I would crate her. If she is puppy she will spend most of her time sleeping anyway. Plus it sounds like your mother can check on her if you need her to do. But crating is a preference. Some people are okay crating their dogs, some aren't.

Here is a clip of one of my pup at about 6 weeks old: www.geocities.com/tinybittosalt/MVC-004V.MPG

Tuck'sMom
 

Speaking of kitten, I've wanted for the longest time to adopt a kitten/cat from a rescue/shelter. I had my eye on a beautiful British Shorthair Female that was 3 years old for about 4 weeks but could never decide how my male yorkie (Beau - 17 weeks) would take to her. I thought it would be a great playmate as cats are easier to care for than a dog. A second dog would be just too much for me.

Did you have your kitten first and then your yorkie or vice versa? How did they take to each other? And, can dogs catch cat illnesses?

My son brought the kitten home first and it was probably about four months old to Tucker's 10 weeks when I got him. I clipped (and still do) the kittens nails nice and short for Tuck's safety and only let them play with serious supervision at first since Tuck was about 2lbs and the kitten probably about 4 or 5. They get pretty rough and tumble with each other but I've put my hand in front of the kitten's swat at Tuck a few times and he doesn't even put his claws out so its ok now. I don't quite know how it would work with an older cat since our little bouncy ones can be aggravating with all that energy - I find these two are fairly well matched - Its like the races at my house when they get going - great to watch - then they crash curled up together too!
Dana

That was to funny! I imagine that is just what she looks like when she gets out of the pen. I think that she should be ok going forward with the cover for the pen. The only bad thing is now I have to wait about week for it to be mailed to my house. Oh well, it will be the crate for her for a while. Thanks for your post.

They can wiggle through anything! When we first got our Lillie, my husband spent most of a Saturday putting lattice work up on the downstairs deck, thinking she could stay there while we were not home. As soon as he got done, she strolled through one of the holes in the lattice work!

That is to funny! Oh well, now I know! The funniest thing with Reese is that she was the shyest little love bug when I got her a week and a half ago and now she is turning into a little terror! But she is still the greatest thing that has every happened to me!

We call Lillie a Yorkshire Terrorist:) She's 18 months now and weighs about 8 pounds, so she can't do as much wiggling. You'll really enjoy your baby, especially when she gets done with her puppy mischeif stage.

About how long do they typically stay in the "puppy" stage?

Lillie is my first Yorkie, so I can only answer about her, but after about 9 months she was over the worst of it. She was never really bad - liked to turn over the waste paper basket and shred any tissues, unroll the toilet paper and shred it, go outside and pick up a piece of wood and then chew it to bits all over the (white) carpet! By one year she was very well behaved. Just be patient and hang in with Reese and enjoy her!

That is good to know. Reese is not all that bad either she does also like to chew things up, she seems to eat anything is on my floor. She just started to bark in the last couple of days when she wanted to get out of her crate or pen. Before which she would just whimper. A yorkie owner at work told me to get a spray bottle with water and when she is barking squirt the bottle in her direction. Have you ever heard of that? The other problem that we are having is her sleeping. Last week she was getting up at about 2:00AM and then again at about 5:00AM. This week she has gotten a little better and is sleeping until 5:00AM, the only problem is I would like her to stay in her crate until we get up at 6:30 but she just starts to cry at which point I end up letting her out of her crate. Then I am up for the rest of the day. Any suggestions about how I can get her to sleep or at least stay in her crate until 6:30AM when I would get up for work? One last question, am I creating bad habits by letting her chew on our hands. I understand that she is teething and I always try to give her a greenie bone but she seems to prefer our fingers. It was ok at first b/c she did not hurt but her teeth have come in and now she is starting to hurt. Do you think we are teaching her bad behavior?

Lillie has never really had a problem with barking, except outside at the neighbors, or when the door bell rings she goes nuts - wait until Halloween! She has also always been a good sleeper. The first two nights we had her home we put her in a big cardboard box, but she woke us up crying in the middle of the night and my husband went downstairs and slept on the couch with her in his arms. Since then she has been sleeping in the bed with us! When she was real little - say the first 3 or 4 months we had her - she would wake up about 6:00 a.m. and wake us up, wanting to play. But now she goes to sleep when we do and gets up when we do. Lillie chewed on our hands constantly until her adult teeth came in, so I think that is normal. Good luck with her, she'll be the best companion you could ever want!

Thank you for your advice. It is really great to have a place where I can get all my questions answered. This morning when I left the house I felt very frustrated but now that I know these are all very normal behaviors that will subside eventually I am extremely relieved. Thanks again, Chiara

getting out of x-pen
 

I can't believe these little guys are able to do these things. A few days ago my (then 9 week old, now almost 10) managed to get out of her x-pen. We left her for about an hour, in fact this was the first time we left her at all. When my husband returned, he found Kiwi curled up with his socks. We have her crate in the pen, so we figured she got out with the aid of the crate. But After reading these posts, it's entirely possible that she climbed out. It hasn't happened since, but it has only been a few days.
If she does it again, it looks like I might have to invest in a cover.

Does anyone know where i can get this cover in Toronto, Canada?