Picking up our rescue dog today.
 

I am brand new here. I am going to pick up my yorkie today. He is a rescue from a puppy mill that has been shut down. I have been going back and forth with the woman who is rehoming him with tons of questions. She says that he is short ( she has a 9 month old yorkie who is taller than him) and he weighs 9.2 Pounds. My question is i have a dog crate that is 20 in long, 12 in tall, and 12 in wide. Ive been looking at average sizes of yorkies and think this will work. What do you think? I just really dont want to ask the woman any more questions as she is at work and ive been blowing her phone up with questions the past 2 days.
Thanks in advance.

Welcome to YT, sorry can't help you with the crate measurements, I would like to thank you for rescuing this little boy. Please keep us up-dated in his adjustment to his new life, in a new home, with new loving family.

Thank you for helping this little rescue and taking on the issues that some of them have with an open, loving heart. People who help these dogs, little creatures who've known nothing but cages and deprivation, who are so needful of real, responsible love, a regular schedule that includes trust and confidence building activities, lots of exercise, play, fun, training, inclusion in the family, stability and sometimes infinite patience. They are worth all the effort and you are an angel for taking a former mill dog!

For the short periods of time your dog will be crated - when you are too busy to supervise her out in the house, have to run an errand during housebreaking training, all a dog needs is a crate big enough to stand up, turn around in and still have room for bedding, water, food and a poop pad for emergency situations. Too big a crate may encourage pooping in the crate rather than training them in holding their bladder/bowel.

The rest of the time, your dog should be out living its life with you and learning how to be a real dog. :)

Initially, I thought it was a little small. Measured my 10 pounder, your crate should work just to transport home... we didn't use a crate to transport, ours was pretty happy in our laps. We did have a collar and leash though. Congrats on the adoption!

Puppy mill rescues are kept in crates their whole lives. I usually recommend people use baby gates in kitches or bathrooms and potty pads. A puppy mill rescue won't know not to use the crate as a bathroom. You can get a crate as a source of familiarity and comfort for the transition but I would leave the door open. Thank you for rescuing, there is lots of information about how to socialize and potty train these guys, good luck!

I would not put your 9lb Yorkie rescue in a crate that small for any length of time. Has this woman been working on house training him? Puppy mill dogs are kept in small cages all their lives so they are accustomed to pottying in their cage. He has been trained to pee and poo in a cage so putting him in the crate is not going to work as an aid to potty training.

Have you ever taken care of a puppy mill dog? If you haven't you may need to have some help. Here is a link to a YT article about rehabbing a puppy mill dog although it is not all inclusive it is a start.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...nt-advice.html

Remember that all dogs are individuals. You will need to get to know this poor guy and find out what his needs are.

yes i work from home so I have all intentions of having him out as much as possible. He is three and has been a stud in a puppy mill his whole life. But the woman who rescued him said he is crate trained and is comfortable in a crate. I only intend to use it to bring him home, to sleep in, and to let him retreat if he feels stressed. I would love to never have to leave him home as i know most yorkies suffer from seperation anxiety, but we will just have to see how he does in the car. Thanks for your help and i will keep you updated.

He's a blessed and lucky boy to have you. Hope tonight goes very well for you guys! Can't wait to hear what you named him and how he fares in his adjustment to live on the "outside" of his prison.

Not a big fan of HUSA but here's some information on crate size from their website and another website that pretty much agree on the size a crate should be.

Crate Training : The Humane Society of the United States

A Trainer's Truth About Crates | Modern Dog magazine

Think of the crate as a hideaway, a tiny, private den, small and cozy. Mainly, crates are used to temporarily house your dog when you can't be watching him until he's housebroken so they don't need to be living-quarter sized or big enough to romp in - just big enough for the dog to stand up and turn around in, sleep with his legs outstretched. If the crate is too big, the dog will eliminate in one end and retreat to the other, which doesn't hasten the dog to hold his pee or poop at all.

I must have missed something, I thought your crate was to just transport from the rescue to your home. :)

I picked Piper up, literally; set her in the seat next to me, and she ended up nestled next to my leg for the entire drive home (@45min). I just wanted her to be as comfortable as possible and feel very safe...who knows what she must have been thinking...All the best to you and your new little partner!

Hi everyone. That k you for your advice and support. This far the transition has been amazing. I went in hoping for the best but expecting the worst. He really isn't that bad. He is very loving and loves to be held. He did great on his leash at bathroom breaks. He kept barking when he was in his crate last night (we ggot a slightly bigger one than the one listed above) the woman said that he has been sleeping in a crate no problem. Since he kept barking I put him in bed between my husband and I had no problems. The only problem we are having is him marking his territory. We have another male dog in the house who is fixed. We have a belly band on him for marking but he is doing great with actually using the bathroom outside. Oh and we named him bo.

Definitely agree with this statement. My last yorkie was a rescue from a backyard breeder. As a result she spent most of her time in the crate. When I got her, (because of lack of knowledge) I would put Brandi in her crate while I would run errands. Big mistake....I would come home to a mess. I was giving her a bath and cleaning the crate almost every day

She was so used to potting in her crate, it didn't bother her. Finally I worked with her until she was fully potty trained. And while she was in training, I got a huge expen which helped a lot. Once she was potty trained, I gave her run of the entire house and she never ever went into a crate or ex-pen again unless we were at someone else's house and it was for safety reasons.

I would go with a nice size expen or huge crate that' has enough room so that he won't step in his poop. I would come home and Brandi would be literally sleeping in her poo. But I understood she was like that because of her background. And I would just clean it up. I never once scolded her. I only gave her praise when she potty in the right place.

:thumbup::thumbup: :thumbup:

Happy to hear all went well in bringing lil Bo to his new home and your bed lol, spoil, spoil, spoil this little boy. How did your dog accept the new kid entering his turf.

Thanks for rescuing this little guy! I can't offer any help with the crate since I have no experience with a puppy mill adult dog but I know me and Freedom would be a word I would use frequently around my home if I were to bring one in. So I say x-pen with maybe a smaller closed in crate so your little man has a place to go for security if he needs it. I'm sure I stand to be corrected and if by chance I ever bring in a rescue that has been treated poorly in any way I will be asking questions here too! I just mostly wanted to say thanks!!!

The dogs get along great, they are bestfriends already. We used to have a cat who had kittens and my dog would lay and cuddle with them. He is a 80 pound black lab who thinks he is a tcup. He is so gently with my kids and other animals. He did drool a whole lot when they were first introduced, idk what thats about lol. Any advice for the "marking". The belly band is a short term solution how can i make him not do it? The family we got him from said eventually he will stop bc he wont like the pee feeling with the band on? But ive never had this issue with any other dog.

He's a former stud dog dog? I imagine the rescue has neutered him but if not, you must have that done to help him have less testosterone and the male urge to mark all territory he walks into. Stud dogs are highly territorial males and known "markers", so I'm assuming you knew you would be undergoing a real re-training, housebreaking, anti-marking campaign when you learned of his history. If not, the rescue should have told you that stud dogs have marking issues, particularly if left un-housebroken or only half-heartedly housebroken.

Google "stud dog marking" and "male dog marking" and read all you can about what urges, instincts and habits create the tendency to mark, all the body signs he sends when he's about to mark and all the ways to train a dog to stop it. It teaches you it can be done. Different dogs do better using different methods sometimes. Crating and taking them outside often are the two best housebreaking methods I know of. In extreme cases, some people even leash their little marker to their belt but if you're not watching him, he can still hike on the end of the leash! The key is to constantly be watching your "marker" for his first few months in your home when he's out and about in the room.

Just crate him anytime you cannot watch him so he can build up his ability to hold himself and otherwise, when he's out in the home, confined to only the room you are in during his housebreaking training, watch him closely for signs he's about to pee/mark and stop him, saying "Let's go Potty!", immediately rush him outside the moment he shows an inclination he's about to hike his leg. Stay out with him until he does and instantly praise and treat him when he does go outside. If he doesn't, when you bring him back in, be highly aware that going outside and the excitement from that will likely make him want to mark soon after he's back inside so watch him for the first sign of intense ground sniffing, looking intently at a place to mark, going in circles, walking close to objects they are about to "mark", etc., and get him back outside with "Let's to potty outside!".

All he's ever known in peeing where he was, in a cage/crate/pen, most likely, and marking his territory from other males, so you will have to train him that the house is completely out of bounds now and show him outside is the best place in the world to "mark" his territory from this point on. You must keep him in your eyesight for the next several months as the more he marks, the more he will instinctively mark.

I always take dogs I'm housebreaking out every 30 minutes the first two weeks or so in order that they come to learn that the place to "go" is outside, it almost always or will soon be made available to them with a trip outside and they get instantly and happily rewarded when they "go" outside so they begin to learn to hold themselves for the next scheduled trip outside. Their body clocks are excellent at knowing how long away that next trip outside is from now and they begin to hold themselves for the greater reward of their treat and your praise when they go outside. You really need to get the point across to them that peeing/pooing outside is as if the dog just left 14 carat gold on the ground, won the lottery and really, really pleased you by going outside and show him he'll be amply rewarded every time he does it, by both treats and your praise, celebrations with him. He'll be flooded with "feel good" hormones in his brain and want more of that good feeling.

Plus, they soon learn that the whole big world can take part in enjoying their scent- marking outside and much prefer to mark that territory once they know better. Marking outside is an even greater instinct for dogs than house-marking is. So either keep him crated when you have to leave the room or take him with you but never allow him a moment unwatched in a room for the next several months. It's no picnic you've chosen in getting a puppy-mill stud but it was so loving a thing to do, I know you can help him become a beloved, happy pet. It's entirely possible to retrain and housebreak a dog if you get your point across well enough that house-marking will not ever be tolerated, teach him that he can hold himself for even greater rewards and let him know you will always know before he does he's about to mark by how closely you watch him, don't scare or frighten him when he makes a mistake but simply matter-of-factly reinforce what you've been training him to do, hold himself until you get him outside and then when he goes there, he gets big rewards. So even after mistakes, bring him to the area matter-of-factly(never angry or harshly), say "Let's potty outside" and take him outside, just to reinforce that pee should be associated with outside and take him to an area he normally pees in, put him down and say "Go Potty One" or "Potty outside" with a happy tone of voice and a smile. If he doesn't, so be it, but just keep always doing the same things over and over as you teach him what is not allowed and what is expected, giving him time to learn and then do what you want, and keep him on a schedule of going outside his body clock can count on.

Dogs also pee/mark due to anxiety, deep respect, fear, worry, boredom, etc., so his change of home and learning all the new relationships in the home setting will be traumatic for him so expect his first few weeks to be ones of a lot of tries to mark to relieve his tension and anxiety. Watch him like a hawk and learn all you can about how to help him through this re-orientation of his life to a whole new way of living.