New Puppy seems miserable :(
 

Yesterday I brought home my new yorkie puppy. We have waited weeks and did everything by the book but my little honey seems so miserable. She went for shots before she came home so I thought she was just lethargic but today she is still fearful and not playful at all. Everyone keeps saying how playful and busy they are but she's not like that at all. The breeder, unfortunately, did not teach the litter any potty manner and they would poop in their bedding. She did this last night in her crate here as well. I cleaned everything up but don't want her to think its ok to keep doing it. She won't pee or poop while sitting with me, in her bed, or on the sofa so that good. I may have just gotten to her too late last night but I am not sure. She peed today near her box, but not in it. Because of her size and the weather we decided to litter box train her. Any idea on how to encourage her to go in her box? She has peed in it once and I kept the pellets in there for her scent but everytime I sit her in there she just sits, whines or lays down. Also would love ideas on how to avoid her going in the crate. She doesn't like the crate, but she settles down after some complaining. I don't want to keep her confined in it at all times so I keep her real near and make her visit the box quite often. I just want her to be happy!

How old is she?
What are you using in the litter box? Pellets could be dangerous as puppies tend to want to eat them. I have a grooming client that trained her pom to use a litter pan but she puts a disposable pet wee wee pad in the litter box and he caught on pretty quick.
If she is very young, you can't just put her in a crate and expect her to wait all night. She needs to be in an xpen with her litter box and a bed, food and water to prevent hypoglycemia.
Your breeder should have provided all the info you would need to have a happy puppy.

Oh love, our little Odie was sad for three days, he didn't eat the first day at all, very little the 2nd day and gradually the 3rd day he came round.
Just give him lots of cuddles and give him time.

Hugs Shirl x x

If you do not have helpful advice, please don't reply
 

No, I did not crate her and expect her to hold it all night. I did say I might have gotten to her too late. I am using pellets and no she isn't eating them. I know how to feed her and care for her and the breeder was very helpful. I posted for friendly advice not criticism.

Good advice! I agree with an ex-pen and your puppy just left it's mom and siblings. I would advise lots of cuddling and loving and patience. the first two days that Pixie came home she pretty much just wanted to be cuddled. So that is what we did and after those two days were up........Shazam the real Pixie was unleashed!! lol;)

She is just a baby and probably scared. Everything is new and different. Don't worry give her some time she will warm up after a while. Give her a day or two. I crate trained mine also. It is a bit tricky. My Coco kept just going into the crate to do his business. Go figure. Now they are all paper trained. I just try to remember to take them out every hour or two. Especially after they are all resting then they get up, out they go. They still have some mistakes, but over all they are good. Please don't give up. Remember she is just a baby. Give lots of cuddles and hugs. I'm sure she will warm up when she feels safe with you. Good luck and welcome.

Congratulations on getting your new baby. You will never remember your life without her in it.

congrats on you new puppy. :)

That being said, look at what is going on in your pup's world from her perspective. Her whole word has just been turned upside down and around. Everything that she has ever known is gone, mom, siblings, familiar surrounding and familiar smells. We tend to get excited about a new pup but forget that it's all about them. :) She is probably very frightened and does not know what is next in her world. My advice, give her lots of soft hugs and strokes, kisses and the room to explore. Let her go at her pace. If she wants to venture out, encourage her but don't force her...she will have to do it when she is comfortable with her new surroundings.

As for the crate, the breeder probably did not have her in there so she may no even realize that it is for her. I would leave a soft blanket in it and let her venture in and out of it so she can become familiar with it. Throw a couple of pieces of dry kibble or treats in there. Make sure she has something that she likes in there, like a toy. She needs to associate something positive while being in there. It will become her safe place. You will need to stay strong if crate training is what you want to do. If she starts whining, you will need to learn the difference in whining to potty or whining for attention. When we first got Hot Rod, he stayed in the crate for a few days but then we got him an expen. I put his crate, potty pad, food and water in it. He was so much happier as was I since I knew he could stretch out.

As for potty, you should make sure to take her to potty right after eating and probably every hour or so. As she is in the act, you should say a phrase so she will learn to associate the phrase with what is expected of her. I always give a small treat after they potty too. Pay close attention to the signs that she needs to potty and grab her and set her in the box or on the pad and say the phrase and just keep gently doing it, treat and highly praise after pottying. Best of luck with your little one. She will become your little shadow once she's feeling a little more secure. Lot's of hugs and cuddles always helps too. :)

How old was she when you got her. Does she appear to be afraid of the litter box.

I agree with the x pen. Give her a larger area than the crate but not free roam. If she does not like the litter box, maybe try pee pads for now.

also, i don't kmnow how you handle it when she potties in the wrong place, but at this point I woujld not scold her at all. Just clean it up.

If you got her too young she is probably fearful. if the breeder kept her in a crate, where she lived ate slept played pottied, it will take time to get her used to a different way of life.

So I would
use an x pen
maybe change to pee pads
don't scold
and be patient
it takes months, not days, to train them.

Thanks ladies!

I have an area for her to run around in, not an xpen but the same idea. She doesn't do much in there though, lol. She whines and looks for someone to get her. She does enjoy being held and we do give her the loving. I crated her for the night because I thought she would be safer and feel secure and she seemed to settle down quickly.

Oh I won't give up on my little girl, I just want her to be happy. I knew she would be lonely and wanted to check with all you yorkies lovers to be sure she would be fine.

People are trying to provide you with advice that you asked for.

Puppy pads are often easier to train a young puppy on and safer, small puppies will put anything into their mouths that they can... your puppy needs to have access to her potty place at all times... the best way to potty train them is to have them in an expen with the potty place on one side and the bed, food and water on the other side. Over time they want to do their business away from their food/bed and will automatically go to the other side to use the bathroom, then you can reward them for using the pad.

The breeder should not have been letting them go in their bed, she should have been starting to teach them to go somewhere else, so you will have a little more work cut out for you, as this puppy as already been taught that going in their bed is okay.

She will be fine, it takes them a few days to settle into their new home. Noises and people. Another thing that helped Pixie was I didn't let a lot of people around the house until she felt adjusted. We kept visitors away for the first month. lol Kinda like when you bring your first born home:) I just used that time to bond with her and make her feel safe. Once she felt comfortable we started working on the pad training.

It took Remy a week or so to get adjusted. During his adjustment period, his tail was down, he would only occasionally perk up his ears and he had to be with someone almost 100% of the time. You could tell he was unsure of himself, and us ;)

Stick with what you are doing, you need to get her comfortable and feeling secure. Keeping a very consistent schedule may help so she starts to learn what your routine is and what your expectations are of her. This may also help so that everyday is not "new"

Congratulations and best of luck with her :)

Your response is a bit harsh... She was actually giving you good advice.
But, good luck with you new puppy. Mine took almost a week before he acclaimated to his surroundings, but he finally did and yours will too.

Congrats on your new baby! Bringing a puppy home is both exciting and can be stressful at first. When we first brought Reesie home I had to keep telling myself, "He is just a baby." That helped out tons. My husband would always say that he was like a baby running abound the house without a diaper. LOL! Whenever you have her out of her crate/expen keep her on a leash attached to you. This way she will not sneek off to poop or pee somewhere. Expect her to make mistakes, because she will.:) When she does, just clean them up and move on. If you catch her in the act, clap your hands or say "AH-AH" in a loud voice and take her to the right place. Like others have said, take her out every half hour or hour depending on how old she is. The younger they are the more times you take them to their pee/poop place. Also, take her potty after she eats, after she plays, and after she gets up from sleeping. Yes, you will feel like all you do is take her potty, but the more times she goes in the right place the quicker she will learn where to go. Consistency is the key. Enjoy her. The puppy days go by too fast, and then they are gone. Hope this helps, and cangrats!:)

I agree - that was good advise and both mine took a few days (or longer) when we brought them home too. Regarding the litter box - I've not read many posts about dogs and actual 'litter' boxes - I know cats naturally will use them but I'd be scared for a puppy.

she just had shots right ? She may not feel well along with being in new surroundings

Good luck with her !

We've had our Yorkie puppy just over 2 weeks now. When we first got her she was very quiet and reserved. Like the other posters said, we loved on her lots and kept disruptions (visitors, etc.) to a minimum. She is a holy terror now! :D Telling our 5 year old mini schnauzer what to do and bending the humans in the house to her will (the head tilt gets us every time:p).

She spends her days (when we're not home) in an ex pen connected to a wire crate with an area for food/water and a puppy pad down. Our girl is 16 weeks old but that's still too little to go through an entire night without pottying. We have a second crate in the bedroom where she spends the night. She wakes us once usually for a potty break. We tried leaving her in her ex-pen crate overnight her first night and she was beside herself- 8 hours of barking & crying! :( The breeder told us she was used to being near people at night and to try having her sleep in a crate in our bedroom. That was the ticket! Being able to see and hear us was very comforting to her and she sleeps there happily without complaint every night.

Congrats and good luck!

If the brithday of your little yorkie is right in your profile that being dec-28-2oo9,maybe its because she is so young .she may need a little more love and understanding .i'll bet in no time she will see that you love her and she will come around and be the best little baby ever. Good luck with her.

gosh I never noticed how young this pup is. That is way too young to have left the breeders. three months of age or more is much better. Mine are often 4 months or more before going to a new home.

Crates and xpens
 

Castor Pollux has a crate home, but I didn't use it for potty training (bc I can't even think of him being locked up somewhere, but thats just my craziness bc crates are really good for a doggy-- Castor Pollux loves his crate, its his home all decorated with pink padding and pictures of me I just don't close the door)
Pee pads work wonders. I get the kind that say it attracts dogs and he pees on that pretty well, as far as poop. He just pooped where ever for about a week and I just kept picking up the poop and putting it on the pad. After a week he figured out thats where it belonged.
I think your baby will be fine. Doggies all have different personalities just like people so maybe you boo is just shy. Your baby will be fine and love you to pieces and be more yorkie like as soon as she makes up her mind whats ok to do.
My yorkie was a little reserved the first day and the trainer said that yorkies were bred for companionship (and hunting rats) but hunrint rats among people so they want to make people happy so they'll take some time to feel it out and not do much until they're sure that they won't upset you.

My baby is now 3 years old and I have had a time potty training her; I had thought that keeping her in the smallest crate possible (night-time only) was the way to keep her from peeing/pooping in her bed, but I was wrong - she has to go -she goes, even though I was dilligent with taking her out at 10:00 and getting up at 5:30 a.m.; She's great in the house, as long as she goes out every 2 hours - she just can't seem to hold it longer and will come and sit at my feet if she REALLY has to go. I finally gave in; and keep her in an x-pen with puppy pads at night - this makes us all happy and if she has to go, she does. However, I have found what works for her is since I have to go potty about midnight - I take her out to go too, and that keeps her dry until about 6:00 in the morning. Good luck!!! (Yeah, it takes a few days for her to get used to her new surroundings - we all probably worry too much) :)

Hello again....3 days have past and my little girl is doing well. She is warming up to me, but still a little hesitant and unsure. I am both happy and proud to announce she is using her litter box regularly, on her own!, and has not had one accident. I have to give her all the credit because I can't honesty say we even tried that hard. She is eating more but still not drinking as much water as I would like her to. Other than that she is doing great. I would like to thank everyone for their support. I expected alot with a new puppy but was unsure about her fearfulness and appreciate you guys sharing your experiences.

As for the post some people felt was harsh....I never said the advice was not good and I apologize if it came off that way. I reached out to yorkietalk for advice and the first reply rubbed me the wrong way, especially since I expressed how poorly I felt that she messed her bed. I was up at least 3 times that night and it still happened. So maybe it was just my perception, but it's the only one I have and I stand by it.

But enough of that......Again, thank you all for the support, well wishes and sharing of your own personal experiances. I think my little girl is going to be just fine.

Miserable puppy is coming along :)
 

Three days have past since we brought our girl home and she is doing well. She is slowly warming up to us and seems happier. She still wines ALOT, lol. But I mostly ignore her when she starts up and give her lots of praise when she stops. I am super psyched to report that she has had ZERO accidents since her mishap in crate. She goes into the litter box on her own and does her business. Lots of praise and love but I honestly don't think that is her motivation....whatever it is, i am hoping she doesn't lose it. We modified her crate area so that she has access to the litter box at night and she used the past two night with no problems either!

She is eating more but still not drinking as much as I would like her to, but other than that she is great.

As for the post that some people felt was harsh....I never said it was not good advice and I apologize if it came off that way. I reached out to yorkietalk for advice and because I was worried about her. I felt the first reply was helpful but critical and it rubbed me the wrong way, especially since I had already mentioned feeling poorly over her messing her bed. I had been up with her every two hours and it still happened. Maybe it was just my perception but it's the only one I have and I stick by it.

Anywho, I did want to thank everyone who posted with reassurance and well wishes. I appreciate you sharing your personal experiences, it helped alot to know it would pass. I have a feeling my little girl is going to be just fine!

Good job little girl - just keep making your mommie happy :D

THANKS Becca! She really is quite a joy, I heart her lol!

Sorry about the double post, the first one didn't show up so I decided to repost :)

Congrats on your new puppy and her potty training. Sounds like you are on the right track.

I have a question about new puppies and potty training. I am hoping to pick up my new yorkie in about 3 weeks from a wonderful breed..thanks to everyone here.

My other yorkie was not crate trained and I have no recollection of how we potty trained him.

Do I get an xpen and crate for use during the day...I am assuming you put the crate in the xpen and leave the door open so she can move in and out at will. And then do I bring her crate upstairs to our bedroom at night? Or do I leave her in the crate/xpen setup at night so that she can go potty when she need to?

I loved my yorkie and miss him terribly, but he was never crate trained and I have been told that the pups actually like being in their crate for sleeping. Any thoughts?

Thanks. :animal-pa

Crate training is a personal choice but many people swear by it. I have successfully crate trained 2 puppies I was fostering a while back. The crate is suppose to be a pups personal comfort zone and they do need this. The pups would go in it on their own when they were stressed or tired. It helps with house breaking and potty training as well. I think the important thing is to introduce it in a positive way and praise him/her when they get it on their own. Also, allowing them free time outside the crate is important, but the tricky part is that the free time comes after they have done their business! It takes work, but it pays off in the end. As for sleeping at night, it depends on the pup. You might want to try both ways and see how it goes. I started out wanting to strictly crate train my pup but her size and the weather steered us another way. My Leilah only goes in the crate at night and a couple times when I have stepped out for a quick errand. Honestly, she prefers being in the crate to being in her gated area that serves as an xpen. I think this has to do with the space being too big for her and I plan on condensing the size of her area.....i'll let you know how that goes. I did situate the crate for her at night so that she has access to her litter box, but no way to escape...she is becoming a little houdini! I wish you the best of luck and joy with your new pup.

My Lewie whined sooo Much i thought I was going to lose my head! lol. Hang in there like you have been doing. Sooner or later you'll look back and realize how much they've grown from when you first got them! :) and my word, they grow up right before your eyes...

cherish those young puppy days :rolleyes:

I lived in Hawaii for 6 years and absolutely loved the island. My husband and I honeymooned in Maui and named our Golden Ret. Maui in rememberance. We also named our foster pups Kona and Hana...lol. Our new baby Leilah is also island inspired. I worked for small company in Aiea too!

So how did you handle the whining? I mostly ignore her and sometimes she settles down but sometimes especially in the morning she gets real worked up when we leave the room. I am a bit unsure as how to go about dealing with it because I don't want to reinforce the behavior. Do I let her whine or do I make corrections. I know she doesn't much like being alone or behind the gate of the xpen when she sees our golden walking about so I figure its totally normal but I have never delt with whining, not like this, so I don't know if it something I should be correcting, lol. I make sure she is quite before petting or picking her up, or taking her out the crate in the morning and I am hoping that is enough. She's still real young so I am thinking its normal, for instance this morning during a short quite moment I picked her up and snuggled her and put her back down and she hopped in her bed and was quite.

Wow! Too bad you aren't still here, so you could pet sit for me lol. Yes, I agree - Maui is just so beautiful. I want to go there for the honeymoon my dh and i never got. Lol.

I too had the problem of either letting Lewie whine and whine or ignore him. I even wanted to bring him back to his breeders for a little while longer. Ok so here's what me and my Dh decided to do to try to make Our lives easier , we tired him out!!! We'd run circles around our living room and he'd come and chase us, and it's the most hilarious thing ever to see an uncoordinated puppy run, they're so eager and determined and excited. It helped some what, but hey it helped lol. It sure did help his apetite too. When he was ready to be with Manolo (older female dog who did not get along with Lewie at first) they kept each other company and grew to love each other. It would be so funny though because Manolo would bark (snap) at Lewie when he would keep whining non stop. In human years it would be like a 22 year old and a 6 year old. hah

So much growth in 2 weeks
 

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to give a status update on Leilah. It's been 2 weeks since I brought her home and she has certainly come out of her shell. She is now a typical puppy, running about and super playful. Her whining has subsided and she is eating more. She's a chunker and has grown so much already! I definitely think I have a future teapot on my hand ;), and that is fine with me. She begins puppy classes next week and I am so excited. She is not loving the harness at all, but we are hoping that she warms up to it like she did with us. She loves my Golden ret and has adopted him as her very own snuggle bug. We are working on the nipping but so far it isn't too bad. We are definitely a happy home. Thanks for all the support YT!