Help!!!!!!!!!!!

[brilis717]

Hi,
I am new to all of this! I have had cats and larger breed dogs before my Yorkie! I don't seem to be able to potty train my male Yorkie. He is seven months old and I really think I have messed things up! I had hoped to skip the crate training. I really hate them. I know everyone thinks that is the way to go. I can't help but think it's mean. I put him in an exercise pen and tried to paper train him. He will use the paper in the pen but when I try putting the newspaper on the kitchen floor he won't always use it. Sometimes he does and other times he just goes on the floor. If I take him outside he will usually go, not always! My husband can't stand the mess and wants me to find him a new home. I love him and want to make this work! I am also having a new problem with barking. About a week ago he started waking up in the middle of the night barking. I have him in the kitchen and was thinking maybe he is cold. I have tried blankets and moving his pen but he still barked all night. How can you break a Yorkie from barking non stop?

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

Thanks,
Lisa

[blondflava]

Hi Lisa, I'm in a similar situation with potty training...Don't even think I can successfully potty train him outside. What's working for me, Pepper sleeps in the kitchen as well. First I set up his xpen in one corner with pee pad (it was really small first), after a while I extended it and after I saw he went potty on the pee pad, I extended it even more. I didn't let him out until I could supervise him all the time, seemed he picked one spot to poop in each room so I put pee pads in each room in that spot. That was like a month ago. Right now I don't use the xpen anymore, it serves as a gate to prevent him from going to the bathroom and one room. I removed all pee pads but the one in the kitchen (that's where he stays when everybody's out and at night) and put his toys, one of his beds, his blanket and a pile of shoes in those spots where the other pee pads were. He gets the run of the kitchen and bedroom and has an accident maybe once in a while (poop though never pee). BUT he never goes potty outside, the longest I took him out was around 6 hours or so... he held it until we got back home don't really know what to do about that... Try putting a pee pad in the spots he likes to potty, move his toys, bed or food bowls there. Good luck... I know how frustrating it can be

[shecass]

Originally Posted by brilis717

Hi,
I am new to all of this! I have had cats and larger breed dogs before my Yorkie! I don't seem to be able to potty train my male Yorkie. He is seven months old and I really think I have messed things up! I had hoped to skip the crate training. I really hate them. I know everyone thinks that is the way to go. I can't help but think it's mean. I put him in an exercise pen and tried to paper train him. He will use the paper in the pen but when I try putting the newspaper on the kitchen floor he won't always use it. Sometimes he does and other times he just goes on the floor. If I take him outside he will usually go, not always! My husband can't stand the mess and wants me to find him a new home. I love him and want to make this work! I am also having a new problem with barking. About a week ago he started waking up in the middle of the night barking. I have him in the kitchen and was thinking maybe he is cold. I have tried blankets and moving his pen but he still barked all night. How can you break a Yorkie from barking non stop?

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

Thanks,
Lisa

Sorry you are having so many problems. I used a crate with my two and we also installed a dog door. Best $50 I've ever spent. Mine go in and out all the time. They haven't had an accident in the house since this was put up in Feb. Not sure if you have this option or not. He is still young and sometimes it just takes time. Each one is different. You have to have patience with them just like potty training a child.

Just hang in there. I would try a crate and see if that works for you.

[Erin]

The crate isn't mean unless you leave them in there longer than they can hold it.

Let me put it another way - would you rather crate train (meaning crate when you can't supervise) your dog and have him able to roam free by 7 months, or not crate train and have a 7 month old who is no where near being housetrained.

This is just my opinion, and I'm in the minority here but my dog is 100% outside trained, even with his bladder issues, so take this however you like. Outside train your dog. Or, if you must, pad train your dog. But pick one. Don't newspaper train him and then try to make him go outside sometimes or whatever. You NEED to be consistent.

How did you newspaper train him? Did you give him a treat every time he went there? Did you confine him so that he can ONLY go in that space? Are you leaving him confined when unsupervised? With a little work you can put it on cue "go potty" and you can pretty much teach your dog to go when you tell them to.

Loki rings a bell when he needs to go out. Yes even in the middle of the night. When no one is home he is crated for safety. He is housetrained at other houses too.

MAKE SURE you are cleaning with an enzyme cleaner like Natures Miracle, Simple Solution, etc. Otherwise an old pee spot, even if there is no stain, is like a neon sign that says PEE HERE!

I can give you some more suggestions if you want to train him to go outside. I say do it cold turkey and make it NOT ok to pee in the house anymore. If you want help with pad training then there are 100 people on here who can help with that

[Bnot]

I used to think crate training was crewel too. But it does work!

Start back in very small area. Only extend the area when your dog is going where you want them to go for 3 or more days. Now keep in mind, carpeted areas are not good spot to start in. And like Erin said make sure you clean up the spot they go in, with something thats made to get the smell out for dogs. If you don't they'll keep going back to that same spot to go.

I read up on every "potty training" post on this board, and got a lot of tips.

When they potty where you want them to go, praise, praise, and give a treat( I use Venus's own food for treats). As mine is pottying, I have a treat ready and said "potty for a treat". Now she will potty just to get that treat!

Being consistant on what you say to them does help too.

Have you tried pee pads instead of newspaper? I know most here use them, and there is also something you can spray on them, to make them want to go in that spot. If I'm not mistaken, its called Simple Solutions. You can get the pee pads at walmart, or any pet store. I think petsmart has the simple solutions spray.

I know you said in your post that your used to cats and "large dogs". Cats are easy to train! Large dogs have much larger bladders than Yorkies do. They can hold it a lot longer wtih the larger bladders.

Its not too late to go back to basics, if your dog isn't catching on. Never let them have more room to roam till they really have it good, on the room they have. And don't give freedom to the "whole house" without constantly watching them. Just because they go on the pad in one room, doens't mean they will come back to that same pad if they are in another room!

Venus is kitchen trained, and now I'm working on the living room/kitchen. Its 50/50 in the living room. Depending on how hard she plays, and if I take her back to the kitchen enough times for her to go on her pad in here. She doesn't "automatically" remember the pad is in the kitchen, but she's getting there, slowly.

[jjl720]

I agree that outside training is the best, but my dilemma is this. My puppy came to me at 5 months completely litterpan trained. Since the weather was nice in September, I decided to outside train him. He does well, but two things are impeding him. One, he will sometimes pee 3x in an hour. I can't catch him and he will use the litter pan as an emergency measure. I take him out every 1-2 hours and tell him to "potty" He will usually go. But there are those times when he goes more frequently. Also I live in the central NY snow belt and it is not unusual to get snowfalls in the feet and have 4-5 feet on the ground all winter. Cold, too. I can try to shovel...but he is tiny and am afraid of frostbite. I agree it need to be either all outside or all inside and instinct tells me outside cuz I don't like dogs going in the house. Should I use the litter pan for emergencies this winter until he is older or go cold turkey. Am going on vacation for the thanksgiving holiday and need to bring him. Fun for my brothers family if he messes all over the house. Loki's mom...am originally from CHicago suburbs and will be visiting there for the holidays. Thanks for the good advice