Yorkshire Terriers are very intelligent dogs, but you may need to be patient and consistent when you are housetraining them. It is helpful to teach them routine housetraining rules to follow. A well-known method of housetraining is the crate method. The idea behind using the crate method is based on the theory that dogs do not like to soil the area where they sleep or eat. The crate used for your puppy should be big enough for your puppy to be able to easily stand up and lie down and get comfortable. You may decide to place a comfortable and safe, washable dog blanket in the crate. You may wish to take your puppy's collar off while he is in the crate for safety reasons. It is helpful for your puppy if you keep the crate in the room where you are going to be in so that your puppy will still have your company and not be lonely, if at all possible. Your puppy will hopefully learn to think of his crate as his very own special place, almost like his own doghouse or den to go where he can relax and rest.
A nice feature is that the crate is very portable. You can easily take it from room to room with you. Puppies need love and attention from their owner, so it may be a good idea not to leave your Yorkshire Terrier puppy inside the crate for longer than one hour at a time during the day, if possible. Crate training should be a positive experience. It is very important that at night you can have the crate near your bed where your puppy can definitely see you and let you know when he may need to go outside to go to the bathroom.
Please don't forget that puppies may need to go to the bathroom every two to three hours or more during the day when they are young. The time span will increase as they get a little older. Puppies will usually be ready to go to the bathroom when they first wake up in the morning, after eating and drinking, and also after playing.
You may feed your puppy inside the crate. When he is done eating, carry your puppy outside close to the area where you want him to go to the bathroom. Try to use the same approximate area every time, so your Yorkshire Terrier puppy gets into a familiar routine. After your puppy goes to the bathroom outside you may want to praise him for doing good. Then, when you go back inside you may want to offer him a treat, while having him walk back into his crate. It is so important to establish a daily time schedule for your puppy to eat his meals and also his routine schedule to go outside.
After your Yorkshire Terrier puppy is housetrained, he may use his crate to sleep in at night or to take some naps in during the day. Hopefully, some of these housetraining tips will be very helpful!
