Stuck on what to do with my little girl :[
 

So Tikka is taking to the day time crate training quite well. She is starting to quiet down when I leave her in there. [We are training her during the day because we live in an apartment and can't have her yelping at night.]

The only time she will ever be in her kennel is if we are gone... date night, getting groceries, etc. Otherwise she has roam of the apartment.

So that's great.

But she is peeing/pooping in the house since we got her last Sunday. You can read my thread about this under the General Training section it's titled "Transitional Potty Training". I've gotten a couple good ideas from a couple people.

There are two things that idk what to do about... Tikka wont go potty on a leash due to being raised with a fenced in yard. So she is now holding her potty as long as possible. Right she hasn't pee'd or pooped since last night at 10:45pm which she did inside by the door. It's now 2:20pm the next day! Nothing! She wants to just run on her own and go potty but we dont have the luxury of a yard right now. I'm afraid she's going to get UTI, I'd rather she just have an accident by the door vs. holding it for more than 12 hours!

My husband has given me his final warning about the peeing/pooping inside... you can imagine how much she's done inside after 9 days! If she doesn't figure out that she needs to go outside on a leash or yard line QUICK we will have to rehome/sell her. :( This is devastating to me. What would you guys do in this case?
I've never had a problem housetraining a dog, Pooter caught on to the leash idea in 3 days, we had a chihuahua that caught on in 4 days. I feel like I'm failing her, or doing something wrong.

I'd get a very long leash or tie the existing leash to a long rope to she feels like she has freedom (you could then gradually shorten it over weeks if you feel the need to).

I'd also create the situation for her success. Plan on spending a few days outside, all day long. Take her water, food & bowls out there and take drinks, snacks, books, etc for yourself. I would keep her out there all day. I walk her around, have her drink. Walk some more, drink. Feed her outside, walk/play. Drink, walk, drink. She will have to pee outside!!! And when she does, praise her & tell her how wonderful she is & give her a treat. A couple of days of that & she should catch on :)

I wouldn't let her have free roam of the apartment until she has proven herself. I'd switch from a crate to an expen. While in the ex pen I would focus on using a potty pad in addition to taking her on outside potty breaks. She sounds confused. Did I read she is a foster? Is it possible she was never fully house broke?

Its been only a week. Surely your hubby needs to realize not all dogs are the same. Sad hes thinking of rehoming already. Be patient. I bet tikka can sense it :(

Not to sound harsh, but would you rehome your skin child if they did not potty train in a week?

Taking a pet in is a huge, serious and extensive commitment.

Great advice thus far.

I would recommend using an ex-pen as well. Have you tried using potty pads?

@ChaCha no we got her from a family, she's 8 month old. She's house broke to whine when she needs to go potty, but they just let her out in a fenced in yard, with me she has to go on a leash. she does whine at the door to go out but she wont go because she's on a leash. instead she goes at the front door. I have her tethered to the Kitchen table right now... no more roaming :/

@Jessy yeah i know, we have Pooter and he's great with going potty on his leash only took him 3 days. so i guess my husband is expecting that. he's just worried about our carpet being ruined and smelling like pee and loosing our security deposit plus the cost of new carpet.
I totally see it that way... i wouldn't give up on my kid because he wont go potty on the toilet... some kids just take longer [which i know because i worked at a daycare with 2 year olds! lol] same with dogs, they aren't all the same.


I'm going out right now to get a long line... any other suggestions are welcome though... I really really really do NOT want to see her go. I serioulsy want to cry at the thought of it, I was so set on having a Yorkie as I read up on this site for a couple months prior... and she is an amazing little girl. So active and fits our lifestyle perfectly. Plays fetch, tugowar, cuddles, etc.

This may sound gross but what if you took her poop outside that you collect from the house. Put it in a special spot. Maybe if it smells familar that would help. They say you should take them back to the same spot to potty when training. I also thing putting her on a long leash for some freedom may help. And when it happens praise praise and a small treat. I sure hope you can get it worked out. But I am sure it will take some time. Don't give up she is worth the work. She will catch on evidently. Good luck

First off you need to give her more time- no dog I have ever brought into my house has been potty trained or even kind of close in 9 days. She likely isn't even comfortable in your house after such a short period of time. While, you should certainly be working on potty training from day one, you should be more concerned about forming a bond with her and getting her to trust you at this point then you should be about whether or not she is trained.

Second, like someone else said, you should tie a very long rope to the leash so that you have control of her but don't need to be so close to her- that alone may be the reason she is scared to go- not just the leash.

Also, if you know she needs to go, you should not bring her back in until she has gone. Even if that means you are outside for HOURS. Also she should never have free roam of the house when you are not very closely watching her. Either she needs to be crated, penned, or tethered to you.

@Presto yeah I'm going to try the yard line first because we dont have a lot of room to spare for a pen in our apartment, she's a bigger yorkie and would require a bit more space than those little 3-6lbers. And I don't want her to get used to potty pads so I feel like that will be confusing her even more if I add potty pads. For example: She's trained whine and be let out to roam a yard, but she's expected to go on a leash, then also adding a potty pad? I would be like "WHAT THE HECK LADY! WHAT DO YOU WANT!"

I will def. consider the potty pads and expen if the yard line doesn't work. I feel like I'm depriving her of the yard she wants... makes me almost feel bad :/

Nine days is not a very long time for her to change her habits! Please give her more time.

I agree that an ex-pen with potty pads is a good idea for now. If she doesn't go potty when she's outside then don't let her have free run of your home. Another option would be to keep her on a leash indoors as well, watch for signs that she needs to go potty and take her right outside. You need to watch her every second until she finally understands that it's OK to potty when outside on the leash.

Good Luck with her. :)

@horsnaround... thanks! I didn't even think to do that. I will try... can't hurt eh? lol

@armaniman... i have all the time in the world to give her, and am willing to :D it's the husband that isn't impressed, he loves her but not enough to watch me cleaning up pee and poop constantly and dealing with the carpet.

she sleeps with me, sits on my lap while i work, follows me to the bathroom, lays on my feet when i'm watching t.v., begs me to throw her fetchie toy never hesitates to bring it right back to me etc i think the bonding has been going great so far... i never have to yell for her to come hang out with me because she is always already by me.

i have her tethered to the table now, which i sit at all day for work so hopefully this will help. we're in the process of crate training her [which she's doing amazing with] and so I always take her outside straight from the crate. no more free roam of the house :/

@isabelleollie thanks :D i am leaving...NOW! lol to get her the yard line, and i have her on her leash teathered to the table. so next time when she whines we go straight outside and she doesn't get to come in until she goes... right?

I really hope it works out too, trust me it's not my idea to even start thinking about finding her a new home, it's the husband, he thought we got a housetrained dog... which so did i. and we did, just not housetrained the way that fits our accommodations. I do feel more bad for her than I do for me. I don't mind cleaning up after her, it's not her fault she's in a new home after 8 months and in a new situation :/

freedom!
 

so i had to buy a BIG dog cable because it came with the HUGE security spike, then bought a second cable for cats/small dogs to clip on it.

here is Tikka with a little more new found freedom :D makes me happy to see her not minding being outside alone.

now i just have to keep an eye out to make sure she does go potty :D gives you an idea of what i meant by putting her out the window haha!

also... i switched her to her harness, looking at her collar it made me nervous that she will figure out how to pull of of it. and her food&water are just under the window :D she keeps covering her food with grass and sticks like a squirrel lol

You have 2 dogs? Walk them together, when one goes the other will see it and learn (hopefully)

Yeah two dogs, and yes I have been taking them out together :D I walk Pooter out when I put her on her line, and he always goes potty, so hopefully she'll realize "hey he goes potty and he gets to go back in" lol

But she is really liking the line, so we'll see how this goes!

:thumbup::thumbup: it may be all she needed. But give it some time. Cute pictures thanks for sharing

Looking at the pics I thought those are odd markings....duh, it's her feet! She's very pretty!

She'll get the hang of it. :) Tell hubby to hang in there.

No problem, I was really excited about putting her out on it lol so I had to take a couple pics.

She looks great. Good job. Hoping this works out well. The last pic is so darling. Like "momma can I come back in" LOL

Your new baby is adorable!!!

I love the picture with her feet up on the window! She is a cutie. Hope that this solves the potty issue for you.

OK, Kathy, I think it's time for you to get some new specs!:D Between the hair comment in another post (hawk post) and this comment, I'm getting really worried about you.:D:D:D:D

And, yes, Tikka is a very pretty little girl. I hope the long line is the answer for you and your girl.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I didn't catch her going pee, but she was out there almost all afternoon and there's been no accidents... so either she went pee or she's been holding it for almost 24 hours lol which I believe is impossible for such a small bladder since she's been eating and drinking today. Gotta really keep an eye on her so I can catch her going potty and give her some praise!

&thanks for all the comments about her pics! :D she says thanks :P

This is the key! You should be going out with her everytime at the beginning so you can reward the behavior every single time.

keep a close eye on her, you dont want anyone to take her, is their any thing that can get to her back where she is, im a paranoid mother to chester, and by the way she is a beautiful dog

you can also get a blacklight ( just in case)to see if she is going in the house. they go so little that you may not see where she is going. i was shocked when i turned out the lights and saw what was there...ugg!

I'm totally paranoid too, I work on my computer right by the window, and I'm constantly peeking up to check on her... more so that she's still there not that she's going potty... I'll do a better job of watching for pottying today though!!

We live in a small town surround by A LOT of wildlife... moose, elk, deer, bear, birds, wolves, coyotes. BUT I have yet to ever see anything but deer pass through our yard, on schedule too lol 6-7am and 10-11pm :P So I'm not TOO worried about predators coming into town just due to the fact they don't have a reason too because they can get anything they want out in the bush. BUT I do worry like any furbaby mom would!


As far as a black light... that would actually be good to make sure I've shampooed everything good too! Her puddles are pretty big, she's almost 7lbs and when she holds it so long her piddles are def. more like puddles! No accidents last night though, I mean no pee. She just pooped by the door, which to be honest, is MUCH easier to pick up than pee. So I'll be keeping a closer eye on her today and hopefully catch her going potty this time, see if I can't get her to poo out there too!

[the only reason she has the ability to have a night time accident is because we are in the process of kennel training so she's a yelper... we can't have that at night in an apt. so until she gets it during the day she wont be in there at night. she's only had two night time accidents since we got her, and that's not bad considering we sleep for 10 hours.]

That's the first thought I had when I looked at your pictures:eek:
WHAT IF?????? Accident's happen in a split second...There was a post on YT where just this week a hawk attacking a 6lb dog.

I know you check on her constantly:thumbup: Good luck w/ potty training:)

Lol yeah you can't tell in the pics because the background gets blurred out on my DSLR, but we are completely fenced in w/6ft chainlink minus a couple walkway entrances, so that's a little bit of safety, but yeah I look out at her like every 5 seconds plus I'm trying to catch her going at lease pee, so pretty much always starring at her when I can haha

I'm paranoid just as much as anyone especially in out area... although I don't believe the predator wildlife this far north has any reason to come into town since the prey is so abundant and there's so much land they aren't threatened as far as space goes, it DOES happen although not as often as in the bigger city areas that are pressing too far into the woods with development... you're right. SO better to be safe than sorry, I would DIE if I went out there to find her gone or... even worse to see remains. I'd be scarred for liiiiife. I saw that post about the hawk too :/

It's not just wildlife you have to worry about...yorkies = $$ to lots of horrible people. And it only takes a second to unhook a lead and walk away with a female yorkie, which means even more $$$. They don't know if she's fixed or not...Since this is not a private yard, I recommend going out with her every time, mainly for the purpose of praising when she does go on the leash, and to keep her safe.
And hawks won't be put off by a fence...