10 week old pup-questions
 

Hi there,
This is my first post.... I am an absolute Yorkie lover; I have a 12 year old (yorkie fem) at home and am picking up a new baby from a reputable breeder in my area. She is ten weeks old, VERY small, weighs less than a pound.

I would so appreciate advice on house training, as it has been 12 years since my last puppy.

Is 10 weeks too young to crate trane? I am a stay at home Mom and am prepared to spend LOTS of time with my precious pup. Ideally, I would prefer to keep her in a crate only at night in my bedroom and then in a pen downstairs, during the day, with the crate placed inside the pen and wee pads as well, just until I can train her to go on command outside, as my older girl does. (She goes potty on command, the little sweetheaert.)

Please help! it's so long since I have had such a tiny pup at home, and would appreciate any advice.

Sorry, one other question: the breeder leaves food out all day. Is it okay to change this to three or four meals a day at specific times? I would like to do this because I think potty time would be more predictable. I will feed her the exact same diet she has received with the breeder until it is safe to change it.:aimeeyork

I am VERY NEW at the Yorkie thing, but I know that when I got my pup at 8 weeks, we went STRAIGHT to the crate!!! I give my boy the crate naps for his 2 big naps of the day (8-10am) and (12-3pm), and thats when I run my errands, and then his later evening little snoozes, he sleeps in his ex-pen. So I know from my little bit of experience that 10 weeks is NOT too young to crate train. Mine did night time in the crate since day one, and he has ALWAYS slept AT LEAST 6 hours, but ususally it's more like 7-9 hours STRAIGHT THROUGH, but I also really potty him EVERY 1/2 hour from 5:30pm until he goes to bed at 9:30pm.......thats worked great for us. I didn't do ANY wee pads, and we have only had about 10 accidents for the whole month that we have had him, he has done GREAT!!!

Good luck!!!

Welcome and congrats!!! If she is still under a pound I wouldn't go messing with her food just yet;) With one so small you worry about blood sugar and the stress of going to a new home is enough to deal with right now. I would give her time to adjust and really watch her eating patterns and gradually adjust to set times, and yes multiple feedings when you get to that stage is a good idea. Did you get any info from your breeder about low blood sugars?

Again welcome to YT and Congratulations on your new baby!! We love pics and would love to see both of your babies:D

Thanks for the info!! Did your puppy cry a lot its first night home? If so, how do you know whether or not he had to go potty? Hop I am as lucky.Your schedule sounds really excellent, as does your success rate.

As to her diet and the low blood sugar question- I have already asked the breader and he tells me that the pup has not exhibited any symptoms at all and stopped feeding off its Mom 3 weeks ago. She has been on a diet of Science Diet puppy mixed with a little cottage cheese and goat's milk. I have been told to stick to this for another 2 weeks, and then slowly reduce the last 2 items until she is just on the puppy food.

I can't wait until Monday, when I pick up my little furball. I will probably be asking you guys lots of questions.

I just hope my older Yorkie gets along with her; she is normally of a very sweet disposition, not a snarler or yapper. Her partner of 12 years died 3 months ago, and she was in a real depression for a long while. I hope the puppy gives her a new lease on life.

Hi
 

Congrats on your new baby! In school I've learned if you change they're food, start out with about 25% of the new food mixed with the old food for approx. two weeks and gradually add more through the month! It's a gradual process so you don't mess their system up!:)

Puppies do not have much bladder control (sphincter muscle control) under 4 months. Your little one will have to go a lot. I would use an x-pen until a little older. Put a pee pad on one side, cozy bed, lots of toys and always have food and water available in the pen. With the high risk size be careful of hypoglycemia, blood sugar can drop fast. Too much stress can also bring it on. Have some Nutrical on hand. Start slow and use your first couple of weeks to bond before training. You are lucky to be able to be home.
Good Luck to you! Can't wait to see pics of your new baby.

Thanks for the tip about the Nutrical!!! I had forgotten about that one, used it for my last pup 12 years ago. I bought a play pen and will put her crate in it during the day (door open) with wee pads on opposite side. I want to only close the crate at night for sleeping.

What about "safe" toys that I can put in the pen, for comfort and chewing gratification? Any suggestions?

Also, I read somewhere hear about using Honey Nut Cheerios as a reward during potty training. Is this OK for a ten week old baby?

Again, thanks all of you for the info.... it's soooooo much appreciated.

He cried the first night for about 1/2 hour, and that was RIGHT after he had pottied, and fortunately he had pooped just about an hour before, so I really didn't think it was EITHER ONE, so we left him to cry. The second night he cried for 25 minutes (same scenario as before) the third night he cried for 10 minutes, and from then on he slept the whole night!!!! I have to tell you that when he cried I did NOTHING.........I didn't go see him, I didn't say "NO" I just TOTALLY ignored him. ( he is outside the hall from our bedroom) it's hard to ignore that little whimpering and "cawing" it was a weird sound, but I think he just plain got used to BEDTIME.
Things that worked for us: Noisy during the day when he sleeps, and keep him/her in a well lit area, when I am running my errands, either the radio is on or the TV is on, and we give him TONS of attention during the evening especially, so that he's 'sick of us':D and WANTs to go to bed LOL!! And then bedtime is QUIET and DARK, and those things worked for us (plus the going potty every 1/2 hour for several hours before bed) I didn't do WEE PADS because I thought it would confuse the little guy, and even though the HIGH TEMP over the last few days has been MINUS 5 degrees, he goes out, does his dutys, and knows he will get a treat and be able to GO BACK IN to the warm!!!!

Siara, thank so much for you info, it's been very reassuring to me. Do you know the weight of your pup when you brought him home? I think what concerns me is how tiny she looks. I am going to try and port a pic here; she is standing next to soup can, which is the same size as a soda.
How cute is that little face!?? Seriously, I don't think I ccould let her out of my sight for 2 secs. The funny thing is that when I visit her (often),she is so unbelievably naughty and full of energy. It's just toooo adorable seeing this tiny morsel prancing around and trying to drag anything and everything, even if it is 100 times her teeny size......

Oh she is SOO cute, it's amazing how fast these little guys grow up!!!! Mine was a little bigger than yours.........mine was JUST OVER 1 pound at 8 weeks, and by the time I got his 10 1/2 weeks shots at the vet he was already 2.2 pounds, but mine looked VERY MUCH like yours but at the 8 week time. SOOOOO cute!!!!!!:D

Siara, do you have a pic of your little guy? What's his name? Wish me luck for tomorrow, when I bring my little Mango home :):)

I found an article about it

http://www.peteducation.com/search_action.cfm?cls=0

The link did not work... what is the article about?:confused:

Congratulations

This Is The Way I Did It With My Little Harvey.
We Got Him At 8 Weeks, He Weighed 1.4lb.

We Intended To Have Him Sleep In The Kitchen In A Crate, (the Crate Was Too Big So I Made His Bed One Side And Put Wee Pad Folded In The Other Side). However We Tried And He Cried So My Daughter Slept On Sofa With Him For 4 Nights (we Just Couldnt Bear To Leave Him To Cry - It Was That Little Face!!!!!!).

When I Took Him To Be Checked At The Vet - He Told Me I Should Get Him Into The Sleeping Pattern I Wanted For Him Straight Away - As It Was Unfair To Get Him Used To A Different Way Then Change Him Again. It Was Heartbreaking And He Cried For About An Hour For The First 3 Days - But Eventually Stopped And Though He Doesnt Love His Crate - He Doesnt Object To Going To Bed At All.

We Take Him Out To Wee Regularly And He Hardly Has Any Accidents - He Is 10 Months Now And Weighs 3.5 Lb.

Good Luck With Your Little One.

potty training