working during the day... help me please? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

y0rkiesR0ck · 03-05-2008, 05:55 AM

okay, i know there are A LOT of threads about potty training, but i couldn't find one through the search engine that pin-pointed my question, so i'm hoping you all can help ease my mind.

Kash is going on 13 weeks this saturday, and i've had him for about 3 1/2 weeks. both my boyfriend and i work during the day, so i understand that potty training is going to take longer than if i were at home with him. my problem is i'm afraid i'm confusing kash. and i'm confused by the information i've read as well.

so, i keep kash confined to our kitchen with a baby gate and his (open) crate. i'm doing this because people on YT have said keeping such a young puppy confined to a small crate for 5 hours at a time is not good. so, i give him run of the whole kitchen, which is about 8' x 8'. i come home at lunch to let him out, and there's always pee on the floor. i wipe it up with a paper towel, take kash and the soiled paper towel outside to possibly relate outside to peeing. i have a pee pad on the floor for accidents, but he doesn't use it.

i don't know what to do... am i doing the right thing by letting him have the whole kitchen? or should i keep him in his crate? am i confusing him by trying to teach him to go outside as well as on a pee pad inside? if so, how can i prevent accidents if i remove the pee pad completely? is it possible to teach both? i feel like he thinks it's okay to pee/poop inside (especially the kitchen) because i don't punish him when he does (because it's usually way after the fact).

i know he's still young, and it will take more time and patience. i just want to make sure i'm going about training the right way so that he eventually gets the point.

**also, i've been carrying him from the kitchen to the back door. i read that i should lead him to the back door, not carry him. is this right?

thanks in advance!

ali · 03-05-2008, 06:14 AM

I think that leaving him in his crate while you go to work is ok. You come home for luch anyway right? Maybe when you come home you can put a leash on him and lead him to the potty door quickly. Take a small treat with you and when he goes potty reward him (you can also take a favorite toy to reward him with. Tell him good boy to potty. If you want to use the pee pads you can do the same thing. Take him from his crate to his pad and then reward him when he pottys. Once he starts to get the hang of this then you can start to let him have more time out side of his crate when you are not home. They are very smart little dogs and catch on quickly, you just have to be very consistant with them and set up a schedule. Anyway, this is what has worked for me. Snickers has been fully potty trained since he was 4 months. Good luck, I'm sure it wont take long.

kl1977 · 03-05-2008, 07:15 AM

I think we got Izzy and Kash at bout the same time. For the first 3 weeks (weve only had her 4 come Friday) we tried potty pads with NOOOO luck, not one little bit of progress, I was becoming very frustrated. My bathroom smelled like pee soooo bad ( and so did Izzy) and I could not stand it. So on Sat we went and picked up a harness and leash. And we started going outside every two hours, and we have made more progress in 5 days and it amazes me. We took all the potty pads out. I still smell a little pee but I think if I keep using Natures Miracle it will get better ( I have a huge sense of smell). I am working a little bit right now but its only temporary while a girl is out having a baby. My husband has a sawmill and is at home all day and he has been coming into take her out while Im not here (shes not doing a great job with him, she is very nervous around men

). I think I would try to get an xpen and put a plastic table cloth or a shower curtain under it, the clean up is much easier without the smell left on the floor. We always give Izzy a treat after pee or poop. I am like a broken record sayin go potty until she does something and I think she has caught on to it. She even looks up waiting on that treat when shes done. She has had a couple of accidents but really just with my husband since Sat. Hopefully Im getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck!

mainegirl · 03-05-2008, 08:30 AM

My Baby stays home all day on Tues and Thurs in an xpen with pee pads down. I have a shower curtain down under the pee pads to help stop any messes. I have the pee pads on the whole floor of the xpen so he can't have an accident. When we are home we leave the gate open and he runs in there when he has to go. He is 13 weeks also. The first 10 days we had him there was some one with him all the time and we took him to his pee pad everytime we thought he had to go. We kept track on the kitchen white board so we knew his schedule. I would say that he is 80% pad trained now. He has pee accidents sometimes but will get down off the couch to go to the pads. He has started daycare and they are taking him outside to potty so he is learning both. I was worrying he would get confused but so far so good. Once the never ending Maine winter and snow let up I will start transitioning him outside.

I would try the xpen with the pads. There is an inexpensive one at WalMart. It can really set them up for success. Good luck!

twalla · 03-05-2008, 08:42 AM

Here is my two cents

and MHO.....

Yorkies are like kids... each one is different and what works for someone else may not work for you....with that said.... this is my opinion....

Sam uses the potty pads and goes outside. This works for me and our lifestyle. He is not confused. He knows when I say potty outside what that means and he will go to the back door to tell me sometimes. I have always carried him; never lead him.

Maybe Kash doesnt know he is supposed to use the potty pads. You may dab some of his pee pee on it so he can smell it and then know this is the place for him to go.

I keep Sam in his crate while I am at work. When we first got started, part of his crate is bedding, part was a potty pad. I cannot imagine not being in a crate, he gets into enough trouble when I am home...

Now that he is older, he has never used it. He holds it till Nana comes home.

Good luck - you sound like you are on the right path with being patient and knowing that it is going to take time.

Ladylavender · 03-05-2008, 09:04 AM

I think you can safely put him in a crate for5 hours and he should be ok. You need to make sure he has no food or water in the crate with him, so that he does not have to go potty earlier than when you come home. The inside of the crate needs to be really really really small, so you may have to block off some of it to make it small enough. He should have only enough space to turn around and lay down. You can put a kong in there or some other toy, but he will sleep most of the time while he is in there anyway.

However, if you want to keep him out then I would definitely make the space smaller than the size of your kitchen. You need to make the space small enough that he has a sleeping area, his food and water (but not necessary) and his place to go potty. There should not be any other room in there. He should only have one area available to potty and that is the area that you have the potty pad. All other space should be covered by his bed/crate and food area. In this way you are making an environment for him to be successful. If there is only one free open space to potty, (the potty pad) then that is where he will go. If you make to much area available, then you have created an opportunity for him to potty in NOT the right area.

However, I potty trained Millie by keeping her in the crate all day while we were at work. She was able to hold it and she did not have any mistakes in the crate, but we did have it very very very small. When we came home, and I mean as soon as we got there, we took her for a very long walk and that gave her a chance to pee a couple of times and do her poo. Then we played with her to get out her energy from being couped up in the crate all day. After a while we trusted her to hold her pee while at work and we put her in a larger space, but still confined. We had an x-pen with her crate (door open) a bed and some toys, still no food or water. As time passed and she was trusted to not mess in the house, she eventually had free range of the house and still does when we are at work.

Before work, and when we got up from sleep, we would feed her and give her access to water. After we had gotten ready for work, we would take her for a 15 minute walk to allow her an opportunity to pee and poo before she was put in the crate.

Of course while we were at home, she had free access to her food and water. But not free access to the whole house. She was either in her crate, x-pen or in one room at a time and that was the room we were in watching her constantly.

Mere_de_Jambo · 03-05-2008, 01:24 PM

For me, I had to decide whether I was going to want him to pee and poo outside or inside. I decided to go with a litter box which I line with a pee pad with a grass scent. When I was at home, I took him to the litter box and told him potty. If I wasn't around or at night, he was gated in the kitchen (just like yours) with the litter box inside. He had accidents here and there but one day, voila....pee and poo was in the litter box and not on the floor. It was a trying 2 weeks but he eventually started to just go to his litter box. Now I have two litter boxes (one upstairs and one downstairs) and he uses both. If he pees in one, he will poo in the other. Occasionally he will make a little mess when he gets lazy and put only one leg in the box and leaks out but otherwise I have had no problems. I definitely know he knows the litterbox is where he is suppose to do his thing.

Ellie May · 03-05-2008, 01:29 PM

I don't have much advice because I am terrible at potty training but a young pup is not going to hold it for 5 hours (maybe not even 2 hours). If you leave him in a crate he will "go". Then he will think it is okay to go in there which won't come in handy later. I also think a dog needs access to water 24/7 or atleast 16/7 (just pick it up while you sleep).

deb22 · 03-05-2008, 03:27 PM

Quote:

I keep Sam in his crate while I am at work. When we first got started, part of his crate is bedding, part was a potty pad. I cannot imagine not being in a crate, he gets into enough trouble when I am home...

I agree. I bought a large crate. It holds her bed, food, and a potty pad. When she can hold it longer I will remove the pad. But for now (3 days a week) she stays in her crate while I am at work. Which, by the way she loves. When I am home the door stays open and she goes in her crate to potty. Of course, we still have accidents. But we are just learning. Penny is 3 mos tomorrow.

mrlmonroe · 03-05-2008, 03:35 PM

I haven't read all the responses, so pardon me if I repeat anyone else.

But what we did with Jeanie worked for us - and our situations are very similar.

I would put Jeanie in her crate when I left at 8:30, the dog walker would come at 12:00 and let her out, take her outside, walk her, and then return her to the crate till I was home at 5:30. IT BROKE MY HEART, but I was assured that she would not be upset.....they sleep a lot during the day at that age. I still felt horrible.

Anyway, then after a while, we started letting her hang out in the kitchen, with the doggy door up, NO PEE PAD, and the dog walker would come. We asked if any accidents, and when there were none (pretty much right away she was ok to hold it)....then she would go outside for her walk, and back into the kitchen. She would hold it till we got home.

Finally, after a year old, we started giving her full roam of the house, no accidents.

We had a tough time till we crated her the morning and afternoon.......after that it worked fine....

I know it's hard...believe me. But I think they are ok. I suppose there are different opinions on this, but I was assured and reassured that she would be ok........

Hope that helps

mrlmonroe · 03-05-2008, 03:37 PM

OH one more thing........

I was told they can hold it one hour longer than they are in months...so a 3 month old should hold it 4 hours.

We started doing this with Jeanie at 4 months?? I think - something like that....and she never went in her kennel.

I was also told if you have the kennel big enough for a pee pad etc, it defeats the purpose, and you might as well give her free roam of the kitchen....

Ashley V · 03-05-2008, 03:57 PM

I personally don't believe in giving my dogs free roam of the kitchen when they are that young. For one thing, you may think everything is puppy proofed, but one day you may come home to a trashed kitchen or something torn up. Chip once ate a hole in the floor. Just another food for thought.

I think if you put him in his crate then take him out often and LEAD him to the potty area then with lots of praise and treats you should be good to go! Yorkies love to please their mommies and daddies, but potty training one can be a little difficult. Good luck and congrats on the new baby! They truly are wonderful little dogs.

bellbuzz07 · 03-05-2008, 04:15 PM

i had the same problem... i didn't know if i was confusing my girl by putting a pee pad in her x-pen.. whenever i am home she goes outside.. so i did it anyways, she is almost a year now and she gets her pee pad in her x-pen while i am at work, for 6 hours, and she actually goes on it but the poop rarely makes it on the pad.. but pee, always.. and when i am home there is no pad down and she always goes outside to do her business, she has not made a mistake in the house for probably 5 months.. good luck to you!! it takes time

Ladylavender · 03-06-2008, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ellie May

I don't have much advice because I am terrible at potty training but a young pup is not going to hold it for 5 hours (maybe not even 2 hours). If you leave him in a crate he will "go". Then he will think it is okay to go in there which won't come in handy later. I also think a dog needs access to water 24/7 or atleast 16/7 (just pick it up while you sleep).

I don't wish to be controversial, but this is wrong. A puppy can hold it for 5 hours and they will. And a dog does NOT need access to water 24/7. And to take it a way from them while confined is not cruel, just practical.

Quote:

I know it's hard...believe me. But I think they are ok. I suppose there are different opinions on this, but I was assured and reassured that she would be ok........

Quote:

OH one more thing........

I was told they can hold it one hour longer than they are in months...so a 3 month old should hold it 4 hours.

We started doing this with Jeanie at 4 months?? I think - something like that....and she never went in her kennel.

I was also told if you have the kennel big enough for a pee pad etc, it defeats the purpose, and you might as well give her free roam of the kitchen....

It is hard and you may not think it will work, but it does. It is an extremely effective method, without being cruel. It eliminates a lot of the stress in the homecoming, because there is no potty to pick up or clean up and there is a sense of accomplishment everyday that they get it right. The homecoming is a happy occasion for both you and the puppy.

You might want to practice on the week-end and keep her in her crate for a couple hours at a time and work your way up to 5 hours, so that on Monday, she will be used to it and it will not be anything new to her.

Candacekimble · 03-06-2008, 06:42 AM

I have a 6 month old yorkie female, who is potty trained. I got her about 14 weeks and started crate training immediately. Never used the potty pads and she never had full run unless I was watching her like a hawk. If I couldn’t watch her she was in her crate. I have an X-Small crate but it was still too much room and she would pee/poo on one end and lay on the other. Needless to say that didn’t work. This is what worked: I got a doggy bed and placed this in the crate. She could stand up, move around a bit, play with her toys but she couldn’t pee and run. It worked like a charm, the day I put the bed in she stopped peeing in the crate. I believe the trick is not to give too much room in the crate, but that was hard for me to measure. This site really helped.

I used to come home and take her out during lunch and then immediately after work. At about 4.5 months (I think) I noticed she could hold it for the day (when I had an emergency). Even now at 6 months she sometimes in her crate from 8-5 and when I let her out she stops and plays with me for about 5 minutes before she is ready to go out. At this point, she runs around the house without any accidents, when we are home. She will come get our attention when she needs to go outside 

Not home=Crate. No food or water, just few of her favorite toys.
Also, I took the bed out of her crate after about 3 weeks and now she has the entire crate with no problems. It was so frustrating the first few months but now she is potty outside trained.

Most important, do what works in your lifestyle. There is a lot of great advice on this website and every dog is different. Be patient, stick with a routine, and this will be over before you know it.

03-05-2008, 05:55 AM	#1
y0rkiesR0ck YT Addict Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Fairborn, OH Posts: 345	working during the day... help me please? okay, i know there are A LOT of threads about potty training, but i couldn't find one through the search engine that pin-pointed my question, so i'm hoping you all can help ease my mind. Kash is going on 13 weeks this saturday, and i've had him for about 3 1/2 weeks. both my boyfriend and i work during the day, so i understand that potty training is going to take longer than if i were at home with him. my problem is i'm afraid i'm confusing kash. and i'm confused by the information i've read as well. so, i keep kash confined to our kitchen with a baby gate and his (open) crate. i'm doing this because people on YT have said keeping such a young puppy confined to a small crate for 5 hours at a time is not good. so, i give him run of the whole kitchen, which is about 8' x 8'. i come home at lunch to let him out, and there's always pee on the floor. i wipe it up with a paper towel, take kash and the soiled paper towel outside to possibly relate outside to peeing. i have a pee pad on the floor for accidents, but he doesn't use it. i don't know what to do... am i doing the right thing by letting him have the whole kitchen? or should i keep him in his crate? am i confusing him by trying to teach him to go outside as well as on a pee pad inside? if so, how can i prevent accidents if i remove the pee pad completely? is it possible to teach both? i feel like he thinks it's okay to pee/poop inside (especially the kitchen) because i don't punish him when he does (because it's usually way after the fact). i know he's still young, and it will take more time and patience. i just want to make sure i'm going about training the right way so that he eventually gets the point. also, i've been carrying him from the kitchen to the back door. i read that i should lead** him to the back door, not carry him. is this right? thanks in advance! __________________ Mae, Kash & Milan

03-05-2008, 06:14 AM	#2
ali Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Monrovia, Maryland Posts: 114	I think that leaving him in his crate while you go to work is ok. You come home for luch anyway right? Maybe when you come home you can put a leash on him and lead him to the potty door quickly. Take a small treat with you and when he goes potty reward him (you can also take a favorite toy to reward him with. Tell him good boy to potty. If you want to use the pee pads you can do the same thing. Take him from his crate to his pad and then reward him when he pottys. Once he starts to get the hang of this then you can start to let him have more time out side of his crate when you are not home. They are very smart little dogs and catch on quickly, you just have to be very consistant with them and set up a schedule. Anyway, this is what has worked for me. Snickers has been fully potty trained since he was 4 months. Good luck, I'm sure it wont take long. __________________ Alice's boys Snickers , and Seamus

03-05-2008, 07:15 AM	#3
kl1977 YT Addict Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Alabama Posts: 348	I think we got Izzy and Kash at bout the same time. For the first 3 weeks (weve only had her 4 come Friday) we tried potty pads with NOOOO luck, not one little bit of progress, I was becoming very frustrated. My bathroom smelled like pee soooo bad ( and so did Izzy) and I could not stand it. So on Sat we went and picked up a harness and leash. And we started going outside every two hours, and we have made more progress in 5 days and it amazes me. We took all the potty pads out. I still smell a little pee but I think if I keep using Natures Miracle it will get better ( I have a huge sense of smell). I am working a little bit right now but its only temporary while a girl is out having a baby. My husband has a sawmill and is at home all day and he has been coming into take her out while Im not here (shes not doing a great job with him, she is very nervous around men ). I think I would try to get an xpen and put a plastic table cloth or a shower curtain under it, the clean up is much easier without the smell left on the floor. We always give Izzy a treat after pee or poop. I am like a broken record sayin go potty until she does something and I think she has caught on to it. She even looks up waiting on that treat when shes done. She has had a couple of accidents but really just with my husband since Sat. Hopefully Im getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck! __________________ Isabeau "Izzy"

03-05-2008, 08:30 AM	#4
mainegirl Donating YT Addict Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Maine Posts: 513 Blog Entries: 1	My Baby stays home all day on Tues and Thurs in an xpen with pee pads down. I have a shower curtain down under the pee pads to help stop any messes. I have the pee pads on the whole floor of the xpen so he can't have an accident. When we are home we leave the gate open and he runs in there when he has to go. He is 13 weeks also. The first 10 days we had him there was some one with him all the time and we took him to his pee pad everytime we thought he had to go. We kept track on the kitchen white board so we knew his schedule. I would say that he is 80% pad trained now. He has pee accidents sometimes but will get down off the couch to go to the pads. He has started daycare and they are taking him outside to potty so he is learning both. I was worrying he would get confused but so far so good. Once the never ending Maine winter and snow let up I will start transitioning him outside. I would try the xpen with the pads. There is an inexpensive one at WalMart. It can really set them up for success. Good luck! __________________ Member of the Little Gentleman's Club

03-05-2008, 08:42 AM	#5
twalla I ♥ my Furheathens Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: VAN ALSTYNE Posts: 8,226	Here is my two cents and MHO..... Yorkies are like kids... each one is different and what works for someone else may not work for you....with that said.... this is my opinion.... Sam uses the potty pads and goes outside. This works for me and our lifestyle. He is not confused. He knows when I say potty outside what that means and he will go to the back door to tell me sometimes. I have always carried him; never lead him. Maybe Kash doesnt know he is supposed to use the potty pads. You may dab some of his pee pee on it so he can smell it and then know this is the place for him to go. I keep Sam in his crate while I am at work. When we first got started, part of his crate is bedding, part was a potty pad. I cannot imagine not being in a crate, he gets into enough trouble when I am home... Now that he is older, he has never used it. He holds it till Nana comes home. Good luck - you sound like you are on the right path with being patient and knowing that it is going to take time. __________________ Twalla & The Furheathens

03-05-2008, 09:04 AM	#6
Ladylavender YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Soddy Daisy, TN Posts: 733	I think you can safely put him in a crate for5 hours and he should be ok. You need to make sure he has no food or water in the crate with him, so that he does not have to go potty earlier than when you come home. The inside of the crate needs to be really really really small, so you may have to block off some of it to make it small enough. He should have only enough space to turn around and lay down. You can put a kong in there or some other toy, but he will sleep most of the time while he is in there anyway. However, if you want to keep him out then I would definitely make the space smaller than the size of your kitchen. You need to make the space small enough that he has a sleeping area, his food and water (but not necessary) and his place to go potty. There should not be any other room in there. He should only have one area available to potty and that is the area that you have the potty pad. All other space should be covered by his bed/crate and food area. In this way you are making an environment for him to be successful. If there is only one free open space to potty, (the potty pad) then that is where he will go. If you make to much area available, then you have created an opportunity for him to potty in NOT the right area. However, I potty trained Millie by keeping her in the crate all day while we were at work. She was able to hold it and she did not have any mistakes in the crate, but we did have it very very very small. When we came home, and I mean as soon as we got there, we took her for a very long walk and that gave her a chance to pee a couple of times and do her poo. Then we played with her to get out her energy from being couped up in the crate all day. After a while we trusted her to hold her pee while at work and we put her in a larger space, but still confined. We had an x-pen with her crate (door open) a bed and some toys, still no food or water. As time passed and she was trusted to not mess in the house, she eventually had free range of the house and still does when we are at work. Before work, and when we got up from sleep, we would feed her and give her access to water. After we had gotten ready for work, we would take her for a 15 minute walk to allow her an opportunity to pee and poo before she was put in the crate. Of course while we were at home, she had free access to her food and water. But not free access to the whole house. She was either in her crate, x-pen or in one room at a time and that was the room we were in watching her constantly. __________________ Sheila and Sweet Millie Sage and Jasmine Rose

03-05-2008, 01:24 PM	#7
Mere_de_Jambo YT Addict Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 328	For me, I had to decide whether I was going to want him to pee and poo outside or inside. I decided to go with a litter box which I line with a pee pad with a grass scent. When I was at home, I took him to the litter box and told him potty. If I wasn't around or at night, he was gated in the kitchen (just like yours) with the litter box inside. He had accidents here and there but one day, voila....pee and poo was in the litter box and not on the floor. It was a trying 2 weeks but he eventually started to just go to his litter box. Now I have two litter boxes (one upstairs and one downstairs) and he uses both. If he pees in one, he will poo in the other. Occasionally he will make a little mess when he gets lazy and put only one leg in the box and leaks out but otherwise I have had no problems. I definitely know he knows the litterbox is where he is suppose to do his thing.

03-05-2008, 01:29 PM	#8
Ellie May And Rylee Finnegan Donating Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Metro Detroit, MI Posts: 17,928	I don't have much advice because I am terrible at potty training but a young pup is not going to hold it for 5 hours (maybe not even 2 hours). If you leave him in a crate he will "go". Then he will think it is okay to go in there which won't come in handy later. I also think a dog needs access to water 24/7 or atleast 16/7 (just pick it up while you sleep). __________________ Crystal, Ellie May (RIP), Rylee Finnegan, and Gracie Boo🐶

03-05-2008, 03:35 PM	#10
mrlmonroe YT Addict Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: White Rock Posts: 404	I haven't read all the responses, so pardon me if I repeat anyone else. But what we did with Jeanie worked for us - and our situations are very similar. I would put Jeanie in her crate when I left at 8:30, the dog walker would come at 12:00 and let her out, take her outside, walk her, and then return her to the crate till I was home at 5:30. IT BROKE MY HEART, but I was assured that she would not be upset.....they sleep a lot during the day at that age. I still felt horrible. Anyway, then after a while, we started letting her hang out in the kitchen, with the doggy door up, NO PEE PAD, and the dog walker would come. We asked if any accidents, and when there were none (pretty much right away she was ok to hold it)....then she would go outside for her walk, and back into the kitchen. She would hold it till we got home. Finally, after a year old, we started giving her full roam of the house, no accidents. We had a tough time till we crated her the morning and afternoon.......after that it worked fine.... I know it's hard...believe me. But I think they are ok. I suppose there are different opinions on this, but I was assured and reassured that she would be ok........ Hope that helps

03-05-2008, 03:37 PM	#11
mrlmonroe YT Addict Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: White Rock Posts: 404	OH one more thing........ I was told they can hold it one hour longer than they are in months...so a 3 month old should hold it 4 hours. We started doing this with Jeanie at 4 months?? I think - something like that....and she never went in her kennel. I was also told if you have the kennel big enough for a pee pad etc, it defeats the purpose, and you might as well give her free roam of the kitchen....

03-05-2008, 03:57 PM	#12
Ashley V ♥ Chip ♥ Smokey ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Leesburg Posts: 3,835	I personally don't believe in giving my dogs free roam of the kitchen when they are that young. For one thing, you may think everything is puppy proofed, but one day you may come home to a trashed kitchen or something torn up. Chip once ate a hole in the floor. Just another food for thought. I think if you put him in his crate then take him out often and LEAD him to the potty area then with lots of praise and treats you should be good to go! Yorkies love to please their mommies and daddies, but potty training one can be a little difficult. Good luck and congrats on the new baby! They truly are wonderful little dogs. __________________ ~~ Chip ~~ Smokey ~*~ My heart is wrapped around their little paws Karley Marissa born 1/20/12 weighing 8 lbs 11 oz and 21.5 inches long

03-05-2008, 04:15 PM	#13
bellbuzz07 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: la mirada, ca Posts: 142	i had the same problem... i didn't know if i was confusing my girl by putting a pee pad in her x-pen.. whenever i am home she goes outside.. so i did it anyways, she is almost a year now and she gets her pee pad in her x-pen while i am at work, for 6 hours, and she actually goes on it but the poop rarely makes it on the pad.. but pee, always.. and when i am home there is no pad down and she always goes outside to do her business, she has not made a mistake in the house for probably 5 months.. good luck to you!! it takes time __________________ bella luna

03-06-2008, 06:42 AM	#15
Candacekimble Yorkie Talker Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 15	Good Luck I have a 6 month old yorkie female, who is potty trained. I got her about 14 weeks and started crate training immediately. Never used the potty pads and she never had full run unless I was watching her like a hawk. If I couldn’t watch her she was in her crate. I have an X-Small crate but it was still too much room and she would pee/poo on one end and lay on the other. Needless to say that didn’t work. This is what worked: I got a doggy bed and placed this in the crate. She could stand up, move around a bit, play with her toys but she couldn’t pee and run. It worked like a charm, the day I put the bed in she stopped peeing in the crate. I believe the trick is not to give too much room in the crate, but that was hard for me to measure. This site really helped. I used to come home and take her out during lunch and then immediately after work. At about 4.5 months (I think) I noticed she could hold it for the day (when I had an emergency). Even now at 6 months she sometimes in her crate from 8-5 and when I let her out she stops and plays with me for about 5 minutes before she is ready to go out. At this point, she runs around the house without any accidents, when we are home. She will come get our attention when she needs to go outside  Not home=Crate. No food or water, just few of her favorite toys. Also, I took the bed out of her crate after about 3 weeks and now she has the entire crate with no problems. It was so frustrating the first few months but now she is potty outside trained. Most important, do what works in your lifestyle. There is a lot of great advice on this website and every dog is different. Be patient, stick with a routine, and this will be over before you know it.