My 2 year old Yorkie

Question
I have a 2 year old Yorkie. We recently just got him and at first he was doing really well with not peeing & pooping in the house. But now he has gotten more comfortable and is having a lot of accidents. What are the steps in training a dog at this age? I recently bought a crate to keep him in. Today is my first day to keep him in this crate. What are the steps in crate training a dog of this age?

We take him outside to go potty in the morning, and in when we get home from work. We take him out at least 2 or three time before we go to bed. So far anything we have done isn't working. Except when we kept in the bathroom, he was using his pee pee pads, but not going to the bathroom when we took him out.

Any advice you can give would be a great help.

Answer
Ashley, you need to treat him the same as you would a puppy that was not housebroken. If you want him to go to the bathroom outside, get rid of the wee wee pads. If he's not already on a schedule, put him on a food/water schedule. Feed him half his daily ration in the morning, leaving the bowl available to him for 30 minutes, and then picking it up and putting it away (dump whatever food is left in the bowl back into your dog food storage container). Allow him access to water for an additional 20-30 minutes, and then take that up. This should be done at least 30 minutes before you plan on putting him in his crate. Make sure to take him out on leash, and make SURE he goes potty when you do, before putting him in the crate. Praise him happily when he 'goes' outside!

When you get home, take him out (again, on leash) as soon as you let him out of the crate, and remember to praise him for pottying outside. After he goes potty, you can let him off the leash if it's safe to do so, and play with him for a few minutes if you like, before going back inside.

When he's loose in the house, you need to keep an eye on him at all times. That means you either need to keep him leashed to you on a 6-8 foot leash, or use baby gates and/or closed doors to keep him confined to the room you are in. Let him drag a leash so that you can quickly get him out the door if he starts to go potty in the house. As soon as you notice the signs that he's getting ready to potty, encourage him to follow you to the door and take him out. If he starts going potty before you notice the signs, make a sudden noise to startle him, which should make him stop what he's doing, and get him outside as quickly as possible.

Routine and consistency is key.