitely getting him fixed and I hope that helps.

I believe that you really can't 100% trust any puppy/dog until they are at least 2 years old. Their little bladders need to mature. My golden had an accident when he was a year old it was his first since he was 9 weeks old. He is now +8 yrs. and has not had one since. My mom had a bichon frise that did not fully housebreak until 18 months. At 18 months he completely stopped having accidents.

Sorry but why did you take the dog in the first place? House training a dog needs patience and time. You really can't think much of him if you've had him for only 6 months and are prepared to re home him..are you really sure you want a dog? After having him for 6 months he will have settled in and moving him to another home is just cruel in my opinion...but to be honest if you think that little of him then maybe a new home would be best. God bless him.:(

Just keep trying, That is sad to think he might be going to another home just because he isnt 100% housetrained, which I have read on here is really good if you can get them 100%. If you dont have the time to train him properly then use belly bands when he has run of the house. My dixie is 6 months and not near potty trained and my peanut is only 3 months, they both have accidents..and I expect it, they are just babies. .I would never think of getting rid of them for that reason...I couldnt for any reason, they are a joy and I love them to death. .I knew beforew I got them they are hard to housetrain, I am not an expert this is just my opinion.....good luck to the little guy :)

Stick with the treats and positive praise EVERY time -- just break treats up if they are too big and get ones that are as healthy as possible for them.

IMO, you need to bring the dog RIGHT out to pee when you get home, even if he wants to play. Make it clear that you can play as soon as he potties, and hold up your end. If it is strictly indoor training, we used to sit next to the pad with the pups and put them on the pad and say "go potty". they would try and play and run around and we would put them right back on the pad and repeat for up to 15minutes (however long it takes, that's the longest I remember having to sit there) until they go, then start with the play, praise, treats, etc.

Also, they will usually have to go within a 1/2 hour after eating/drinking a meal, so you can time it and be right there a 1/2 hour later and do the same process.

It WILL sink in.....just takes plenty of time!

The fact that Simba can hold it in the pen for 8 hours means that the bladderr is well-developed enough to prevent those kinds of accidents, now you just have to do a "boot camp" training to make it sink in.

Good luck....I really hope you are able to keep him. We had to rehome our 2-year olds after some terrrible circumstances and it was TERRIBLY difficult for everyone involved.

dont feel bad ok lexi is 17 months old and sometimes she slips, oh well
it happens.... and what am i gonna do.. not a dam thing.....and it will
happen again for sure.... and again and again.... and she is pottytrained
in door and out door.. why do they do that,, beats the heck out of me.

is crating a puppy for eight hours a day normal? sorry i personally don't like crate training but if it works for you then great but.......EIGHT hours??

It's on the long side, but unfortunately, most people that have to work all day end up with not much of a choice.

The faster they can do a 'boot camp' and get the puppy somewhat compliant, they can move to a pen with a pad in it, and then 8 hours shouldn't be bad at all.

Thankfully, we were able to move ours to a closed in pen pretty quickly so the extended crate time was minimized.

Its not bad to limit there water intake?? MY puppy drinks sooo much water and i wouldnt want him to be thirsty(spelled wront probably) ...Same with my Gizmo when he pees on the pads I get really excited and say Good Job and give him a treat and he always goes on the pads....When he for example goes poo on my floor i raise my voice and say NO gizmo and make him smell the poo and take him to the pad right after so he knows that thats where he suppose to go ...and he waits for a treat and i dont give him one until he poos on the pad and i praise him and hes slowly getting the hang of it....Dont worry just be patient!!! My gizmo is 100% some days and other days hes like 75% and it is frustrating for my husband more....but if we work hard at it i think he will eventually be 100% all the time...HAND IN THERE!!!:D

Help with training 3 month old yorkie
 

I am about to start the housebreaking process with my new puppy. She is 3 months old. How often should i be taking her outside at this age??

I personally would not limit water intake...my Yorkie drinks frequently, especially if she is playing. However, I do watch her carefully and when I see her start to sniff, I take her out. I have been training her to use bells on the door to signal that she needs to go and she is about 90% there at 4 months old. However, my daughters Yorkie was not 100% until a year old. I think it is different with each dog. I know it can be frustrating, but think about it like you are trying to potty train a toddler. It takes time and patience but they get there. Some will get it faster than others but as long as you stick to it, you'll get there. As for hubby, try to explain to him that it's a process and that the puppy is not maliciously having accidents. Sometimes showing him the information in writing can help. Thee are a number of sources that have a lot of info. On Yorkies...one that is mentioned here frequently is "Yorkshire Terriers for Dummies." It also covers potty training.

Sorry, didn't realize this was an old thread. You might try creating a separate thread.

It does seem odd that he peed on the couch..but that being said, its not odd for a puppy. Before I blamed the puppy, I would take him to the vet to make sure he doesn't have a bladder infection or something. I wouldn't take water away. My puppy is being trained inside on pads, and outside…she does both. It really didn't take long, I just had to be consistent with her. I was told to expect her to want to "go" about every 2 hrs in the beginning because they have tiny bladders. So, being me I just started to keep a mental tab of when she went last and I bring her outside if its warm enough, or to her pad and say go potty. I stand with her until she goes (many times chasing her to put back on the pad). Lots and lots of excitement and a treat when she goes in the right spot. I find accidents, but like a baby being potty trained I know it takes time for her brain and little teeny body to catch up to what I want from her. I have a crate for her, but she's never in it, haha. I tend to take her with me whenever I can, so she is becoming pretty socialized. I couldn't imagine leaving her crated alone for 8 hours. I'm sorry, to say that. I just personally think thats an awful lot of time to be in a crate in a house all by yourself. She may have some anxiety issues. Have you thought about having a dog sitter come by while you are at work? or even bringing her to a doggy daycare? My daughter and son in law have an English Bulldog puppy who LOVES going to doggy daycare. They both work full time outside of the home, so this is a great solution. The dog isn't lonely and caged, and they know he's getting attention and stimulation. Bored dogs can become naughty dogs for sure…..I think Yorkies are very smart, affectionate, active little dogs. All puppies require a time and patience commitment. Some breeds less then others. I've had Shih Tzus that are very happy to sit around placidly for hours on end, lol. But I've never had an only dog, so maybe mine are just used to having each other when I go out. I wish you and the puppy lots of luck…