Yorkie

[Danielle33]

Hi, I have a 1 year old yorkie who up till now has been pretty well housebroken, would let us know when she had to go out. However, the last couple of weeks she has totally regressed and has found a nice spot in the dining room where she goes. Even if we just took her out a half hour ago. Very frustrating. Is this normal for yorkies to regress like this? Hopefully someone has some suggestions for me out there.
Thanks.

[Flatcoatluver]

Hey welcome to pet talk!! to bad your first post has to be about that! i'm not sure if its normal for yorkies, so maybe someone else might know.

[binka_nugget]

Is it always in the same spot? When potty training, it's important to clean a soiled area really well as a dog will surely soil the same area if the scent is still there.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Welcome to Pet talk. I had a yorkie as a kid. Yorkies are very very difficult to housebreak. Luckily my mom was a stay at home mom so she was able to work with our yorkie around the clock. He was perfectly housebroken, but it took some time and patience.
Now I work at a pet boarding facility and the yorkies that come in (and we get a lot) are hardly ever housebroken. I'd estimate that 50% of yorkies that come in have little to no housebroken skills. Of the other 50% i'd say at least half still have some accidents, and the other half (25% or less of the yorkies I see) are actually housebroke. It's unfortunate as yorkies are wonderful little dogs with this one major down fault.

I'd suggest a couple things. My first suggestion is to clean "the spot" with Nature's Miracle. It's a great product, it can be a bit pricey, but well worth it.
My second suggestion is if you are going to be gone for a long period of time (more than a couple hours) to put a pee pad down for her to use. I have 5 dogs and 2 of them will not hold it for long periods of time so they use the pee pad while I'm out.
My last suggestion is to get help from a trainer. A trainer will teach both you and her a lot of things, much more than just potty training. PetSmart offers an 8 week class for $100 dollars (which works out to only $12.5 per class!) it's well worth it. Hopefully you'll have you're little yorkie for over 15 years like I did. Training will bring you and your puppy closer together and make the years you spend together much more enjoyable.

Good luck and again welcome to Pet Talk!

[tikeyas_mom]

have you tried crate training your puppy? keep him/her in the crate when you arnt home, make it a safe haven for her. puppies usually try to avoid pooping or peeing in their crate because its where they sleep. wqhen you are home, DONT let her out of your site, if you see she is starting to sniff around or squat, pick her up and rush her outside, then give her lotsa praise!! good luck.

[Pit Chick]

Everyone else has given great advise. My two cents will be, have her checked by a vet for a UTI. Sometimes housebroken dogs will potty in the house because they feel the urge to go and because it's their way of letting you know something is wrong. Unlike cats who try to go and nothing comes out, when a dog has a UTI, they go. Or if she isn't spayed, she could be marking her territory. Sounds weird, but some females do it in which case spaying will help.