I am not sleeping at all anymore!

[Stitches29]

Kathy,
I will not stress this again. Schedule is the utmost importance. Without a schedule of some kind, FiFi does not know what to expect. About her poos. What goes in, usually comes out within a few minutes. Puppies generally will poo withing a few minutes after eating. If you feed them, then prepare to take them out to poo. If you leave her home, do not crate her unless you are able to come home at least every two hours. To have to waller in your own filth, is demeaning. Use an exercise pen, toys, bed, food, water and a wee wee pad, if you can't come home. The faster you get her trained, the happier everyone will be. It take dedication, time, work, patience. It's not easy, but when you stick to it everyday, it does work. If you slack off, then prepare to start all over again.

[Kathy]

Hi- Well, FiFi is in bed and so will I be in a few. I put her in at about 11:10pm. So...here we go. Wish me luck . I only hope my son does not sleep walk tonight. I don't want him messing up my routine . Actually, that is one of the reasons that I got off track with her to begin with. He often times screams in his sleep. He is a very vivid dreamer. This would wake up the dogs...........and so..............out we would have to go. This time, I am going to ignore puppy and only hope that 5 am is the earliest (for now). Ok....night. -kathy

[Kathy]

Stitches29- You had mentioned that after they eat they will generally go poop. Well, not my little one. She seems to go hourssssssssss after. It is not whatI am use to. She eats dinner around 5pm. She generally does not move her bowels until 5 am. For a while, I would find a poop in her crate if I did not get her by 4 or 5. And yet, in the morning she seems to go potty an hour after eatting (often) and then again in the afternoon. Thanks for all the encouragement. I am going to continue to take her to work. Funny, even when she is out of the crate, she doesn't seem to have to go potty until the afternoon. She seems to be tired during the day. I guess too tired to go potty . I also did try the pen routine and did not like it. She was learning to use the pad but wasn't learning to hold it or to not use the floor. She is doing better now that I have been crate training. But, like most yorkies....for every one step forward their are two that go backwards . Ok......but first steps.....bedtime now. Lets make it until morning . Daytime she generally does go on the pad or outside. SO.............sleep time for now .-kathy

[Mya's_Mom]

Mya is sleeping later now...YAY so there is hope for those that don't want to be early risers.
She is also content playing with her toys on her own.
This morning I fell back asleep with her on my bed after taking her out of her cage, putting her on her pee pad and giving her water and some food I surrounded her with her toys. I woke up an hour and a half later. She was happily chewing on her Giant Nylabone Edibles Baccon Flavored Bone. God bless the person that invented that ! We had bought the giant size for our large pom Comic. He lost interest in it. It looks cute seeing her chew on a bone about her size. At least I don't have to worry about her choking on it

[Kathy]

Good idea with the toys. Sounds like a kid. I use to do that for my son. I put toys on his bed so that whenhe would wake up he could play instead of crying and waking everyone up. Which toys do you suggest? I have a bunch but I think they get bored with them after awhile. I need toput them away a pull out new ones. How many do you keep out at a time? How often do you rotate? - kathy

[Sydney'sMom]

I do the same thing as you with the toys. But I do it when I crate her during my work day. She sleeps through the night now...so she doesn't need anything then. But if I don't put a toy in her crate during the day...she chews up her bedding out of bordom.

Anyway...I'm a really nervous Mom...so the only thing that I trust her to play with unsupervised is her Nylabone. It's funny that since it is constantly with her in her crate, she is super-attached to the bone now and insists on having it everywhere she goes. When she naps on my lap she usually falls asleep on top of the bone (which looks rather uncomfortable to me).

Also this may sound silly...but the only reason that Syd started sleeping through the night is that I put an old pillow in the bottom of her crate underneath her bedding. I take it out during the day...so it is just for nighttime. But she loves it, and since she is more comfortable now...I usually have to wake her up in the morning. She burries her face in her pillow as if to say "ah Mom...just 5 more minutes!".

[Kathy]

Hi,
I want to give her something to sleep on in the crate but I am afraid that she will just have an accident and mess it. I use to have a little bed in it but she couldn't (or wouldn't) hold it and it had to be washed frequently. Maybe, at this point (she now weighs 2.1lbs), she would not wake up because she would be comfortable. Who knows. Maybe I will try again. Thanks. Kathy

[trouble74_2000]

Good luck with your crate training. It sounds like things are atleast getting a little better. Slowly but surely. Best of luck. I tried the same things you have when I crate my yorkie. I also had the same problems with her messing on the blankets. I ended up putting piddle pads in there until she started to mess on them and then push them to the corner. Once I left her in her crate without blankets or pads she trained alot faster. There was nothing to soak up her messes. So she had to feel her messes and she did not like it. Soon after she stopped messing..
Good luck. It sounds like you are doing great.

[Debr]

I used to be good at telling people how to train their dogs-since Dixie came home all the knowledge I had has flown out the window.

The method I used for my 3 shepherds but doesnt seem to work for Dixie, which I used to tell people to do- first give pup a stuffed animal (something close to her size, a surrogate sibling), next place a clock by crate(simulates moms heartbeat)-and never ever give in when pup cries. You can start by putting pup in crate, and stay in front of it-let it out when you want to preferably when shes being quiet. When pup learns you will always let her out try leaving the room. Then increase the time-5 mins, 10mins, 20mins, 40mins and so on. You can leave a tv or radio on some pups need to hear things so they dont feel alone.Pup learns you will always be back and becomes more comfortable with the crate. Also, always use 1 word for the crate here we use house. I say go to your house when I am leaving and Angel goes to hers in my room and Zoie goes to laundry room door to wait her turn to be let into her house.

When you let them out for crying, or tell them shush, or acknowledge them when they are yelping and making a fuss it creates bad behavior and makes crate training harder. First they learn they can make some noise and you will run, next dogs live via a social structure-simple things they do are a way to challenge you it is in their nature to see how far they will get just like kids-nosing you to be petted, putting their feet on your chest, demanding to play or be fed,tug of war, disobeying commands they know for sure and so on. A major reason they cry is being alienated from their pack is viewed as the most severe punishment they can have but in giving in when they demand you are teaching them they rank higher then you. It is important that they always view you as alpha-example if pup runs to road, car is coming-if you are alpha you yell COME pup comes. If pup is alpha you yell COME pup keeps running-and you get the picture. You have company coming over- you as alpha- can tell puppy sit to be greeted, puppy as alpha puppy is jumping or growling at the company possibly biting them. Try not to give in.Dogs are also den animlas. Once they get used to their crates they will love it. Angel had to have her crate in my bedroom and she sleeps in it-on her own, while the other 3 big dogs sleep on the floor by my side of the bed.When she wants to be alone or not share a toy she will go to my room and go to her crate, it is her place her house.

I know all that worked for my shepherds and it was easy to offer that advice to folks whom adopted from the shelter-but Dixie has the upper hand right now and has made her house on my pillow. We are taking the baby steps I mentioned above-we are up to 15 mins with me out of room with the tv on.

[lovmyyorkie]

I don't know if anyone else suggested this yet, but when I first got my maltese she cryed a lot at night and moved around a lot. I called the breeder and she told me put a T-shirt I had woren unwashed in her creat to sleep with her, so she could smell me and feel safe. It worked, later when I got my yorkie I did the same thing and never had that problem with Buffy. I'm home all day with my girls, so when I leave them Buffy has a hard time sometimes so I give her one of my T-shirts and it still works on her.

I have told the same thing to friends with new dogs and it worked like a charm for them.

Let me know if it works or not, ok.

[Sydney'sMom]

Originally Posted by Kathy

Hi,
I want to give her something to sleep on in the crate but I am afraid that she will just have an accident and mess it. I use to have a little bed in it but she couldn't (or wouldn't) hold it and it had to be washed frequently. Maybe, at this point (she now weighs 2.1lbs), she would not wake up because she would be comfortable. Who knows. Maybe I will try again. Thanks. Kathy

Syd always has something to sleep on. During the day when she is crated I put an old sheet in there and she makes a little nest out of it. I hit up all of my family for old sheets and I bought a few from the salvation army store. She has about 15 sheets and she ocassionally messes on them so I have to do "Sydney laundry" twice a week. But it's worth it because I want her to be comfortable.

For the pillow...when I bought my self a new one recently I took the old (squished down) one and wrapped it in a garbage bag and taped up the opening. Then I put in an old pillow case and put it in her bed under her sheet. I wrap the sheet down under the pillow so that she can't get to the plastic garbage bag to chew on it.

She loves her pillow. Plus if you put a sheet or big towel in there, when she does pee in her cage it makes less of a mess b/c it gets soaked up. If they just do it on the plastic floor then they step all in it.

[Kathy]

Everyone has great comments on how to train these little yorkies. FiFi's problem is not being in the crate. She always goes in fine. She rarely cries. If she does it usually means that she still had to go potty. If I let her back out, as long as it was right after, she generally has to go. When I put her back in I heaar nothing until about 5 am. That is where I sometimes wonder what to do. I try to ignore her but she cries loudly. When I come down to get her (usually sleep walking) she has to go realllllllllll bad. I let her out and she goes potty like a race horse. Then, she is wide awake and hungry too. I generally feed her then and this follows by her needing to go potty shortly after. I would love to be able to sleep at least an hour longer.If I ignore her I wonder if she canhold it any longer. My question is: Do I ignore her and make her extend it out a little more? Or, realize that she needs to go out and that is the way it goes? Let her out and put her back into the crate for another hour? She has not wet the crate in a week or so (since I have been putting her in between 11 and 12 and lettingher out around 5am). I know that she can hold it for 6 hours max. I am not sure about anymore. She weighs 2 lbs now. - kath

[Sydney'sMom]

I think that being able to hold it all night just comes with age. How old is she. Syd just started to be able to hold it all night and she is 6 months. But sometimes during the day she goes 3 times in a half hour.