I put the topic of potty training in the negative side because I have heard more negative remarks than positive ones from people who own Yorkies .
Yorkies Have Tiny Bladders
Before I got my dog, almost everybody I ever met who had a Yorkie told me that they are the most wonderful dogs in the world, but they are extremely difficult to potty train. One reason is that they are so small that of course they have tiny bladders. I don’t know about that though. When I got my dog, he was eleven months old and now he is almost eighteen months, so I have had him for less time still than the previous owner did before me.
Most of the time he is great about going to the bathroom only outside, but when he first came, he would pee on the scatter rug by the back door where we go out when we take a walk or potty break. He did this as if it was a natural thing to do, which I didn’t understand until I found out the owner before me traveled a lot and put him in kennels while she was gone, and he learned that he had to pee where he lived, so I have had some difficulties. He can hold it for long hours at night, as in eight hours straight, as long as I remove his water dish a couple of hours before bedtime.
Training
Some Yorkie owners train their little dog with the “piddle” or pee pads that the dog learns to go on during the day. Crate training I would think would only work as long as you don’t leave the dog in the crate longer than it is possible for him to hold it. Then it becomes cruel. So it’s a tricky thing, but again, Yorkies are very intelligent dogs, and you can train him.
I think it’s remarkable, given the number of male dogs I’ve seen that like to “mark” their territory, that my dog has never done this. I know that his original owner had him neutered at six months, and maybe that’s it, but Mason does not seem to even be aware that he is a male. He doesn’t seem territorial with other males, at least not any more than he does with females. And that lasts only five seconds. As soon as he meets another animal of any sort, he may bark a little but he’s wagging his tail almost immediately because he has met a new friend.