Outdoor Training
Your responsibility is to keep the pup from having accidents. You do this through careful supervision and frequent potty trips. This is especially critical with a dog as small as a Yorkie. Puddles are so small and easy to miss that if you don't see them as they're happening, they may go unnoticed, and the pup may get the idea that such behavior is perfectly acceptable.
Consistency Is Key
Set up a schedule, and stick to it. You can depend on your pup needing to go out first thing in the morning, after eating or drinking, and after vigorous play. If none of these things happen in the span of a few hours (which would be unusual), take your pup out anyway. Don't ever postpone a potty trip to make your schedule more convenient. Don't make your pup wait until your television show ends or your freshly painted nails are dry. Forcing a pup to hold it for too long can be harmful to her health and set you back in your training.
Your pup's age offers a rough estimate of how long she can hold it. If your pup is three months old, she can wait approximately three hours between potty breaks. Four months of age indicates four hours. Of course, this is only a generalization, but it can give you an idea of a starting point.
Watch your pup for signs of impending urination or defecation — sniffing, walking in circles, and certainly the beginnings of a squat. After the first few days you should see a pattern emerging and be able to schedule potty trips to meet your pup's needs.
You Go Out, Too
One of the most important parts of housetraining your dog is accompanying her outside. Even though she will likely have to go to the bathroom pretty early in the morning, you still need to throw on some shoes, put her on the leash, and take her out. If you've trained the pup to go potty on cue, you shouldn't have to wait long for results. Praise the pup once she goes, give her a treat, and go back inside. Your presence during this event is highly preferable to just letting the dog out alone. You need to be out there to observe, to praise when puppy does the right thing, and to keep your puppy out of trouble. The leash also helps keep your pup with you and on task.
On at least half of your trips outdoors, once the pup has performed her duty, take the leash off and let her run around the yard for a few minutes. If you always come in as soon as business is done, your pup may try to hold out longer to extend the trip outdoors. Conversely, in bad weather, you may find the dog beats you to the door as soon you take off the leash.
If you go out and don't get any positive results within five or ten minutes, come back in, put the puppy in her crate, and try again in a half-hour. As you get to know your pup's schedule better, you should have fewer and fewer of these “dry runs.”
Choose your potty cue carefully. If you're going to be too embarrassed to say “Go potty” in front of friends, neighbors, or strangers, then choose something more neutral, such as “Do your duty” or “Hurry up.” Just be sure that your cue is not too long or too similar to other commands.
Make It Routine
Feeding your pup at the same times every day will help make potty times more predictable. Additionally, dogs appreciate a regular routine. Try to space meals four or five hours apart, depending on your schedule. For instance, if you feed breakfast at 8 A.M., then lunch will be at 12 P.M., a snack will come at 4 P.M., and dinner will be at 8 P.M. If you factor in potty breaks after each of these meals, plus one first thing in the morning and one just before bed-time, you'll be taking the dog out roughly six times a day. In fact, another potty break with some added playtime around midday would round things out perfectly.
Details
If you're going to train your dog to potty indoors, you can carry your litter box or piddle pads with you if you travel with your dog. But if you're going to train your dog to potty outdoors, you may find yourself someday in a situation you haven't faced before.
Most people train their dogs to potty in their yards, on grass. These dogs, when suddenly confronted with city sidewalks and streets, may search frantically for a patch of grass on which to do their business. You may have thought you were teaching outside as the place to go, when what the dog actually learned was grass is the surface on which to go. So, if you plan to travel, you may want to teach your pup to use different surfaces.
Photograph by Cheryl A. Ertelt
Housetraining your new dog benefits not only your Yorkie, but you as well.
Some people want their dog to ring a bell to indicate that they want to go out. This is easily accomplished, though you have to choose a bell light enough for a Yorkie to ring easily, without getting hit in the head by it. Hang the bell off the doorknob of the door you're using to access the yard. Ring it yourself each time before going out. Most dogs make the connection and learn to ring the bell themselves. If they need a little more help, you can entice them to raise a paw and swipe at the bell — but not while they're so young they still have to hurry to make it out in time. Be aware that clever dogs may learn to ring the bell not just when they need to potty, but when they'd like a breath of fresh air. If you're not careful, you may find yourself serving as full-time doorman to your Yorkie!
