Potty training a Yorkie doesn’t have to be hard! You just need the right methods and patience.
The key is to start early, praise them for successes, and set clear expectations. If you follow these guidelines, your dog will quickly learn how to use their potty outside.
You must be wondering, just how can I housebreak or potty train a Yorkie puppy? The steps to potty train a Yorkshire Terrier include keeping a consistent feeding schedule, setting a fixed potty schedule outside the house, and rewarding them when they successfully poop outside.
We will take a look at the steps in detail and discuss more the challenges ahead, as well as some potential problems that you could face during potty training.
Steps To Housebreak/Potty Train A Yorkie?
Having Yorkies is all fun and games until they are peeing all over the place or leaving little poop parcels under furniture for you to find. This breed is particularly difficult to train for many reasons.
You will definitely want to keep your house clean and hygienic in a sustainable way for both you and your Yorkie’s sale. This will prevent your Yorkies from developing skin problems and even odor.
Fortunately, there are several ways around the problem. To help you out, here are a few tips to streamline the whole process:
STEP 1: Get Them To Feel Right At Home
Yorkies are very particular about their living environments and will not soil spaces they see as feeding or lounging areas. Therefore, make sure you train them to feel comfortable in different parts of the home, whether it is the living spaces, kitchen, or bedroom.
Restrains like leashes, and restricted areas, such as crates and playpens, allow the pooch to explore while still being restricted enough not to cause any trouble.
STEP 2: Start Meal Training
With limited bladder capacity, especially for a Teacup Miniature Yorkie, due to its petite build, establishing a meal routine is a fantastic way to house train your Yorkie.
It will allow you to learn when to anticipate potty breaks from the pooch for more effective training.
STEP 3: Feed Them High-Quality Food
While we are still on the topic of food, what your Yorkies eat is just as important as when they eat. While training, you want to make sure you feed them high-quality food. This helps prevent issues like constipation or diarrhea that throw everything off.
The Royal Canin Yorkshire Terrier Puppy Dry Dog Food is a fantastic option while training. It is specially formulated for Yorkie pups and contains prebiotics as well as fiber for gut health.
A regular healthy diet will help to reduce the chances of common health problems of Yorkies from befalling your pooch and save you from high medical costs in the future. This should, in fact, be a practice you should do since they are born.
STEP 4: Reward Good Behavior
Positive reinforcement has been working miracles when it comes to dog training for as long as we humans have tried to domesticate them. It works just as well with potty-training Yorkies. Just throw them a treat immediately they relieve themselves in the appropriate spot.
STEP 5: Establish A Routine And Be Consistent
Dogs are creatures of habit, so you will benefit a lot from a proper routine. If they know, they get a potty break when they wake up, after walks, or whatever other time, they are more likely to hold it until the time is appropriate. This also includes a consistent sleeping habit.
How Long Does It Take To Potty Train A Yorkie?
When it comes to potty training your Yorkie, it will take about 2 to 4 weeks to develop a routine and have them be aware of places that are potty appropriate. The time needed is lowered for older puppies. You can declare the mission a success if you have had up to 2 months of your dog following the potty break routine with few or no accidents.
However, if you happen to adopt an adult Yorkie from a rescue or a dog shelter, it may be more troublesome to potty train these stubborn pooches. While age does play a huge role in determining how fast you can train the pooch, there are ways to play the system. You could speed things up with the impressionable little furballs by leaning in heavily on the reward trick.
Blue Buffalo Wilderness Trail Treats are easily one of the best-kept training secrets in this case. The tasty and grain-free chicken-based treats are fantastic for Yorkie puppies with the presence of compounds, such as omega-3 and DHA, that help with cognitive development since a smarter puppy is definitely easier to train.
You could also get faster results with your training by synchronizing the feeding and potty break routines. Approaching them as one continuous unit instead of two standalone plans also makes it easier for your pooch to internalize and stick to the program.
Finally, it is crucial that you understand as a Yorkie owner that training is not a one-off thing. You will have to put in continuous efforts to maintain discipline and routine. This is because the moment Yorkies get a taste of freedom or experience a change in environment, they tend to regress.
How Do I Get My Yorkie To Stop Peeing In The House?
Getting your Yorkie to stop peeing indoors is a two-part plan. The first part is getting them used to the idea of outdoor spaces for potty breaks. Let them get familiar with things like grass and soil, so they are comfortable enough to relieve themselves there. Also, make sure to reward them promptly and generously for every successful outdoor potty break.
The second and less known part of the plan is getting them to see indoor spaces as the last place they would want to go potty. It is a well-known fact that dogs do not like to soil spaces that they particularly feel comfortable in if they have other options. You are, therefore, unlikely to find poop or pee on things like dog beds, lounge mats, or even crates as long as they have the freedom to leave.
You can therefore take advantage of this psyche to help you with housebreaking. Just have the little one so comfortable in different spaces in the house that they don’t feel right going indoors. Here are three tips to help you with this.
Let Them Explore
If you know they will find their way there one way or another, it is best you just take control and let them explore under supervision. It could be your bedroom, the bathroom, or even a home office. Let them go in, look, and sniff around and get familiar with the space.
Have Designated Spaces For Them In Each Room
You can take this further by setting aside specific spots in every room for them. It could be in a crate or a dog lounge mat. However, feeling welcome makes them too comfortable to want to soil the space.
Take Them Out If Caught Mid-Act
In case you catch the little one in the act, try your best to get them outside so they can finish there. This lets them know that going indoors is not allowed. However, if this is not possible, let them finish then you can clean up and try to take them out on time later.
Are Yorkies Hard To Potty Train?
Yorkies are famous for how difficult they are to train, whether it is obedience or potty training. With the latter, it has a lot to do with both physical and psychological traits.
To help you out, we will take a look at why it is that these teddy bear dog breeds are so hard to train and ways you can get around this natural predisposition for successful housebreaking.
They Are Hyperactive
It is not always easy to get a young and excited Yorkie to settle long enough to train them properly. The little bundles of energy just can’t help themselves. You just need to be patient and a bit more firm, and they will come around.
They Have All Forms Of Anxiety
Yorkies are among the timidest of dog breeds, and their personalities are often associated with different forms of anxiety. This includes separation anxiety and social anxiety. Attacks often cause regression, with already-trained pooches having accidents when left alone or startled.
Here, dealing with anxiety is the best way out, including socializing your pooch or even investing in calming supplements like melatonin.
They Have Small Bladders
This is a problem several small breeds have to deal with, and as one of the smallest, Yorkies have a particularly hard time holding their pee. In fact, a well-fed and hydrated dog can have potty breaks 10-12 times every day. The solution? Stick to a feeding routine. This will help you predict the best times to take them out.
They Are Prone To Gut Problems
Yorkies are prone to problems like diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation. This is usually a consequence of their everything-is-edible attitude toward life. The problem with these types of accidents is that they are very unpredictable and affect even the best-trained dogs. The way out is to simply train them on what not to eat.
Potty Training Regression – Why Is My Potty Trained Yorkie Regressing?
Something else that hinders progress when it comes to Yorkie potty training is the fact that they are prone to developing regression. This is where a fully trained doggy with no recent history of accidents suddenly forgets all their training and turns your home into their potty.
This might be a little annoying for you as the homeowner. You probably thought you were done with the whole training and dog treats routine. However, it is a common problem that is very easy to fix. The key is to understand what caused the regression in the first place.
Before we begin, just to address a common misunderstanding. Having their tails docked is not the cause of potty regression in Yorkies. There is no research whatsoever on this correlation.
One of the main culprits is a change in the environment. Maybe you moved to a new apartment. Maybe you adopted a trained pup and moved them into your home. It takes the bit furry buddies time to get used to new environments. And often, this is accompanied by more than one behavioral regression, like more frequent barking.
You may therefore have to train them afresh and teach them where they can go. The good news is that this process is a lot easier and faster than first-time training. Just find a nice spot where they can feel comfortable and get familiar with it and the new routine.
The regression could also be due to psychological issues. If the pooch suffers some kind of mental trauma, they tend to have periods where they forget basic skills they had been trained in. You should get the psychological issues handled first by a professional. This is because restarting training without addressing the trauma will be frustrating and unfruitful.
Certain events can also trigger such accidents. A seemingly routine normal event, such as pregnancy, regular shedding season, and being in heat, might be the cause, although there is no proof of such cases happening.
Finally, the regression could just be a sign of underlying physical illnesses. These range from bladder irritation from urinary tract infections to overall incontinence due to spinal issues, which Yorkies are known for occasionally having. As with psychological issues, the only way out here is to get a vet involved to solve the root problem before resuming training.
Related Questions
How To Potty Train A Yorkie In The Winter? Training does not have to stop because you cannot go out. Just bring the outdoors inside with alternatives like faux grass training mats. Fortune-Star Artificial Dog Grass Mat is one of the best options out there with a look and feels that the Yorkie will not have too hard of a time getting used to.
Yorkie Training Secrets: Whatever training plan you settle for, the secret to success has and always will be consistency. Being disciplined takes a lot of work. It is so much easier for your pooch to poop on the mat than wait for you to take them out. So if you are not consistent, they will most likely go back to their old ways forcing you to start over.
Crate Training A Yorkie To Housebreak: Crate training is a fantastic shortcut if you do not have time to run around monitoring your pooch before housebreaking. In addition to allowing control exploration, it teaches your dog how to respect indoor spaces. So don’t just use it as a dog sitter; it has so much more to offer.
