I think Bella is broken

[Courtney1607]

I have done all my training by the book, wth advice from here, etc. She refuses to learn anything. The only thing consistant with her is she knows her name. I know it takes time, but we are making NO progress. I feel like a failure but honestly, I have done everything right. Its her that has the issues. I dont know what more to do.

[iloveemmy]

How old is Bella (pretty name for a pretty girl)? I have Emmy, almost 1 1/2 years old, and Oscar, 13 weeks. Emmy "knows" a lot of things--on her terms only.
1. We did not do the potty training correctly, now we are having to replace the carpet with ceramic tile.
2. She expects us to play on her terms only.
3. She is a barker.
4. She shows agression to Oscar.
5. She does not know how to behave when we have company.
6. She does not understand the "crate" thing at all--in the house or the car!
7. and the list goes on--I realize now we were "bad" doggie parents by not taking more control--she was just so darn cute!

Now that we have Oscar, too, I am going to do better. I have turned over a new leaf with Emmy--she is going to be potty trained properly (and hopefully Oscar will be too) before school starts back in the fall (I am a teacher). I have started containing Emmy and Oscar in the tiled kitchen area only. I put down pee pads, toys, rugs, food and water. They don't understand and it is going to be hard, but I will try. I only hope I am able to work out the other problems too.

Don't give up--just give them lots of love and some discipline (i know it is hard when they look at you with those big, brown eyes)...

Good Luck!!!!!

[Courtney1607]

Originally Posted by iloveemmy

How old is Bella (pretty name for a pretty girl)? I have Emmy, almost 1 1/2 years old, and Oscar, 13 weeks. Emmy "knows" a lot of things--on her terms only.
1. We did not do the potty training correctly, now we are having to replace the carpet with ceramic tile.
2. She expects us to play on her terms only.
3. She is a barker.
4. She shows agression to Oscar.
5. She does not know how to behave when we have company.
6. She does not understand the "crate" thing at all--in the house or the car!
7. and the list goes on--I realize now we were "bad" doggie parents by not taking more control--she was just so darn cute!

Now that we have Oscar, too, I am going to do better. I have turned over a new leaf with Emmy--she is going to be potty trained properly (and hopefully Oscar will be too) before school starts back in the fall (I am a teacher). I have started containing Emmy and Oscar in the tiled kitchen area only. I put down pee pads, toys, rugs, food and water. They don't understand and it is going to be hard, but I will try. I only hope I am able to work out the other problems too.

Don't give up--just give them lots of love and some discipline (i know it is hard when they look at you with those big, brown eyes)...

Good Luck!!!!!

Thanks! She is 3 months (which I know is still very young) I just feel like the more we go on with her , the more she still isnt learning. We have crated her since day 1. She has good days and bad days. I have been up since 6:30 bc she would NOT stop barking. She is also pretty yappy (which I did NOT want). She really only barks when she is in her crate and playing with her toys, but she has barked at me for no reason before.

As far as potty training, I have tried to train her outside, she refuses. We can stay outside for 1 hour + and she will just play, not pee, and as soon as we walk inside she has an acccident. So we moved to pads. She will only go if I stand there with her, so I got the Simple Solution training spray from Petsmart. That hasnt worked, in fact I think it makes it worse. She wont go on the pad as often. I ask advice and put it into action and nothing works. I talk to the vet and try their suggestions, and nothing works. I am getting frustrated and its hard not to take it out on her. I feel I am doing more than my part and she is doing nothing.

[SophieRose]

Sophie was paper trained and when she was 13, she would still do her business on piddle pads if that was her only option. I think you do need to gate them off, so they get the idea. Something that worked for me was a oil drip pan (large, aluminum and lined with either paper or piddle pads) until she figures out what is expected.

Actually, I had an industrial cookie sheet (much bigger than your normal size) in the beginning and she would hit the mark. Of course, there were accidents and will be throughout your pup's life.

Good luck and do you take her for walks? Even a short walk so she can leave her scent will help.

This too shall pass, Momma. She isn't being bad, and outside probably is so exciting for her that she forgets to take time to "pee/poo-poo".

[SophieRose]

Originally Posted by Courtney1607

I have done all my training by the book, wth advice from here, etc. She refuses to learn anything. The only thing consistant with her is she knows her name. I know it takes time, but we are making NO progress. I feel like a failure but honestly, I have done everything right. Its her that has the issues. I dont know what more to do.

PS She is not broken, and don't give up. Put down the books and go by instinct. These babies are so smart and know when we are upset with them. However, praise is the greatest training ploy you will ever have in your possession. Start over again and equate her to a human, to yourself and Ceasar's Way is okay for some people, but not the only way.

[Lilacss]

She is still so young and Yorkies can be slow to train.And just when your ready to give up they will surprise you!Hang in there.Your doing just fine.

[sweetr72]

Three months is VERY young...dont give up hope...it took Darla almost a full year to learn everything and now she is doing great...Reece on the other hand has plenty to learn and he is 11 months old!! It takes time and patience with yorkies but you will get there!!

Dawn

[njoydaride]

Maybe Bella this what's goes on in Bella's head when you take her out, "YES! I get to play! I will hold my pee until playtime is over." Then when you take her in, that's when she pees. Maybe try putting her on a leash (on a harness of course) and don't let her play until she goes. Then when she goes, play with her for awhile before crating her again. Take her for a long walk too to burn that energy. I have no clue if these ideas will work since I don't have a yorkie of my own, but it's worth a try. How's Gracie doing on her potty training by the way? Good luck!

[Courtney1607]

Originally Posted by njoydaride

Maybe Bella this what's goes on in Bella's head when you take her out, "YES! I get to play! I will hold my pee until playtime is over." Then when you take her in, that's when she pees. Maybe try putting her on a leash (on a harness of course) and don't let her play until she goes. Then when she goes, play with her for awhile before crating her again. Take her for a long walk too to burn that energy. I have no clue if these ideas will work since I don't have a yorkie of my own, but it's worth a try. How's Gracie doing on her potty training by the way? Good luck!

SOO Good! She has only had 2 accidents since they got her Friday. I told my paretns we are switching! LOL

[xBUTTERCUPx]

From day one, I crate-trained Buttercup. That took 3 days. And after that, I limited his play area to the kitchen where it only fits a pee pad, his bed, food and water. When he is playing/running in the house, he had a belly band on, when he needed to go, I take it off and put him in his little 'area'. Once he's done, back out he goes w/the belly band. When he got a little older, which was 3 1/2 months, I gradually increased his area and as time went by moved the pee pad closer to the door w/a bell and slowly introduced him to the bell. Bell rings, take him outside. Praise and treat. Doing that about every 3-4 hours a day and after 2 weeks it was like magic.

You're right. Maybe it is the dog. But consistency works. I hope everything works out for your little one.

[MyFairLacy]

3 months is really young. I think at that age they are really just starting to get some bladder control. Yorkies are usually slow to potty train, and it might get better and then get worse again before she's trained. It took me almost a year to get Lacy completely potty trained. I think putting her on a harness and leash and walking her some outside will be the best way to get her to potty and not just try to play. Take some tiny really yummy treats with you outside and as soon as she goes, give her a treat and make such a big fuss over her and tell her what a good girl she is and be so excited with her. She should eventually get the idea that going potty outside is a good thing.

[njoydaride]

Originally Posted by Courtney1607

SOO Good! She has only had 2 accidents since they got her Friday. I told my paretns we are switching! LOL

LOL! Wow good for Gracie. I saw the video of Gracie pulling Bella's foot. Too cute!

[carladean]

Molly (3 mos) also wanted to only play outside, then pee/poop when we got back in. I had read the leash suggestion on here, so I tried that and it's helped.

She stays on the leash (same exact spot in the yard) until she pees, then it's a cheerio and off the leash to run around. The running around will usually help the pooping along, and then it's another cheerio.

Good luck!!

Carla

[robbin]

Three months is too young to be reliable at all. You should be more trained than she is at this point...

I like the PetSmart puppy classes, fairly informative, not too expensive, give them a try.

[rhiannon80]

Have you tried shadow training? My mom had to do that with a very slow to train Pom. we had, when we were raising them. We would feed her at exactly the same time daily, breakfast, lunch, dinner, treats, Etc. We did her play time, walk, crate time, etc. same time everyday. Plus when she was out of her crate she had her harness on with the leash and the leash was attached to my mom or one of us. We would chart her potty times and always took her out to potty on her leash. We would take her to the spot we wanted her to go and tell her "go potty"....we'd wait, when she started to go we'd tell her "go potty" and celerbrate like crazy when she was finished. Plus, with advise from our vet he told us to "wipe" her with a paper towel after she went potty #1 & #2 and have her smell the paper towel the next time we took her out and tell her to "go potty" while she was smelling the towel. It worked like a charm and we were having fewer accidents (down to one accident the first week) and she always went potty on the same spot of the yard ( easier to clean up when it is all in one spot) Good Luck!