I'm a Yorkie's grandmother.....
 

My daughter has moved back home with her 5 month old Yorkie in tow. She bought him because he was "adorable" and "had" to have him. Between college and work, she has no time for this baby so guess who is now taking care of him?? Moi :p

Please help me here, I need to potty train this baby. He cries/barks/whimpers when put in a crate, for what seems like HOURS! I know crate training is the way to go, but he's not used to being in one. My husband bought one of those Doggie shirts for house breaking, but it's a pain to get on and off. I also have read they are very smart little guys, so I want to train him too. My heartburn with this is that I am a retired K9 officer and our training of the police dogs is much much to harsh for this little guy. So I'm at a loss here, any advise, suggestions will be greatly appreciated. He's been here 2 weeks now and my husband and I are in love with him (even though he seems high maintenance, lol )

We've already had him neutered and all shots are up to date. We've also already had to have him shaved because she didn't brush him regularly and he got so matted, the groomer at the Vet said it was best to shave him and start over. I've never had a dog this tiny!

Sounds like you've been bitten by the Yorkie bug...yes they are high maintenance.

Because you are use to training k9, which, your right is extremely different I would strongly advise you to enroll in appropriate dog training classes...even Pet Smart would be a good start...

I am sure others will come along with additional advice...or better advice!

Good luck and welcome to YT, you will get lots of info here!:)

Yep, Yorkies are definitely different than the breeds you probably had as K9s. You'll find that they're a wee bit on the stubborn side.....okay, they're stubborn as a Missouri mule LOL. But they're also smart as a whip. The best tip I can give you is to catch them doing it right and praise, praise, praise. Go absolutely bonkers when he potties where he's supposed to, give treats, good boy, get really excited. Won't take him long to figure out hmmmm potty = yummies = human acts silly.

Welcome! What's the little guy's name? FYI pictures of your puppy are always welcome here. hint hint

I'm not a trainer or expert in any way, but in my experience with Kiko (my yorkie), positive reinforcement is very effective. A stern no (only when caught in the act, never after the fact) is all that is necessary to correct unwanted behavior.
Yorkie's are very smart. They will get into mischief if they get bored. Daily walks, training and play time with you will help keep them from getting bored.
There are some folks on here with quite a bit of training experience. Hopefully they will give you more/better advice than what I have to offer.
Good luck!

I'm not really great with potty advise but wanted to give you some other tips. Small dogs should never be walked on a collar because of the possibility of getting collapsing trachea but should be walked on a harness although collars are ok for tags only. Small dogs also need there teeth brushed often because they can have bad teeth problems if not taken care of. Also keep an eye out for double teeth, a lot of small dogs will get there adult teeth in while they still have there baby teeth and will more then likely have to get the baby teeth pulled. If they do get the double teeth leaving them like that for to long can cause build up between the teeth and cause all teeth to become unaligned. I am also sure you have heard of the china treats recall so please check all the treats you buy very carefully to make sure they are not from China. I also encourage you to no buy any Purina products because Purina is the maker of Waggin Train Chicken Jerky which is causing massive amounts of dogs to die and get sick yet they wont do anything about it.

I use frozen green beans, carrots, and Cheerios only. He goes nuts for a green bean. Lol My Milo uses potty pads and goes outside. He does have accidents tho. His accidents are more when he is at home with the kids. They don't watch him like I do.

Bless you for taking such good care of him. You won't be sorry.

I like this advice:
Errorless Housetraining | Dog Star Daily

You are an amazing Grandma to not only take on training but for seeking out information. You knew right away that your expertise would be different than what this baby needs. You came to the right place. You will get lots of great info here. Congrats on your love bug.

Hello and welcome, yorkies can steal your heart quicker than ice melts in July...

You got that right Joyce:) OP you got some great advice already I just wanted to say Welcome to the amazing world of Yorkies:)

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. I am so glad you found us. We have a very good library of posts about almost any subject you want to know about.
I train toy dogs and puppies. Yes, it is very different method than trainers would use for a large working dog. Monks and Ceasar style verses Teaching Yorkies by me LOL. Tethering to you or confinement works with potty training. It takes awhile, so be patient. Read YT posts and there are hundreds about potty training !

Welcome to YorkieTalk and welcome to being owned by a yorkie :p Yorkies are very smart, you just have to be consistent and work with them. Good luck!

Routine routine routine.

Exercise, feed, then potty.

Stick to the schedule always and having a specific potty spot helps a lot, and a potty command.

Since we're starting this potty traiing a little late, am I in for a tougher time? And goodness he throws such a fit when placed in his crate. He carries on and on, disrupting the entire household!!

Maybe some are harder than others at any age.

If you trained others dogs don't be discouraged yorkies CAN be known to take longer.