New owner! Need help!!

[OpieDopie]

Hello everyone! I am super excited about this site! I am a fairly new owner of a yorkie named Opie. He is 6 months old (born June 16 2011) and weighs 12 POUNDS! I have done some research about oversized yorkies, but everything is different. I hope that by joining this forum that I can get actual answers! Opie is my first puppy and he is not fixed. My biggest problem thus far is that I CANNOT house break him. He goes potty outside for a few weeks, then he reverts back to going on the rug. Also, he refuses to poo outside! Ive tried pretty much everything, treats, pee pads, taking him out every half hr, etc., but its pretty much hopeless for this guy! The werid thing to me is that he knows how to sit, stay, shake and lay down, so WHY cant he potty outside!?... Should I get him fixed?.. Also, his ears wont stand up. Is that normal?.... His brother (my friend owns him) is doing everything Opie is not, plus some and he is a regular sized yorkie... Im just worried that my little guy might not be developing properly! Any suggestions!?

[tinalove]

6 months and 12 pounds boy that's a big puppy.! Welcome to our forum

[OpieDopie]

Big is an understatment! LOL! He looks like a rott puppy! Hes not mixed with anything, both his parents are pure bred and TINY.. But, he fits in good around here. Nothing normal about us! and Thank you!

[1Ieisha]

First off Welcome to YT!
& To answer your question. About getting him fixed... YES you most definitely should!!! I doubt that it will fix his potty troubles, but it will help and he won't contribute to the overpopulation of dogs in shelters . Just stay patient and consistent with him.
As for the weight I have a 10lb 7 month old... just more to love. & the ears.. well some yorkies have erect ears and some don't either one is normal, however floppy ears arent in the breed standard, and neither is the large size. But like i said it more to love !!! Good luck with potty training! Oh and we love pictures here!!!

[OpieDopie]

Thank you for your advice. I think I will invest in a VIP membership to stanley steemers then! =) And, I put a pic of him as my profile picture!

[Mom to Hot Rod]

Hi and welcome to YT. Your baby sounds like a cutie.

As for house breaking, patience, patience, patience. Have you tried confining him to a small area? This usually helps as they don't have a lot of places that they can leave you surpises. Also, have you thought about using potty pads for training purposes? This would help your guy to have a spot just for pottying and hopefully will use it and not your carpet.

Don't worry that he's not pooping outside, for some reason this happens. Once he gets the idea that it's a good thing to do, he will start to do it. Do you praise and treat when he does go potty? Try doing this and hopefully this will give him the idea that it's what is expected.

Good luck!

[1Ieisha]

Originally Posted by OpieDopie

Thank you for your advice. I think I will invest in a VIP membership to stanley steemers then! =) And, I put a pic of him as my profile picture!

Awww, he is absolutely adorable!!

[rubymoon2072]

i put cedric in the tub with a potty pad and sat with him until he went. he learned if he ever wanted to play again he better do his business first. it took what others have said as well patience, time and consistency. good luck and welcome to you and opie love his name!

[bellemarie]

The joys of potty training yorkies!
One of my girls, age 4, will Still poo in the house from time to time but it's really only when I yell at her for something she does it out of spite and revenge! She was fairly easy to potty train as a pup though.
In regards to the ears- does it bother you (even a little) that thru flop? I must say I do adore those floppies, but if you would rather them go up there are things you could try with them!
And I am quite partial to a teapot yorkie- you can hug 'em without being afraid to break them!!! (part of me wishes the standard would allow them to be a bit bigger, and not tiny!)
I'm just about to scoot over to your profile to take a look at your baby- I bet he's a wee dote!

[TutBugaloo]

He needs to be fixed, if he gets a female pregnant it is a danger to her. And you are supposed to tape up their ears before they are 6 months old so you need to cut the hair as close to the skin as you can and then tape them each up and tape them together for one week and if they are red and swollen when you take the tape off you need to take him to the vet because he has an ear infection. I dont know if there is another way to get them to stand up, thats the only way I've heard. And welcome to YT!

[bellemarie]

Originally Posted by TutBugaloo

He needs to be fixed, if he gets a female pregnant it is a danger to her. And you are supposed to tape up their ears before they are 6 months old so you need to cut the hair as close to the skin as you can and then tape them each up and tape them together for one week and if they are red and swollen when you take the tape off you need to take him to the vet because he has an ear infection. I dont know if there is another way to get them to stand up, thats the only way I've heard. And welcome to YT!

Yes- that about the neutering!
With the ears, there are a fair few different ways to get them up (I know, I've tried most of them!), but if you want to try that then you will need to find one of the step by steps to tell what to use and how; and if causes infection you'll hopefully know about it before the tape comes off (smell alone), but if done properly it won't lead to infection as they still need to be able to hear, and you can still clean pretty normally.

ETA: and at 6 months there is still time to get the ears up- Poppets finally came up on new years day- after I had one last, final go at having them shaved! Her 1st birthday is on the 7th!!!

(sorry tutbugaloo, I proof read this, and it comes across as I'm shooting down your advise... I'm not, I just can't find a way to reword my added advise to change the horrible-seeming tone!)

[Lovetodream88]

My yorkie is 16 pounds and I love the bigger yorkies more to love and hug mine also has floppy ears. I would neuter him simply because of all the stories I have hear of what an unneutered dog will do to get to a female in heat also if he were to ever get out and a bad person got a hold of him they could use him for breeding. Have you tried putting his poop outside where you want him to go? Are you taking him out at least every hour. Its really important to keep your eye on him all the time and as soon as he starts showing signs of need to go poo rush him out the door and stay out there till he poos. Good luck and welcome to yorkietalk.

[OpieDopie]

Thank you everyone for your advice. I really appreciate it.. Let me try to remember everything...

I have tried potty pads, rewards, and the tub.. but like I said, it only works for a little pit and then he reverts to going in the house. He will go to the door and sit if he needs to pee, but as for pooping its anyones guess! LoL.. And its funny too when he does go outside to poo he will hunch over and stare at you and will hold it until you turn around, like he doesnt want you to watch him poop! HAHA.. I have not really confined him to a small place because he sleeps with me, and I cant stand to hear him bark and whine all of the time. The first couple of nights when we had him and his brother I kept both of them in a pet taxi and they were fine, but as soon as Zeus went with his owner Opie went nuts. So he sleeps with me now and roams free when no one is home. Ive never had a puppy, or a small dog for tha matter so none of this has ever been a problem.

As for the ears, not it doesnt bother me at all that they dont stand up. Infact I like that he is oversized, really dark and floppy. LoL! I just read that you were supposed to massage their ears to make them stand up and I thought it was something that I wasnt doing right, and maybe it was a sign of some type of health issue or underdevelopment...

We are still debating on if we should get him fixed, or try to breed him. I think it will be pretty close to impossible to find another yorkie owner who would want to breed with him, because he looks so different. But how would it endager the mother if she got pregnant? Is it because hes too big and would chance making dogs bigger than himself?

TY all

[1Ieisha]

Originally Posted by OpieDopie

Thank you everyone for your advice. I really appreciate it.. Let me try to remember everything...

I have tried potty pads, rewards, and the tub.. but like I said, it only works for a little pit and then he reverts to going in the house. He will go to the door and sit if he needs to pee, but as for pooping its anyones guess! LoL.. And its funny too when he does go outside to poo he will hunch over and stare at you and will hold it until you turn around, like he doesnt want you to watch him poop! HAHA.. I have not really confined him to a small place because he sleeps with me, and I cant stand to hear him bark and whine all of the time. The first couple of nights when we had him and his brother I kept both of them in a pet taxi and they were fine, but as soon as Zeus went with his owner Opie went nuts. So he sleeps with me now and roams free when no one is home. Ive never had a puppy, or a small dog for tha matter so none of this has ever been a problem.

As for the ears, not it doesnt bother me at all that they dont stand up. Infact I like that he is oversized, really dark and floppy. LoL! I just read that you were supposed to massage their ears to make them stand up and I thought it was something that I wasnt doing right, and maybe it was a sign of some type of health issue or underdevelopment...

We are still debating on if we should get him fixed, or try to breed him. I think it will be pretty close to impossible to find another yorkie owner who would want to breed with him, because he looks so different. But how would it endager the mother if she got pregnant? Is it because hes too big and would chance making dogs bigger than himself?

TY all

The same way it would endanger a human mother... even if everything is right the female is still in danger of dying simply because giving birth is dangerous all by itself. & Yes, its also dangerous because of his size.Your are supposed to breed a female to a smaller male not a larger one. Oh and if he's a bigger yorkie and has the floppy ears then he's technically not in breed standard therefore you shouldn't breed him. (which a lot of us have these yorkies (not breed standard) which makes them pets, not studs) Not belittling Opie because he is a cute fella, but apart from these reasons as to why you shouldn't breed... Do have any experience with breeding?

[bellemarie]

He is a cutie the way he is!
But as for breeding, most breeding girls are 5-7lbs, so even if he stops growing now, that would still make him over twice the size of the female. So if you think about it- that he is All Over more than twice er size, the task alone would be dangerous. to see a more extreme example of his size difference- If there was a 80lb dog, bred to a 40lb dog... (Get what I mean?)
My poppet I mentioned- when her ears went up, it sounds stupid, I actually cried a little! With her being bigger And having floppy ears, my girl I kept to show (and then possibly breed) had two huge faults. Her size will still keep her out of the ring, but I have had her critically looked at already, and size and ears were the only thing mentioned.
So with that being said (hopefully clearly- it is 00.45 afterall) hopefully the reasons behind not breeding him are more clear? And from a house soiling perspective, if he is already a nightmare with pottying, can you imagine adding marking to that? There is a lot less chance of him doing it if he is neutered unbred.