toilet training

by ann martin
(Ireland)

i have 5 dogs, 4 trained, but my new wee yorkie is more difficult. i don't tell her off when she gets it wrong but praise her when she gets it right.

can you advise me of the best way to do it?
ann


Hi Ann
Well, you're on the right track and if you have 4 trained dogs already, you'll get this one sorted out too!

The smaller dogs are more challenging sometimes because they have such tiny bladders! They need more frequent potty breaks than the bigger pups.

Praise rather than punishment is definitely the way to go, and the saying 'if the student hasn't learned, the teacher hasn't taught' fits well here because when potty training a puppy it's up to the owner to show the pup exactly what's expected of it.

If you haven't used a crate for housebreaking before, I'd really recommend that you give it a try because it's the simplest and easiest way, really.

It eliminates a lot of the opportunities for mistakes indoors, and helps your pup to develop more bladder/bowel control. You can find all the tips and information you need to crate train your puppy on my Crate Training page.

There's also a lot of useful tips and advice on house training in general on my Potty Training page.

Best of luck with your little girl.