Pottie Training Tips and tricks for the Yorkie

So down to the nitty gritty…  

1. Get your dog eating on a schedule. Most people leave the food out to free feed, this will really screw your potty training. Because you will literally never know when your dog is going to need to go. It will be extremely helpful to have your dog or puppy’s body on a pooping or peeing schedule. feeding time is important – take the time to hand feed your puppy and observe how much they are able to take in. Then take the food away. Feed your puppy at the same time morning and evening usually, every day. If you have a really small Yorkie one that is supposed to be less than 4 lbs full grown – you may want to feed 3 times a day to avoid any hypoglycemia issues. Hand feeding will also help to build a really strong bond with your Yorkie. Food is everything to them. They will understand that you are in charge, and be grateful to you if they receive they’re nourishment right from your hand.
2. Don’t leave food and water in that cute little kennel you just bought all night. This is probably the biggest mistake I made and that most people make when they get a puppy. Our instinct is to make sure that cute little baby has everything they need at any possible moment they could need it. But if you leave food in the kennel. You may not know how much they ate through the night, and they will be peeing and pooping in the kennel during the night, and needing to go potties through the night if they have access to food and water all night. Don’t make that mistake that I did for many years. Dogs do not need to have food and water in they’re kennel all night. Unless your yorkie is super tiny, your breeder prescribes it, or they have had a hypoglycemic episode\ 

3. Communication. Remember how I explained that FOOD is the most important thing to them. Well it is. Food is a great way for you to communicate with them by giving them a treat when they do their business where they are supposed to. This communicates to them – ” YES little puppy , GOOD JOB This makes me happy and get you a reward” but without actually speaking a word.  We love to give lots of treats at my house. – They get a treat, as soon as they finish peeing on the ground, or pooping.  I like to get the treat out of my little pocket, and believe me, they know what the little bag means, and tell them over and over, “go potties”, “go potties” and gesture with my hand and eyes away from them on the grass. Then I follow them and as soon as they start to go potty I say good job and bend down to give them the treat. They may stop early to get the treat , you can tell them potties again, they will stand and look at you, give it a minute and see if they will go potties again, this time wait until they get it all out to give them a treat. You also may just want to follow, wait until they are completely done, and then give them the treat as soon as they raise they’re little but. You will be amazed at how quickly you have established communication with your dog or puppy in a way that they UNDERSTAND.  Im talking 2 days later when you take them outside with that little bag of life’s abundance treats, they don’t even sniff to find the spot to go potty, they don’t take 20 minutes of playing before they finally do it. This is probably the most important of all the points I make. It saves you so much time waiting for your little puppy to realize its not play time when you go outside, they get it. Its time for me to pee for my treat.  Pooping is a little harder –

4. When to take them potty. Timing is everything. If you follow point number 1 and get your dog on a schedule. You will most likely get they’re pooping on a schedule which is super important because its easy to get them to potty for you with a treat, but puppies don’t usually get a warning feeling that they need to poop most of the time, they could be mid-run and squat down to poop. They may smell a bit before but most active puppy’s it just all of sudden it hits them. So get them on a schedule so you can know when they will poop. The best time to take them potty, is 1. Right after they wake up (every single time guys). 2. after they eat. 3. after they get a bath ( I don’t know why this is, but every time you give them a bath they will need to pee right after and if its been a particularly stressful experience lol, they made need to take a nervously induced slippery poop lol). 4. Right before bed. The treats are key in this one – they may not need to pee, but a treat will make them empty whatever they have for a piece of that yummy treat. This is awesome, it’ll save you from having to get up too early or 5 times in the night to go potty.  This brings me to point

5. Where should the puppy stay or be kept at night and during the day to ensure potty training success? Ok, so this one has a lot to do with your schedule. But it is important to understand that if you want to have a dog that can eventually be free to roam the house and not potty on the carpet, you will have to restrict their movements for some time before they enjoy that freedom, but it’s better than having your Yorkie pee all over the house for its entire life, its frustrating for you – it’s frustrating for them.  So here it is. They go in a really tiny kennel at night with no food or water in the kennel. If they just ate and went potty before bed – they don’t need it in there ok. It’s a tough one but bare with me. When you wake up in the morning, if there is any pee or poo in the kennel. Don’t get upset with them ok. Just get your slippers on take them out with your same treat bag and give them a treat after they pee ( NO TREAT if they don’t pee or poo, please stick to your guns on this one, I know its hard to not feed that cute face whatever it wants, but you are communicating here, so make sure you do that, and communicate) then bring them inside and feed that face their regular diet. They should be hungry, they haven’t eaten all night so let’s get down to business. Hand feed that little cutie, give them some water, and it’s back outside with your treat bag telling them to go potties and follow them around ready to give the treat.  Now do you leave and go to work, or are you a stay-at-home mom ( wow this sounds really sexist, I mean a guy could be in this sitch as well, but it’s coming from my stay-at-home mom perspective, so if you’re a guy, deal with it lol) If you are leaving the house – they go right back in that little kennel with no food or water. If they didn’t drink any water, maybe leave them a small amount in the kennel.  If you are a stay-at-home mom HERES THE KEY MOM – they don’t EVER run around ANYWHERE on the ground, couch or bed. Either you or someone else is holding them —– or they are in that little kennel. So if you want to sit and play with your Yorkie puppy in the morning, that’s great. You can use pieces of their food to play and teach them tricks, but your attention is on them – if they are on the ground you are looking right at them, so if they divert attention from you – you say they’re name to get it back on you. When playtime is over AKA when your attention is diverted from them – they go back in the kennel. If they are a barker – put the kennel in a warm place where they can’t see you, and they don’t get out until the barking stops, break them of that habit quickly, if you had an awesome breeder like me, they will have been separated them from mom/siblings and broken them of that habit in a place they are used to and comfortable in with mommy in sight before you ever picked up your new baby. Making their first night in a new place Not so overwhelming for them, In addition to saving you a sleepless night for the whole house listening to your new little puppy bark all night because they have never been separated from their family or had to be in a kennel by themselves. Teaching a puppy to be self-reliant before they leave is the best thing a breeder can do for a puppy. This training empowers your puppy and preps the new owner to deal with potty training and not barking. Sorry got off on a tangent. But the point is that your dog doesn’t go anywhere unattended – FOR MONTHS!!!! Ya, I know not fun, but your giving the dog and yourself the rest of his/her life the gift of free reign of the house even when you’re gone at the store for a few hours. Because this works, and doing it for months, cements it in them. They may have an accident if you introduce a new food too quickly, or they eat something you didn’t see, but those will be rare, and your sweet Yorkie will have a happy life outside of a kennel and be free to give loves to all in the house, anywhere, at any time. Thanks for reading, and good luck♥️.

6. Going potty outside. Use a playpen to put them in. They want to just play when they go outside. But If you buy a puppy pen and place it in the yard where you want them to go, and spray the grass, then put them in. They will get bored fast and go pee. This will help you avoid staying outside for 45 min, only to come inside and have them pee on the floor. Be ready with a good treat like chicken breast to reward them when they do potty in the pen outside.