Mia might just be gifted
 

I think my baby might be gifted. Almost afraid to jinx it by bragging but potty-training has been shockingly easy so far. I was led to expect it was going to take forever and be very difficult but she has been a dream. Made the decision to go with outdoor pottying instead of pee pads. After the first day of peeing on every square inch of carpet and not going outside once, I decided to use the crate method with lots of treats. Also, borrowed my daughter's yorkie for the week to be her teacher/mentor. I let her out of crate, say "dogs out" in a happy voice and we all run to the backdoor, ring the bell I have hanging on the door, and out we run to the grass. I say "go potty Mia" and she does each and every time. Then dancing and treats and playing like crazy people for 30 minutes of so and then we start the cycle all over. No accidents in the house yet. I am sure they will come as we stretch the time outside of the crate but for now I am just thrilled with how smart my girl is. P.S. My daughter's yorkie who has never had a bell on the door before has also started going to the backdoor and ringing the bell just from hanging out with us this week. Best dog breed ever.

Hey, I'm not surprised at all. Mia is afterall one of Deb's Amazing Yorkies:D

I must say I am jealous though, first that you have such a well bred little girl, and second that house training is going so well.

You are so wise to go with crate training, and outdoor pottying, I wish I had done the same. My girls are 5 and 6 years old and go outdoors the most, and on pee pads part time, which leads to confusion and accidents. It is hard for them to tell the difference between a pee pad and a bath mat, or other rug, and they even potty on the door mats outside. It was a bad choice for me to ever use pee pads.

I can relate. Tatiana was easy to potty train, too. She's pee pad trained. She was already pee pad trained by her breeder. She adjusted easily to our home.

I think it helps that we have hard floors throughout our home. There are two pee pads in our home for her. Tatiana potties on them by herself 99% of the time. The only time she has an "accident" is when the pee pads needs to be changed. That's my fault, not her's. :) But again, I have hard floors, so cleaning up a pee puddle is not a big deal. Also, she only has an accident with her #1, not her #2. With her #2, she ALWAYS goes to the pee pad, no matter what.

I'm thankful Tatiana is well potty trained. She has free roam of the house, and I don't worry.

Good job Mia:D Sounds like a smart little girl. The crate method works good, I did that with Joel too.

Agreed. He potty on his pee pad in the kitchen, but when go upstairs, all bets are off. I have to keep my eyes on him every second or we have a pee puddle every 4 feet. Even more interesting now that we can climb stairs, but not get down them. Patience......

I would caution that yorkies can be great for a week and then have a really bad day or two when it comes to accidents. So many times I'd think I had Cookie (another Amazing Yorkie from Deb) potty trained and then she'd have one of those days where she'd have 3/4 accidents right after 5 perfect days. At about 5 months though she was pretty reliable and by 8 months the only trouble I had was when she got spayed (pretty normal to have accidents then the first couple of days) and one time when she learned she could force me to take her outside to play by peeing on the floor (got that straightened out though; thought it may have been a UTI but my vet said no).

Did you crate train Cookie and is she trained for outdoor only or do you use pee pads?

Outdoor only. Some crate training but mostly it was just keeping an eagle eye on her that first month and a half, taking her out the second she finished eating, drinking, or playing, the second she got up from a nap, and regular outside trips. Cookie treated pee pads like blankets, which was quite disgusting since I'd wipe up her accidents in the pee pad to give them the scent so try to teach her to go there.

I also used the crate for punishment later on, which ended the 'take me out to play RIGHT NOW or I pee on the floor' rebellion.

By "using the crate for punishment", you may be teaching her that the crate is for punishments only and the crate is BAD NEWS...

or I am just misunderstanding your statement?

LOL.. Teresa also worked with her at her house. She has 2 that are potty trained for outside. She went right out with them. However... I'm almost positive she's gifted :D

This was a few months after she was potty trained and got the bad idea about peeing on the floor to force an outside play trip (I love taking her in the yard to play, but not every 5 minutes when I'm working on something).

I think all the Amazing Yorkies are gifted. Cookie's gifts are in the hunting and kissing arenas, haha!

Ah ok. Sorry for the insinuation!

I guessed that Teresa must have worked with her. There is no way she could be so easy to train. She has been a living doll. Give Teresa a huge thank you for me. Also, what the heck did Teresa do to make her smell so good. Everyone is commenting on her scent. I want to buy some.

I have to agree. They are simply "amazing". Your cookie is quite the cutie.