Too late to crate train?
 

I must admit, when I first got my little Bella at the age of 11 weeks, she was my first dog, my parents first dog. We were all in the clouds with how to train a dog. I felt crate training wasn't the right way to go, now I regret thinking that way. Bella is now 6 months old, she poops and pees wherever she wants, she tries to sneak somewhere to do it, but if she can't she'll do it jsut in front of you and stare in your eyes when she does it. There is no bladder control with her, Sometimes she barks at the sliding glass door and we think she wants to go potty, but she just goes outside because she likes sitting in the sun (that sun bum! lol).

I just want to know if it is too late to crate train, if not, how will I go about doing this?

When I am at work Monday, Wed, Fri, Sat, should I put her in the crate wiht food and water? Sometimes she doesnt eat Breakfast when igive to ther and she'll eat it when shes ready... so if she doesnt eat that morning, should I stick the food in her crate with her?

Is it bad to leave a dog in the crate for 4-5 hours at a time? I come home for lunch on M-W (F and S i work only 5 hours, and my parents are home-- I work at Bank of America). so during the time I come home, ill let her out to pee, and I give her food. But once I go back, I usually just let her roam the house, but now Id want to put her back in the crate.

What do I do? Please, I really need to get her to be potty trained before my parents dispise me for *cough* walking in with an $1,800 puppy one day, SURPRISE!

Thanks in advanced.

Honestly I don't know if it's too late... I would be inclinde to say no. Dogs don't like to sleep/eat where they poop - so by giving this a chance she might learn - hoepfully real quick. Although some people think that crate training is mean, I don't. It's a temporary way of teaching the dog when and where to go and how to hold their bladder for a little bit.
Go out, get a crate and start using it asap! Put her in it at night and when no one is around to let her out every hour. Also, be sure to praise and reward her when she does go outside to potty. She's probably going to cry & whine alot the first little while, but that's something that you'll have to ignore. Be strong and consistent... hopefully she'll get the idea and fast. Good luck!!

Thanks I wouldnt even think to do it at night too. Sleeping too?! She usually sleeps wiht me and has no problem at night.

Potty training
 

NO, it is not to late. She is only 6 months old. Yorkies can take some time to train. Sometimes a year or so.
It is true they are not supposed to potty where they eat and sleep. But you will find that they still will. ;)
I would put a very small amount of food in the crate. But I wouldn't put the water or they are likely to pee in the cage. I found the only way to potty train my baby was to crate train. At first he did pee in his cage. But when I put a little dry food he stopped. And they should only have enough room to stand up, and turn around. If you give to much room they will potty in the cage as well.
You will find your baby finds his crate a safe haven and he will like it. Make him/her fell like this is their special place.
You also need to take your baby out every hour. This is very iimportant. And you need to take out after every meal as well. If you catch em in the act, say Hey, pick them up and carry them outside immediatly.

They are very smart and they he/she will catch on.

Good Luck :)

never too late to crate train!

if you don't want to leave them in the crate for that long, use an exercise pen with a crate in it. You could also piddle pad train them.

What I am going to end up doing today is confine her to a small room in my house with no carpeting. I will provide no food or water, since she ate this morning and Ill be back within 4 hours to feed her and walk her during my lunch period.

Last night she barked when she wanted to go outside to poo and pee, so maybe she's SLOWLY catching on. :D