Deciding on a yorkie
 

Hello all I am new!

I have wanted a yorkie for so long. I have spent months and finally located a reputable breeder. Our puppy would be ready in early May. However, the more I read about the potty training problems, the more terrified I become. I cannot imagine having a dog for the rest of its life that pees/poops in my house. Is it really as bad as they say? Do more yorkies than not never get housebroken? Why is it so difficult for these dogs? Please help! I might back out due to fear.

Thanks so much,
Amy

Please do not be discouraged!!! I was scared too after hearing all these horror srories on housebreaking. But with persistance & repitition and lots and lots of love you will do just fine!!! Luigi has only had 2 accidents since he was 4 monthes old and had since he was 3 monthes old. He is now almost 7 monthes and is such a good boy!!! He sooo much wants to please us!!!
The 1st month I was ready to pull my hair out, then one day-Luig just got it!!! So please get a yorkie!! They are soooo wonderful!!! Any questions please ask!! If you go back to previous threads- you will get tons of info on ways to housebreak!! We have had many discussions!!! Go back and read those. They are very helpful!!!!


:animal-sm Mandy & Luigi :animal-sm

my dog vs. your dog?
 

Ok, so here's a word of encouragement!!!

Sully has only had 2 "accidents" in the past 4 months! And that was becasue we left town for a week, left him with a sitter, etc. He was happy and fine and WELL taken care of, but he had trouble adjusting once he got back home, we think.

But other than that, no problems! We were patient with him, crate trained him, never once let him think it was acceptable to pee or poop in the house....Sully is wonderful!

Despite all the stories, it's so worth it. Sully knows about 11 different tricks, loves playing with kids, strangers, anyone! He goes to work with me and sits in my desk and is quiet and patient, and friendly to all my coworkers! He visits area nursing homes and entertains the residents. I guess you could say he does more community service than I do, haha! Sully will sleep in our bed, and sleep in until I am ready to get up (and I work nights so this is a huge blessing).

In my opinion -
It is all about consistency and praise. If you make it 100 percent unacceptable for your dog to pee or poo in the house, they'll figure it out. When Sully went outside, we tried the treats thing, but we felt leery about giving him a treat for doign something he should do anyway, so we just did praise. And we fussed at him really bad when he had an accident.

I have never had a dog before. I am certain that my way of going about training Sully wasn't genius - just consistent, and he's a very smart dog. That's one of the best traits, among many, about Yorkies. They're so smart, and teachable!

Congrats on your soon-to-be new addition to your family! If you want to talk more about this, feel free to PM me anytime!

Just my opinion on small breed dogs in general is that it takes a good 8-9 months to really be able to say they are potty trained. And even then I probably would not trust mine out of their crate and wondering the house while I am gone for a few hours. My newest addition is only 14 weeks and is starting to do pretty well. (Or maybe I should say that I am better recognizing when she has to go ;) ) She has started to tell me about 50% of the time when she needs to go by scratching the back door. We still have an accident almost daily. She is making baby steps and I am very proud of her. It really is a big job potty training them and requires constant attention and supervision (and patience!) during the times that they are out of their crate. It IS worth it. They are a wonderful part of the family. It's just that first year that's rough! I believe that eventually it gets better anyway as they really only go potty 4-5 times a day when they are adults, as puppies they go every 20-30 minutes when they are awake.

We have adored our pups from the day they came home. We bought them a 4' x 4' cage that sits on the floor. They have a puppy pad, food, water, bed and toys in there. They sleep in there together every night. They run to the cage when I say 'bedtime'. They peed on the pad almost from the first day. We do have a yard, and I take them out immediately when they get out. I had to carry Zoe for a bit, she decided to pee just before going out. The poo is tiny and as long as they are not fed scraps they stay easy to pick up. Anyone wanting to clean up diarrhea can feed them scraps. No takers at my house. :)

I agree with all of the above posts. Whether you decide to use the pee pad or go 100% outside depends on your particular situation. Do a search and see all the excellent threads that have been posted on the subject. Yorkies are totally worth the trouble to housebreak. I doubt you'll regret your decision to get one. They are amazing dogs. In my mind, the key to housebreaking is consistency, praise, and restricting the dog's access within the house. Don't give your puppy run of the house. This allows the pup to sneak off and find a private place to potty. When they're always in sight, you pick up on their cues that they need to go out. Crate training works well in that respect. Good luck, Bo and I welcome you to YorkieTalk!

training
 

I had 3 Doxies and all were trained 100% in 2 weeks time...never had an accident in the house. The Yorkies were different, a challenge and they won. We took up the carpets in many areas, put up gates and made a playroom for them, belly bands and parlor panties, weewee pads..changed our entire life. I would never have done it for a Doxie, but for a Yorkie, nothing is too much to ask. LOL

I dunno, I didn't really have a problem. Got Sheila at 8 weeks had her pee pad trained by 12 weeks pretty much. She's 5 months now and as long as she has clean pads she's 100 %. Of course I still haven't put my area rugs back down yet...

Well said YorkieRose!!!!

Welcome, Amy....let me start off by saying that I know EXACTLY how you feel. We had just gotten through building our new house (thank goodness there is no carpet in it...lol) when my hubby bought Avery for me for Valentine's Day. I had never had an inside dog....and boy, was I in for a surprise!!! It has taken some time, and honestly there were times when I wasn't sure if we were going to make it, but Avery is doing so good now, and they are totally worth it!!!!!

I did research on here before I got Avery, too.....and I remember reading all of the posts about how addictive they are, and I just wondered if I would ever feel that way, and honestly now I am HOOKED! lol If you really want a Yorkie, and you decide to go through with your purchase of a puppy, you will never regret it. They are so sweet, entertaining, loveable.....AMAZING dogs!

Good luck!

potty potty
 

Thanks for your instant messages, everyone. I feel a little better. We go and look at her on Friday, she will be about 6 or 7 weeks old. There are two females that are sold, but the other woman does not care which one she gets because she has bought from the breeder before and likes her, so I get to pick between the two. I am hoping that at least one of them will seem people-oriented.

The elitist in me wants to believe that the people who have a ton of trouble potty training either bought from a bad breeder or are not consistent enough. But, I have bad luck as well! :eek:

She will be about 4 lbs full grown, do any of you know if she will eventually be able to hold her bladder for 8 hours? I hate to think of her as an adult having to be kenneled while we are at work. For those of you who were successful, how do you go from the potty pad inside to going outside? Should I even try taking them outside when they are 8 weeks old? Should I just worry about consistency on the pad at that time? If so, at what age should I try to get them outside, or maybe kennel them w/o a peepad available?

Also, strange question, but I had a coworker suggest using the bathtub to "crate" her in her own little area with food/water/peepad. What do you all think of this?

Amy,
I read the horror stories too and found that my Rusty was the easiest furbaby to paer train! I started at 8 weeks and by 10 weeks he was seeking his pee pad, and this is amazing because he comes to work with me and has to learn where the pee pads are at 2 places: work and home! But he did it easily. I think each pet parent and baby have their own 'understanding' and the baby will 'get it' the more he/she understands what is expected of them and that going in the wrong place makes Mommie unhappy. They strive to please and don't like to be fussed at or make Mommie unhappy! With mine, we had one day of his being stubborn in that he would tinkle as soon as I took him out of his playpen at work and used the floor. His reward for this was being fussed at "BADD BOY" and putback in the playpen for 20 minutes. After the third time of being put back in the pen, he figured out that as long as he used the pads, he could stay out of the pen and play in the floor. He is now 4 months old and a champion pee pad user! So, just establish an understanding with your baby that going in the wrong place is unacceptable. They catch on quickly. I now use Wizdogs with pads inside and have no problems. I do occasionally remind him to " use the potty" if he is busily playing or whatever, but even if he is playing with a customer, he will leave the game, use the potty and return all by himself. So work with your baby one on one! They quickly learn words and once they learn what going to potty means, most will easily.

bad breeding
 

People tell me my pups are not hard to train. I start them on pads and give a washable pad with each pup that they are used to using.
What I find is this..a Yorkie takes a bit more time to train. They have small bladders and need to go more often. It is harder to train when you work, but it can be done.
I had a male of mine who used to stay with me and he rang a bell hung on the door knob when he wanted out.
When I had 2, they were trained..then it went down hill and I got a houseful..making an area of their own works,
When I let an adult go, the new onwers tell me they have no trouble training as long as they were careful the first few weeks...even males.

Hi Amy, Dana here. When I got Tucker at 10 weeks the breeder had him already litter box trained. I went out and bought the special litter box and the dog litter and we're doing fairly well with Tuck at just over 4 months old. Yes, of course there are accidents but as everyone has said, its a small price to pay for the love and joy you get. The biggest problem I'm having is when Tuck goes poo in his "potty box", his kitty Nicky climbs in and covers it up so I wind up having to dig for it among the pellets - Icky!!!

Training forum
 

You guys all make housetraining sound tolerable/doable, but then if I go and read the "training" forum I want to cry. It's all doomsday and the dogs sound horribly defiant. :eek:

I just wanted to post this. I know of someone who gave away their beautiful akc male dog because they were not educated enough or willing to apply themselves enough to their dog. This was a male dog that was not neutered and it was peeing all over the house. The family bought a new house and didn't want the dog stinking up their new home. So they just gave him away to anyone that would take him. At two years old and not neutered there weren't a lot of volunteers. Anyway I just wanted to post this because I would hate for you to be talked into something and have unreal expectations and then give up on your yorkie puppy. Read up on crate training and make sure you are able to devote the time and energy to potty training. If you have never potty trained a dog you might be in for a suprise. Also you have to realize even though there are a lot of people having problems on the training forum, the ones that are having success don't need to be asking for advice, right? There's probably more people having success than not. Also realize they are not puppies forever. And yes some can be defiant (terrier personality kicking in there), it's very important to give proper discipline and training right from the moment they come into your home.
Like I said, yorkies are so worth all of the work! Would we all go through this if not?

Sad story
 

That is a sad story. The people sound completely ignorant for not having a nonbreeding dog neutered, what did they expect? I can devote time and energy if I know it will likely pay off. And I have a doctorate in clinical psychology, so I damn well better have the basics of reinforcement down. The breeder I am buying from does not advertise in the paper, and seems very ethical (I have done the research on finding a breeder). She will give me a pedigree, and although the champions in the line are far back, she said she breeds more for temperament that show-dog potential. So, hopefully this little girl will not be overly stubborn. We get to pick between two. Any good ideas on how to evaluate which one might end up more laid back?

I just wanted to recommend the book Yorkies For Dummies. It has a lot of good info on picking out a dog, training that terrier personality and potty training.

Personally I picked the most shy and largest one in the litter because I have kids and wanted one that would be more laid back. But she's not laid back, she's a yorkie! HA! Ha! She just didn't know me and sort of sat back and watched us, while her silly brothers rough and tumbled all over the place and didn't care at all that anyone was there. I think she's just smart and was assessing the situation. She even shaked a little when I picked her up. She was only 8 weeks at the time. Most people would say you shouldn't pick a puppy like that. I think this is a good example of why you should wait to take a puppy home until 12 weeks. They have more confidence in the world. But boy did she liven up the next day and loves everything and everybody now. So I would say, as a stranger to the puppy you will not be able to see their true personality from your assessment alone. You should trust the breeder you are buying her from what personalities each puppy has. And take her opinion on it. I have been told that boys tend to be a little more laid back but but not always the case. Plus I think most yorkie puppies are atleast a little defiant! Mine constantly reminds me of a 2 year old child. Temper tantrums and all!

picking a pup
 

thanks again for the replies! My breeder said she could assess which one she thinks I would fit best with. I don't think she wants to keep them until 12 weeks, I know it is suggested, but should I have her try to keep them as long as she will? Some breeders say there is no need past 8 weeks b/c they don't even hang with mom anymore, and sometimes the puppies start fighting?

The Cutest
 

oh yeah! I wanted to show everyone this woman's hand made dog clothes. They are so cute I can hardly stand it. And priced very reasonably. I am putting the link to the one I bought specifically, but there is a link from that page to see her available stuff. I received the dress and I can't stand how cute it is! I got the XS and it is very small! My yorkie will max out around 4 lbs.

Thanks, enjoy!
Amy

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...95067&tc=photo

Well my pup isn't completely housebroken and is 6 months but I'm probably one of the few that will take full resposibity for their pup not being housebroken. She knows she isn't supposed to go inside(and this isn't just something I say when she peed on the floor and I'm getting on to her, she really knows she isn't). I don't yell at her or anything, I know I just mad eit sound like I did. A firm no and sometimes I'll put her in her pen for just a few minutes(by the way does anyone recommend this or not recommend this, putting her in her crate for a "timeout"). The only time she goes on the floor is when I forget to take her out or lose track of time. She isn't the best at letting me know she wants out, unless its to go chase a cat or something, and we're working on that. I think if it weren't for me and my memoryloss she would be doing great.
I do know too many people that have ended up getting rid of a puppy b/c they don't get them housebroken soon enough or don't like their chewing or the dog won't quit barking so I just recommend preparing yourself for the worse just in case you do get it.

I have one BIG suggestion that I tell all neq puppy owners and that is "Your Yorkie will train you before yo train them!!" Take a week off work and really work with that new baby. AND, yes, it isimportant for that breeder to keep that baby til it is 12 weeks old. It might not be hangin' with its mom, but she is very busy training that baby what its place is. It really worries me when a breeder says it doesn't make any difference. I begin to think either they don't know this breed very well or that they don't give a rat's patoot about the real socialization of that baby. The responsible breeders I know keep the puppies with mom and siblings til they are at least 10 weeks old..I am not saying your breeder is irresponsible, but I would strongly urge you to ask her to keep your baby longer. What do you think, Yorkie Rose??

I have heard many times about how much harder it is to housebreak a small breed dog compared to a big dog. I have had both and I do not think it is any harder to train a small dog- with any dog it takes dedication on your part. It takes time and patience, and then some more time and patience. But if you stay with it you will see results! My advice is take your puppy out A LOT- in the beginning every 20-30 minutes or so. Eventually you will begin to see results and you will not have to take your puppy out as often.