Potty training..................

[maddiesmom]

Hi everyone, I am so glad I found this!! My baby is Maddie she is 1 1/2 years old. I have searched everywhere for the magical wand that will potty train her!! I am so frusterated with the situation. She has no intent on letting me know when she has to "go". I thought she was doing really well, until..............I got a black light and tada!! Not so good, ever since I found her "many" spots, (cleaned up with natures miracle, vinager solution also) she has not been allowed out of the kitchen unless she is right next to me. I have a sick 2 1/2 year old who demands allot of my time, but is getting better as she gets bigger.
Maddie was ringing the bell to go out, but seriously rang it about 4 times, now she just goes where ever she is at!! She sleeps on my bed most every night and tada can make it ALL night without having to go out or accident on my bed (my bed is too high for her to jump down from LOL) I have taken her to puppy & potty school. I tried the eating breakfast/dinner trick and she refused to eat, so I feel bad and end up putting it back down for her. Do they learn that if they don't eat at breakfast then they dont eat until dinner? I leave her water free to her all day, I feel thats just mean to make her go without seemings I would forget most the time to put it back for her. We live in a town house so she is on a tie out when she goes outside. Other than that she is locked in the kitchen where it's not too bad to clean up the accident. What do you do?? My baby girl has her 3rd open heart surgery this year and I am paranoid about leaving Maddie with anyone, "ya she is not potty trained, want to watch my puppy?" I really wondered if she did it to spite me and from what I have read here Shorkies are just adorable little stinkers, that cute face and personality gets them out of EVERYTHING!!

I feel  bad because I want her to be part of the family more, but with 3 kiddos its hard to keep my eye on the dog or attached to me with a leash. Other then the potty training part Maddie is a perfect dog. I have never seen such a laid back go with the flow puppy. Oh wait, she does have the dirty little habbit of eating her poo!! So gross I know, but with a little meat tenderizer (vet approved) and watching her close when she is out that is getting allot better. She was also spayed, dont know if that has something to do with it either? My sil actually got a shorkie after we got Maddie and she is going through the same thing with Bella, not potty trained and has no intention of going. I have heard Shitzu and Yorkies are the hardest to potty train, so am I in store for a perfect puppy minus the potty training?? I am trying to think of anything I left out?? I would love any kind of support or advice on this subject!! Thank You!! So glad I found it!!

Chrissie
Oh and she will not and has never used a potty pad, she would rather pee on my rug next to it!! :0(

[teddybear]

Hi welcome to the forum. Um first before i offer advice I have a shorkie named Teddy who is 2 years old.

We started with puppy pads as we got him in winter and he was so small. Then after about 6 months he got the hang of goin outside to you know do his business. Now he has no problems at all which is a relief as we have a shaggy green carpet that he undoubtedly mistakes for grass.

Your day will come when your shorkie becomes potty trained. And btw Teddy use to have the problem of recycling (might b the best way to put it) waste. Just watch her closely.

[shorkiejem]

Hi Chrissie and welcome to the board.  Not everyone has a problem with Yorkies or Shih=Tzu, but if breeds are to be chosen you are correct. They are the worse of the breeds for training.  Jemma is over 2 now, uses her pad BUT still does that sneaky one here and there.  Now I just got a 2 yr old Shih-Tzu, gorgeous and was litter box trained on demand.  He has now reverted and OMG he is just marking everything. And he squatted right in front of me and started to poo.  I went nuts but regained my composure quickly.  I live in a Senior development and we are not allowed fences so I can't just let them go out by themselves.  They are not very good at letting you know.  My Jemma pulled the Yorkie personality, yappy and more hyper.  Yet she won't yap to let me know she is going potty.  However my Shih Tzu is so laid back you don't know he is here.  Yet both are potty problems.  Perhaps crate training is the way to go? Works pretty well.  May have to resort to that myself.
Next week all my carpeting is getting pulled up and I have my lamiate wood flooring going down. Maybe without that softness under their feet they will go on a soft pee pad.  wishful thinking.  I'll know just how much pee they did when the embarassing carpet gets pulled up.....ugh!

[Mai Tai]

I feel your pain with the potty training problems.  I have two shorkies, Mai Tai (2.5 yrs old) and Mojito (1.5 yrs. old).  Mai tai was a dream to potty train, and he learned it within 2 weeks.  He has had one or two accidents in the house since then, and he did not tell us he had to go by barking or anything like it. I find they give subtle cues when they have to go, such as staring at the door.  THis really does not help us busy moms at all. What I did to potty train was take him out consistently every 2 hours, and watch him like a hawk in between.  This is very hard to do, but really worth it when it works.  Now I take him out every 4 hours, and he NEVER goes in the house.  I have left him for a little over 6 hours while out shopping and he has not gone in the house.
Mo, on the other hand, is much more like a Yorkie.  He is tiny and nervous.  He was a NIGHTMARE to potty train.  He refused to use pee pads and ripped them to pieces, even when I put them in a holder.  He ripped them out of the holder.  I took him out every hour and a half, but he still peed in the house if I happened to take my eyes off of him.  He seemed to not be able to hold his pee, and he did not care for treats or praise when I tried to train him.  I think he was like a premature baby who needed a lot of extra time to catch up.  He did not seem to even know I existed, and would not pay attention to anyone.  It took me 5 months or more to potty train him.  I used the methods described on websites.  I crate trained Mai Tai and used treats and praise when he went in the right spot.  I tried it with Mo, but it was very hard due to his unresponsiveness and tiny size.  He fit throught the bars of our gates and was hard to contain anywhere but in his crate, which he hated.  Finally wiht consistency and patience, we got him potty trained.  Don't give up, and don't try 5 different methods.  Stick with one.  I recommend crate training as it has been successful with all of my dogs but Mo.  Good luck and keep posting.

[minnie mee]

I was able to train Minnie Mee with the leash method.  It takes two or three days and a lot of patience.  First of all, it seems from your e-mail that your letting your sweet dog wander all over the house.  I don't know if I am incorrect?  You have to keep it confined for a little while in one spot.  You can do this with an exercise enclosure.  Put whatever you want it to pee on in the enclosure with food and drink and a bed.  Only put the water and food out for meal times.  Time when she usually goes.  Walk her leashed to the spot usually right when she gets up, 15 minutes after a meal etc..  Say potty.  Say it till she pees.  When she does, make an enormous fuss.  You have to do this until she learns.  There is a site that explains this better.  I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it works!  Minnie learned this in two days and never makes a mistake in my house, always goes to the spot I taught her to do it in.  You should keep the dog in the enclosure whenever you go out.

[Ann]

One of the most important lessons your puppy has to learn is where to go to the toilet .
You should decide where you wish the puppy to go, and then teach it to use that area. Your puppy will need to go on waking from a nap, after eating, and during or after playing. At times you take the puppy to the perferred place, stay with your pup until she/he goes, and then PRAISE him/her lavishly. Using a word or phrase as GO TOILET as he or she is going to the toilet will soon teach the pup that when you use these words this means that he/she is to go to the toilet.
A puppy has very little, if any control over there need to go to the toilet , so any mistakes at this stage will not be his/her fault. You must always accompany him/her to the toilet area - rain hail or shine, night or day. Fortunately your pup will learn quickly, and develop the necessary physical control.
If your puppy makes a mistake inside the house, or goes in the wrong place outside, DO NOT PUNNISH. Interrupt if you can, guide the pup to the right spot, and encourage him/her to finish and PRAISE
If you need to go out during the day or at night and can't watch your pup you need to put paper down where ever the pup will be. The best place is in a laundry or kitchen close to a door that goes outside. At first you need to cover the floor with paper then gradually take the paper away that is furtherest from the outside door until you find you have no paper then you put the paper outside the door the pup should then cry to get out to go. You may find that he/she will go on the floor after you have taken some of the paper away if this happens you will have to start again. Remember the PRAISE if they do go where you want them to go.

CRATE TRAINING IS FINE TO BUT I PERSONALLY HAVE NEVER TRYED IT

[Ann]

May I ask if you bought him/her at a pet shop.The reason is I got my Toby from a pet shop and this makes them harder to train as they are taught eat, sleep and toilet in the same area. Dogs are naturally clean but when they have no choice but to do this they will and so being puppies they learn this is the right thing. Bad habbits are hard to break. The only thing I can surgest is try useing the paper system. You set him in a room near a door to outside. Then cover a large area of the floor close to the door with paper. When he goes on the paper praise him. Then gradually each day reduce the paper closer to the door. This will teach him to go outside. If you don't want to do this I do believe that if you perserver he will eventually get it. It took me a long time and I thought he would never get it but this method and also taking him outside worked. I have no trouble with him now he has been left inside on his own for 10 hours and I have come home and  he hasn't done anything inside. He even waits for me to tell him to go toilet. Please let us know how you go.

[maddiesmom]

Thanks for all the advice, when u say crate training what exactally does that mean? She has a kennel and is put in it when we are not home, it's open to her all day. She is locked in my kitchen on the tile floor so if she does have an accident it's easy to clean up, I have her on a 20ft leash tied so she can't reach the carpet at all!! She has no problem staying in her area and making it all day. Do you keep them in the crate at all times if you cant watch them? Can I just make her space smaller?? I am so thankful for all the advice!!

BTW forgot to mention, we bought her from a guy on the side of the road selling shorkies!! BIG MISTAKE!!! I now found out he owned a puppy mill!! I call the police everytime I see him suckering more people in!! Also when we bought her she was really "tired" as the seller put it from being in the heat all day. She was super sick the 1st 2 days, ended up the vet said she had parvo, she spent a week in the animal hospital and they almost gave up hope, Hahaha as long and we kept the money coming in, they kept her alive as she could be!! LOL We are animal lovers and just couldn't "give up" on such a tiny helpless thing, our daughter was born with a fatal congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, they gave us 3 options, do nothing, heart transplant, or 3 open heart surgeries, we choose to fight for her life, and see what she wanted to do, we didn't give up, so in a way I think Maddie was chosen for us. Sounds lame I know, but I know some people wouldn't of forked out all the money to save her, luckily with time and patience she became well, the vet did tell me once, having parvo could of put her behind, kind of like handicaped for a dog. Sounds silly I know, LOL. Okay now my novel of a story is over. I am going to search for crate training/potty training. Hopefully soon we will get her over this........

oh and when did you trust you puppy to venture out, was it like weeks without an accident? days? I am worried because before I thought she was potty trained only to find out she wasn't!!

Thanks again!!
Chrissie

[Mai Tai]

Chrissie, I don't think your idea of the pup being meant for you is silly at all.  I feel the same way about Mo.  He was tiny and very sickly when we got him.  The vet was not sure if he would make it.  Odd thing is he was one pound 8 oz, just like the birth weight of one of my quadruplets (born very prematurely), and he had an open fontanelle.  The same daughter who was so small, also has a brain condition where part of her brain is exposed, so she felt like this dog was meant to be hers.  I have to agree.  We did not give up either and Mo is happy and healthy now.  I have to say you are very lucky your puppy survived parvo, as many do not make it, money or no.    I wish the best for your daughter.  Your story is inspiring.  Keep posting.

[KIKIMYLOVEBUG]

Hehehe, sounds like a true Shorkie to me! They are someting else, they think they can get away with murder just because they are so cute. Leep up the routine of any sort, she'll get it eventually. Mine is little and devlish! I swear she is going through her puppy fazes now, and should have had them when she was 4 months old. She is chewing everything she can find, just wants to play constantly, bouncy little thing, gets into everything. She is 1 year old now. But even my husband made a comment that she is so far behind in her stages of her furry little life. Oh, well, as frustrating as it may be, they all eventually learn and go with a flow. Or they make everyone else go with their flow, LOL

[Ann]

Wow!!! Chrissie you are soooooo brave. My heart goes out to you and I'm sure we will all be behind you with what you go through. Yes I do believe that you were choosen for her in fact I believe that all our shorkies chose us we didn't choose them. You are doing a great job. The toilet training is going to be a bit of trial and error but hang in there it will eventually work. Good on you for notifying the police. The sooner we get rid of these people the better.
We are always here for you.

[minnie mee]

Oh, sorry to hear that!  Well, one thing I also do is put a large plastic tablecloth in Minnie's private area.  That way, if she makes a mistake, it goes on the plastic tablecloth... easy to clean up.

btw, I have often told Minnie we "found" each other, and were meant to be together, and she always nods and licks my nose.

[anisenin]

We just got Tiko on February 18 of this year.  Due to his size, 1.8 pounds, we decided to pee pad train him.  He is actually doing very well.  We have one in the kitchen area near the back door and keep a temporary one in the living room while playing.  He is fortunate to have one of us home at all times to train him.

[anisenin]

Furthre to my note, Tiko is doing fantastic in the potty training.  The last three days have been 100% on the pee pads.  She roams the house, doors are shut into bedrooms and bathroom, but she manages to find either pee pad.  We are working on crate training at night.  Last night he walked into it by himself after a pee at 12:30, I was so proud.

[KIKIMYLOVEBUG]

  Yeeeaaahhh!!!