1st time Dog Owner - New to group Hi everyone, I am a long-time dog lover and just got my first Yorkie 3 weeks ago. He is the first dog I have ever owned and I waited so long to get a dog to make sure I was financially stable and had the time to devote to him. When I got him, he was 4 months old so he is a little older than the traditional puppy age. He is a tiny little pup at only 2.2 lbs and I love him. I did my homework regarding training before getting him, I read training books and stuff online. I have taken him to see the vet and we start puppy education classes tomorrow evening. But potty training is NOT going well. He has not gone outside once since I got him 3 weeks ago. He holds his bladder and poop well but doesn't know where to release it. He pees/poops consistently in his crate. I take him outside every hour when I am with him. We go on long walks. He sniffs everything. Then I put him in his crate and he goes again. This morning he started to poop in his crate, I took him outside for 30 minutes so he could finish and the moment we came back inside, he pooped again in the crate. I'm at a loss. He is a little older so he has formed habits that are hard to break. I am looking for help. I am using rewards/treats but haven't given him a treat once because he hasn't gone outside. Are there any tricks I am missing? |
Was he pee-pad trained before? It sound like you might have an easier time training him to use the pads than training him to go outside. |
Welcome to YT. Have you tried leaving him in an x-pen instead of a crate? With an x-pen you can put his food and bed in one end and a training pad in the other. Sometimes it is easier with these little ones to pad train them first. If the crate is to big that can be a problem, the crate should only be big enough for them to turn around and lay down. It is not for playing, that is what an x-pen is for. A crate is for sleeping only. I found that for puppies the x-pen or a playpen work so much better, it gives them room to play, sleep, eat, and potty. |
Potty training My vet and several Yorkie owners told me to NOT use pee pads and they did so with a passion. My vet said he is older and using pee pads is best at a younger age. The other owners said pee pads taught their dogs to pee inside and they still have accidents. His crate is pretty big. He is small and I had a difficult time finding a small wire crate. This could be the problem but he hated the small crate I originally bought him, which was plastic. He whined each time I put him in. |
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CathyS great advice above. If you prefer to continue with crate training, check out the small wire crates with dividers at Walmart or the pet stores. You may have to add something even with the divider to make the space small enough as Cathy indicated. Take your pup out every hour (and after meals) as you were doing and stay out there with him until he does something. Use a keyword or phrase to indicate that you want him to go potty. When he does, praise him profusely and give the treat that you have for him. |
Welcome to YT. You will find that we have some great experience here on YT. Everything you wanted to know about Yorkies is right here. Enjoy the site. |
You already got great advices. When you take him out for potty don't play with him or distract him otherwise. Tell him to "go for poop" or "pee". Once he did his business praise him like crazy and give him a treat immediately. Good luck, it takes time. |
Welcome to YT! You already got a ton of great advice. I'm a first time dog owner too! Most of what I learned here I applied to my pup. 4 months isn't that old at all, I got mine at 12 months. :p He's dual potty trained so he could use both. Potty training to either takes time, patience and routine. |
You've been given excellent advice. My two boys are trained to use washable pads and go outside. I got them trained by having a crate wherever I spent time, putting them in there when I couldn't watch them like a hawk. Didn't trust them until they were around 1 yr. old. Others say they can trust earlier but I just wanted to be sure. I think there is a saying that a puppy can hold its potty one hour for every month it is old. I even set an alarm at night to help train. Comment on the whining......mine whined, too, but I ignored it. Give a toy to play with that occupies them. Check out this site for interactive toys: DOG TOYS - The newest dog toys that dogs love Good luck. ~Joanne~ |
He isnt too old to be trained dont worry :) How big is the crate? Is it just big enough for him to sleep in or does he have more room to wander around? The point of crate training is that they will see the crate as their nest, the place where they sleep. They will not want to go potty in the place that they sleep, But if he has enough room to go potty away from his bed in the crate then he will. You need to make sure he only has enough room for his bed in there, If he needs water in there a few people have suggested water bottles like the type you use for rabbits which hang on the side of the crate (you can get some pretty big ones). If you really arnt having luck with him going outside you could try potty pad training. The pads are scented which will make him want to go potty on it, once he has that nailed start moving the pads closer to the door then eventually outside. Remember to give him lots of praise when he goes potty in the right place and give him this praise as hes doing it or he will not know what he has been praised for. Tell him off if you catch him doing it in the wrong place then show him where you want him to do it. Never tell him off if you have just found poop or wee on the floor after he has done the act as he wont know what he is getting wrong for. Good luck :) |
Hi everyone, Thanks so much for the tips. Potty training is going VERY well now. We have come a long way. I bought a divider for his crate to make the space smaller. The crate is huge and that's why he was going in there. Now he doesn't go in there and starts to cry when it's time for him to "go." I also started puppy training classes and they gave us a clicker. I click it every time he goes potty and he immediately knows he did something good. I give him lots of praise and gets a treat. Then we go inside and I let him play for about 15-20 minutes to let him get used to the house then crate him again. Since Sunday morning he had 1 accident in the crate but that was completely my fault. Now I'm wondering "what's next?" How long will it take before I am able to let him roam my apartment without having an accident? |
Congratulations on your new puppy and congrats on your progress with training. :) |
Welcome to YT! Everyone has given such great tips, I'm a first time yorkie owner too and my pup is about 16 weeks (not quite 4 months yet) and it has been quite the process getting him potty trained! The only advice I can give you is just be patient :) If you keep him on a set schedule he'll get used to it and start going outside. If it takes you a while to get to the yard (I'm in an apartment so I have to go down a flight of stairs just to get him to grass) I use a pee patch on my deck....it works amazingly well!!! He is now starting to go to my door if he needs to go out and will go right on the pee patch (its basically a large patch of fake grass with a tray underneath that you can clean and re-use). Best of luck and congratulations on your new baby!!! :D |
Welcome to YT and congrats to your furbaby and the progress you two made! |
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I'm with CathyS on this one. I had Teegy in an X-pen for a couple of months until I gave him free reign. Can I suggest get new blankets and stuff for the crate and move it to a spot that doesn't have the scent. Don't put him in the crate if you know he's gonna go in it. Is he going outside when you take him. Are you praising him and giving treats when he goes outside? Don't know if any of this will help, but it's what I'd try. |
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