QUESTIONS from a Newbie!! Advice needed!

[Cari]

Hello All!

My name is Cari and I am the new proud mommy of my Bella! I picked her up about 5 days ago when she was 8 weeks and 1 day old and she was just about as sweet as could be. She didn't shake or cry.. she just allowed me to hold her. One of the reasons I picked her As the days have gone on she has gotten more and more outgoing and now shes a lil rugrat! I have researched Yorkies before I decided to bring one home and waited until my nursing school classes let out for the summer so that I would be able to devote my full attention to Bella.. however, she is turning out to be a handful... Sorry if its long!

My questions are pretty much typical puppy problems.

To start, I am crate training her. The first night, she cried for a bit but then settled down. I was setting an alarm and taking her out every 4 hours over night, but now I have started just waking up when she cries or whimpers and after getting her to stop crying I take her out (which is around every 4-5 hrs). I should mention that she doesn't always go when we are out, either. This is where the fun part begins. For the past 2 nights, she has pooped in her crate! I was not sure when she doing it, so I decided to start looking each time. Last night, we slept from 12 - 6. I took her out, she went tee tee and then we went back to the crate. She slept from 6-8 and then cried again. We went outside with no luck, and then sometime between 8 and 9:15 when my alarm went off she pooped in her crate. Later, while my roommate and I were at work, sometime between 2 and 4:30 pm, she went in her crate again. The crate is a small plastic one with just enough room for her to stand and turn around in.

ALSO: When I am home she is usually in the living room or my bedroom. I try to keep one eye on her at all times. However, she has a habit of wandering and all the sudden goes potty on the carpet. I watch her for sniffing but a lot of times I have little warning. Other times, she sniffs and I take her out and we have no luck. My main question is this: When I catch her in the act I have been clapping loudly and saying NO! and rushing her outside (which is all the way down stairs.) However, by the time I get her down there, she doesn't have to go and she just roams round trying to chew leaves. I have read to catch her in the act, carry her out and let her finish, but she never "finishes". What do I do?!?

Part of the problem I think is that my roommate has a 13 month old Min Pin named Gracie who is soooo jealous of Bella. Bella just wants to play with Gracie, but Gracie is very possesive of her toys (which we expected). She never hurts Bella, but I always get nervous. Anyway, she is potty pad trained and I think Bella smells all of Gracie's old accidents.

Congrats if you made it through this long post. I am just very confused with all the different books and websites saying different things and I am hoping for any advice I can get!!

Thanks,
Cari (Bella's Mommy)

[Mendi]

Hi Cari,
I don't have any advice to give but good luck to you. I have 3 babies and the girls Jazzi is one and still dosen't like to go outside. But she will. And Avi Joe 9 mo is good at times. Tegan who is 2 dose really well. I tried the crate training with all 3 but the girls would poop in the crate too.
Good Luck!!!x3

[Anglkiss8]

well mine is just a little over five months old and i completely understand what your going through. It is super rough the first month with potty training and you just have to know it gets better! you just need patience really because these dogs will get the hang of it eventually. when i first got mine i bought wee wee pads because i live in an apartment and there is no way i would have time to bring him outside when i catch him so its easier to have something for them inside that they can go on. I first started with the wee wee pads because it was too cold out for me to train outside and then he started tearing them up so we switched to outside. When you say your trying to keep an eye on yours then you are probably doing other things at the same time and my advice is to find a place where your pup has room to roam while your doing your things because if you cant watch them 100% then they will pee on the carpet. tons of treats and praise when you take your pup outside and constantly do this every time for at least a month or two because thats when they actually get it is with those treats. good luck

[abbey lee]

Wow that sounds similar to what I was going through a little bit ago (esp. the part of when you take her out she doesn't go and instead just plays with leaves). Keep up with the crate training, it does get frustrating but it is the best way to go. It sounds like you are doing excellent by keeping her in the crate and taking her out often... Abbey never pooped in her crate, most dogs don't bc they don't want to be stuck with it...so I do not know what to say about that. Just keep up with it, the best thing is consistency...EVERYTIME she goes inside reprimand her with a loud noise (never spank or scream her name at her that will just make her shy of her name) and say "NO!" It is also good to have a certain phrase everytime you take her outside like "potty outside" and just say it over and over so she learns that it means to go. Also when she does go outside praise her by saying "good girl, good potty outside" to reinforce it even more.

It's a long process, but it sounds like you're doing good.

I hope this helped!!