Housebreaking a puppy? - YorkieTalk.com Forums

kinzer · 01-12-2013, 05:30 AM

We just got our puppy a week ago. She was 9 weeks old and we started the the housebreaking routine right away. We take her outside every 1-2 hours and she does her business in the back yard. We praise her a lot and giving her treats. We are with her all day and there were several days when she didn't have any accidents inside the house. She sleeps in her crate all night and goes on a newspaper pad which is set up next to her crate. We obviously can't watch her every move, so sometimes she will use the newspaper pad to relieve herself during the day. Just wanted to know if we're on the right track to properly housebreak her and at what point she will stop using the newspaper pad and ask to go outside?

Wylie's Mom · 01-12-2013, 07:51 AM

It sounds like you're doing great

. I'm no expert on potty training - but have you checked out this section, it has some great info/discussions too: General Training Questions - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community

SWHouston · 01-12-2013, 09:54 AM

She will go on the Pads or Paper as long as they are available. It's habitual. You need to reduce the number of available (Pad/Paper) areas a little at a time, where She is "forced" to relearn that and go outside when the need arises. Do this slowly...(weeks or months)...and be patient.

Maximo · 01-12-2013, 10:56 AM

I agree, you are on the right track and doing very well. When you can't supervise her closely, keep her enclosed in a small-ish room. Don't let her have free run of the house.

Since she is young and her bladder is still developing, I would keep the paper for her for maybe 3 more weeks.

If your goal is to have a fully outdoor trained dog, and you can provide her with adequate opportunity to get outdoors to potty, then I would remove the paper completely by 12 weeks.

The keys to success will be ample opportunity to get outdoors, continued praise for doing it correctly, casual correction for mistakes (say "uh uh uh") and clean up the mistakes with an enzyme cleaner to remove the scent.

A good potty schedule may mean getting up earlier in the morning while she is tiny, going after meals and playtime or anything exciting, and trips in between.

kinzer · 01-12-2013, 11:28 AM

Thanks for the replies. Picked up a few pointers. She is doing exceptionally good compared to the Boxer pup we had back in the day. Although she doesn't make a sound during the night, I think I have to get up at least ones to let her out to minimize the use of the paper pad. Since we live in the Northeast, its not a pleasure, neither for me nor the puppy, to go outside during the night when its 28F. But I'll do what it takes to make sure she does well. Keep the suggestions coming.

R_Z · 01-12-2013, 12:19 PM

Welcome. It sounds like you are doing all the right steps. Yorkies can be testy when it comes to going to the bathroom. We're still trying to grasp some form of notification when Bailey needs to go. Just plan on working with her for several months before she gets the hang of it.

gracielove · 01-12-2013, 02:01 PM

It sounds like you are doing really well for such a young puppy. Pups don't usually start to develop the ability to hold back their urine until they are about 16 weeks old. You do need to keep a young pup close to the potty at all times because they just don't have the control yet. They will learn what you mean but just can't be far away from the potty. Once the pup is older it will be less time consuming. It just takes lots of perfect timing on your part and lots of repetition.

kinzer · 01-18-2013, 07:08 PM

OK. A little update on our little girl. It seems like we need to take her out at least once an hour and sometimes more often then that. She does well if she's being watched all the time. She goes number 1 every time we take her out. It seems like that's all we're doing all day is taking her out. We haven't got the poop schedule down yet. We let her out as late as we can (11PM) before putting her down for the night. We get up once a night at 3 or 4am to let her out and she's good till 6:30-7:00am. She is confined to our kitchen and she hasn't had an accident in a couple of days. She turned 10 weeks old on Jan. 16. Hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

AbbyMax · 01-19-2013, 01:23 PM

Sounds like your puppy is right on track.

But...be sure to have lots of patience. Yorkies are both smart and stubborn. If you work outside of the home (which I do) I have always gone with the 1 year birthday as my mark for when my pups are completely house trained and accident free (for the most part).

Now that being said, your baby will be house trained long before 1 year - but you may still have accidents from time to time. But at the 1 year mark, I have been able to trust my dogs and let them have access to pretty much all of the house. After 1 year, mine have been able to tell me when they need to go potty.

Mine go outside for the most past, but still use the pee pads when it is raining outside (monsoon storms can be bad and really windy). Last week when it was really cold here, they would not go outside when it was 17 degrees for anything. I opened the door and there was immediate u-turns - I could not blame them, it was really cold and windy compared to the rest of the year.

Jacksmom052709 · 01-19-2013, 01:43 PM

Sounds like you are doing really well with her. A couple of other things to keep in mind (and if OP have already offered this advice, I apologize as I did not read their complete posts, just skimmed them briefly) that she is still very young (most good breeders to not allow little ones to be sent home before 12 weeks as they learn so much from their mommas and litter mates during this time) and she has a tiny bladder that needs emptying. Or with you giving her treats, she may have learned that is a way to get treats. I would start replacing some of those treats with just heavy praise. As far as the poop schedule, if you are feeding her three times a day (or even if you are free feeding) she should go poop about 20-30 minutes after she eats. Our two pups go once in the morning and once in the evening. Keep up the good work - she should be potty trained to go outside in no time!

kinzer · 01-20-2013, 06:05 AM

We'll keep plugging away with the routine. We're truly committed so that the time invested now, will pay off later. One thing I noticed though. I know Yorkie pups are small and their stomachs are tiny but she barely eats. She will nibble a bit throughout the day but I don't think its nearly enough for what a puppy needs to grow, to have all the necessarily nutrients and vitamins. Our veterinarian recommended dry food only. She said that it keeps the dog's teeth clean and healthy. At our first checkup a week ago she was 8-1/2 weeks old and weighted 2.5 pounds. We got the Blue Buffalo Natural Chicken and Oatmeal for small breed - puppy. She either doesn't like it or she really eats that little. We would like to stay with the dry food and wanted to know what others are using. The people at the pet store recommended to change the chicken to maybe fish formula.

01-12-2013, 05:30 AM	#1
kinzer YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: S. Jersey Posts: 9	Housebreaking a puppy? We just got our puppy a week ago. She was 9 weeks old and we started the the housebreaking routine right away. We take her outside every 1-2 hours and she does her business in the back yard. We praise her a lot and giving her treats. We are with her all day and there were several days when she didn't have any accidents inside the house. She sleeps in her crate all night and goes on a newspaper pad which is set up next to her crate. We obviously can't watch her every move, so sometimes she will use the newspaper pad to relieve herself during the day. Just wanted to know if we're on the right track to properly housebreak her and at what point she will stop using the newspaper pad and ask to go outside?

01-12-2013, 07:51 AM	#2
Wylie's Mom Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 35,889 Blog Entries: 2	It sounds like you're doing great . I'm no expert on potty training - but have you checked out this section, it has some great info/discussions too: General Training Questions - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community __________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann \| Pfeiffer \| Marcel Verdel Purcell \| Wylie \| Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨°

01-12-2013, 09:54 AM	#3
SWHouston YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Houston, Tx. U.S.A. Posts: 1,537 Blog Entries: 1	She will go on the Pads or Paper as long as they are available. It's habitual. You need to reduce the number of available (Pad/Paper) areas a little at a time, where She is "forced" to relearn that and go outside when the need arises. Do this slowly...(weeks or months)...and be patient. __________________ Dogs know that you love them, weather you own them or not Mbrs of YT Teapot Club: SNEAKERS since Apr 2011, Ichabod SOON ! RIP my darling Becca.

01-12-2013, 10:56 AM	#4
Maximo ♥ Maximo and Teddy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 25,041	I agree, you are on the right track and doing very well. When you can't supervise her closely, keep her enclosed in a small-ish room. Don't let her have free run of the house. Since she is young and her bladder is still developing, I would keep the paper for her for maybe 3 more weeks. If your goal is to have a fully outdoor trained dog, and you can provide her with adequate opportunity to get outdoors to potty, then I would remove the paper completely by 12 weeks. The keys to success will be ample opportunity to get outdoors, continued praise for doing it correctly, casual correction for mistakes (say "uh uh uh") and clean up the mistakes with an enzyme cleaner to remove the scent. A good potty schedule may mean getting up earlier in the morning while she is tiny, going after meals and playtime or anything exciting, and trips in between. __________________ Kristin, Max and Teddy

01-12-2013, 11:28 AM	#5
kinzer YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: S. Jersey Posts: 9	Housebreaking a puppy. Thanks for the replies. Picked up a few pointers. She is doing exceptionally good compared to the Boxer pup we had back in the day. Although she doesn't make a sound during the night, I think I have to get up at least ones to let her out to minimize the use of the paper pad. Since we live in the Northeast, its not a pleasure, neither for me nor the puppy, to go outside during the night when its 28F. But I'll do what it takes to make sure she does well. Keep the suggestions coming. Last edited by kinzer; 01-12-2013 at 11:30 AM.

01-12-2013, 12:19 PM	#6
R_Z Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Memphis, TN USA Posts: 1,078	Welcome. It sounds like you are doing all the right steps. Yorkies can be testy when it comes to going to the bathroom. We're still trying to grasp some form of notification when Bailey needs to go. Just plan on working with her for several months before she gets the hang of it.

01-12-2013, 02:01 PM	#7
gracielove YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NY Posts: 6,582	It sounds like you are doing really well for such a young puppy. Pups don't usually start to develop the ability to hold back their urine until they are about 16 weeks old. You do need to keep a young pup close to the potty at all times because they just don't have the control yet. They will learn what you mean but just can't be far away from the potty. Once the pup is older it will be less time consuming. It just takes lots of perfect timing on your part and lots of repetition.

01-18-2013, 07:08 PM	#8
kinzer YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: S. Jersey Posts: 9	Housebreaking? OK. A little update on our little girl. It seems like we need to take her out at least once an hour and sometimes more often then that. She does well if she's being watched all the time. She goes number 1 every time we take her out. It seems like that's all we're doing all day is taking her out. We haven't got the poop schedule down yet. We let her out as late as we can (11PM) before putting her down for the night. We get up once a night at 3 or 4am to let her out and she's good till 6:30-7:00am. She is confined to our kitchen and she hasn't had an accident in a couple of days. She turned 10 weeks old on Jan. 16. Hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

01-19-2013, 01:23 PM	#9
AbbyMax Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Arizona, USA Posts: 481	Sounds like your puppy is right on track. But...be sure to have lots of patience. Yorkies are both smart and stubborn. If you work outside of the home (which I do) I have always gone with the 1 year birthday as my mark for when my pups are completely house trained and accident free (for the most part). Now that being said, your baby will be house trained long before 1 year - but you may still have accidents from time to time. But at the 1 year mark, I have been able to trust my dogs and let them have access to pretty much all of the house. After 1 year, mine have been able to tell me when they need to go potty. Mine go outside for the most past, but still use the pee pads when it is raining outside (monsoon storms can be bad and really windy). Last week when it was really cold here, they would not go outside when it was 17 degrees for anything. I opened the door and there was immediate u-turns - I could not blame them, it was really cold and windy compared to the rest of the year.

01-19-2013, 01:43 PM	#10
Jacksmom052709 Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 3,044	Sounds like you are doing really well with her. A couple of other things to keep in mind (and if OP have already offered this advice, I apologize as I did not read their complete posts, just skimmed them briefly) that she is still very young (most good breeders to not allow little ones to be sent home before 12 weeks as they learn so much from their mommas and litter mates during this time) and she has a tiny bladder that needs emptying. Or with you giving her treats, she may have learned that is a way to get treats. I would start replacing some of those treats with just heavy praise. As far as the poop schedule, if you are feeding her three times a day (or even if you are free feeding) she should go poop about 20-30 minutes after she eats. Our two pups go once in the morning and once in the evening. Keep up the good work - she should be potty trained to go outside in no time! __________________ ~Lori ~ Mom to fur babies Jack, Izzy & Jada & their kitty siblings, Mr. Poops, Milo, Pearl & barn kitty Nanny.

01-20-2013, 06:05 AM	#11
kinzer YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: S. Jersey Posts: 9	Housebreaking a puppy ? We'll keep plugging away with the routine. We're truly committed so that the time invested now, will pay off later. One thing I noticed though. I know Yorkie pups are small and their stomachs are tiny but she barely eats. She will nibble a bit throughout the day but I don't think its nearly enough for what a puppy needs to grow, to have all the necessarily nutrients and vitamins. Our veterinarian recommended dry food only. She said that it keeps the dog's teeth clean and healthy. At our first checkup a week ago she was 8-1/2 weeks old and weighted 2.5 pounds. We got the Blue Buffalo Natural Chicken and Oatmeal for small breed - puppy. She either doesn't like it or she really eats that little. We would like to stay with the dry food and wanted to know what others are using. The people at the pet store recommended to change the chicken to maybe fish formula.