potty training with small breeds?

Question

I have a 6 month old yorkie she is a great puppy but I am having some trouble with potty training. I use the potty mats and she was doing fairly well with them but my vet said it was a bad idea. So I started training her to go outdoors it was going fairly well untill winter hit. When I take her out doors all she does is shiver. the last few days her training has went from 90% to 0% . when I take her out doors she stands there it does not matter if we are out side five min or thirty. I am so lost I feel so bad for her. Should I train her to use the potty mats. Please keep in mind she is 6 months and 3.4 Lb and it is 30 out side with out the wind chill.

Answer 1

One way to keep her inside and your house clean is to train her to use a litter box. I know several Yorkie owners who use them with either Yesterday's News or Care Fresh bedding because it's so much easier than taking them out in the cold. You can also use the potty mats, but they leak on the floor if not changed as often as necessary. Most vets only say not to use them because it hinders teaching outside potty. If you want her to go inside all the time, there shouldn't be a problem.

Answer 2

I have 2 Yorkies, 3.5 and 4.5 pounds. They are pad trained. I buy incontinence pads from the local drug store instead of "puppy pads" from the pet store. They are a bit cheaper and work fine. I have bought the puppy pads in the past and I think that they are pretty much the same thing.

I also live in a cold area when winter hits. We currently have six inches of snow. My dogs would get lost in that!

I wonder why your vet doesn't want you to use pads?

Anyway, try the pads. Keep on bringing your Yorkie to the pad every so often and put her on the pad and say "go potty" (like they understand! LOL!) when they finally go praise the heck out of her and give her a cheerio. If she has an accident just pick her up and put her on the pad and tell her this is where you go potty. Don't stick her nose in her accident. At times when my dog didn't go in awhile I would actually sit there on the floor with her by her pad and I kept telling her "go potty", it was a pain but you know what...both of my dog are pad trained and they have been for quite a while. They are currently 1 year 4 months old and 9 1/2 months old.

It's funny because when they go poop, my older one lets me know by staring at me and making whining noises for me to clean it up and give them a treat.

Well, I hope this helps and good luck!

Answer 3

My Yorkie was three pounds full grown, and she never, ever was housebroken. She was so tiny that she refused to go outside in the wind, the rain or the cold because the elements were too much for her to handle. So her entire life she went in the house. I think the puppy pads are better than the carpet, since this dog may never be housebroken. I have heard from other Yorkie owners that Yorkies can be impossible to housebreak, and that was certainly my experience. It really is too cold right now to expect a dog of that size to go outside anyway, so pull out the pads and save the dog and you from any more stress.

Answer 4

This has worked very well for me. Go to your local Wal-Mart and buy a square of grass. Put a plastic trash bag under it and keep it where it can get sunshine or at least a very bright light for a few hours a day. It can be rinced in the tub and it is part of the outdoors, inside. Then, when she goes outside she is already used to going on the grass. You gotta try it, you'll be amazed. Give her a little time to adjust to it.

Answer 5

Paper-training, or mat-training is preferred for puppies in the winter time. You could actually litter-box train her, too. That may be more ideal so neither of you are shivering in the cold!