Yorkie

Question
I have a 3 year old 6lb Yorkie that I have had nothing but training problems with.  He is a very nice dog but no matter what we do he is peeing in the house.  I take him out on a schedule & he always goes but still goes in my house.  I feel bad because we kennel him during the day because we cant trust him for even 10 minutes alone in the house.  He also is having issues with barking at dogs & people he doesnt know & sometimes he will even get on aggressive side with other dogs.  Any help would be appreciated.

Answer
Hi Melissa. Yorkies are notoriously difficult to housetrain.  Good thing they are so cute, or people would totally give up on them :-)

I'm glad you're using a kennel for him for management.  I might suggest a portable exercise pen for times that you are home.  It will give him more space, but still keep him contained from roaming around the house and peeing.  

While you're home, you could also tether him to you, attaching his leash to your belt loop.  That way he's with you all time and can't wander off and pee when you're not looking.  

Monitor him constantly when you do allow freedom in the house.  Keep him in the room you're in with a baby gate or close the door.  Assume if he's out of sight, he's peeing somewhere.

I would treat him like a new puppy until you can get this under control.  As soon as he wakes from a nap, go outside with him.  Give him a treat for doing his business outside.  Every 15 minutes that he's away, take him outside, reward if he goes.  If he doesn't, he goes to his confinement area.  

Keep a log of when he's eliminating.  Is he really going every 10 minutes?  If so, he's probably marking.  Is he neutered?  If not, that may help reduce that activity.  If he can "hold it" the whole time he's in his crate, then you know he can do it when you're home.

Dogs bark at other dogs and people usually to try and make them go away because they are uncomfortable with the proximity.  This is especially true for little dogs because everything is so much bigger than they are.

There's a technique I love for dogs with this issue. It's called Behavior Adjustment Training  - BAT -  and the creator is Grisha Stewart.  The website is at:  http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/bat/  You can purchase the 1.5 hour DVD to get more details than what you'll find on the website.  

Basically, BAT allows the dog to make good choices (before he makes bad ones like aggressing) and then creating a distance between the dog and the trigger - which is really what he's trying to do when he barks.  All work is done below his trigger threshold, so you would begin at a distance where he can see, but not react, then retreat.  I've had great success with this technique with every dog I've tried it with.

I like to tell my clients that if they can go for 2 weeks without an accident, then they can consider the job done and allow the dog a bit more freedom.  Please let me know if you have further questions or need clarification on anything I've suggested.