Problems with free roam...

[T Doll]

I was wondering, at what age or what point did you allow your Yorkie to have free roam of the house? Did you have any problems with it at first? Mocha is 14 months now and I really want him to have free roam, but he is having a few issues with it He does really well when he stays in only one room of the house. He uses his pee pad consistently and because of that, I went ahead and let him have free roam. I put down a few pee pads in several areas of the house and he seemed to be ok with using them for the first couple of days. I tried to keep an eye on him as much as I could, but it's impossible to watch him every second, as he wanders from room to room. But since he seemed to be using the pads and not getting into any trouble, I let him do his own thing under less supervision. Well, around day 3 or 4, he started leaving a bunch of "presents" around the house He suddenly started to pee and poop wherever he liked, even if there was a pad near by So now he's back to being in one room at a time, and happily uses his pee pads. I just don't get it He understands the concept of going potty on the pad, and does it consistently while confined in one room, but whenever he roams the house, it's like he thinks he's too good to use the pee pads Does anyone have any advice or opinions on this?

[MIZBROWN]

Yeah...I think we've all had that problem. I gave Meka full run of the house and it too was her personal toilet. At a 1 1/2 now... she's confined during the day and I let her out when I get home in the evening. She does pretty well... Though we have a 1br house now, rather than the 2br 2story we had So that could be the difference. But, if she's playing in the living room, she's finally at the point where she'll stop what she's doing to go to her pad (in the laundry room).

Maybe allowing him to go room to room should stop. Try keeping him in the room that your in at all times. When you see him sniffing around, looking for a spot, guide him to his pad. There are still times here and there, when I have to tell Meka "go potty on pad"...because I see her sniffing around.

Also, I've always given Meka one area to go potty. I would think that giving them more than one, give's them the idea that they can go anywhere in the house? Though I know there are some YT'ers that do... IDK. Just remain consistant with his training and he'll get it eventually

[T Doll]

Thanks for sharing, I didn't realize this was such a common problem. As for only letting him stay in one room at a time (the same room I'm in), that's what I've been doing and he always goes on the pads. Since he's been so good with this, I figured it was the right time to let him have free roam....but I guess I was wrong So when does one realize that their Yorkie can be trusted enough to have free roam?

Originally Posted by MIZBROWN

Yeah...I think we've all had that problem. I gave Meka full run of the house and it too was her personal toilet. At a 1 1/2 now... she's confined during the day and I let her out when I get home in the evening. She does pretty well... Though we have a 1br house now, rather than the 2br 2story we had So that could be the difference. But, if she's playing in the living room, she's finally at the point where she'll stop what she's doing to go to her pad (in the laundry room).

Maybe allowing him to go room to room should stop. Try keeping him in the room that your in at all times. When you see him sniffing around, looking for a spot, guide him to his pad. There are still times here and there, when I have to tell Meka "go potty on pad"...because I see her sniffing around.

Also, I've always given Meka one area to go potty. I would think that giving them more than one, give's them the idea that they can go anywhere in the house? Though I know there are some YT'ers that do... IDK. Just remain consistant with his training and he'll get it eventually

[Keely_momma]

My girl is 5 months old. And before i left for school this morning i brought her in with my brother in his bed because she wasnt ready to wake up. I wrote him a note to put her in her kennel when he left the house and instead he barred her in the porch with a Devider my dad made up. The rest of my family knew that she could move it out of the way there fore we dont use it anymore. But When i came home from school i realozed she had full roam of the house for 4 hours by herself (We have a HUGE house) And The only thing that she did was tear up 1 tissue that had fallen off the counter and unto the floor. She didnt even pee anywhere (We searched EVERYWHERE to make sure she didnt) Im seriously considering letting her have free roam 1 day out of everyweek to get her used to it. We now know that we can trust her and she knows what she is allowed to do and what she isnt allwoed to do.. Why dont you leave your baby home for a half hour or so and let her have free raom and See if she does anything (She shouldt be able to do anything too Serious in a half hour) lol
Good Luck,

Jessica And Keely

[Keely_momma]

sorry, I thought the thread was about letting free roam when you arent home... oops

[PANAMA69]

I waited for mine to be potty trained to give them free roam, thank God they are all potty train, but I only use one place (hard floor) and they know where it is, I think if I leave so many pads in the house they might think is ok to do in the carpet or somenthing, they even go and run down stairs to use the pad if they have to, but if I have to leave them for few minutes I keep them in the kitchen area with a baby gate, this has work for me and I have three

[LDandPasquale]

Mine has had free roam of the house when i'm home from day 1. Probably cause i was a little selfish and constantly wanted to play with him or cuddle with him. BUT i am lucky cause Pasquale has always just pee'd on tile, so even if he did have an accident..it was easily cleanable. It's so weird...he just wanted to pee on a hard surface. Now he's potty trained and gets the idea that if he pee's on his pad , he'll get a treat. Today he followed Daddy upstairs when he came home from work and then ran back downstairs to go potty on his pad....i was SO proud of him! I think if he was peeing on my carpet though...id have to confine him to one room too.