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I have had my 10 week old Yorkie since right after Christmas. The breeder had already started her on 2-room system so she already knew to go from one section of her crate to the other to do her business on the pad. She is 100% on target when we have her in her gated area, but no matter how much we keep our eyes on her, she goes on the carpet when she is out. We have consistently rewarded her for going on the pad, and always keep our eyes on her for cues when she is out and about. Many times we place her on the pad and she waits to come out to do her business...
I'm just frustrated and wondering if anyone has ideas I haven't thought of yet. My breeder says she is probably not ready to come out of her "cage" but I can't imagine leaving her in there all day, even though she is in the the center of our living area.
So you are wanting the Yorkie's permanent potty area to be indoors on pads, not outside, correct?
If so, I would buy a urine scented liquid (sold at pet stores) and place a few drops on the fresh pads to cue your pup's brain that this is where to "go". If pup pee's on a pad and it is just a tiny puddle, I would recommend not throwing the pad away after the one use in the beginning. Leave the pee puddle to remind pup that this is the potty area. As she catches on you'll be able to throw away pads after every pee if you choose.
Continue with your consistent rewards for pottying on the pads. A yummy treat, happy praise, throw a little potty party every time!
Get a blacklight (also sold in pet stores now!) and go over your carpet with it in the dark to find old urine spots. Treat these areas by SOAKING them with Nature's Miracle or Simple Solution. Other cleaners can actually intensify the scent to your dog's powerful nose. Scent is a major factor in potty training dogs. It tells them where to release their bladder and bowels by sending a signal to the brain.
Any time you catch her starting to squat on the carpet, pick her up immediately and take her to the potty pads. Just keep doing this no matter what. If she finishes on the pads - big praise, rewards, party, etc.
I agree with you about giving her more freedom than just a cage, but that certainly does not mean she needs to have the run of the house before she's potty trained. I believe in gradually expanding a puppy's area using connecting pens or baby gates until they can eventually be trusted to have access to the whole house. Without knowing how your floorplan is set up, I'd just say block access to carpeted areas until pup has a little better understanding of her pad training. The more times she successfully pees on carpet, the more ingrained that habit becomes. The act of "relieving herself" is in itself a rewarding experience, so she is in effect being rewarded for peeing on carpet every time she does it. That is very reinforcing for a dog and encourages them to continue the behavior time after time. We have to get a couple full weeks in with no peeing on carpet to sort of reset her thinking on the matter.
Constant supervision is going to be key in getting this little Yorkie potty trained. Providing that feedback every single time she goes to pee - either "yay good dog here's a treat!" when she uses a pad or "woops! let's go to your pad" and carrying her to her potty area every time she starts to squat elsewhere.
Also be sure you are keeping the pads in a consistent spot, not moving their location. We want to make it clear there is only one area in the house where she is allowed to pee and poop.
Take your pup to the pads after she wakes up from a nap, and after eating. Watch her water intake and plan accordingly. If you are playing with her and she suddenly stops playing and starts circling and sniifing - take her to the pads. Observe and learn her particular cues that let you know she's about to go.
I find indoor potty training more challenging than outdoor because it is a little more confusing for the dog. However I completely understand there are certain scenarios where this is the best option so good luck and happy training to you.
Thank you, K9coach for your response. You actually addressed a question I forgot to ask. I was debating moving her pads out of her cage while she is out and about, but worried that it would confuse her.
We live in a smallish apartment and keep all the doors closed when our pup is out so that she only has access to the living room and kitchen (open space). The rug is right in the center of the room, so I'm thinking it might be a good idea to just roll it up for now.
My three children give her quite a little "reward party" each time she goes on the pad, so I'm hoping it's just a matter of time : )
Another quick question you or someone else may be able to help me with. She yelps and whines in the morning before we get up to take care of her. We have been following the course of ignoring her cries during the day, but do you think we need to wait until she calms down in the morning before we tend to her? I know she wakes up hungry and I'm not sure if I should feed her right away or wait till the commotion stops. And it is quite a commotion...lol.
I know these may sound like silly questions, but I know bad habits now will be so hard to break later!
The demanding vocalization is your pup's way of operating to cause a result. It is an example of how operant conditioning can work as a training method! Dogs can learn that behavior A leads to consequence B. If they like B, they'll do A to get it, over and over. So in this case what I'd personally do is switch up the consequence on her! Right now the commotion gets her fed. It would be like a vending machine button that when pushed delivers the bag of chips. When we want food, we push the button. But then if we pushed the button and it led to a different result, something we found to be boring or neutral, we'd push the button less or not at all. So we have to think of something boring or neutral that you are going to do every morning when she screams at you. It could be deliver a bowl of water, a toy, a pat on the head.. but whatever we choose it will be a robotic response on your part. She carries on in the morning, you get up and deliver the boring / neutral consequence. Then I'd insert a short series of events designed to keep her focused on you and quiet and that sequence would end in her getting fed. If it were me I'd do a weird dance because it would likely get her quiet. That's what I want to reward with the feeding - the quiet. So the full sequence would become - dog screams, you get up and deliver the boring consequence, you do a weird dance to confuse her, she's quiet, she gets fed. We're filling in some steps to separate the scream from the food. Now that being said, dogs can learn this chain of events and figure out it is still initiated by their screaming so another good idea is to wake up and feed before she has the opportunity to scream.
Even just changing the schedule a little - she doesn't get fed very first thing in the morning, there are a few other things that happen first - could help a lot.
Of course another option is to completely ignore the a.m. howling. If the behavior never gets a response, never accomplishes a goal, it will eventually extinguish as dogs do what works. If it stops working, they stop doing it. I can think of several reasons why I would not choose to let a dog howl and scream and carry on in the mornings while I ignored and let it go on, but it is effective (eventually) and it is a perfectly fine option in some cases. The ignore method is more likely to produce what's referred to as an extinction burst, where the dog tries even harder (screams louder and longer) than before. Just like when we try to open a jar and it seems stuck - we don't give up because every time in the past the jar has eventually opened so we just try harder and harder and pull out the rubber circle thing and run the jar under hot water and bang on the lid with a hammer or whatever - until it opens. It would take many jars never opening no matter what before we'd eventually give up on ever trying to open another jar.
In the future are you open to having the pup sleep in the room with you? Some of the intensity of her morning vocalizations could be caused by waking up alone. For pack animals, and young ones recently removed from their mothers and littermates especially, it can feel terribly unnatural to wake up all alone and isolated from the pack.
When she cries in the morning, I wait for her to stop for a minute or two and then let her out of her cage. We play for a few minutes and then I get her food. It does make sense to get to her before she starts crying, but she is generally up MUCH earlier than the rest of the crowd here. I also keep her cage covered with a blanket at night because I was told it prevents her from looking out into an empty room. Not sure if this is helping or hurting in the morning, but she does sleep peacefully through the night. Perhaps I should move her cage, uncovered into the kids' room (?)
Being in an apartment, I always have the neighbors on my mind. I think the whole crying thing would be much easier, otherwise.
You have given me great advice. Thank you once again!
We want to train our new to home Yorkie poo female she is 5 months old and crated during the day while we are out, I spent an hour and a half in the garden with her tonight after arriving home from work but she did not do anything outside. Upon re-entering the house she peed on the carpet. we took her outside but nothing just play and barking and she then pood on the bathroom floor.
we have only had her 2 days, we understand the need for positive reinforcement. I think the previous owners gave up on her as they could not house train her so any advice would be more than welcomed.
We want to train our new to home Yorkie poo female she is 5 months old and crated during the day while we are out, I spent an hour and a half in the garden with her tonight after arriving home from work but she did not do anything outside. Upon re-entering the house she peed on the carpet. we took her outside but nothing just play and barking and she then pood on the bathroom floor.
we have only had her 2 days, we understand the need for positive reinforcement. I think the previous owners gave up on her as they could not house train her so any advice would be more than welcomed.
When she comes back inside and pees, you have to be right there to interrupt, and then bring her right back outside. Just say "woops!!" the instant she squats and immediately pick her up and rush her back outside. If she finishes out there, big party! Praise, treats, play, and petting. If she does not finish outside within 10 minutes, back inside and be ready to repeat the interruption if she squats again. We need every accident in the house to be caught in the act and interrupted, and we need every successful outdoor potty to be rewarded.
Right now your pup does not associate the ground outside with the act of pottying. She has likely formed a substrate preference for eliminating on indoor flooring. The only way to replace the habit of pottying indoors is to prevent the rehearsal of that habit and replace it with a new habit: pottying outdoors.
Here are the basics of potty training:
Frequent trips outside to maximize opportunities for success and therefore rewards. Whatever you think is frequent, make it even more often at first.
Accompany dog outside each time. Reward for potties immediately, not once back inside. * Remember: rewards are defined by the dog, not what the human thinks is rewarding. Make sure you aren't bringing the dog directly inside after successful potties. We don't want to teach him that potties equal the end of outdoor time.
Constant supervision so that all accidents can be caught and interrupted. The only time you can address an accident is when it is in progress. How you interrupt the accident is very important. If your interruption is intimidating or frightening you will end up with a "sneaky" dog who won't potty in front of people. Your interruption must convey "woops! wrong spot buddy - let's get you to the proper potty place asap" - not "no no bad dog". When he's caught in the act, interrupt by briskly moving toward him saying something like "uh oh woops!" in a pleasant but urgent HIGH PITCHED tone then RUSH him outside to finish. If he finishes outside, big rewards, praise, and party. If he doesn't finish outside back inside and watch him like a hawk.
Confine to a safe zone when direct supervision can not be provided. Safe zone means an area in which he is unlikely to eliminate. During times when you'll be briefly distracted consider tethering the dog to you/keeping him on leash to make sure you eliminate the possibility for accidents to go unnoticed.
The worst thing that can happen: accident goes unnoticed. It is it's own reward i.e. "relieving" so he is in effect being rewarded for going in the house.
Clean all accidents thoroughly with a specially formulated enzymatic cleaner such as Nature's Miracle or Simple Solution, NOT a regular household cleaner.
Never ever show a dog his accident and then punish him for it. After the fact, the dog will NOT make the connection that you are punishing him for pooping in the house. All he'll learn is that you are a highly unstable psycho that lashes out at him unpredictably and for some weird reason involves poop in these meltdowns. If you want to punish someone for accidents, punish the person who was supposed to be watching the dog when the accident happened.
Stick to a consistent feeding schedule and learn how soon after eating your pup tends to "go".
Be mindful of water intake and let out accordingly.
Learn your pup's unique "need to potty" signals and respond accordingly. Potty signals can include sniffing, circling, pacing, staring, vocalizations, and taking a break in play. Always bring pup outside right away after he wakes up in the morning or from a nap.
We want your dog's experience to be: "Every time I go to potty in the house I get interrupted. Every time I potty outside, I get treats, praise, play and petting." He'll choose to potty outside.
Now here's a potty training plan for people who need / want to use the crate more often:
Buy some really cheap rugs that you don't mind smelling like urine, or plan on keeping your yorkie in the crate when you're not in the room. Mine is 5 & there is no hope. If someone tells you that you can train your yorkie for good, they are lying. I'm assuming the people who have answered you with their lists of training models don't actually own yorkies, these are just for puppies in general. Ignore the 'how to train your puppy' articles, they are no good. I haven't lived a minute of my life without a dog...my other dog was house trained in a day...yorkies are on another planet. May god help you.
Edit: Oh yeah, and she starts crying every morning around 5 am...and it doesn't matter if she's out at 10pm the night before or 2am (like on the weekends when we are up late).
Last edited by jrsydevil82; 11-08-2013 at 01:20 PM..
training is about watching the dogs signals and being there consistently to let them out side. no dog is ever trained in a day. training takes months of diligence. put the crate inside an xpen, lay down potty pads when you are gone. when you can't be at your dogs side have her in the xpen. no young dog is reliable until they are well over a year. keep at it.
Caesar, the peke, was the hardest dog that I ever had to train, and I've had dogs most of my life....I truly
thought the dog would never catch on...I took him out routinely and thoroughly cleaned the floor spots where
he went, which was all over the house....he was 18 months old before he stopped going in the house at all.
(He's worth it though, the sweetest boy ever..)
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