[ItsyBitsy]

Welcome to Yorkie Talk!

I went through exactly the same questions when I got my Bitsy.

Bitsy is my maltese/yorkie and she is 7 months old now.
I brought her home on September 1st when she was 9 weeks old. I took 2 weeks off work and then I did a week of half days at work so I can potty train her.

I decided to use washable pee pads before I even brought her home, so when she did arrive, I started training her on pee pads right away. She was more or less pee pad trained in 2 weeks. I decided to have her pee pad trained because I live in an apartment and didn't want to go outside in the middle of the night so she can pee. So, it can be done.

When it was warmer, I use to walk her an hour and a half a day. Now that it's freezing, we only go for half an hour. I make sure I bundle her up in her jacket and sweater before we go out, and she doesn't seem bothered by the cold at all. I started walking her outside at 12 weeks (she had 2 of her shots at this point), but only on sidewalk, not on grass (until she's fully vaccinated).

As for the playpen, I think it's a good idea. I have a SuperYard XT, which is like a play pen that you can pull apart and put in different configurations. I use the Superyard to gate her off. When I'm at work, she has run of the hallway and the bathroom. Bitsy is a little chewer, and she has chewed through 2 of my speaker cables. All my other cables have been sprayed with Bitter Apple spray, and it works.

The sleeping part: Bitsy has slept with me from day 1, although not with full run of the bed until she was about 4 months old. I bought a tiny popup tent thing from Target made for cats. At night, I put Bitsy in her tent (which is on my bed, beside my pillow) and zip her up. When she does cry, I take her out to her potty area so she can potty, then I put her right back into her tent. For the first week I've had her, she sometimes needed to go pee in the middle of the night. As time went on, she needed to go less and less. Then from about the fourth week I've had her, she holds it all night. When I was 100% confident she can hold it all night, I stopped zipping up her tent. The tent is still on the bed beside my pillow, but Bitsy usually ends up sleeping by my feet. Usually I find one of my cats sleeping in the tent now.

I have 2 kennels for Bitsy, and her sleep tent. I have a pink kennel that stays in the car for her car rides, and I have a regualr kennel that stays in the bathroom for her to sleep in while I'm at work.

Sorry for the long answer.

Good luck!