DoctorPup Complimentary Service

Potty Training

Q: Hi there I'm going thru a hard time with my puppy in potty training her. She will not go in her pee pad I take her every hour and sit there with her for 15 minutes. I've tried treats but she will not go, once she is off the pee pad she goes on my carpet. So I bought her a crate half is where she sleeps and the other half is her bathroom where I put a pee pad. She does good when I have her lock in there, but she will not poop there once she starts whinning I let her out and she goes on my carpet. I'm very frustrated with my yorkie at this point I hate to have to keep her lock in her crate but I can't allow her to go on my carpet to keep her happy. And to make things worse she starts barking at nite to get her out of the crate I live in a apt complex. What can I do? How long is it good to keep her lock in her crate?

A: The first thing to realize is that at her age she does not have the ability to postpone or plan when to eliminate so having her in the right place (crate) at the right time is accidental. The best plan is to have her in the crate as much as possible probably at least 20 min out of each hour. There is no easy way to get around the whining except for having her in another room where she does not see you and you do not hear her easily. She needs to have access only to the crate for about 7-10days and then access to the pad on a tray, using the tray first will not work as you have seen. You cannot expect for her to make much progress until around 12 weeks of age as this is when she begins to get the ability to postpone elimination until she is in the right place. Patience and consistency now will let her know what the expected plan is and she will make progress soon. She can stay in her crate for around 4 hours without your interruption. Be sure to watch all the homecoming videos and the potty training series.