Yorkie questions

Question
QUESTION: I have 2 questions...

1. how do I get my female yorkie potty trained? We've tried everything and she cannot seem to get the hang of it. We've had her for 8 months now and we're going to have to replace the carpets. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

2. My female and male yorkies have been FIGHTING lately. They seem to be fighting to kill. I have to interfere and pry mouths open to get them apart. They are both fixed - my male is 7 and my female is a little under a year old. Why would they be fighting? Is there a way to prevent these dog fights, besides keeping them muzzled?

ANSWER: Hi Toree.  Housetraining is best accomplished using a crate and strict management - not allowing the dog to have free range of the house until she is consistently going outside instead of on the carpet.  Yorkies are notoriously hard to housetrain.  Some of my clients have used diapers to keep their floors protected while they are working on teaching the dog to go outside.

Here are my tips:

(1) Control the environment - Don't allow her access to the areas she's had accidents in for at least 2 weeks.

(2) Management - When she can't be in the room with you, use a crate, ex-pen or confinement in a small room with a gate (don't close the door).  No freedom in the house.  

(3) Training - Go outside with her and reward her when she does what you want (potty outside).


Intra-household dog aggression can be a tough issue.  You'll have to find out what triggers the fighting.  

Could it be a food guarding issue? Be sure they each have their own private area to eat and pick up what isn't eaten when they walk away from the bowl.

Could it be a certain toy or chew bone?  Put that toy away.

Could it be fighting over you?  Teach each dog to wait politely for your attention.  Get training for both of them so that they will respond to basic cues in each other's presence.  Ignore pushing, demanding behaviors.  Walk away from them if they start jostling each other to get closer to you.

Is it play that gets out of hand?  Interrupt play frequently so they don't escalate.

Figure out what happens just before a fight starts and you'll have a better idea on how to prevent the situation.  Let me know if you have further comments or questions.  Good luck!


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It's not a food or toy issue... It usually happens around me or my mom. One of them wants to get to me first, and it starts a fight. I have tried ignoring them, greeting them separately - it seems like anything can trigger an attack. And sometimes my males instigates, and other times it's my female. Last night was really bad. My female was with me on the couch, and the male walked by my feet. The girl lunged at my boy, and the fight started.

Answer
Keep them off the couch so one never has a height advantage.  It gives them more of a sense of power and entitlement if they are above the one on the floor.  If the dogs weren't fighting, I wouldn't have a problem with them on the couch.  However, you already have a serious issue and need to find ways to prevent the fights from happening.

Teach each dog the only way they can get your attention is to sit politely.  Running toward you, jumping up, out of control behavior makes you turn and go away.  Teach them both to sit quickly on cue no matter how excited they are.  Find a local training class and take the younger dog to learn some basics.  Petsmarts usually have good, positively run classes where you can learn methods to use with both dogs.

When the dogs are together watch for signs that tension is building - licking lips, yawning, head lowering, white of eyes showing, staring at the other dog for more than 2-3 seconds.  When you see these signs, find ways to diffuse the tension and move away if possible.