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mrsimbo · 01-25-2014, 12:25 PM

Hi everyone. I am new to the boards and would greatly appreciate some advice from fellow Yorkie owners who are more experienced than us.

My husband and I adopted 9-year-old Mr. Simbo two weeks ago from his previous owner who had him for his whole life and could no longer take care of him. (He was at the kennel for a month before we got him.)

We're still getting to know him ... there are a few problems, most stemming from a lack of training of all sorts, including obedience. We are slowly getting started on that since our most immediate concern is his potty training.

The first two days he was in our apartment, he marked all over the place. We were amateurs and didn't keep an eye on him 24/7 (90% of the time we did, but you know how quick and sneaky they are!) He has not marked since then so I feel that's progress.

Overnights and leaving him alone are our main problems right now. (We haven't left him alone yet during the day, either my husband or I are always at home with him.)

We are crate training him -- acclimated him slowly, never push him, never use crate as punishment, etc. Since we don't leave him alone yet during the day, we use the crate mainly at night with a few "refreshers" during the day -- 30 / 45 minutes here and there. For the most part, he's OK, but he whines a lot. We never, ever take him out of the crate while he's fussing. And we always take him outside to potty when he does get out of the crate. He goes on walks a few times a day, and we do cardio as well almost every day to make sure he's getting proper exercise.

We put him in his crate overnight three days ago. (Before then, because he wasn't properly acclimated for long periods, we would put a belly band on him and he would sleep in the living room. He is not destructive at all, doesn't chew, etc. He would always be very, very quiet. Before the crate we had a belly band on him since I got tired of cleaning up pee every morning. Now he refuses to let us put on the band. He gets aggressive, growls and bites.)

The past three nights have been a challenge in the crate. He goes in willingly, usually with a treat. (We keep the crate in our bedroom at night.) Within minutes he starts whining, which we ignore, until he starts barking, which is when we employ the "shake can" correction. This back-and-forth goes on for about an hour or two, depending on his mood. Then either we fall asleep or he does. The first night he woke up and started whining/barking around 4 a.m. so once I calmed him down and we went out to potty. (He ALWAYS pees and pops when we take him outside.) I put him back in, and he started yapping again at 730am.

For the past few nights I have been setting my alarm to 330am to beat him to the punch and take him out to potty. Takes him a while to fall asleep (see above!) then he's OK until 700am or so, which is when he picks up again.

Our bed time is usually 1130pm / midnight.

So I guess my questions are: are we doing anything wrong? Is it a matter of time until he quiets down completely and doesn't resist? Do I continue to get up in the middle of the night (either by myself or by him) to go potty, or do we just keep ignoring him until the morning? Also, how do you teach him to respect your schedule?

Any advice and insight would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

01-25-2014, 12:25 PM	#1
mrsimbo Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Europe Posts: 13	New here ... Crate training issue Hi everyone. I am new to the boards and would greatly appreciate some advice from fellow Yorkie owners who are more experienced than us. My husband and I adopted 9-year-old Mr. Simbo two weeks ago from his previous owner who had him for his whole life and could no longer take care of him. (He was at the kennel for a month before we got him.) We're still getting to know him ... there are a few problems, most stemming from a lack of training of all sorts, including obedience. We are slowly getting started on that since our most immediate concern is his potty training. The first two days he was in our apartment, he marked all over the place. We were amateurs and didn't keep an eye on him 24/7 (90% of the time we did, but you know how quick and sneaky they are!) He has not marked since then so I feel that's progress. Overnights and leaving him alone are our main problems right now. (We haven't left him alone yet during the day, either my husband or I are always at home with him.) We are crate training him -- acclimated him slowly, never push him, never use crate as punishment, etc. Since we don't leave him alone yet during the day, we use the crate mainly at night with a few "refreshers" during the day -- 30 / 45 minutes here and there. For the most part, he's OK, but he whines a lot. We never, ever take him out of the crate while he's fussing. And we always take him outside to potty when he does get out of the crate. He goes on walks a few times a day, and we do cardio as well almost every day to make sure he's getting proper exercise. We put him in his crate overnight three days ago. (Before then, because he wasn't properly acclimated for long periods, we would put a belly band on him and he would sleep in the living room. He is not destructive at all, doesn't chew, etc. He would always be very, very quiet. Before the crate we had a belly band on him since I got tired of cleaning up pee every morning. Now he refuses to let us put on the band. He gets aggressive, growls and bites.) The past three nights have been a challenge in the crate. He goes in willingly, usually with a treat. (We keep the crate in our bedroom at night.) Within minutes he starts whining, which we ignore, until he starts barking, which is when we employ the "shake can" correction. This back-and-forth goes on for about an hour or two, depending on his mood. Then either we fall asleep or he does. The first night he woke up and started whining/barking around 4 a.m. so once I calmed him down and we went out to potty. (He ALWAYS pees and pops when we take him outside.) I put him back in, and he started yapping again at 730am. For the past few nights I have been setting my alarm to 330am to beat him to the punch and take him out to potty. Takes him a while to fall asleep (see above!) then he's OK until 700am or so, which is when he picks up again. Our bed time is usually 1130pm / midnight. So I guess my questions are: are we doing anything wrong? Is it a matter of time until he quiets down completely and doesn't resist? Do I continue to get up in the middle of the night (either by myself or by him) to go potty, or do we just keep ignoring him until the morning? Also, how do you teach him to respect your schedule? Any advice and insight would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.