House Training an 18 month Yorkie

Katapolt

I recently moved house, and wanted to ensure my 18 month old yorkie got into good habits, as living back at my parents she was prone to doing her deed on the floor, ignoring her puppy pads.

i began crate training her, and its been going generally very well, and im learning the signs when she wants to go outside, but there have been a few occasions where she hasnt given any signs and has just gone on the floor.

obviously i do the really disappointed voice and make a big deal of cleaning it up, but why would she be doing it when she is so good most of the time?

the few times its happened, she has been out within 10 minutes before, and for whatever reason didn't do anything outside so came back in.

any advice on getting her fully toilet trained is greatly appreciated!

Katiehound

At eighteen months she is certainly not a puppy- maybe a teenager!so I don't know why you are using puppy pads.

The crate should be a cosy home- when do you put her in there? or is the door left open and she chooses to go in?

I have crate trained 2 adult dogs in the last 10 years. They were both 2+ when I had them and not house trained so I'm thinking you may need to go back to basics.They were only shut in the crate when I left the house because I wasn't sure about chewing things / wires etc. They certainly did not mess in their beds.

Have a look at Dogs Trust for info on house training. I'm sure someone will be along to tell you other resources such as Youtube..

Go outside with your dog, stay outside and use whatever command you have taught her- when she performs the required action- huge amounts of praise and a high value treat. At this stage I'd be aiming to take her out every 2-3 hours in the daytime.
You need to concentrate on the positives- ignore the negative behaviour if at all possible (yes, I know muttering is allowed!) She will eventually associate the action with the deed and lots of praise, a game, a treat, whatever.

Katapolt

We have been using the puppy pads to minimise the mess caused in the new house, thats all.

The crate is left in he same spot, and 95% of the time the door is open and she can decide to go in and sleep, or she has the run of the lounge. she is only shut in here overnight. we leave her out during the day when we are at work, and she has free run.

sorry i dont think i was clear, my problem is i will take her out, and most of the time shes fine, but lately (like when weve had dinner guests) she will go out, do nothing, then pee inside.

most of the time shes absolutely fine and will do what she needs to outside, and im taking her out every few hours or so, in the evenings multiple times an hour, but sometimes she just wont do anything until shes back inside and i cant get my head around why, when shes shown she knows right from wrong.

Katiehound

Katapolt wrote: »

she knows right from wrong.

No, sorry , that's what you think. Are you an experienced dog handler?

Personally I think she is demonstrating that she doesn't know what is the correct behaviour.
You used the puppy pads when she was younger, did you encourage her to use them? If you did, then maybe she thinks that's what she should be doing now- the puppy pads are there for weeing on! so she comes back inside to do just that

How long a period was she at your parents weeing on the floor? hours, days, weeks, months?

She is only a young dog now, it's very easy to lapse.
That's why I said go back to basics. Make sure you have a word for the action and use it. I would take her out on the lead, even if it is just the garden and don't come inside until she has performed. At this stage you need to forget time- this is important as it is going to set the stage for her life- what the next ......14 years............

Yorkies might be small (they think they are Great Danes!) but they can be very stubborn- in which case you have to be even more determined.

Have you asked for advice from your trainers?
From the breeder?
has she been spayed?
Have you had her checked at the vet? What has the vet suggested?

I think you would get a lot more help on here if you changed the title of the thread. Crate training is one thing- it is not the same as housetraining.
(If you don't know how to do this go to 'edit', then 'go advanced' and that will allow you to change the title.)

Good luck

elsien

She doesn't know right from wrong - dogs don't have moral compasses.
And doing a big disappointed voice while clearing up just tells her you're annoyed about something. It doesn't tell her what, and it doesn't tell her what she should be doing instead. I'd just clear up with the minimum of fuss.
Get rid of the puppy pads. Clean any area she's weed with biological washing powder. Go back to basics. Teach her there's a difference between going outside to play and going outside to do her business. Go out with her at regular intervals. Not multiple times an hour. Stay out till she does something. Make the biggest fuss of her ever. Repeat. Increase time intervals.
With my last rescue, she wouldn't toilet in the yard so I'd have to take her for a walk instead. But if yours is already going in the garden that shouldn't be an issue. Look for patterns. Does having guests make her nervous? Does she dislike going out in the dark.

But as others have said crate training and toilet training are two different things with different purposes. Don't confuse the two.

sheramber

Do not make a big thing of cleaning it up or show any displeasure. That will make things worse.

Make big thing when she goes outside. use a cue word when she goes and when you are taking her out tell her you are going out and to ...and use the cue word. Wait with her until she goes. Have her on the lead and walk slowly in circles . !!!!!es tend to go where they have gone before. Ignore her while you are doing this. Having a specific area where she goes can help.

If she is showing no interest then come in but take her back out again after 5 minutes. Repeat until she goes.

If she was trained to puppy pads then she was trained to go inside not to go outside.

Think of her as a toddler who forgets to go when first starting toilet training or waits until the last minute and then it is too late.

There will be a smell that she can smell where she went which will encourage her to go back there. You need to clean thoroughly with a solution of biological washing powder or one of the enzyme cleaners that you can buy.
If the floor is wood it will have soaked in and if it is carpet it may well have penetrated the backing and the underlay. Cleaning will need to penetrate these areas.

marlot

>> 18 month old yorkie got into good habits ...ignoring her puppy pads.
I think you're confusing her. I'd get rid of the puppy pads.

>> i began crate training her
Good ... but little to do with toilet training.

>> im learning the signs when she wants to go outside
:-)

>> obviously i do the really disappointed voice and make a big deal of cleaning it up
I wouldn't make a big deal of it. Instead I'd be saying 'toilet' every time that she squats to do her business outside, and make a big fuss of her. With each of our rescues we'd be getting them to go to the toilet on command within 2-3 weeks.

>> the few times its happened, she has been out within 10 minutes before, and for whatever reason didn't do anything outside so came back in.
I'd recommend going out with her, and make sure she goes. Each of my rescues got used to going when told. And last thing at night, they knew they wouldn't be coming back in until they had done it. We sometimes had one of them walking around the garden for 10 minutes until she was ready, but that's fine.

>> any advice on getting her fully toilet trained is greatly appreciated!
Get her to associate a command 'toilet' or whatever with going - initially by saying it and praising her when she does it, and then gradually turning it into association, then a command.

Soot2006

Agree with the above - start your toilet training from scratch. The problem with puppy pads is it gives the dog the idea they can and should go inside. I only use them at the very beginning of puppyhood near the back door. I don't reward the dog for using the pad as I still consider it an "indoor accident", just happens to be an accident that is easier to clean up and throw away (and better than wee seeping through my door ledge).
You've had great advice about the training of correct toileting, and the rewarding of correct toileting. Set the dog up for success and use a house lead as you might with a puppy so she doesn't have any opportunity to toilet unsupervised inside the house. Don't get angry, the adolescent dog brain is undergoing so much change. They genuinely are more emotional, impulsive, etc, for a while. But with very clear training she should be out of this habit within a few days/weeks. Good luck! At least it will only be a small wee! I had to toilet train a 2yo 45 kg dog who did both businesses indoor. Or outdoors. Or anywhere she happened to be!

Katapolt

Thanks for all the tips!

At the moment we do use commands, and she generally is really good with it, its just been a few occasions i cant find a pattern in, but ill keep sticking with it.

We've had less issues with the wee, but she still does the rest how she fancies. Im going to go back to super tasty treats for when she does that outside so she hopefully gets the idea.

sorry for the confusion re crate training, all the research i did said crate training was the best way to stop dogs eliminating indoors, because they wont want to go in their 'den', and this would train them to hold it.

bmthmark

I can't really add much more than already has been said. But this was my recent experience.

Everyone who has had a puppy has been through the same experiences as you, yours is just slightly older. So going back to basics is key here.

My cocker spaniel is now 16 months old, I did the following to help the process:

- Got rid of puppy pads/paper etc. This just confuses the poor dog. I started with them and to be honest it just makes matters worst.
- Every time he went outside I would say 'Go wee' and when he had finished he got lots and lots of praise. I went way over the top, but it made him feel like it was a good thing.
- After play and food time I would take him out and say 'Go wee'. This was hard work as its not fun going out in the rain, however remember once this is cracked you will have no mess inside.
- If I noticed him sniffing more or circling I would take him out.


I decided that I wanted to introduce a way of him telling me that he needs to go. So I bought a bell that is hanging by the back door (you can buy them at pet shops), every time I went out with him I would ring the bell. It took a while but he now associates going outside to toilet with the bell ringing, so he now knocks the bell and waits. I then open the door and he goes out to do his business.
I need to remember to praise him as i've got in to a bad habit of just relying on him to do it, so i'm starting to praise him again.
I've got a different issue in that he always barks when he first goes out, I think foxes may have been in the garden. This is my challenge at the moment, but I am slowly getting there

The other thing is that everyone in your family has to be consistent. In other words you all have to say the same 'key' words, otherwise she will just get confused.
The main thing is praise praise and praise. If they are happy and enjoy it, they will want to please you again.

I know its stressful but it’s worth it in the long run.

Best of luck

Katapolt

thank you! i might give the bell thing a go. She had 3 accidents yesterday, so i think she mustve felt a little unwell because she also went each time i took her out (how does one tiny dog carry it all >_<)

thanks everyone for your help!