[jwash]

I'm certainly not an expert, but here is my opinion from experience with my two. I believe you have the wrong kind of crate to begin with, even though it is plush. With a puppy this small, I suggest the very smallest wire crate you can buy, I doubt you will have to buy another one, even full grown. If however you have a concern about that, you can buy bigger crates that have a divider that can "grow" with your puppy. The rule of thumb is something like, enough room to turn around and about 4 inches from the top of the head to the top of the crate and 4 inches on each side. A puppy must have food/water 24/7 as well. Mine also has a blanket and a favorite toy they sleep with. I don't recall you saying how old your puppy is, but just because a puppy can hold it all night does not mean they can do the same during the day. Since yours cannot hold it all night, and I think it is really asking a lot of this little one anyway, one option would be to position your (hopefully new crate) where you can put a puppy pad and leave the door open without her getting out and about at night. You might have an accident or two but usually the puppy will get pad trained easily and sleep in the sleeping area without a problem. The other option is to take your puppy out 24/7 at first, I hate to say it but about 1/2 hour, which is what I did, so I did not have to paper train and then housetrain. However, I am home all the time, so I could do that. A rule of thumb is add an hour to their weight and that is how long they can hold it at first. So, you can see your puppy would have a problem after about 3 hours. I also do not think it is a good idea for a puppy to be crated all day for that long. If you can, perhaps a friend or relative could help you by playing and letting her out throughout the day. Most yorkies need a lot of attention and will get into trouble if they are crated a lot. They are very smart and want to please and play. If they are held back I think it causes behavior problems in itself, ie chewing, marking, pooping, just to get attention. Your want to socialize your puppy and train so later you will have an obdient but playful dog. I can already hear the fingers typing of folks who will totally disagree with me. I'm only giving advice based on my two, so I am sure there are different opinions. I will say that mine are fully house trained, well behaved and well socialized dogs at 9 months and one year respectively. Maybe it was luck but I think the yorkie book I used had some really on target suggestions. Hope this helps.