Ok, I'm no expert... and I don't know you or your household. But are you (or someone in your house) taking the job of alpha dog? I affectionately call it being The Hammer. So when she cries in the crate, you need to buck up and ignore her, rather than run over there and coddle her. Otherwise she is learning cry in my crate=mom comes running over. She may cry for a few nights, but eventually will get over it. It's tough to be The Hammer with a cute Yorkie puppy, but believe me... these can be pushy little dogs. You've got to establish that you're top dog and quick. Other things... when walking into a doorway, you walk first and the dog follows. Once you allow them to go first, they are thinking they are top dog. Eating food, you eat your food first, dogs get fed second. and don't share. In the wild, the head dog gets first pick of the eating. When she gets the hang of the leash... keep her at your side rather than letting her walk miles in front. Otherwise she thinks shes leader of the pack.
Have you tried covering the crate at night? Something that helped when our dogs were little, we kept the crate in the bedroom. It seemed comforting that they could smell us/knew we were there and so they didn't cry. (Except for the first 3 nights when we got them)
Learning to come when called, walk on leash are all things that take patience, and age and getting to know you and your husband. Keep your practice sessions short at her age. Reward like crazy, a treat is good but gush with praise too. Also, if they fill up on treats, they won't eat their food. Our vet tech recommended baby carrots, but cut them up. No more than a baby carrot or 2 a day.
Puppies' feel its their job to play play play. Don't feel offended. Ours got more affectionate as they matured. Then the play time went down too.
Nipping and biting are not acceptable, teething or not. If this becomes a habit when they're young, it might not stop. You have to be the Hammer here. Do you know the sound when one dog nips another? Kind of a yelp? Try making that sound when she nips you, then completely ignore her. Stop playing if you were playing. Even walk away. If you can't get the sound, just do a firm No! and really be mad about it as you walk away. Luckily, the nipping is really easy to solve if you stick to that. Be firm. Don't let the puppy face sucker you back in. Give it a good 5 minutes of purely ignoring her. Yorkies can't stand to be ignored.
The poop eating... there is a product called Stop Eating Poop, or SEP. You are supposed to sprinkle it on their food before they eat, and it supposedly make their poop taste unacceptable. I thought I had read good things about it, but have never tried it personally. In theory, you should be able to stop at some point.
And the potty training. This is where patience comes in. Yorkies are challenging to potty train. Mine are 2.5 and still aren't totally trustworthy. I don't believe they ever will be totally housebroken. Accidents will and still happen. The crate training definitely helps. And you can save your sanity by keeping her on easy to clean surfaces, like the kitchen, until she's more mature. And by no means, trust her to wander your house unwatched. We have a bell hanging at the door they go out of to go out for potty. We ring the bell every time we are going out (for potty only) and make a big production out of it... "who's going potty!?" Sometimes they ring it when they have to go. That's the idea anyway. Lucy is a stinker, sounds like your little one to me, she rings it... to get some air, bark at the neighbor dog, or check out a leaf blowing across the deck. So if she rings it, and nothing comes out of her... she goes in the crate for 10 minutes. And I know that little stinker knows exactly what she's doing. She has learned to save up just a little pee... to avoid the crate.
There are lots of great posts here on housetraining, so do a forum search on the word.
People may mistake Yorkies as dumb, believe me they are not. They know exactly what's going on. It's just they are choosing not to go along. There has to be something really good in it for them. Kind of like the chocolate chip cookie I have after running on the tread mill. They're never in the top 10 smartest list, but that because they aren't super willing to be trained.
Good luck and enjoy... they aren't puppies forever!
Teresa |