Correct. He's pretty much a permanent resident of my parents home now.

They get along when Bdog comes up to visit. The 'heeler actually avoids Bdog. He will walk around the perimeter of a room to avoid her for some reason. I don't know why.

Dogs can sense when there's a problem... Bdog has been acting out and her doggy instincts and mannerisms are out of whack. The heeler picks up on this unbalanced state of being, and is avoiding it.

You may be able to use the heeler in Bdog's rehabilitation. Walking them together can help form bonds, and can teach Bdog how a 'more normal' dog acts and help her to become centered once again. If the heeler is housebroken, I would bring him to the apartment, where Bdog can see how he goes out to potty. This may be a quicker fix to helping Bdog get 'on track'.

Yorkies are referred to as 'babies' on this forum quite often, but I believe many also realize that they are dogs, first and foremost. When situations are presented to them they do their best to be accommodating, but when their natural being is too influenced the wrong way (away from natural tendencies), they become unbalanced, and others dogs will pick up on this.

This is a disgusting post. I can't see how a women would stay in a relationship with a man that hit her dog. There's hope for this dog. But she's not even yours! Big strong manly man like yourself, hitting a SIX lb little itty bitty tiny of the tiniest dogs. WTH???????

The only hope a caveman has in training this yorkie is to take her to class himself. He needs to bond with her. The bitch isn't not happy in the him. She may never house train. This is a fact with some yorkies. If she hasn't had a full vet eval, she needs to. They need to rule out all medical reasons why she does not hold her bladder. The bitch should not be confined at night and during the day. It is one or the other, with a potty break. Never any more. This man needs class to see if he can learn to show love to an animal. This is not 1920 and they aren't living on a farm. A xpen is not going to do anything unless this man learns a great deal about canine behavior!!!!!!!!! Class is the only solution.

PLEASE TALK YOUR GIRLFRIEND INTO REHOMING THIS YORKIE TODAY.

I'll agree it was a disgusting post....but the entire Thread is giving me so much to work with and there has been a plethora of information that has been helping on so many levels.

I know the word you are using is what would be the term used for a female dog, but I don't even use that word because I don't want to associate a common slang, derogatory word for this pup. I just can't bring myself to use the word in reference to her, and Bdog has become my pet name for her - like when I talk to her I start off with her name and then drop in a Bdog when she's excited and playing. Yes, she WAS my fiance's dog, but now that we are getting married, Bdog has become my dog too. We share the same roof and we share each others company.

I'm not arguing here or wishing to fight - but we aren't rehoming the dog...we aren't even close to thinking about it. Sorry, but she's here to stay and I'll keep working off the suggestions and answers given through the thread and I'll keep posting the results - and I'll for sure be asking more questions as they come up. Since I have been home and working, I have not been able to post new things on the simple fact that I am not there to work with her. Believe me Sunday night or Monday when I have a chance to work with her more, I'll be letting you all know how it goes.

I have just as much faith in the dog as the hope I have too. The easy route isn't always the right one.

I'll keep you posted.

P.S. I'm sure all of you already know, but simply talking and conversing with you all has helped ME in all this on many levels too. Establishing the dialogue and speaking on the thread as well as the PM's have been fantastic. It has without doubt, opened up perspectives I had not seen before. Some may question me, my intent or my attitude, but let time tell if I am evil or not.

Oh, getting him off the farm and to the apartment is a hard thing to do. Dad would miss him too much and he hates being away from home. Bdog is very possessive of her toys and fights other dogs in the home. The 'heeler is 70 pounds and he has both of his fella's because dad and I want to get him a girlfriend. His structure, parents and temperament has got at least 1 litter spoken for from people he has been around (if not 2 litters). I fear with his size and the fact he isn't cut, if she started something, I don't know if I would be able to get them apart before something bad happened. One of his jobs on the farm is to keep critters out of the barns while he is out - which is a big reason why I've had to bathe him repeatedly after having a few run ins with those black and white "kitties" that smell awful. Being aggressive isn't really his thing, but every animal has fight or flight instincts - and he hasn't shown a lot of flight when given the opportunity.

One thing I do see is when Bdog comes over for a weekend with momma, the 'heeler will avoid her, but he also gathers up his toys in the house and hides them. Since Bdog has a potty habit and the 'heeler is as I have explained above, she's not allowed off the leash in my parents place. When we are outside, she isn't leashed at all where she is in town. She has the whole 2.5 acres of lot to run free. My fiance was not liking the idea at first, but when I showed her nothing bad would happen as long as she is kept off the road, it would be fine and to just let her run.

I think she likes being up here...I hope to get a place similar to my parents when school is over.

I stop and speak to her softly and tell her to be good and I'm not doing anything. I might have to try the treat, but I doubt she will get much because she's bare teeth most of the time.

She does bark a lot when you get the treats out, but she's not getting it at the door (but we've not been working on it together for but 2 days and my fiance is having even more difficult time with her). I'm hoping that not giving her the treat until after we get through the door will avert the barking for the treat as she sees the door opening as more of the reward. As we work on this, I am wanting to give her the treat later down the hall until we get outside and then stop the treat on the way out to go potty altogether. Then we can have the treat when we get back inside and she goes to the bathroom like she should.

I hear you on the warning though - which is why I want to make sure to mix it up enough on treat delivery that she doesn't think that it's speaking that gets the treat, it's the bathroom outside that does.

Just a reminder - I don't know what other "critters" may be in the area - but you'll want to keep a close eye on her while she's off enjoying her space - since I'm assuming (which is an awful thing to do ) that there isn't a fenced in area - it's not just about keeping her from running off - it's about keeping those critters larger and meaner than her from coming too close. Unfortunate accidents can happen in the blink of an eye. Your area may be totally safe - I'm just reminding.

Well, walking them on leash together may help them to bond, if nothing else.

I am worried about her being off leash. Many people do this, I'm not saying it's wrong or anything, but let's just say for me and mine I consider it too much of a risk. Even dogs with excellent recall skills have been known to take off after a rabbit and go into the road, and many have suffered disasterous results.

And unless the acreage has a lid...don't forget the evil eagles!! Yes, they really do carry off little dogs, and if they are too heavy they drop them and the fall hurts them terribly. And eagles fly faster than you can run!

yep...it's always sumthin'

Post some photos. If she's not overweight, she isn't being overfed. Don't try to make the same logic with her that you do with people or anything else. She's a yorkshire terrier. The smallest of the terriers. Originally bred as a working dog. They are toy dogs. Brave, ratters, tenacious. When a person with a yorkie rings a doorbell rings of a house full of dogs that are barking many yorkies will bark right back. They have needs that you do not understand. She needs class with YOU. You need to go to class because you do not understand her. She is missing out on a great life. You think her life is great there because you have a mindset of what YOU feel a life should be for a canine. You are missing it. Nobody wants a pet that is going to the bathroom all over. But you crossed that line so bad by striking her. Would you hit a baby if they bit you? Same thing. She doens't understand. You have not taught her anything. Stop blaming the other person that you share a dwelling with. Take ownership of the responsibilities. You can't share a life with her then pick and choose which parts of the bitch you want. Package deal and YOU are responsible. You need to go to class. We can give you tips but you need class if you want to keep her. You must learn the basic fundamentals of how to interact with positive reinforcement. You must learn why she does things. Why she chews things at her age.

You should understand the hurt and fear you've created in our lives by sharing this ************ way of living with her. She's been abused and neglected. If you care about her at all, man up and go to class with her. This isn't my first suggestion, but if you are sincere about helping her then you will.

Instead of trying to find things where the girlfriend dropped the ball, look for places to succeed. Class, isn't the be all end all. It is the beginning of a very long path. She doesn't trust you, she isn't happy and you have work to do to mend it. If it's possible. Don't let her cute face or neediness fool you. Her actions show a very troubled little girl. They do not forget. This is heartbreaking. It makes my blood boil. She wasn't born to have the life she's living. You and your gf care about your careers, but there's a much different way of living out there for these little wee ones. This forum can help, but it is not anywhere near what you need. Please I beg you, please! Please take her to class. Let an educated person help you. Let them help your gf. This little girl doesn't deserve this.

I'm tired of reading about where she fails. This is YOUR responsibility. You aren't doing anything about it. You have an insecure yorkie that doesn't trust, doesn't feel loved, doesn't know who she is. You need to learn it all.

So you don't use correct terminology regarding the canine gender. You wouldn't find offense in it if you spent more time understanding their behavior. If you really want to be the good guy and your gf won't allow you to rehome her, you need class. I don't think you have a choice about keeping her or not. if you could get rid of her, you would have long ago. But she's not going for it, is she?

No area is totally safe. You're right to assume this. Especially with a terrier that isn't trained. You should never trust any yorkshire terrier off a lead, even a trained one. Unless there is a fenced area or confident. A bunny, fear, loud noise. A fox.

Sad. Where's the breeder? This is why breeders need to make sure they do a good job interviewing. You must know who has your puppies. Education, training.

She's on a leash when the sun is setting or dark out, that's when the critters come out. It's a rare occasion to see anything larger than a crow out here. We have coyotes, but they steer so clear of the house, I have seen a total of 2 in my life out here but you hear them at night every night.

The thing is, out here, off the leash she wants to be with mom anyway. I think she would be like that if we let her off leash in town, but like it was said squirrel or bunny and she'd be off like a light switch. Not good with traffic and such. She's not just wanting to be near mom because we are in a new place, she is just very attached to her and likes being in her presence.

I watch for harmful or hurtful things when we do the off leash - and she's not unsupervised when she is. It's playing or enjoying the sun - like a dog park with only one dog that steers clear of her.

I also understand where you are coming from - I'm not saying there is no danger at all, but we use our heads on this for the reasons mentioned by you all on your concerns.

Besides, the 'heeler does a good job on keeping the critters away. ...but on the flip side of that, it's always good to be cautious.

I rarely use words that are considered offensive, even if they are a double word like the b-word. In my earlier postings, on a forum about dogs even, I refrained from using it as I am right now. I'm don't often cus, and like I said, it's just a personal preference of mine to not use the word even though it is suitable. I just don't want to associate it with her. I hear that word used in a derogatory setting far more often then it's real purpose of definition...sorry, it's just the way I feel.

Again, I'm not trying to fight here...but some of you think you have me pegged and are quite sure of your feelings about me. I hate to burst the bubble here, but you couldn't be more wrong.

I have said from the start that I don't hate this dog. I don't want her gone or put down. I don't want anything even remotely close to that idea. I don't think about her age and think "ok, only this many more years to go..." I have had quite a bit of discouraging scenarios with this pup, but that's part of the situation as it unfolded. What's important, and I can't stress enough here, is that I'm in the right place (not only physically, but mentally too) to help.

Please don't sit there and chastise me for placing blame - I'm not. I will say that I have been met with resistance from a dog owner that loves this dog to death, who treats it with such unconditional love, but has become complacent with the situation of messing her crate at least once a week if not almost every night at times. She has done nothing to avert the behavior besides a scold when she gets her out when she comes home - of which I have found is not the way to handle it either and I promptly passed it along to her it isn't a good idea and try to stop doing it. I am here doing the research because I have stepped up to the challenge and I'm leading the way here because she has not done so - and if she isn't, somebody does or the dog will not get better.

I don't see how all this makes me the "Bad Guy" in all of this besides the fact I did something wrong and am making amends for it.

I have faith in the suggestions made on the boards here, and a professional might offer some alternative advice at times, but the true professional is the ones that have the most experience and I feel that the members of a forum called Yorkie Talk in the Training section would fit that bill rather nice.

I'm going to work on the plans and ideas that were made available to me by the good members here and run with the idea while keeping you all posted. If nothing works, and all resources exhausted and ideas down the tube - then I think it's time for a trainer.

The good people here have spelled it out (literally) on their experiences and suggestions...what better way to understand then by the people who are experienced specifically on this particular breed? Where could a person find a better source of much needed information?

And to answer your question - I haven't asked her to remove the dog or get rid of it. I'm not "working" that avenue. I'm telling anyone reading - the dog isn't going anywhere, even if my fiance suggested it or looked into rehoming her. She's here to stay - bottom line.

One more day and I get to go back to see my girls. I'll let you know how it goes.

If your fiancee chooses to re-home HER dog she has every right to, and probably would if you TOLD her she wasn't allowed to. She has had this dog for 6+ years, you have not. The two of you are not married yet, and therefore any decisions she makes regarding her property (yes, unfortunately dogs are still considered property) is her decision to make. You sound like a control freak and I strongly suggest counseling to help you find a way to not need to be in control of everything and everyone. It will help you with "bdog" and with future children that you have with your fiancee.

Is this a joke...sometimes the truth is so unbelievable I just can't fathom it...absolutely incredible the closing statement couldn't be better...perhaps re-homing the dog isn't the best scenario...she should re-home you...

Luvdogs2, I have faith in you. You can make Bdog a better dog and give her a better life and yourself in return will have a better life because of the bond you will create with her. She'll be loyal, loving and trained. Taking some dog classes with a trainer will help a lot and they are not that expensive. Look at your local petsmart or petco for classes. Yorkies require different training than a bigger dog. They are VERY stubborn and a yorkie owner does need to work harder with them.
I know you can do this and I can read in your posts that you care about her well being. Good Luck with her and find a class, at least one and see how it helps you and her. :)

wow, omg..... i think everyone has been very nice considering the situation. i agree with everyone, please give the dog up for adoption!!! many people work & go to school & have very busy lives, only 2 choices don't have a dog or if you do give it as much love & attention as you can, meaning when you are home no crate,just a little attention kisses, pats, etc. & yorkies love to sleep with their owner.They are smarter than people & more trusting & loving if you ask me, it's obvious you don't care for this dog, so do the right thing. as for your fiance if i were her & read what you wrote i would get rid of you not her baby. sorry not my business but you put it out there. good luck to all of you, i hope it all works out.:2omg:

If you cared about the dog you would give him up or go to class. Did a previous boyfriend give this dog as a gift? I don't believe you can give him up or you would. You aren't intrested in going to class. This thread is a trainwreck.


For people that care. Walking a dog is not about exercise exclusively. If that's all it was for then you could put them on a tread mill for 5 minutes to burn energy. The reason you walk a dog on a lead is to stimulate them mentally. Expose them to new sights, sounds, experiences, establish pack ranking in a neutral territory. It's the best way to reestablish pack ranking on a daily basis. You cannot do this without the lead. Without the lead, you are giving up pack ranking. Bonding with the dog is work but it's something many of us find rewarding. You can't put little effort into it and expect a big result. You must establish trust.

As I've said many of times. You need class. You haven't put anything into this bitch except hurting her. The very least you can do is take her to class to learn how to correct this. You will not get it here. You are looking for more short cuts. There aren't any. There are too many things that need to be done. People are giving you so many bits and pieces, you need a simple structure that involves a new plan in your home. Please take her to class. You've upset me. Sitting on a keyboard asking for ideas isn't enough, do something. You don't hit yorkies. They don't deserve this. I've been bit many times. Hitting hasn't ever crossed my mind. This is horrible.

Shamrocks, you also deserve a gold star and a huge thank you from me. You have also been able to read the thread and see what I'm here for and what I'm trying to do. I agree that when honesty is displayed, many people can't grasp the content for what it is and how to move forward without clutching the past.

Ellie, the reason the thread has had moments of a train wreck is when people attempt to derail it. You have given some good advise, but you also placed a bar across the tracks too. It is because you put helpful information in your posts that I haven't added you to the ignore list as well. However, you also seem to be so sure of your FEELINGS instead of seeing the TRUTH in me. I don't wish to argue here, but if you read through the thread, it goes fine and the dialogue flows fine when people are working proactively. It's when people call me names or insinuates that I am some horrible person that I find myself compelled to defend where the wrong impressions have been made. I am guilty of responding to the chastising, but I AM receptive of the criticism when offered. I learn the most when somebody tells me I'm wrong in my actions or thinking when they follow it up with an alternative. I also find it a bit sad that you don't think that the information your fellow YT have to share is going to be helpful. That isn't a punch in the gut or anything, so please don't take it as so. Everything that was said and posted as an encouragement of training, processes or bonding ideas are all applicable ideas and sound suggestions. I would venture to say that most of the yorkie owners on this board did not need to go to classes or have professional trainers in their check book in order to develop routines and good behavior by their littlest family members.

To address taking a class - it's a great idea and all, but I don't have a set schedule on a daily routine. My duties at school have me busy, but it's a busy that I can't count on to have specific times off. 3 out of 4 of my classes require group projects and lab sessions. This means I have to meet with those 3 or 4 other students in each class to finish our assignments, labs and reports. Added to which, I'm a teaching assistant to the senior design class and I'm helping them with their projects around my schedule. I'm also employed on campus in the shop where I assist 2 other teachers by making testing apparatuses for their lab sessions and so forth. It is not uncommon for me to leave the apartment at 7am and not get home until midnight or later. Some days I don't have anything really going on besides personal homework so I am able to go home and study...but as I said, I can't watch the dog with one eye and do homework and complex problems in engineering with the other.

I've changed the idea of leaving her crated while I'm home and she's on a leash near me or tied up on the fiance's chair with a fluffy pillow to lay on. She's able to be out, see me and I talk to her while I'm working - even if it's to ask her about some algebra or other "thinking out loud" moments.

I can say this until I'm blue in the face - but I'll say it again. Rehoming - not going to happen. Do I want the dog rehomed - I hadn't even considered it, nor will I. Is it my dog - nope, but I have adopted it as I would a child or anything else my fiance had before I came to be in her life. No, we aren't married yet, but we are most certainly living and making decisions like we are. I bought a car before I proposed to her, but I included her in the purchase as a couple. Had she not said it was ok, I would not have gotten the car and I would have kept looking. We plan on our future together as if we already had made our vows before God and though we don't have the ceremony done, we are a family - and Bdog is OUR responsibility, and she will not be leaving OUR home.

I am getting ready to go back to school and see my girls. I have to finish up some laundry, lock up my shop, put my car away because I had a blow out last night and nobody has any tires in the size I need to fix the car. I'll have to drive my Jeep instead and come back when my tires are in from the special order.

I can't wait to see how the weekend went with my fiance and how much progress Bdog has made. I don't have a lot of confidence much ground was made by the response to my questions, but I'm keeping faith that she is learning and will get it down.

Thank you celestu1. You will be able to share in my accomplishments and be able to stand with everyone who has helped and been a source of encouragement as we progress to the goal. After school is over for this semester, I will have to return home for a few days a week to keep the business going, but I won't be gone for the entire winter break. I have one additional class to finish over the spring semester and I will still have my duties as an aid as well as my business at home, but I will not be as busy as I am right now. If a scheduled class is available with my schedule, I'll look further into it.

Hopefully the implementation of the ideas created over the last week will show such an improvement that a class will not be needed, but we'll keep that ace in the hole and use it if we need to.

Luv2Dogs:

I yes take my Yorkie boy to obedience and agility classes. And if it matters at all he is also a show boy.

I have read from your posts how busy you are, and I understand somewhat how life gets real busy at times.

But I would like to offer my support of an obedience class you can take your Bdog to. Why you may ask. Quite simply it provides a structured environment, a consistent training approach, and exposes you and your dog to other people and dogs focussed on a common goal.

I would like to share with you a situation my husband and I have found ourselves in. both experienced dog owners (like you),with our female import from Russia, a BRT not a Yorkie, has temperament problems. Now this is as you could understand in a 100 lb dog a serious issue. She is a "fear" biter. We did at home what we "knew" to do to try to address this situation not with great success. So we went to our working dog expert trainer. Did we have the "time" to do this, well not really, but she was and is our responsibilty. We spent what we had to, and more importantly invested the time and yes money to "rehab" her. She is much much better now. Thanks to Mike our trainer who gave us specific exercises and exposures to certain stimuli to expose her to.

As great as an on line forum is, we do not get to see your Bdog in real life, your interactions with her etc. This is very important. A good trainer will be able to assess your interactions and your dog. I can't emphasize enough the value of this.

You are coming in loud and clear. I understand exactly where you are coming from and the intent of the message. I hope that next semester I will have a more relaxed schedule so I can be around the apartment more. I'm sure you already picked up on this, but with my schedule and my fiance working second shift, we don't see each other hardly at all except to sleep in the bed together. It's a short term sacrifice for the long term goal. Once school is done, it's onward to a 9 to 5 job, keep my side business going and starting a family with the marriage and so forth. We are both excited to do so and I'm excited for the expectations to come.

I'm glad to have the help here, and if the bits and pieces I've gathered are all part of Bdogs puzzle, I will have no problem finishing this. I might have to get some help with a class or trainer at some point, but everyone here has contributed in some fashion, and it is all going to help put everything in place.

I guess the best analogy is to compare a Yorkie to a child, literally. If your fiancee had a child when you came into the relationship, and you decided to love and 'adopt' the child as yours and commit to raising the child as yours for as long as the child lived and then began to have disciplinary problems with the child, then what would your options be?

Would you rely solely on the advice from a forum and at the same time state that you didn't have time because of your schedule? Would you crate the child? Would you point out the flaws in discipline to your fiancee and expect her to carry on while you are gone? Would you say you don't have time to seek professional help due to your schedule? Would you list a litany of your professional responsibilities as the reason for not seeking immediate help for your possibly special needs child now?

Yorkies are a special breed and more childlike than any other breed. They require the attention, training and care of a child. Until they are secure in their relationship, environment and training they cannot just be left alone on their own, in the same way you cannot leave an infant alone.

This dog has gone beyond that and been damaged in many ways. You have to not only start from scratch, you have to undo...this is going to require not only time, but your presence. An xpen is a good idea, walks are a good idea, playtime and bonding exercises are all good ideas but all require time and are suggestions to augment some professional help. If you cannot devote the time necessary then you need to re-think this entire endeavor.

You can laugh, if you will, that these are just dogs, but you have landed in a forum, where, these are most certainly not, just dogs.

And, btw, a mature male, if he cannot use the grammatically correct term for a female dog, i.e. bitch has some serious issues. Please don't tell me you say tinkle....LOL

I'm not laughing on your analogy here. Not at all. I can say there is a good difference between children and dogs. As pointed out on the forum here, the mentalities between such are different where a dog is unable to cognate vindictive behavior and other forms of higher intelligence. Babies learn to speak and communicate in such cognitive behavior. No, I wouldn't crate a toddler. I wouldn't leave them unsupervised. I wouldn't do anything but what is necessary to raise them when I am ready to have them. I don't know that my fiance was ready to get this pup when she did...but I'm not dwindling on the past, I'm looking ahead.

It's not that I can't use the word, it's because I don't wish to in reference to this particular dog. I don't cuss much to begin with - usually when I'm physically hurt. I don't have issues, I must just think differently about things like that. I'm also around my nephews and nieces at times - so getting in the habit of using "clean" words happened a long time ago... On another note, I have a friend that doesn't know his father (detective, died on a accident investigation when another motorist hit him) - I don't call him a bastard because it's proper.

I'm listening to your suggestions. Believe me, no post is ignored or info in one ear and out the other.

I don't believe I suggested training classes to you bc I was aware of your schedule at this time, and there was a lot of basic things you could do at home to begin to turn things around for Bdog. Bdog did not develop into what she is today overnight, and she will not change into a better behaved dog overnight either.

After giving the situation some more thought, I think you, DF, and Bdog would benefit more by having a trainer come to the apartment, to access Bdog's lifestyle and attitude, and to access your and DF's interactions with her.

Also, this is something you could do right away, as a trainer could be scheduled on any day or evening you and DF are available. I think this may be better, as a trainer may see something that we here are not aware of, and you just haven't thought to mention. Not that you're hiding anything, just that you may not recognize something as being important, where a trainer would, and could make a better accessment of the situation, and thereby make more appropriate recommendations.

Ugh, in attempts to offer a possible solution I'd like to say this, training of this dog is not going to be easy, the best solution seems to re-home this dog with someone who is WILLING to give out the effort loving, training and providing a good quality of life.
If that doesn't happen, there has to be the realization that this will take effort, we are not talking about a puppy we are talking about a 6 year old dog who has ingrained behaviors.
1. Biting is unacceptable-but using physical punishment or simply caging the dog won't help it only repeats the pattern. Try a mussel (a soft mussel that allows for drinking while its on I can suggest several quality safe kinds if you private message me). Using a verbal command to discontinue this behavior works and musseling is a temporary part of the no-bite training not an end all. Musseling is used to stop biting as a last resort and to create a no-biting training platform. If the dog can be petted and learn to behave while musseled then soon they learn they can't bite and you can move on to step two.
2. Potty training is hard with older dogs or with dogs whom have previously not been house broken. The dogs needs a regular feeding schedule ACCOMPANIED by a walking outside potty schedule or it just won't work. Dogs need to potty about 30 minutes after they eat. I feed my dogs Innova small bites (the one with the Yorkie on it) kibble not wet food (wet food and treats are like laxatives right now for you)-it has brown rice which causes more absorption of the kibble and less piles less often. Cleaning any potty mess completely is mandatory if a dog smells any remaining potty scent they will continue to go there. Create a smaller area the dog is allowed in within the home to create the basis for no pottying in the house. Have yo considered a play yard area?-The same ones you buy for babies. This allows the dogs an area you can paper and use the grid removal system just as with puppies and while you are busy doing homework (which I should be doing now but I'm so concerned I'm using my time to aid you in this) the dog has a n area to play in instead of being in a kennel-which becomes a cage used that way and doesn't do a darn thing in aiding turning this situation around.
3.If you can try a couple things to tackle the biting and pottying in the house then you can see some progress and move on from there. THIS TAKES EFFORT! YOU GET WITH DOGS WHAT YOU GIVE>it really is that simple. I take breaks from homework to go for a walk around our block and I walk my dogs one at a time. This gives my mind a break to be clear and refreshed and relieves both some physical energy for me and my dogs...it's really that simple a 5 minute walk can do wonders-obviously a longer walk or many more 5 minute walks help but its a start and will help both of you.
Feel free to PM me if you need detailed advice musseling and so forth really is last resort type training and shouldn't be used as a basic training method. Remember dogs may not be as cognitive as people but what they lack in cognizance they excel in sensing how we feel and feel toward them...weather we "show" it or not. You really do get with dogs what you give...remember that.

Muzzling not musseling...stiniking auto-correct!

I'll call around in the next couple of days to see if we can get somebody over. I know my fiance has all week off because of built up vacation so it would just be a matter of when I could make it. I'll see what I can do.

I'm not trying to avoid it on all accounts, I just sit here and think which day would work the best and all I can think of is "well, I have this meeting on this day, this meeting on this day, work for Dr. ____ on this day....etc" and the only meeting times I'm getting is late in the afternoon and well into the evening. Maybe a trainer can make an adjustment and do a later calling?

I don't keep anything about me away or hidden besides the anonymous things. I know there are a few pointers that I have passed along to my fiance that she needed to hear. According to the popular suggestions offered by many of you, she's not doing some of the things that seem like a no brainer - but that is to credit you responders, because I was ignorant too.

Examples:
- putting Bdog on the floor for unfavorable behavior in bed.
- Diet
- No scolding for anything

There are more, but nothing as anyone would term unacceptable.

I do agree 100% that a third set of eyes would be of great benifit because a third party point of view (in person) would be of great advantage. Again, I'm not trying to avoid it like the plague, I'm just unsure of when I could make an appointment that I could actually stick to.