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FirstYorkie · 09-10-2006, 11:02 PM

Joey has been 100% trained to go outside since he was approximately 4 1/2 to 5 months.

He rings a bell to let me know when he needs to go out. As with AlaskaYorkie, the secret was reward, reward, reward!

Karin · 09-10-2006, 11:23 PM

Zena is fully house trained, she only goes outside. We got her when she was 8 months old and she learned to do her business outside within a week or so. She had the occasional accident afterwards, but she stopped having those quite soon.

makemepretty · 09-11-2006, 03:01 AM

I wanted to add that the lady I got Lola from had already puppy pad trained her by 11 weeks. That was a godsend! Those puppy pads teach them where it's appropriate to go, I think. It made it much easier for me to housebreak her. At first I'd put a pad in her playpen when I was gone and take her out all day long(I'm a stay at home mom) but eventually I'd come home and see she wasn't using the pads, that she was holding it to go outside. I was worried she'd be confused using both methods but she wasn't. I'd suggest to anyone trying to potty train to start their puppies out with the pee pee pads...they're wonderful. It was also easier for me because I'm mostly home so I could take her out a bunch of times during the day.

mommyof2 · 09-11-2006, 03:42 AM

WOW!! Thanks all for responding!!

In most of your posts, the ones that have yorkies that are totally trained to go outside, a lot of you stated that it was fairly easy to train them to go outside.

What was it that you did or didn't do that made it so easy? I know all dogs are different and that plays a factor in it.

Did you all keep them confined for the most part? For those that used an xpen to help with housebreaking, did you put pee pads in there? When did you get rid of the pee pads?

Sorry for all of the questions. I'm in a dilema. I have two wonderful puppies. But they aren't housebroke yet and because of a difficult pregnancy and being on and off bed rest and my mother in law having lung cancer, my husband and I thought it was best to find my puppies a new home. My other two kids are just beside themselves with the news. My 10 year old won't speak to me.

I'm just trying to understand this breed a little more and try to figure out if it is possible to housetrain, and if so, what is the easiest way to do that. I don't want to give my babies up.

Peters · 09-11-2006, 04:06 AM

my older yorkie is housetrained even though i seriously thought she never would be she's over a yr old now and my new baby he's 4 months he's close to being hous etrainedi jave a bellyband to help prevent accidents! just take thm out all the time to begin with and i mean at least once a hour and eventually they will catch on!

Ladylavender · 09-11-2006, 05:05 AM

Millie is 100% housebroken and she only goes outside. I have trained her to go outside from the day we got her at 12weeks old. She was reliably housebroken by about 6 months old. She is about 1 1/2 year old now.

I used and x-pen and a crate to keep her confined, ONLY when we could not watch her 100%. The x-pen had her crate in it, a doggie bed and toys. I put her food and water bowl in there too. I was told that they would not poo or pee where they eat and sleep, so I made sure it was very evident to Millie that this was her eat and sleep space. (She never did mess in her crate or her x-pen) When she whined we let her out, she went directly outdoors to pee or poo. I never had a pee pad in there. We never did start on the peepads because I was told by a dog behavioralist to "just say no!" to peepads. She told me that it only encourages the puppy to go in the house when you are trying to establish for them that the entire house is the "den" and it's not ok to go anywhere in the house. So when we were not there I crated her and when we were there, I x-pened her or kept constant watch over her.

With Millie, I made sure that she was never, ever out of my site and we started small, from crate, to x-pen, to one room, to 2 rooms and then to the rest of the house. She never had free range of the house until she was reliably house broken. Small dogs have a different sense of space. A small dog can pee in the corner and feel proud of him/herself. In his mind he's gone as far away from his bed as a full-sized dog who has gone to the far end of the yard. Lots of small dogs have trouble grasping the concept of distance. That is why we taught Millie in stages. Her little world only expanded on her progress with any one room we were working on.

The best advise I can give is that you must be as actively (if not more) involved in the potty training business then even your dogs are. But the rewards are very great if you expend the energy up front.

So while Millie was not a "breeze to train". (she was not stubborn, she was just unconcerned or clueless) She was trainable and because of my diligence she only had 4 mistakes total in the whole 3 months we worked on potty training. Afterwards, it was just a matter of reinforcing what she had learned and was trained to do. Praising, treating and constant reminders thru out the day.

Like stated in the other threads, in the beginning, I took Millie out, a lot! About every 45 min to an hour. I made her walk to the door with me and when she went out to do her business, I went with her. I never left her unattended. I made sure that she understood that she was out there for a reason and one reason only, to go potty. Since our space was enclosed (and it was a very small space) I did not keep her on a leash, however, I would recommend a leash if you don't have a small fenced area. (I did have to put her on a leash when it was raining, because, in the begininng, she really did not want to be out there in the rain, and yes, we made sure she stayed out in the rain (me included) until she did her business. At first, I used the clicker to identify the proper behavior. I would tell her "go potty" and as soon as she squatted, I would click. But because she would hear the click and expect a treat, she sometimes would interup her pee to get the treat, so then when I knew she knew what "go potty" meant, I waited to click until after she was done going pee, but I clicked immediately when she was done, and then treated her.

Mom2Yorkies · 09-11-2006, 07:07 AM

Unfortunately neither of mine are fully potty trained. They attempt to mark the house on occasion and they will use the potty pads when we are not at home.

sassypup · 09-11-2006, 07:53 AM

Zoe is 7 months old and mostly housebroken. She for the post part holds it until we get home but on weekends, when we let her have a run of 1/2 the house, she will pee on pads or on the non-carpeted area but will not poop in the house. She is good at holding #2. I wish I could get her fully trained.

Yorkie3 · 09-11-2006, 08:16 AM

I have a pee pad in the kitchen and one in the family room on carpet
Of my four:

Emilee (3 yrs old) pees on pad...poops on kitchen linoleum
Gidget (19 mos old) pees and poops on the pad in the family room
Izzie (7 mos old) goes mostly on either pee pad, still may have an accident, poops on kitchen linoleum
Joey (2 yrs old) wears a belly band, but poops where ever he can get away from the others.

Soon as I can get a fence up I will be trying to get them to go outside as much as possible. We have a fence now, but not at either door. We have one hooked on to the garage and I don't like using it that often, especially in the winter. I have to walk to the other side of the garage to get in the fence.

09-10-2006, 11:02 PM	#16
FirstYorkie YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: American in London Posts: 1,739	Joey has been 100% trained to go outside since he was approximately 4 1/2 to 5 months. He rings a bell to let me know when he needs to go out. As with AlaskaYorkie, the secret was reward, reward, reward! __________________ FirstYorkie We Love Clicker-Training!

09-11-2006, 03:01 AM	#18
makemepretty YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Middleville Posts: 933	I wanted to add that the lady I got Lola from had already puppy pad trained her by 11 weeks. That was a godsend! Those puppy pads teach them where it's appropriate to go, I think. It made it much easier for me to housebreak her. At first I'd put a pad in her playpen when I was gone and take her out all day long(I'm a stay at home mom) but eventually I'd come home and see she wasn't using the pads, that she was holding it to go outside. I was worried she'd be confused using both methods but she wasn't. I'd suggest to anyone trying to potty train to start their puppies out with the pee pee pads...they're wonderful. It was also easier for me because I'm mostly home so I could take her out a bunch of times during the day. __________________ http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?j=t&i=369717

09-11-2006, 03:42 AM	#19
mommyof2 Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Virginia Posts: 158	WOW!! Thanks all for responding!! In most of your posts, the ones that have yorkies that are totally trained to go outside, a lot of you stated that it was fairly easy to train them to go outside. What was it that you did or didn't do that made it so easy? I know all dogs are different and that plays a factor in it. Did you all keep them confined for the most part? For those that used an xpen to help with housebreaking, did you put pee pads in there? When did you get rid of the pee pads? Sorry for all of the questions. I'm in a dilema. I have two wonderful puppies. But they aren't housebroke yet and because of a difficult pregnancy and being on and off bed rest and my mother in law having lung cancer, my husband and I thought it was best to find my puppies a new home. My other two kids are just beside themselves with the news. My 10 year old won't speak to me. I'm just trying to understand this breed a little more and try to figure out if it is possible to housetrain, and if so, what is the easiest way to do that. I don't want to give my babies up. __________________ Melanie, Yogi and Dixie (who's finally home!!)

09-11-2006, 05:05 AM	#21
Ladylavender YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Soddy Daisy, TN Posts: 733	Millie is 100% housebroken and she only goes outside. I have trained her to go outside from the day we got her at 12weeks old. She was reliably housebroken by about 6 months old. She is about 1 1/2 year old now. I used and x-pen and a crate to keep her confined, ONLY when we could not watch her 100%. The x-pen had her crate in it, a doggie bed and toys. I put her food and water bowl in there too. I was told that they would not poo or pee where they eat and sleep, so I made sure it was very evident to Millie that this was her eat and sleep space. (She never did mess in her crate or her x-pen) When she whined we let her out, she went directly outdoors to pee or poo. I never had a pee pad in there. We never did start on the peepads because I was told by a dog behavioralist to "just say no!" to peepads. She told me that it only encourages the puppy to go in the house when you are trying to establish for them that the entire house is the "den" and it's not ok to go anywhere in the house. So when we were not there I crated her and when we were there, I x-pened her or kept constant watch over her. With Millie, I made sure that she was never, ever out of my site and we started small, from crate, to x-pen, to one room, to 2 rooms and then to the rest of the house. She never had free range of the house until she was reliably house broken. Small dogs have a different sense of space. A small dog can pee in the corner and feel proud of him/herself. In his mind he's gone as far away from his bed as a full-sized dog who has gone to the far end of the yard. Lots of small dogs have trouble grasping the concept of distance. That is why we taught Millie in stages. Her little world only expanded on her progress with any one room we were working on. The best advise I can give is that you must be as actively (if not more) involved in the potty training business then even your dogs are. But the rewards are very great if you expend the energy up front. So while Millie was not a "breeze to train". (she was not stubborn, she was just unconcerned or clueless) She was trainable and because of my diligence she only had 4 mistakes total in the whole 3 months we worked on potty training. Afterwards, it was just a matter of reinforcing what she had learned and was trained to do. Praising, treating and constant reminders thru out the day. Like stated in the other threads, in the beginning, I took Millie out, a lot! About every 45 min to an hour. I made her walk to the door with me and when she went out to do her business, I went with her. I never left her unattended. I made sure that she understood that she was out there for a reason and one reason only, to go potty. Since our space was enclosed (and it was a very small space) I did not keep her on a leash, however, I would recommend a leash if you don't have a small fenced area. (I did have to put her on a leash when it was raining, because, in the begininng, she really did not want to be out there in the rain, and yes, we made sure she stayed out in the rain (me included) until she did her business. At first, I used the clicker to identify the proper behavior. I would tell her "go potty" and as soon as she squatted, I would click. But because she would hear the click and expect a treat, she sometimes would interup her pee to get the treat, so then when I knew she knew what "go potty" meant, I waited to click until after she was done going pee, but I clicked immediately when she was done, and then treated her. Last edited by Ladylavender; 09-11-2006 at 05:08 AM.

09-11-2006, 08:16 AM	#24
Yorkie3 Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 4,685	I have a pee pad in the kitchen and one in the family room on carpet Of my four: Emilee (3 yrs old) pees on pad...poops on kitchen linoleum Gidget (19 mos old) pees and poops on the pad in the family room Izzie (7 mos old) goes mostly on either pee pad, still may have an accident, poops on kitchen linoleum Joey (2 yrs old) wears a belly band, but poops where ever he can get away from the others. Soon as I can get a fence up I will be trying to get them to go outside as much as possible. We have a fence now, but not at either door. We have one hooked on to the garage and I don't like using it that often, especially in the winter. I have to walk to the other side of the garage to get in the fence. __________________ Janet

09-10-2006, 11:23 PM	#17
Karin Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Norway Posts: 117	Zena is fully house trained, she only goes outside. We got her when she was 8 months old and she learned to do her business outside within a week or so. She had the occasional accident afterwards, but she stopped having those quite soon.

09-11-2006, 04:06 AM	#20
Peters YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,225	my older yorkie is housetrained even though i seriously thought she never would be she's over a yr old now and my new baby he's 4 months he's close to being hous etrainedi jave a bellyband to help prevent accidents! just take thm out all the time to begin with and i mean at least once a hour and eventually they will catch on!

09-11-2006, 07:07 AM	#22
Mom2Yorkies Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 32	Unfortunately neither of mine are fully potty trained. They attempt to mark the house on occasion and they will use the potty pads when we are not at home.

09-11-2006, 07:53 AM	#23
sassypup Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: S. Ca Posts: 1,905	Zoe is 7 months old and mostly housebroken. She for the post part holds it until we get home but on weekends, when we let her have a run of 1/2 the house, she will pee on pads or on the non-carpeted area but will not poop in the house. She is good at holding #2. I wish I could get her fully trained.