My unusual situation and plea for help.

[BaileyHerself]

Hello friends, I am 26 years old, male, living in Colorado, and have recently became the owner of the most precious 12 week old Yorkie girl, named Bailey. I came to be her owner when my girlfriends mother bought the puppy and decided that she doesn't have the time to be responsible for her and take care of her properly and train her and everything that goes with having a puppy. So she wanted to give her away to one of her friends, who in all honestly would most likely be just like her. So instead of having that happen my girlfriend and I decided to take over and now she is my (our) puppy.
All I want for Bailey is to make sure she's trained so that she becomes a well behaved member of my family, and not a terror running through the house. A little background on her is that shes right around 12 weeks old. I understand that she was sold from a breeder to a pet shop, and bought there. I'm told shes 100% yorkie, although i'm not positive. I don't know how old she was when she was sold from her mother. Which, from what I've read, can be a big deal. She's current on her vaccinations from what i'm told. I intend on getting in touch with the breeder this week to see if I can find out more about her.
I didn't come here just to tell you that story, I would love and appreciate some training tips for her. I want her to have the best possible life with me so I don't want to worry about having to control her around children or other dogs, or worry if I leave her alone in the house about what she'll get into. Currently she's bitey...so bitey. I've been doing the stern NO! when she bites my hand and try to give her a toy to chew instead but she just goes right back for my hand or walks away. Very rarely does she take the toy. When we're playing she will bite on my hand or my pant leg or my sock, she just always seems to go for that over her toy. On top of that she bites EVERYTHING, i understand she's a puppy and thats what puppies do so I don't want to not let her bite anything and deprive her of experience, but she bites on crown molding, the cracks in the sidewalk so I worry about if she could hurt herself doing that or if its normal puppy behavior. When we play its mostly fetch without the her always bring the toy back, tug of war (until she bites at my hand, then i stop the playtime) when we're outside I run around and let her chase me (this is when she bites at my pant leg usually) I'd love to be able to play roughhouse with her without her getting super bitey...but I refrain from roughhousing since shes still learning to not bite. Am I playing with my puppy wrong? What about swatting on the nose? Is that more of a big dog thing, or just a terrible idea in general? I've met dogs trained that way that are very well behaved and their owners swear by it, but most of what i'm reading about yorkies say its a terrible idea? and no, i haven't swatted my puppy on the nose. I am how ever curious as to what to do to show her she behaving badly, since praise and reward are for good behavior, what shows her not to do something.
Potty training...we're getting a kennel for her tonight, is there a perfered type (plastic or wire or whatever). We actually have a travel crate for her..but all she does is chew on it and chew on the metal and I think its too small for her and I just in general dont like it so i'm buying her a new one and she can grow with. So general tips on making kennel (crate) training easier would save me alot of heartache from hearing my puppy whine...because that's just brutal. My girlfriend also has been using the potty pads with her indoors in case we can't get her outside or we're gone with her here, she's been using those more and more lately which has been good to see. Ideally I would like her to use the potty pads when we're away, and give us a signal (like waiting at the door) that she has to go outside to potty. Other training or commands: She's learned to 'come here' so far pretty well and now when she responds to 'come here' we're teaching her 'sit' which she seems to have picked up in about a day. These i feel are less important than the biting and potty training but I do want her to be well behaved and understand things like "no" and "down" so she doesn't jump up at our food. And about praise is it just like saying "good girl" or something like that in a lovey dovey (talking to a baby type) voice with extra petting and attention? Definitely want to make sure i'm doing that right.
Speaking of food...I have no idea what kind of food she was fed at the breeder but we have some harder puppy food (feels like softened, small pellets) and also canned soft food (Royal Canine, first ingredients are water and chicken, not corn or anything like that). She LOVES the soft food, but i'd like to get her on the harder food because i've heard its better for her teeth (like the chewing helps keep her teeth clean...?) She barely eats the hard food as it is, and I would like to know if there are any tips for getting her more toward the hard stuff. For treats, we seemed to have found one she loves (thanks to the people at petsmart) so I feel like we have good rewards but any advice here would be amazing. I've read a few conflicting things about how often to feed the puppy, i've heard as high as four times a day down to as low as twice a day (keep in mind she is 12 weeks)
Look I realize i've just asked you all just about 99% of training and caring for my puppy, and trust me I will be reading as much as I can on this and doing my own research. But you all seem like a very nice group of people who not only care for your dogs, but everyone else dogs also. I just want to make sure that I do the best job I can for Bailey as her owner and make sure she grows up to be the best she can be. I love this puppy as my own, and even though this is extremely long and I don't know if anyone will even read the whole things, she's worth every bit of effort and research I have to put in to training and raising her. Thank you all for you time if you have any extra questions or would like to get in touch with me email me at Spiffhimself@yahoo.com. Thanks again

OH and how do they get along with big dogs, I want to get a husky puppy down the road but I want to make sure they'll get along.

[lreiley]

First let me say, I can tell from the caring tone of your post that your dog and your girlfriend are very lucky to have you! I'm no expert--My Yorkiepoo is the first dog I've ever had, but I would like to say calm down a bit and enjoy your dog's puppyhood. It sounds like you are doing all the right things, and if you keep educating yourself on this forum, I'm sure your dog will be fine around people and kids. Yorkies are just sweet dogs, who are very social and love people.
Because of my husband's and my work schedules, we finally had to admit that we will have to use a combo of outdoor potty training and pads. Scarlett is 6 months and really seems to be taking to the pads of late but will go outside too. Does she still have accidents? Yes. Just more incentive to get rid of carpet everywhere in my house.

We haven't quite mastered getting her to ask to go out, and since she sniffs 24-7, the sniffing and walking in circles thing means nothing. Getting her to go out is really a matter of lucky timing and getting her on a schedule. You literally need to do a loud, ridiculous special dance while chanting "good potty" whenever she potties where you want her to. I really think that is the number one tip for training because Yorkies are people pleasers!

As for the biting, that goes in stages. Take away your presence and give her a chew toy, and she'll quickly adjust. She wants to make you happy and be with you. Don't be discouraged if she eases off the biting for awhile and then reverts to it. I understand they teethe in stages.

Check out dogfoodadvisor.com for ideas about food. Most here give some kind of top rated 5 star food. We are so lucky that we can buy a small bag and get a lot of mileage out of it. If you have time, look at the sticky about getting samples of premium dog food. I got enough food for Scarlett for two months from requesting those samples. Artemis sent me 20 individual bags! I know this only addresses some of your concerns, but others will chime in.
Enjoy your dog and post pictures!

[Marhcarter]

Welcome to yt! You have come to the right place for education and everything I know I learned here so I will not repeat (at the risk of misquoting something) but will recommend continuing to read previous posts and especially the "stickies" as those are very informative.

[Maximo]

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. Bailey is very lucky to have you. Ask as many questions as you like. Lots of people here willing to offer advice and share experience. I learned so much here on YT.

Biting: Definitely no swatting on the nose. It will only make her aggressive and un-trusting. I promise you that positive reinforcement methods (which also include corrections) will yield much better results.

When she bites at your hands, fold your arms across your chest, taking your hands away, and yelp like a dog. You can also teach her keyphrases like, "No bite." Say it with confidence, but not angrily, and don't wave a finger in her face -- which she will only want to bite.

When all else fails, withdraw your attention. Leave the room (go somewhere she can't follow), and ignore her. That one worked really well with my boys for everything.

I promise everything gets easier with persistence and consistency. The first year can be rough.

Food: At least 3 meals a day until she is close to one year old. If she is small, under 3 pounds, then 4 meals a day for awhile. Minimize the amount of wet food and leave the kibble down. She may not eat it right away. Be sure to change the kibble frequently because premium kibble spoils quickly. Don't leave the same kibble out all day.

Potty training: restrict her freedom to a single room or even an xpen, especially when you can't supervise closely. Keep the pad within easy reach at all times. Praise her profusely when she goes on the pad. Ignore the accidents or say, "Uh oh." Don't make a really big deal out of it. Then clean with an enzyme cleaner.

Outdoors, praise her there too.

Friends with larger dogs: exercise caution. Many Yorkies get along great with all kinds of breeds and sizes. But keep in mind that a Huskie has a high prey drive. Does the dog have experience with smaller dogs? Some larger dogs may not mean harm, but can easily step on a smaller dog or play too hard.

[Maximo]

For chewing baseboards/molding, you can try Bitter Yuck or Bitter Apple Spray. It doesn't work with all dogs, but it can be an effective deterrent.

Teething puppies always want something to chew on.

[intilis]

Hi & welcome. It sounds like Bailey picked a great Dad!

The kennel you use for potty training shouldn't be too big, if it's too big she may not keep it clean.