First of all I'm new to this forum, my name is John and my Yorkie is Millie. My girl is 9 months old and we got her at 2 months old. Millie has a few problems but the biggest one is potty training. My wife wanted her to be an indoor door and pee and poop inside on a pad(I disagreed). After a few months, we got her to pee on the pad for a whole week with no problems, and then she resorted back to her old ways of peeing on the carpet in the (mostly) dining room. (Good thing I have a carpet cleaner.) She is smart, active, very social and has a large vocabulary. She understands me, she just won't get with the program. Anyone have any good suggestions.
The problem with pee pads is that they encourage the dog to go inside. So, you've already trained her that inside pottying is OK. The second half of the problem is that it is difficult to train a dog to differentiate between a pad, carpet, rug, clothing, blanket, and so on. They are all soft and for a dog not much different. At this point, I would use baby gates or an exercise pen to limit her ability to roam inside. Take the dining room out of the equation completely. I would also put the effort into re-training her to go outside. It will be harder to do now that you've taught her to go inside, but in the end it will be better. Get rid of the pee pads completely. Take her outside every 1-2 hours and whenever she starts looking for a spot. Use the baby gates/exercise pen to keep her in your sight (put her on flooring not on carpeted spaces). Go back to the very beginning of potty training 101.
First, and I'm sure you realise, she does need to get outside to exercise to burn off energy whether or not she toilets indoors. How many mats do you have down? If I was mat training, I'd start by covering a large area so that the dog has less chance to make mistakes. Over time and with reliability, cut the mat area gradually. Watch her like a hawk. As soon as you see her giving off signals she wants to go, take her to the mat area. Make sure you take her to the area after eating, drinking, playing and waking up. Give her every chance to succeed The little 'uns do wee a lot and so the 'problem' always seems a bit worse, but with time and consistency you'll get there
I have a friend who’s chihuahua cross was trained to use a litter box as a puppy before she got him. It’s still where he prefers to go. He also likes his litter box to be kept clean.
I would use a litter box over pee pads. A litter box is a very clearly marked potty location. Same with the grass box types. Pee pads are just too similar to too many other things that a puppy will be confused.
I started out with 5 pads, then moved to 4, then 3 and then to 2, which is what I'm using now. She started using the pee pads at 2 pads. Used then almost them all the time for a week, then stopped using them and continued going on the carpet.
If she's using the same spot on the carpet, put something over it to block off access. It could be the smell she is attracted to. Also I'd go back to the 5 pads and start again. It's not unusual to have to take training back a step or two or back to the beginning from time to time no matter what you are training. Look at it as a refresher course
