The Yorkshire Terrier is like a potato chip, you can’t have just one. Yorkies are great as pairs and you can even have two males or two females without having any disagreements. They are suited to living in close quarters and need close companionship to thrive. Once you’ve decided to get your Yorkies and take them home, you’ll need to housebreak them. Housebreaking your Yorkies may be easier than you think. Not only can you train them to have a bowel movement on command, but you can control where they go too.
When it comes to housebreaking a puppy, one of the first things that you have to contend with is feeding. What goes in must come out. Generally speaking, a dog will have to poop 15 to 20 minutes after a meal. The easiest way to housebreak Yorkies is to feed them regular meals and take them out in an acceptable timeframe. After a little while, you will know when your puppy will need to go and thus increase your chances of successfully training your Yorkies to poop at the right time.
As an example, if you give your Yorkies three meals per day, expect them to have three bowel movements per day. As puppies, they should be fed at least three times per day, but when adults, that can be decreased to two times per day, maybe even once per day depending on the situation. Housebreaking a puppy and getting them to poop and pee where you want them to is the same when you transition them to a different feeding schedule.
Puppies will need to pee more often than an adult and should therefore be allowed to urinate several times per day. They will often pee on the same outing as pooping, but they also will need to go out more times throughout the day to go pee. When you begin housebreaking a puppy, taking them out often is the key. You will need to come up with a consistent command; “Poop” and “Pee” are good because they’re one word and can be preceded by “Go” and/or your Yorkies name.
As you begin your training to housebreak any puppy, you should have your puppy on a leash even if you are in a fenced in yard. This gives you control over where your puppy can go. It’s best to start out with a loose grip on the leash. Let your Yorkies take you where they want to and when they stray away from a certain area, correct them with the leash and take them back to the appropriate area and be sure to give the proper command as you do so.
Once the deed is done, give lots of praise. Have a conversation with your Yorkies. “Good girl go poop.” Along with physical contact and petting, this is a good way to housebreak a puppy. Lather, rinse and repeat often until they get it and you will have mastered the art of housebreaking puppy.