Is it true that you cannot housetrain Yorkshire terriers? As my mother would like a puppy but she's concerned about what her neighbour said, and that was ''you cannot house train these dogs.

So can they be toilet trained to go outside & not in the house? All replies welcome.

Yorkies, like Bichons, have a bad reputation, but in my opinion, all toy breeds are far more difficult to housetrain than larger dogs.

If you are not prepared to go outside, and stay with a pup, every hour on the hour, you will not get them reliably housetrained.

When I look at my Collies, and remember how very easy they were, I'm guessing that people who have owned bigger dogs, will not understand why it takes so long.

I know that somebody will now come on and say how their toy breed was trained in 2 minutes flat.

I stand by my opinion, having owned many dogs over the last billion years.

Having kept cairn terriers my experience has been they too were much more difficult to house train than the collies I've had. Not that they would particularly go in the house but they won't go outside either!

I've spent hours in the garden saying "hurry up" until they finally perform!

Agree toys are difficult and some toys are worse than others. Do not think that a Yorkie is a good dog for a elderly person anyway they are true terriers not lap dogs and small dogs can cause tripping up. Would go for something of a medium size, well lets face it I did.

> Would go for something of a medium size, well lets face it I did.

:)  But you do realise Tricolour's mother may only be 42! :)

But she may be 60 and still have a snappy, messy little dog. If she is 42 and in good health I do not understand the question.

She is asking about housetraining. 
I was just amused that you assumed her mother to be elderly :)

Many breeds are harder to house train but with consistancy and patience you can get there in the end.

My mother is elderly but she has had dogs all her life, ranging from gundogs to cross breeds but this time she wanted a small dog. She doesn't like soppy dogs but she would like a dog to sit on her lap and she wants a dog with a bit of character.

It sounds like you feel that a YT wouldn't be suitable, so what other dogs can i suggest she looks into?

What about a Border Terrier?  My experience of them is that they are a lot less sharp than many terriers.  Small enough to pick up, big enough to notice and probably less grooming requirements.

how about a cavailier king charles. Bigger than a yorkie still cuddly

Yes, I personally think a Border would be a much better choice but then that is my opinion and this lady may really like Yorkies, I always think that the Border is more hound than terrier in temperament although it does not have the same off lead problems it does have the friendly laid back attitude of the hound.

> although it does not have the same off lead problems

What problems are they?

are borders still prepared to be lap dogs ?

I think if your on top of it and watching your puppy 100% then house training is easy. If you cannot watch pup then leash the lil one to you, every where you
go so does pup and also helps with leash training. If you are way to busy like having a shower, vacuuming ect then pop the lil one in a kennel.
Pups usually give you a sign they need to go out and accidents is not the pups fault its yours.
I have house trained big dogs and lil ones. I think the only reason why lil one's are harder is because when they have an accident it may go unnoticed
because its not much, where when a big puppy has an accident you have a big puddle/poo lol It all comes down to always going outside and telling puppy
what you want and doing this for awhile. I always say it takes a good 6 months to a year to fully house train a puppy. You must be on top of it at all times.
Moose who will be 4 months on the 2nd has been asking to go outside now for awhile. But thats also because she see's the other dogs
which were a great help. But for the 1st 2 weeks I took her out, then I started bringing the bostons with me and now she asks at the door and also goes out with them.
I def wouldn't trust her yet to be left out of the kennel if I am un able to watch her, she gets kenneled when we are not home, or asleep. I even kennel
her when I have a bath- she still chews alot so not only to avoid accidents but also for her safety and my house lol

JMO :-)  I think people just say its harder because they are not watching that pup 100% No reason for a puppy to be dirty in the house
             if you are totally watching the lil one- then there is no room for mistakes. We had accidents due to me not watching lol ended up with
            3 moose piles on my living room floor- YUCK!! That was the 1st week of having her hahah

My OH had one of our cairns on a line tied to his ankle and it made no difference, she would just sit and wii when she felt like it. It's not as if she never went out, he's out the back door having a smoke every 30 mins for at least 30 mins and would never come in without them going. I would say he was totally on top of it. Plenty of fuss and treats when she performed outside but she just never really got it.

We had her checked at the vets and they could find no problem. She eventually got better but was never 100% trustworthy.

Yorkies can definitely be house trained and I speak from personal experience.

I grew up with several yorkies,all housetrained, and socialised yorkie pups whilst at hearing dogs.

All toy dogs take a little longer than large breeds to housetrain but every toy breed I have ever had has been fully house trained by 6 months old.

Consistency and patience are the key,and I guess problems arise because they are so tiny as pups that sometimes owners haven't even realised that they have soiled in the hose as the deposits are tiny so the pup just gets into the habit of going where it wants too and whenever it wants to.

Yorkies are a delight and I know several elderly people who wouldn't be without theirs.

I used to look after a friends dogs when they went away, the 10 year old Yorkie, despite back door open most of the day preferred to go indoors, though I have certainly known ones that are house trained, as JeanS said many small/toy breeds are b*ggers to housetrain reliably. 

Doesn't help when you are used to a naturally very clean breed like mine.

As a person who is naturally clumsy and has poor eyesight I could not cope with a dog much under knee high.  Especially one like all the Yorkies (well and poorly bred), that are very lively and always on the go, so very easy to step on or trip over.

I simply love Border Terriers, but that is because they seem to have a similar outlook on life to my own breed, as has been said, probably the most sociable of terriers (the well bred ones at any rate), not looking to get into scraps unless seriously provoked. 

Have to say looks wise in the terriers I am quite drawn to two opposite, the latter which might be worth considering. 

The Irish terrier with it's racy clean lines.  The small breeds that might suit Mum and seem less wired are the Norfolk and Norwich terriers.

my yorkie is fully house trained just paws the door whenever he wants to go out and lasts a good 8-9 hrs at night without a problem i suppose its just down to consistency.

The Border terriers in this area (central southern England) are often feisty little whatsits.  (No offence meant to their supporters and my friend in the Borders says theirs are pleasant.) I wouldn't touch one. Norfolks are much nicer round here and Cairns are generally okay but would go with the suggestion of a CKCS. They are NOT lap dogs and do like a really good run daily. They need to be kept trim, not the bundle of fat that so many poor dogs are if owned by the elderly who can't exercise them properly.

> The Border terriers in this area (central southern England) are often feisty little whatsits.

Much the same a little further South. 
Border Terrorist, is a good description for the majority we meet.

As with all these things it would always be recommended to go to a reputable breeder where, I am sure, it will be possible to meet the dogs and check out their temperament. 

We have had a few Yorkshire Terriers come to our training classes, the most recent a 7 month old male who yes has taken longer for the owners to housetrain but he is pretty much there now.  We advised the owners to go back to basics and he can come on leaps and bounds....so as people have said like other toy breeds, may be more difficult but of course you can definitely housetrain them.

I have to say the young male one we have at training was bought from a good breeder and he is full of character and a lovely little boy, very outgoing. 

Thanks everyone. :)

> Border Terrorist, is a good description for the majority we meet.

Problem is that the breed has surged in popularity in the last few decades,a dn alogn with that comes irresponsible and poor breeding.

All the well bred ones I know, coming from good breeders and those met at shows have impeccable temperaments.

Part of their purpose was to run with hounds, and a quarrelsonme Border Terrier would not have been tolerated, and is untypical.

Borders are nice dogs, I would say they're among my favourite terrier breeds. But as a spaniel lover I'd have to add a vote for the Cavalier - from a reputable breeder that's done all their testing of course. They are lap dogs to the point that she will have to live with a certain amount of whinging if for some reason the dog can't be in the same room as her all the time! Mine have been slow-ish to housetrain but I have always assumed it's because I'm not brilliant at being consistent and watchful. :-)

We have a 14 month old yorkie/pomeranian and he is well house trained.

About this time last year we were out in the freezing cold every 15 or 20 minutes, asking him to 'go', waiting patiently, then he would return inside and immediately go indoors.

However, with determination and persistence, Barney learned the correct behaviour.

From memory, it took possibly 2/3 months, much longer than training our previous rough collies, but we got there eventually.

Good luck on whichever dog you decide on.