Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have a 10 month old Yorkie who we brought home at 8 weeks old. He was trained on wee wee pads within a week and has been near perfect with them ever since. About 3 weeks ago, he simply stopped peeing on the pads and started peeing on the floor! He will still poo on the pad, but seems to avoid it when he has to pee. Has anyone had experience with this? We are lost. Is it possible he is regressing? Could he be doing it out of spite? We cannot think of anything in the past few weeks that would make this happen. He was diagnosed recently with Whipworm, which he was given medicine for.

We are restarting potty training from square one, crating him and trying to retrain him all over again. Not having a lot of luck though. Please help, we are completely confused!

>>We have a 10 month old Yorkie who we brought home at 8 weeks old. He was trained on wee wee pads within a week and has been near perfect with them ever since. About 3 weeks ago, he simply stopped peeing on the pads and started peeing on the floor! He will still poo on the pad, but seems to avoid it when he has to pee. Has anyone had experience with this? We are lost. Is it possible he is regressing? Could he be doing it out of spite? We cannot think of anything in the past few weeks that would make this happen. He was diagnosed recently with Whipworm, which he was given medicine for.
>>
>>We are restarting potty training from square one, crating him and trying to retrain him all over again. Not having a lot of luck though. Please help, we are completely confused!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If he's not neutered yet, that could be the problem. No time to waste if that is the case. If you plan to keep a male Yorkie intact, you'll need to plan not to give him the run of the house.
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

Thank you. Yes, he was neutered at 6 months old. He actually went through a spell like this right after that surgery, for about a week. We thought he just wasn't feeling well, but he got right back on track. This has been much more of a challenge and came out of nowhere. He only has the run of the house when we are home, and now only after he goes potty on the pad. When we are not home, he is gated in the kitchen with his food and bed, and potty pad on the other side of the kitchen. Should we stop letting him roam the house altogether? Is it possible to retrain this dog? Please tell me there is hope!

My guess then is this is not a housetraining problem, but that he has a urinary tract infection. Most "regression" issues that are not marking are from UTIs.

I don't know if you have ever had a bladder infection, but you know how it can burn when you urinate? This can sort of "punish" the dog for urinating, and sometimes they make a connection with their potty pad or yard or whatever... or in cats, their litterbox. And somehow it gets connected up with the pain, and they are "trained" not to use it again.

Definitely get the dog to the vet ASAP, or at the very least bring in a urine sample.

Good luck!
-----
Christie Keith
Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
Holistic Husbandry since 1986
www.caberfeidh.com/
Dogged Blog

>>Thank you. Yes, he was neutered at 6 months old. He actually went through a spell like this right after that surgery, for about a week. We thought he just wasn't feeling well, but he got right back on track. This has been much more of a challenge and came out of nowhere. He only has the run of the house when we are home, and now only after he goes potty on the pad. When we are not home, he is gated in the kitchen with his food and bed, and potty pad on the other side of the kitchen. Should we stop letting him roam the house altogether? Is it possible to retrain this dog? Please tell me there is hope!

>>>>>>>>>>

Yes, stop letting him roam the house for now, because every accident is making the habit of having accidents stronger. Yes, it is possible to retrain him.

There may have been some other trigger, such as a visiting human or dog, new animal in the house (including a cat), new baby, female dog in heat in the neighborhood--lots of things can trigger it. Help him get back to good habits.
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com