New mom needs help!
 

Hello everybody, I was so happy to find a place to share info about yorkies.... So here is my story.

My husband and I were looking at this puppy sunday 2 weeks ago, really cute and playful, then we decided to think about getting her or not, then the next day I called the breeder to buy her and she told me that she sold the puppy. Great, I cried my eyes out thinking I lost her.
Next day my husband comes home and brings the mail for me with a pink and black cage with this baby inside. I was so happy to see her again and my husband said that he planed everything to surprise me...... Now it's Wednesday and we named her bella, she is really a good girl and also the crazy thing is that she was born on my birthday..... She is only 9 weeks old.

My questions are:
What is the best way to potty train her? I've read a lot about yorkies been difficult to train.
The breeder told me to give her purina puppychow mixed with can food 3 times a day.
What kind of treats are better to give her when she does something good.
Also I've seen a lot of comments about cottage c. is that too soon for 9 weeks?

Thank you to all of you and I hope that this forum helps me become the best mommy that I can be......:aimeeyork

Aww, what a sweet hubby! And welcome to YT! I'm gonna let the real experts answer your questions, but as far as potty training, Patience, patience, patience! is the key. :D Sit back and wait for your advice and have fun with Bella!

What a sweet husband you have.

The best way to potty train her would be to crate her. Find the smallest crate you can, and if it's still too big, stuff towels or something in the back. She should only have room to stand up, turn around, and lay down. Put her into her crate at night, and when you're not home to supervise her. Make sure you're taking her out to potty first thing in the morning, after eating/drinking, and after heavy playtime. Also probably about every hour in between all of those things. The key to potty training is prevention. Potty training will be tough but the time you put into it will be worth it in the end.

Purina Puppy Chow is not a very good food. If you do some searching in the Health and Diet forum, you'll find some wonderful foods that many here recommend. I would switch, but not immediately. Give her a week or two to settle in before you upset her tummy.

For treats, we use Cheerios, and little bits of cheese. Yorkie Yummies are also fantastic but your little one will be too small to chew those. I have no idea about the cottage cheese, maybe someone else will come along and help.

Congrats on your new bundle of joy and welcome to YT! :D

What a great husband. Congratulations and welcome. Are you home all day or work? That sometimes determines how you train them. If your home and want to train outside just start taking her out every hour or when she starts sniffing around. if you are at work pee pads in a large expen or crate work well. I would try switching her toone of the premium dog foods like Wellness or Innova, Merricks. They all of treats too.

Wow! Can I have your husband? That is so sweet....although he may have had second thoughts about his plan...since you cried and cried the day before.

How are you trying to train her? Indoors on pads or outside?

I never trained either of mine on pads. For outside...I took them out hourly up until bedtime...and repeated the phrase go potty. When they did go...praise, praise, praise...a treat works well too...cheerios are a big hit. I did take mine out the same door to outside...eventually when they did tell me...they needed to go..it was this door they went to. Take her potty first thing in the morning, first thing after eating, after naps, and before bed. She made be able to hold it all night...or she may not...so a middle of the night break might be needed.

I would suggest a better quality food....such as royal canine, Innova, Canidae, Wellness. Some yorkies have a problem with itching with royal canine...mine do not. You can purchase those foods at Petsmart or other pet supply stores. I did not moisten mine but mine were both 3-4 weeks older than Belle when I got them.

At that chewing age....I gave mine bully sticks as treats. There are small training treats available from the makers of Kongs. You'll find those at pet stores too.

I never gave either of mine cottage cheese...so no help there.

Enjoy your new bundle of love!!!

Think you've already been given some great advise on the questions you've asked. Those hubby's sure can be sweet :p My Meka was a gift from my DH last year... but, I just wanted to say :welcome4: to YT and congrats on the pup :D

How lucky you are! Welcome to YT :)

Welcome to YT. You have an awesome hubby. As far as training, I never used a crate for Murfee. I took him outside every hour or so and watched him very carefully for signs of when he needed to go. Then I would take him outside. When he had an accident I would tell him NO and take him outside. He was really very easy to train. Good luck.

Hi and welcome to YT , congrats on your precious new furbaby and your husband sounds like a great guy. I hope you stick around this place is a wealth of information. Looking forward to seeing pics of your little one too.

There are many ideas on potty training as you can see from the above posts. The best thing is to decide what you want and be consistant. A 9 week old puppy can very seldom be expected to have enough control to go all night in a crate without an accident as the above poster suggested. That being said crate training is a very good idea if you will be away for just several hours right now. Much depends on your lifestyle.

:congrats: :welcome4: You have a wonderful husband!!! Glad to have you here!:aimeeyork

Hello and welcome to YT , I found like most have already said using a crate for potty training works best. You must be consistent and never let her out of your sight. I would switch food after she has settled in, the one she is eating is not very good for her. I switched Lily’s food like the YTers had suggested and Lily’s coat has completely changes for the better and she no longer has the itchiness or dry skin. I only give Lily cottage cheese when she refuses to eat or for a special treat. Good luck :D

:thumbup: to your hubby. What a sweet gift that you will remember forever! Bella is an adorable name!
Can't wait to see some pictures of her.

Welcome to YT!!! Congrats on your new baby girl!

I do it inside with the pads because she does not have all of her shots yet, so they told me to not take her out where other dogs are yet.

She goes on the pads for now, she does not have all of her shots and they told me to try to stay away form other dogs......

Thank you all of you for your nice advise, I'm sure I'll be around to check all the details on this website that shows lots of love for yorkies :-)

Congrats and Welcome to yt:)

Congrats on the baby, what a sweet hubby ! Welcome to YT :D

What a nice hubby you have! Congratulations on the new puppy!!
:welcome4:to Yorkie Talk! You have been given some very good advise about potty training. Accentuate the positive and ignore the mistakes. They really respond well to praise and of course treats!!

:) Hi and welcome to YT. This site should come with a warning "Caution - Addictive"!

Welcome to YT!!!
my only advice....CRATE TRAIN!!!!
in my nook there wasa not other way
esp if you live somewhere like i do, where te weather is so unpredictable and leaving my furbabies outside where its 40 degrees (thats cold for a texan) waiting till they pee or poo (esp poo i hate cleaning that up)

you can find out the details of crate training on almost any pet training website. or just ask someone on here.......

man oh man
 

Some Girls Have all the Luck it was like pullin teeth to get my Hubby to say yes to my Lil Memphis Man But On the Other Hand im Happy for you and welcome to YT im new too so my best advice is to listen to the others Advice cause since ive goten him i feel like i have had a thousand question and ive had dogs all my life he just my first yorkie !! But again Congrat and welcome to YT:aimeeyork :thumbup: :aimeeyork :animal-pa