Going potty in crate...Not normal!
 

Hi everyone. I'm new in this board and a new Yorkie Mom.

My almost 5 month old Yorkie has been with me for a week today, this past week I've attempted to train him to go potty in pee pads but it's just not working.

He actually goes potty right in his crate, sheets and everything. The problem is that is so unpredictable when he "needs" to go potty. I've tried the taking him out of the crate, take him outside, if nothing happens then back inside, then back out again in a few minutes. What he is doing is instantly relieving himself the second I put him back in the crate.

He will hold it forever when he's out of the crate, but actually thinks the crate is the right place to go potty. I don't understand. I thought dogs didn't like to do their business where they sleep.

Does anyone have any suggestions.

here is what I did:
Place newspaper in the crate, instead of blanet,etc. Get him used to peeing on that. Then I moved the newspaper in the kitchen or bathroom. Then after mine got used to that I placed the newspaper outside. I always rewarded mine with little bits of treats when pottying in the spot you want them too.
I still always had the problem with Elle peeing in her crate with the newspaper at night. So during the day I leave them in the kitchen/bathroom area, with newspaper in the corner, ( and she does pee and poo on the newspaper) and at night I put them all in crates in my bedroom next to my bed ( so they can see me) and they hold it all night now. If they wake up too early I tell them night night, and they roll over and go back to sleep.
I have had a hard time as well before all this, and it's got to be consistent.
If I know they had alot of water to drink, you just have to take em out alot more. I still take mine out every hour to hour and a half. And if I run errands, when I get back I take em out right away, even if I have only been gone 2 minutes. It gets em used to going right out. Then if they wake up from a nap you always take em right out.
I hope some of this helps.

Another thing I want to add for anyone else reading this. Everyone wants smaller dogs but do they realize, the smaller the dog the smaller the bladder, therfor, they need to go alot more.

IMO putting paper in his crate is only going to make him think he can go in his crate. Of course being a puppy I'm sure that his crate is big for him....This is what I did...I bought one of those cat beds with the hood (the entire front of it is opened). I made a little pillow, for the bottom, and a blanket. I pulled the bed right to the front of the crate so when she is in bed she can't get out...I make sure she goes pee/poop on her pee pad before going to bed....she usually whine if she didn't completely empty her bladder, I take her back to the pad, she pees, and then back in the crate. Lillie has NEVER pee'd or pooped in her crate. When I first got Sadie I made a pillow to fit the crate so, she had plenty of room to roam in it...she did start peeing and pooping in her crate...(Sadie was my first) so I tried the cat bed and not giving her "room to roam" and it worked fine.

Thanks for your suggestion, but I'm trying to get a visual of it. I'm thinking of one of the cat beds in the file attached.

Do you put the bed in backwards so she can't get out?

If your dog came from a place where he was forced to eliminate in the crate (because he wasn't allowed out often enough), he would consider doing his business in a crate to be not only the normal, but possible the preferred, method.

If this is the case AND you are only using the crate for potty-training, I'd probably use it to my advantage. I'd train him to use the crate for pottying - just put your pads in the crate. Voila! Mission accomplished! :D

This won't work, though, if you are wanting to also use the crate for containment purposes...

That is the exact bed I am talking about. I just put it in the crate so the opening is facing the door. Pull the bed all the way to the front so there is no room for the puppy to get out unless you open the crate door. This way the pup can still see out the front of the crate.