1. How big is the crate compared to her body? If she is able to poo and pee in a corner of the crate and move over to a dry area, you need to make the crate smaller. You may have to block the back of the crate with boxes or containers so that she cannot get to it. You need to make the crate space only big enough for her to stand up, turn around and lay down.
2. She obviously is not sleeping thru the night if you are waking up in the a.m. to poo and pee in the crate. Soooo, you may need to wake yourself up in the middle of the night to let her out. However, if you make her crate smaller, she will probably whine to be let out anyway. However, if she is not whining and her crate is small enough, you are going to have to set an alarm. If she can be in the crate 4 hours during the day without messing in it, then you need to set your alarm for 4 hours from when you go to bed.
3. When you are home, is she out of the crate? If she is, you need to limit her to one room only and you must keep an eye on her at all times. You probably should be taking her outside every hour on the hour until she gets the hang of asking to go out. Puppies will usually have to go that much. If you cannot keep your eye on her, then you need to put her back in the crate, x-pen or have her leashed to you for the time you are busy. Then when you take her out of the crate or x-pen, (when you can watch her again) take her out immediately. You should only progress her to other rooms when she is fully house broken.
4. Everything else you are doing is what you should be doing.
5. You must keep this routine up until she is house broken. Even when you are tired and don't feel like it after a hard day at work. You must never let up! Consistency is the key.
As far as the hair is concerned, what you are combing thru is the puppy hair and that gets tangled alot and it is hard to comb thru. Once my Millie was groomed, for the 1st time and they cut off some of the puppy hair, it was much more manageable and easier to comb thru and Millie did not put of such a fuss. But you need to keep up the 10 minute combing everyday. After a while they get used to it and will tolerate so much better. I know Millie does and she used to Hate, Hate, Hate it!
good luck |