I'm guessing you have a pretty deep voice given that you can't do a yelp or anything, so I recommend talking to her in a quiet tone, as the deepness of your voice may make her think you are "growling" at her. She has probably been tramatized by men in the past, and other posters have given you great ideas to help you gain her trust. Taking her for long walks, either with your fiancee or just with the pup will help her gain trust in you, plus help get get some of that excess energy out thus lowering her drive to destroy things in your house.
For the crate, I don't like them at all, for training purposes my Rizzo was put in there in the evening for the first few months that I had him to help him learn to not go at night. Once he was neutered and I knew he could go through the night without pottying he was invited in my bed and over the last couple of weeks I've had no incidents. Do you clean the crate with an enzyme cleaner, or a vinegar/water mixture to deep clean the smell of urine/poo left behind? If not she may be smelling the reminants of pee and thinking it's an okay place to go potty at if she needs to go. In place of the crate try an exercise pen, or you can always get a baby pack and play whichever is cheaper. Just make sure she doesn't know how to get out of them (she may be a climber, as many of these yorkies are) When you set up the ex-pen, if you don't have a hard-surface room to place it in, line the floor with potty pads (you can get washables so you dont have to keep buying more packages of the disposables as it'll probably take her a while to learn to use them) Leave one area without the potty pads, this is where you will put a cozy bed and her water-dish/water bottle. As she starts using the potty pads more regular start to remove the pads until you only have one remaining. Once she proves to be reliable to go on that potty pad start to increase her roaming room, if you see her go to the potty pad to go, praise her like there is no tomorrow so she know's that is the place to go if she has the need and you look busy. When you praise her for pottying in the correct spot, don't pick her up, you are taking her away from what she did right and then she'll just think your in a lovey mood, lol. You want her to know for sure you are praising for peeing outside/on the potty pad. Start to move the potty pad closer and closer to the door you use to let her outside with, this way you'll see her moving towards the door when she needs to go. Pretty soon after you can remove the potty pad all-together when you are at home as she will go towards the door when she needs to go, if she proves to be a true yorkie if there is no piddle pad she should let you know prompty by running to you, or barking, or ringing the "tell-bell" to go out.
I don't really have any input for the aggressivness in her, other than she's probably had some pretty bad experiences with men in the past, and it'll take a while to earn her trust especially when mistakes have been made by you in the past. I would recommend a trainer in your case, they know dogs and are used more than you might think for Yorkies, as many people don't really know what they're getting into when they purchase that cute little teddy-bear faced puppy.
Oh, and I recommend renting a steam cleaner and using a vinegar/water solution, you can google it and you'll be able to find the right ammount of each (I'm lucky I don't have carpet floors so cleaning accidents is a breeze for me) and clean all the carpet in your house this weekend to eliminate the leftover pee smells.
I think keeping her on a leash by your side when you're at home is a great idea, she won't have the ability to run off and make messes, and you have the opportunity to witness her acting properly and can treat her for it.
Good luck. |