How to Potty Train a Yorkie Poo

Potty training a Yorkie Poo

Yorkie Poos are a cross between a Yorkshire terrier and a miniature or toy poodle. They tend to be friendly, intelligent and eager to please. You must consider your Yorkie Poo's size and personality traits during the potty-training process. It takes time, consistency and reinforcement, but if you are patient with your Yorkie Poo, you'll soon have a fully potty-trained dog that can be relied upon not to have accidents.

Instructions

1. Take your Yorkie Poo outside frequently to give it enough opportunity to go potty in the correct place. Yorkie Poos are small dogs, which means they have small bladders. Until they are potty trained, they don't have any practice in "holding it" until they get outside. By taking your Yorkie Poo out regularly and linking this with a verbal cue such as, "Wanna go potty?" you will help the dog associate the word with the process. Once you're outside, don't play with your Yorkie Poo or distract it in any way, and give it enough time to sniff around and choose a spot if it needs to go.

2. Give your Yorkie Poo plenty of praise when it does its business outside. A common Yorkie Poo trait is the desire to please its owner. Because of this, Yorkie Poos learn quickly when you give them lots of positive reinforcement for proper behaviors. The dog will soon learn to do his business outdoors to earn your praise.

3. Crate your Yorkie Poo or keep it in a small, gated-off area when you're away from home. This will encourage the dog to "hold it" because dogs don't like to soil their living or sleeping areas. If there is an accident, the mess will be confined to an easy to clean area. Make sure you let your Yorkie Poo out as soon as you get home; spend some time playing with it. Yorkie Poos are energetic, so you have to give them plenty of exercise after crating or confining them.

4. Feed your Yorkie Poo and take it outside at the same times every day. When your dog always eats at the same time, it will tend to need to eliminate on the same schedule, too. Because of their size, Yorkie Poos can easily gain too much weigh if you leave food out all day, so controlling feeding times also prevents overeating and obesity.

5. Don't confuse submissive urination with having an accident. If your Yorkie Poo is young, it may leak a small amount of urine when it is excited or frightened. This is particularly common in smaller dogs such as Yorkie Poos because of their smaller bladders. Punishment is ineffective because the dog can't control this behavior. Most Yorkie Poos outgrow it by the time they are 6 months old.

Tips & Warnings

• Pay attention to your Yorkie Poo's behavior so you can recognize the signs that it needs to eliminate. Yorkie Poos often get restless when they have to go potty, circling and sniffing the ground. If you see these behaviors, take your Yorkie Poo outside immediately while using your verbal cue.

• Don't shove your Yorkie Poo's nose into the mess if it has an accident or punish it physically in any other way. It won't understand what it's being punished for and it might even get aggressive. Also, because Yorkie Poos are small, it's too easy to injure them if you hit them. Stick to positive reinforcement, which is safer and more effective in the long run.