house breaking/yorkie pup

Question
We have had our 8 wk old Yorkie pup for 1 day and he is wonderful! He seems to be pretty well trained so far but he gets so excited when we return from the store or first thing in the morning when he sees us that he urinates in his cage! Can you recommend a way to help him with this?
Thank you!

Answer
Hi Tanosha,

Congratulations on getting a puppy!

Your puppy is still a small baby. Puppies don't gain control over their bladders or bowels until they're around 3 months of age. When you come home and first thing in the morning, you need to take your puppy outside immediately. Don't stop to put away groceries or turn on the coffee! Also, due to their lack of bladder control, it's not uncommon for a puppy to have what's called "submissive urination", or "excitement urination". Keeping greetings very low key will help prevent this. Your puppy can't help this, it's not a house training accident so you should never scold or get angry at your puppy when it occurs.

You can read more about submissive/excitement urination here:
http://www.freedogtraininginfo.com/139/submissive-or-excitement-urinating/

You didn't say how big a crate you have for your puppy. A crate should only be big enough that the puppy (or dog) should be able to stand up, turn around and lie down comfortably. A crate that's too large will afford the puppy room to soil, and also lay in a dry spot.

I hope that helps.
Best of luck,

Patti