Are Morkies Hard To Potty Train? [Yes.. But Not Impossible]

Potty training is always a dreaded part of the training regime for any dog owner. You will end up with urine and poop in all the wrong places before your dog gains control and learns where the bathroom is. Is a little Morkie pup challenging to potty train, and what can you do to make things easier?

Are Morkies hard to potty train? Potty training Morkies can be a challenge because of their small size and stubborn nature. There will be accidents at first that are not the dog’s fault. With time and patience, you can work on a regime where they slowly learn to hold their waste and expel it in designated spots outside the home.

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Morkie Size

Potty training a Morkie is always going to be a challenge because of their size.

Smaller dogs have smaller bladders and need to relieve themselves more frequently than bigger breeds.

It doesn’t matter if we teach them to hold until they can go outside if they don’t have the physical capacity to do this for too long.

Puppies that don’t have bladder control can end up urinating very quickly after drinking. With time, you can improve this so that they hold and wait to be let out.

Until that ability comes, you need to be there to take them out at the right time. The sooner you take them outside, the sooner they will learn that this is where they need to go.

Therefore, there should be fewer accidents in the house because they know that this isn’t their bathroom.

It’s essential to create a schedule around your dog’s needs as best you can to make this system more effective.

You need to be on hand to take the dog to the bathroom outside just after they have finished eating and drinking.

If you wait too long, they may end up going on the kitchen floor.

Wait until they are finished, lead them to the backyard or elsewhere outside your home, find a good spot, and praise them when they go.

Do the same every day in the same place for consistency.

Another helpful tip for your dog’s schedule is to time their bathroom trips before they go to bed at night, so there is no risk of nighttime accidents.

Choosing A Spot Outside

It helps to choose a spot in the yard or elsewhere outside your home that can become their ideal bathroom.

This can make things a lot easier for the dog because it allows them to get more used to a specific place, and you can build on that consistent routine.

It also makes things a lot easier for you to have one small area to pick up poop instead of scouring the whole garden.

You can also ensure that the dog’s bathroom isn’t near any of the kid’s play equipment.

At first, you will need to pick up your puppy and take them to this spot when they are very young.

This means it’s easier for them to go to the right place when there is such a short window of time between drinking and urinating. With time, you can lead them outside to walk to the spot in the garden and get used to the route.

For a while, you will still need to be there with them so you can guide them to the right place and give them all the praise that they need.

As the process develops, you can stand back and encourage the dog to go to the same spot on its own.

They will need to go here on their own, so the sooner they learn to do this, the better.

Some dog owners find it easier to bait the spot with treats to get the dog in the proper position.

Eventually, your dog should have such a strong association between this one part of the garden and going to the bathroom that it becomes second nature.

They should head to the back door when they need to go, with their newly developed control over their bladder and bowels, and then run to their bathroom as you stand by the door.

Negative Reinforcement

Never use negative reinforcement when potty training a Morkie.

Some dog owners still use negative reinforcement for potty training. They focus on showing the dog what they did that was so wrong, hoping that it won’t happen again.

But, there are a few issues here.

The first is that it isn’t the dog’s fault if you failed to get them outside in time or if your strategy hasn’t been successful yet. They can’t suddenly gain bladder control because you shouted at them.

Also, Morkies are sensitive little dogs that can become withdrawn and upset by scolding and raised voices.

Instead, it’s down to you to improve your schedule, help the dog get used to the bathroom outside, and give them positive reinforcement when they do the right thing.

This means providing praise for a job well done.

You can start small with the little things.

If your Morkie can wait until they get outside for the first time, that deserves immense praise and treats.

They can associate positivity with the action of going to the bathroom outside.

Then you can work on rewarding them for going in a more specific spot. Then for finding their way to that spot without your encouragement.

As the behavior becomes normalized, you can reduce the treats and give them a simple “good boy/girl” response.

Patience

Morkies aren’t easy to train, so you do need to be patient.

Morkies are devoted little dogs that love to please their owners and get lots of praise.

However, they also have a stubborn side that makes them a little strong-willed. This can be an issue if you ever need to get a Morkie to do something that it doesn’t want to do.

This can be an issue for obedience training and getting a dog to go to the bathroom in a particular place.

There may be times when they don’t want to follow you to the backdoor to go outside.

Patience is essential here, as is consistency in your actions. Follow through on your plan and schedule even if there are days where it seems to go wrong.

Your dog will come around and learn what it needs to do.

Morkies and Submissive Urination

This is another potential issue to deal with when you have a Morkie puppy.

There are lots of breeds of dogs that urinate more frequently through fear or excitement.

This is known as submissive urination.

They may expel urine when they greet someone they love, such as when an owner comes home or if they encounter a dog that they are unsure about.

This could be a tiny leak or a larger puddle.

Either way, it can be frustrating when trying to teach Morkies only to urinate outside.

Thankfully, most small dogs outgrow this by the time they are six months old.

Training Aids

Are there any training aids that you can use to help your dog or make your life a little easier?

Some Morkie owners will use pee pads in the home so that dogs have somewhere to relieve themselves without doing any damage to the carpet.

This is an excellent idea if you are struggling with potty training with an older dog or if you need to leave your dog alone at home for a short time.

Some say that placing a pee pad in a crate beside their food discourages the dog from going. They start to learn to hold because they don’t want to go to the bathroom where they eat.

At first, they might not have much of a choice if they are in their crate for a while.

But, you could find that they decline from using the pad and ask to go outside when you return.

On the flip side of this, you could discover that allowing dogs to go to the bathroom on pads indoors weakens the idea of that particular place outside the home.

Some dog owners use dog diapers to catch any accidents while their pet lacks control.

The idea here is that the dog will dislike the sensation of the soiled diaper and learn to hold.

However, this is a more negative way of training the dog.

It may also give some owners the excuse to be lazier with training.

Final Thoughts – Are Morkies Hard to Potty Train?

In short, the best way to potty train your Morkie is to engage in a robust and consistent approach with a good schedule from an early age. The sooner you show your dog precisely where they need to go, the sooner they will start to head there when let outside. They will slowly improve their ability to hold their bodily waste and be more inclined to go outside with praise and positive reinforcement. Pee pads and crate training have their benefits in the right situations, but you don’t want to become too reliant on these indoor aids.