Yorkie potty train

Question
Dear Labman,
I've had a yorkie now for 2 weeks, he is almost 12 weeks old. I have two issues, first I am trying to housetrain him to go to the bathroom on those potty pads and he seems to go on to that maybe 45% of the time, the major problem I am having is whenever I leave him alone even for 2 minutes, he just tears apart the pipi pad and I don't know what to do anymore to stop it, I can't take him outside yet because he hasn't had all his shots yet. The second problem is I got him some toys but it's hard to get him interested in playing all he wants to do is to cuddle. Can you give me some suggestions? Thanks

Answer
I really don't recommend the pads or believe in keeping a puppy shut up.  Yes, taking a puppy out risks life threatening diseases.  Failing to take it out can lead to a fear filled puppy that never is comfortable outside and around strangers, men, women, children, noises, traffic, etc.  There are many fun places you can take your dog, but not if it is afraid of everything.  

You can go to a hardware store or home center and buy some small pieces of expanded metal.  They are often near the nuts and bolts and metal strips.  Lay one over the pad.  Urine will still pass right through, but he won't be able to get to the pad.  

Give him a little more time, and he may pay more attention to the toys.  Many dogs aren't interested in a slick, new Nylabone.  I think they are putting the nubby texture on more of them now.  I think it is part of the reason so many dogs like the hard to find dinosaur ones.  The others are more attractive if you rough up the surface with sand paper or by rubbing it on a concrete floor.  Another technique is to jam a Nylabone into a Kong creating what I call a twofer.  The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.