At My Wits End!!

[seattlejezz]

OK..I am at my whits end. ...we got out yorkie about a month ago. He is about 20 weeks now...ok..uh uh 4/5 months old. WELL....I am getting frustrated with his potty training...HE AIN'T GETTING IT!!! I have pee spots all over my bed rooma nd he even PEEED ON MY BED! (when I was sitting in it with him!!!)..We got a 24' play pen to put the pee pee pad on one end and he was using it till he realized he can JUMP OUT! Well we got the next size up at 30'...HE JUMPED OUT!..we got the one that is 3 feet HIGH and he jumped and climbed out!!!! HOW INT HE HECK am i suppose to potty train him when hedoesn't stay in his pen to learn to go on the pad.

With that jumping ability, I think agility is in his future...LOL

We have another dog who is potty trained...as soon as we finish our fence, we will be able to let them both outside..until then we want Chewie to go on the peewee pad...

HELP!! What am I doing wrong???? I am getting really frustrated adn I am scared my fiance will make me get ride of the dog, if he keeps peeing on our bed, bed room, my son's room and even right on the wood floor.

THANK YOU!!!

[Yorkiedaze]

I strongly suggest investing in an ex-pen. You can even lay a couple baby gates over the top so he can't climb out. You should NEVER sleep with a puppy till it's at least a year old and totally house trained.

[Katys mom]

My first thought after reading your post was to laugh (just a little). How well I remember those days. I think Katy could break out or jump over anything. (She jumps pretty high)

Sit down have a cup of tea. Relax, this takes time and consistency. Only respond to positive actions. Praise and reward the good behavior. Do not give them a response for the bad behavior.

If you watch Suppernanny a lot of the things she teached for children can also be applied to our little yorkies.

It took Katy about 6 months to get the potty training down. She has not had an accident since then.

[rockbaker]

I agree with Yorkiedaze..keep your pet in a kennel when you can't watch him with 100% attention.. If he pees on the floor and you don't see it..he will think it's OK and keep doing it...please use something that "REMOVES DOG URINE". Simple cleaning isn't enough... what smells clean to you and me is still detected by him.

Take him outside on a leash..praising him when he potties outside...then back into his kennel when you can't watch him...correct him "in the act"...a couple of minutes later he doesn't know why you are yelling at him...don't ever hit him or rub his nose in it..just say No very loudly..he'll get the hint... you can also use belly bands to help in the house... If you've never used belly bands on your male yorkie, please write back and I'll tell you how to get them (or make one).

Of course, the [I]Most[/I] important thing is that he may have a urinary tract infection (talk to your vet, they may want a urine sample).
In that case, training won't help. (not yet)

roxanne in nc

[JESSY_RN2B]

Be patient. My boy is not yet fully potty trained at 7 months-yet I can't imagine being so angry at him or the fact that he had an accident. Lord knows how much I wanted a yorkie and now that I have one.........I cherish it. You wouldn't expect a baby to be trained at that age either.

Be prepared for hard work and many challenges. If not, then you know the rest.

Good luck

[browniesmom622]

get a crate

[seattlejezz]

THANKS for the advise...KEEP IT COMING!!!

OK..lI DO have a crate and he PEES in his crate!!! I woke up..(yes I took him out in the middle of the night) and when I woke up...HE PEED in his crate! THe he sits in it..He doesn't seem to care that it is his urine...EWWWW

I take him out and if he has to go,...he goes RIGHT AWAY..GOOD BOY!!!...thenif he doesn't...1 hours later...right on the hardwood or where ever he wants...

I WILL do the crate...he just yelps and yelps and the kids get frustrated with him and ten let him out...they will jsut have to DEAL with it...

[Lexi Rae]

try taking him out very very often.... try not to be too frustrated , we
all know how it is, most of us have been through this, but it will all work
out , i promise... i really do.. just be patient, time will tell... praise to
the high heavens when he pottys in the right place and give him a treat
as well. sooner or later he will get it

[Bdmcs324]

Taking him out of the crate when he is fussing is a negative. Now he knows that he can get out when he does this and he will do it until he gets what he wants!

Is his crate too big for him? My dog's was and we had to block half of it off. He only used the bathroom in it once & after blocking it off we have had no problems.

We are still working on it & usually when he has accidents it is not his fault. If we take our eye off of him for one second he has an accident. You just have to watch them like a hawk when they are out and if you cant watch them crate them.

Some learn faster than others .. we are still working on it too

[bsabbot]

crates are good, if you get one big enough, you can put a little potty pad or newspaper in with him.. you might also leash him with you every minute-and when you see that 'sniffing around' behavior,get him to the potty pad...
mine suddenly stopped the sniffing around -so I'm at a loss beyond that...
treats worked for my 1st yorkie also for a positive reinforcement tool.

[myteddybear]

Sounds like way to much freedom for such a little guy. Mine is now 9 months old and 2 nights ago was the first time he has even seen the top of my bed. We have kept him in very close quarters the whole time unless with someone who's sole job was to watch him. Make sure the messes are miticulasly cleaned. We don't let Teddy in the areas of the house where there is carpet and I have picked up most of the area rugs from the upstairs (living room, kitchen) where he does have some freedom now. He slept with me last night for the first time and he wore a belly band just incase there any accidents. All went well and how fun it was to finally have him with me at night.

I think it's really important to remember that you can't push it too fast. He is a baby...just got my skin son toilet trained and he turned 3 in January.

If it will save your carpets, bed and possibly being asked to get rid of him then use the belly bands. Just like diapers, eventually he will learn how to go without them. When I first put them on Teddy it was like an invitation...he would pee in them immediately. Now he doesn't and only wears them at night. He seems to be doing much better (finally) with several days of more freedom than usual and no accidents.

Good luck!

Kim and Teddy

[yorkiegirl83]

How big is the crate you're using?

How frequently are you taking him out or to his pee pads to use?

[RRC]

Threads like this make me so glad the puppy stage is finally over for us! I'm not sure I'd have the energy to do it again. It is so hard and frustrating. Good luck and hang in there. The hard times pass.

[Sweetums]

We tried crating our puppy but didn't have the heart to keep her in there when she wanted out so badly. So my husband, who is home during the day, was careful to watch for signs that she had to go. After she drank water, usually and after taking a nap. As soon as she woke up, he'd take her to the potty pad, on her leash (the trainer at Petsmart said that the leash is your best friend and to always keep a leash on - we don't keep her tethered to us all the time, but we have the leash to grab the minute she starts to squat), and he'd say "Pee!" in a commanding tone. As soon as she peed, he'd give her a treat every single time. This is very important. As the trainer said, "They only care about rewards, and that is all," so make sure you reward consistently. If he or I missed the signal and caught her too late, we just ignored it, cleaned it up and she got no reward. Boy, did she catch on fast that going potty in the right place resulted in getting a treat. Even if we were a little late in realizing she'd peed on her potty pad without being told, we would go look and praise her for being a good girl and give her a treat.

She is 6 mos now and almost never has an accident. One thing we figured out that really makes a difference in how consistant she is, is having a clean potty pad. We figured out that once it gets saturated, she will not go on it no matter what. So we put a new one down almost daily.

Another thing that makes a difference is when I read on a training site that they will not eat within 6 feet of their potty pad. So if you have food too close to the potty pad, don't expect them to go potty on it. They will instinctively avoid soiling in the area of their food.