Advice needed

[motheru]

Hi everyone. I got a Parti-Yorkie and have some questions regarding her. I have a 7 year old Yorkie who I got when she was also a pup. Things are SO different in training from one to the other than I feel lost and need some advice.

My 7 year old (Brylie) is now between 5 and 6 pounds. She grew at a even pace through puppyhood and slept through the night almost instantly. I was at home full time back then and crate trained her. Potty training went fast and great. She soon had run of house during day (no crate) and she LOVES her crate to this day for night. Her crate is in my room and she hopes in and sleeps all night.

Hazel is my new Parti. She is PAINFULLY slow at growth. Her siblings are WAY bigger than her. Like, by eye they look 3 times the size…by weight number they are almost double. (I should note her that I am at the vet weekly to weigh her and she is perfectly healthy, active, eating, and stubborn as a horse, lol) She is now over 3 months and shy of 2 lbs. She was 1.4 when I got her. I am working now but able to take her with me. So there is no crating during the day….and she is crated in her own crate at night, also in my room. So less "structure" during the day…..few accidents but I think that's just because I forever take her out which means less accidents…

My two issues/questions are:

1. She is still getting up twice at night to pee and poo outside. I take her water away 3 hours before bed and last meal is 4 or so hours before bed. Will she ever sleep through the night? Does this only come with growth or am I doing something wrong?

2. She poops like crazy. Vet wants her to eat Royal Canin Puppy Development so thats what she's been eating. My other dog has been eating Merrick for 7 years and she poops once (maybe twice periodically) a day. Is Royal Canin known for lots of poops?

3. (Just realized another question) Brylie and Hazel pick the evenings to play hard! And I mean they go at it for 2 hours straight…then Hazel is looking for water and it's almost bedtime! How do I deal with that???

4. How long do Yorkies grow till? Will she even hit 4 pounds? Vet says I will be lucky if she does. More likely 3.5 lbs. If thats true…can a dog that small even be trained to stay home all day without outside break OR trained to hold it through the night?

Thanks so much!

[motheru]

Anyone?

[chickensmith]

These are just some things my boss used to say in regards to foods and such....he had been a veterinarian for 30 years when I started working for him so he was very old school. As far as food he used to say the more fillers there are the more the dog will poo...young or old. Royal canin is said to be a good name food...but I know my Winnie was on Blue Buffalo and it was too much protein for her and she pooped anywhere from 4-7 very soft poops a day....a LOT! At the moment she is on hills i/d which is very bland and is getting a probiotic powder. She poops 2 or 3 solid poops a day now. She will be getting introduced to her new food this weekend so we will see how that goes!! She does sleep through the night though....she slept in her kennel the first two weeks and with the exception of the very first night home she slept through til morning. Now she sleeps with us and we have no issues. She eats dinner around 7 pm. Breakfast when she gets up and a mid day snack. We have a 10 year old weenie and two kittens that she adores....and their play time runs throughout the day....but she and our ninja cat like to play at night before bed too. The thing with water.....I was always told by Doc to ALWAYS have water available for them. These toy breed babies can get dehydrated quickly. If she's thirsty I would maybe let her have a small drink just to replenish....and maybe wait a bit let her potty then put her to bed. There's been tons of suggestion lately to setting up an x pen for her to sleep in at night. It's a fenced in area where u can give her a bed on one side and a potty pad on the other....this may help eliminate your nightly wake ups? I hope this is helpful....and I hope things get a little more settled for you and your new and older babies!!!

[chickensmith]

Oh....one more thing....in regards to growing I can't be of much help there....Winnie is 17 weeks and still less than two pounds at the moment and the vet thinks she will be around 3-4 # grown. But.....my princess Cassie was a 3# chihuahua mix and she potty trained very well. She very rarely had accidents and when she did they were usually in front of the door either because we were not home...so it is definately possible for that small of a dog to potty train :-) it really is just a lot of patience and perserverence!!

[calismama]

Hi there! I have a 3lb 11 month old girl, and she has been sleeping through the night since about 3 months of age. However, her littermates are much bigger (like 2 to 3 times her weight/size) and it took some of them much longer to be able to hold it all night. So, I think it depends on the dog and (this will probably be unpopular but eh) I think that a lot of times some dogs just get used to going out in the middle of the night. Like they have the ability to hold it, but they've always been taken out when they wanted, so it becomes a habit. Make sense?

[motheru]

Originally Posted by calismama

Hi there! I have a 3lb 11 month old girl, and she has been sleeping through the night since about 3 months of age. However, her littermates are much bigger (like 2 to 3 times her weight/size) and it took some of them much longer to be able to hold it all night. So, I think it depends on the dog and (this will probably be unpopular but eh) I think that a lot of times some dogs just get used to going out in the middle of the night. Like they have the ability to hold it, but they've always been taken out when they wanted, so it becomes a habit. Make sense?

Does make sense. Thanks. Question…..I totally think if she slept in my bed instead of the crate she would sleep through but I want her to sleep in crate like my other dog so I don't want to start that. How can I teach her to stop whining to go out and see how long she can hold it and stretch the time?

[Lilah Charm]

Although I see the logic behind it, I am very concerned about the food and water being withheld. At that young- not even four months yet right? And that teeny tiny I would really worry about potential dehydration or a hypo glycemic episode. Maybe when she gets a little older she will hold it through the night but right now I wouldn't worry about it mama my lilah turned out to be quite a bit smaller than I anticipated. She is 4.5 lbs and holding at almost two- we visited with her sister a while back and she was twice her size! We have a potty pad and though I know some folks are more comfortable with outdoor training I just can't imagine having success with my tiny little gal and these sweeping Columbia gorge winds and endlessly dreary wet days. As far as the poop goes, I beleive royal canin puppy has more filler than some other dog foods. That said my dog is on the exact same food right now and I do a happy dance every day that she eats her kibble with joy because it has been so hard watching and waiting for her to eat every natural grain free raw dehydrated etc etcetera I kept trying to feed her until less than two months ago. I know some very intelligent and well respected members here feed it, her breeder fed it and her vet reccomends it- to top it off she actually eats it! So I'm sold- even though it has corn in it. And just choose to be grateful my dog doesn't have grain allergies. But she poops more (again I'm glad she eats more and I suppose that comes with it). Planning to switch her to adult food now that she is actually wiling I eat something and see how that goes. So all that said, perhaps an ex pen with a crate inside of it (left open of course) and a potty pad outside the crate might be a good solution for you guys right now. Most breeders don't allow their yorkie babies to leave home until they are twelve weeks and I know sometimes when they are super small like that they will hold on to them for even longer. So give it some time, she's still just a little baby best of luck!

[calismama]

Originally Posted by motheru

Does make sense. Thanks. Question…..I totally think if she slept in my bed instead of the crate she would sleep through but I want her to sleep in crate like my other dog so I don't want to start that. How can I teach her to stop whining to go out and see how long she can hold it and stretch the time?

Honestly, we just didn't respond to her whines. Took three nights, and she never whined at night again. And she didn't go in her crate!

[Lovetodream88]

Little ones like that especially puppies need food available all the time. I also think it is wrong to take water away completely. How would you feel if you could not drink past a certain time or you couldn't drink past a certain time and then were running around crazy for two hours and still couldn't drink? I'm sorry but that's just mean. I'm guessing you did blood work and that's how you know she is completely healthy no liver shunt or worms? Those can effect growth. Some puppies are just mall and stay that way. I imagine her bladder is pretty small but most puppies have to be taken potty at least once a night for while.

[kreuer]

Since they do play so hard at night I would make sure they have water. My dogs also play really hard at night. I think it's okay to still be getting up once at this age, but twice seems like too much. Both of my pups started sleeping though the night at 12/13 weeks, but I know most take a little longer. What I do is as soon as I see them starting to settle down at night I take them out to potty. I do not come in until they do. Depending on when you and them go to sleep you could also wake her up to go again before you go to bed. I did that with my first pup for a while. For example, she would go to sleep around 8:30 and I would take her out then. Then when I was ready to go to sleep at say 10, I would take her out again and then let her go back to sleep.

[Lilah Charm]

Lol, re read my post and wanted to note- when I said holding at two years old I meant her size, the potty thing (within our potty pad based system) has been working pretty good since early on. And admittedly- lilah shares the family bed at night!