New Member With Questions

[wendy1982]

I am new to the yorkie world.. I have had my "Chase" for alittle over 2 weeks. He was accustomed to a playpen with pee pads during the day. After I got him I started the crate training process which has been not so easy. He continues to potty inside the crate daily and at night. He is almost 16 weeks. He doesn't alert me that he needs to potty so it is just luck and constant taking him out that has kept the accidents in our house down to maybe 1 a day.
My questions are..
Help with Crate training while you work (although today I put him in the bathroom with pads and toys)
What toys/treats are appropriate and safe?
Food?
Vaccinations.. He was due for shots when I got him and according to the schedule the breeder gave me it looks like he needs more. How do I catch up vaccination safely?
Any other advice is greatly appreciated!!

[Wylie's Mom]

Hi Wendy - hope you don't mind, but I grabbed your post out of someone else's thread so that it could get attention. WELCOME to YT !

To catch up w/ vaccines at this point, I'd wait until he is 16wks old - and just get the distemper and parvo, these are core vaccines. Then, one year from now you'll get the same booster shots. You'll need rabies around 4-6 mths old but DO NOT get rabies on the same day as any other shots since it's a potent vaccine and you don't want reactions to too many vaccines given.

What kind of food advice are you looking for? Do you want to feed kibble and are looking for a different brand? What are you currently feeding?

For training, I'm no expert -- but do look at the stickied thread in our General Training section - there is some great info there!

[rubymoon2072]

Hi and welcome to yt. I am very fearful of leaving chews/treats while not being monitored. stuffingless toys seem to be the best as you don't come home to stuffing ripped out everywhere. lol

I would give one vaccination at a time until caught up. I wait a week to go back and get the next shot.

We don;t use the highest quality food Bil Jac but they love it and I cannot seem to get them to switch to anything different (i have tried so many). we also tried a raw diet but after 4 weeks Cedric become sick from it. Our previous vet didn't speak highly of the raw diet either so we went back to the Bil Jac....

I have never crate trained so I cannot offer any help there.

wishing you much luck with the continued potty training.

[hobbette]

I've never had problems with crate training, the only thing I can think of is maybe your crate is too big? if your crate is big enough they can have a sleeping place and a potty place they will!

As for toys I LOVE treat balls. You can put their kibble in there and its both food and entertainment! I usually do kibble with a couple tiny training treats just to sweeten the deal. Yuri's treat ball is a rubber one made by kong. Yumi's is a hard plastic one. I would be careful with the plastic ones though. Yumi and Yuri are fine with it, but my sister's dog hooks her teeth in the opening carries it to a bed and tries to chew it open instead of rolling it like she is supposed to. She didn't hurt the ball so maybe it would be safe either way, but I wouldn't trust them with a dog that chewed them, especially left alone.

Dog Food Reviews and Ratings | Dog Food Advisor is a good place to look at foods.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by wendy1982

I am new to the yorkie world.. I have had my "Chase" for alittle over 2 weeks. He was accustomed to a playpen with pee pads during the day. After I got him I started the crate training process which has been not so easy. He continues to potty inside the crate daily and at night. He is almost 16 weeks. He doesn't alert me that he needs to potty so it is just luck and constant taking him out that has kept the accidents in our house down to maybe 1 a day.
My questions are..
Help with Crate training while you work (although today I put him in the bathroom with pads and toys)
What toys/treats are appropriate and safe?
Food?
Vaccinations.. He was due for shots when I got him and according to the schedule the breeder gave me it looks like he needs more. How do I catch up vaccination safely?
Any other advice is greatly appreciated!!

Welcome to YT and congratulations on your pup. How long are you at work? A 16 week old puppy needs lots of opportunity to potty, so I think it is good idea to stick with pads and not the crate. Even when Chase grows and matures, it would be best not to expect him to not potty for 8 hours. I believe that free or regular access to potty and plenty of water makes for healthier kidneys and overall health.

Yorkies puppies often do not formally signal that they need to potty, unless they are trained to do so. Circling and sniffing are general signs they need to go, but you won't detect these in a crate. Crate training does rely on taking the pup out at regular intervals to potty.

Whichever potty training method is used, consistency and praise/reward are key. Take your pup to potty when he first wakes up, after each meal, after anything exciting like playtime, and at regular intervals as you are doing, and before bedtime.

[Teegy]

Congrats new mama.
I love nylabone toys they are really sturdy, I've had them for years and my boys love to steal them from each other and chew.
Food will be a personal decision, you have raw, home cooking, wet or kibble to choose from.
I'd recommend doing some research and see which one you feel the most comfortable with.
I and many others feed raw and I'm very pleased with that decision.
The others have given you great advice