Stressed new owner! Am I doing this right?
 

Hello everyone! I'm brand new here and a brand new yorkie owner. We got our little girl when she was 8 weeks old. Now, I understand from what I've seen on here, that is a little young, but our breeder claimed that this littler has matured quick and took on mature behaviors rather quickly. That's why they let her go at 8 weeks.


She's just 12 weeks old. She's very spunky, fun, lots of energy, and LOVES cuddling and just being by our side. The nights have been a terror though..


We experimented with an xpen overnight, but we got a consultation from a trainer right after we got her, and he said to crate train her at night. So we've been experimenting with that. We keep her in a separate room so that we cant hear her bark when we try to sleep. The only problem is, I can't hear her bark over night when she needs to potty. Then she ends up soiling her crate over night. It's depressing and you can tell she hates soiling where she sleeps.


We tried keeping her in our room overnight so she can see us and that we could hear her when she needs to potty, but it was a nightmare. If we are at all in her sight, and she can't be cuddled up next to us, she will bark constantly for hours.


How do I handle this!? Being that the weekend is coming up, we were thinking about letting her sleep with us. That way she is calm and sleeps well overnight, and hopefully she will wake us when she needs to go out.


Any help? I'm ready to tear my hair out over this. The rest of the potty training and housetraining is going good. Not great, but it's not bad either. But this nighttime thing, we really don't know what to do. I'm open to anything! Thanks!

Did the expert give you a reason to not use the x pen at night? How was she doing in it? If she had been doing well in it, I'd go back to it.

he said that it will get her confused with going on a pad in the xpen and going outside. my ultimate goal is to not have her go inside at all. and he felt that her going in the middle of the night whenever she wants on the pad will not teach her to be potty trained overnight and learn to go outside.


plus, I just found out this morning, she crawled out of her xpen within a couple minutes of leaving for work. so the xpen is useless as of right now unfortunately. lol

First off welcome

I know what you are going throw we have two yorkie girls bellas 3 and Lily is 7 months. With Bella after trying the crate and that didn't go well we just plopped her is bet with us all went well.
This spring when Lily came we started with the crate and as with Bella that didn't go well so we did the same thing we plopped her in bed with us but that didn't go well she wouldn't settle so we took her travel bag and put it between our pillows and zipped her in. I could here when she needed to go potty and she was close to us and when we thought she was ready we let her sleep with out the bag.

You could give that a try.

I'm assuming her daytime potty isn't a problem? Will you be letting her sleep in the bed with you in the future?

First, if you don't already have one, I'd suggest you get a mattress protector. Just in case she does end up having an accident on the bed. At least you won't have to worry about the mattress being stained.

Second, perhaps you can take her out couple/few times during the night. With her being so small, I don't know if she can hold it throughout the entire night. As she gets older, you can trainer her to get your attention by various methods. One I see often used is the bell.

Third, please be careful not to let your girl jump off the bed on her own. If you have a hard time with that, you can put a little stairway or ramp for her to use. I prefer the ramp.

Good luck!

I do have a mattress protector. I know she won't be able to hold it all night. That's fine. As long as she gives me some sort of sign that she has to go. That's the only thing I'm worried about. Then I wake up in soaked sheets. lol she doesn't poop overnight thank God. So I know I won't have to worry about that....

Daytime potty training is not a problem. We've been ok with that. And we would like her to sleep in bed with us eventually, or wherever she pleases in the house. (Although, she doesn't like leaving our side. ever). My only concern is being able to know when she needs to go, or waking up to let her go.

Daytime potty, or when we're home for that matter, hasn't been to much of an issue. There has been accidents, but she's making progress. I'd like her to sleep with us, or wherever she pleases, eventually. I know she's too young to hold it at this point, so I'm just worried I won't know when she needs to go. For those who sleep with their pup, is their signs noticeable enough to wake you out of a sleep?


I just don't want to wake up with wet sheets. lol I know she won't poop over night, because of her schedule and her diet. So at least I won't have to worry about that.

I think I'd use an Iris pen instead of a crate if the little one cannot hold it (and that's normal, btw). Buy one at Amazon or Walmart. Will fit her bed, water, couple toys, and a pee pad.

looks like my computer lagged and posted a reply 3 times. woops

At such a young age, I'd say either x-pen or crate (I'm afraid of squishing my little ones on the bed and then afraid they'll kill themselves if they try to jump off).

If you plan to keep her permanently on your bed from now on, then you can try that out. But regardless, I think it's better and easier for everyone if you set a schedule, whether on the bed, in the crate, on in x-pen.

My personal preference is crate training. If done right (the right size, with proper training), this IMO is the best. It's super beneficial in the long run (i.e. when you need to crate your dog if you have guests over, or when you travel, etc).

At night, start by taking her out every 3 hours. If she hasn't soiled her crate for a few nights, extend it by half an hour to every 3.5 hours. And so on...basically until you can sleep through the night (this can take a couple months to many months - you just need to be very persistent and patient! :) ). And of course, you need to withhold water after a certain hour (I do 8pm) to be consistent. IF you notice accidents, that means you have to go back to more frequent potty breaks.

As long as you're taking her out on a schedule, you shouldn't worry about accidents, so you can ignore the cries (as long as she's not freaking out in the crate). If it's just minor whimpering, you can try to cover the crate with a blanket (try varying degrees of coverage to see what works) or put a loud clicking alarm clock nearby or a piece of your old clothing with your scent. Though...with the crate, it's very important to invest in some time to "introduce the crate" and make sure she learns to like the crate and is comfortable in it.
The Dog Trainer : How to Teach Your Dog to Love His Crate :: Quick and Dirty Tips ?
https://positively.com/dog-behavior/...joy-the-crate/

It's a pain. But I see you said you don't mind getting up. At such a young age, when they gotta go, they gotta go. They don't even know they gotta go, and they'll just go :D. And she's literally a baby - definitely hasn't been trained to "let you know" yet. A schedule will help with their internal pee clock. You'll be surprised at how quickly they catch on!

Well you are in the right place for opinions. Just read through them and find the right solutions for you. 12 weeks is super young in the potty training adventure.
I am going through this now with my youngest who in now 5mths old.
I am a firm kennel trainer. ( As long as its for training not to stay in 24 hours a day ) But thats not we are talking about. We are JUST talking overnight.
So I suggest kennel right next to your bed ( in reaching distance ) What size kennel do you have ? It is VERY important to use the divided to restrict the space in the kennel. They are so little at this age. Any who divided off the kennel with the divider. At first do NOT use any bedding ( this would just adsorb any pee ) after/if the pup pees it wil NOT like being WET a wine waking you up. But what you want to do is bet him to the punch if possible. You waking HIM up to go potty a couple of times durning the night, slowly extending the length of time. Now if confined in the small place if he wakes up he should wine to let you know "I gotta GO !! " after some time ( do not go to fast ) you can add a blanket if he is not having accidents but keep the space confined.
***** Take him out BEFORE its night night time - then put him in the kennel
***** If you find he is wining just to wine
**** Put something over the top of the kennel.
**** no this part might not sound super nice but if he continues to wine and your know his bladder is not full. tap the top of the kennel and say quiet
repeat as necessary.
*** if the tap and quiet does not work move to a a soft shaken ( pickup from your sleeping postilion LOL the top corned of the kennel and say Quiet.
If this does not work next time a little more aggresive tap on top of the kennel and shake at the same time saying QUIET a little louder. !!
Before anyone takes this wrong ****I am not talking about beating the kennel and shaking the kennel like a crazy person. Im just saying a firm "tab" "shake" "Quiet"
I have been able to teach all 4 of mine in ONE NIGHT what quiet means.
( I have some other tip on kenneling if needed )

agree with lots of this !!!

It was important for me to have the dogs crate trained- we live in a possible evacuation/hurricane area, I am a light sleeper and cannot have a dog moving around the house at night, I feel it is safer with two/ at times three dogs possible messes.
Abby was the hardest to crate train and still not crazy about it- the other dogs run to their crates at bedtime Abby has to be delivered to it. As a puppy I kept her outside our bedroom door close enough to hear but not too close. It took a week and an iron will to get her used to the crate, but 5 years later worth the pain.

If it were me, I'd be setting alarms through the night to get up and take her outside. Every couple hours to start, then adding time. Keep in mind she's so young she physically cannot hold her potty- she's only a baby.

I personally would be using either an X-pen or crate during the night for a baby so young to sleep in between potty breaks. Puppies can get up to no good so fast!

Both Magnus and Zoey are good about holding all night. But I do have bowl of water by the bathroom door and a pee pad in the bathroom just in case. They're allowed sleep where ever they want in the room so they move around throughout the night.

Magnus prefers to potty outside but Zoey is half/half. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any confusion as to where they're allowed to potty. :D

So funny. I did the same thing with Ruger. Couldn't stand to hear him cry the 1st night in his crate. So plopped the crate in bed with me. Stuck my fingers in the holes so he could lick. Slept like a baby. I would wake up during the night & take him out, go back into the crate, slept the rest of the night like a baby.
Never less, he's in my bed every night without the crate and we cuddle & sleep like a baby. Who needs a man in your bed when you have a cuddly Yorkie? Ha!

You could use a baby monitor. Just turn your recciver on when your baby settles down. Then you can hear if she needs to go potty..

oh my, I count my blessings that my only "rough" night was the first night. I had prep'd her crate by covering it and adding stuff (like a old sock and a new toy) that had her litter-mates/mom's smell. I set the crate next to my bed and wake whenever I hear her move, shining my iphone on her to check on her while in bed. She's usually going out of her crate (which I made an area for her to go into) to potty. More excitements and worry on my part, but I felt lucky that she did beautifully in adjusting to her new home with me. She has never cried lots at night, like I remember other pets did and I hear others had have issues with. When she did fuss a bit it was because she wanted attention or to get out for a sec. So i'd hold her to me for a little bit until I felt her become sleepy again.
The only time she has cried alot is the day when my mother let her free roam the house when i was working X.x;; Ever since then you can get her in the play pen etc. but don't ya dare lock/close her in X.x; That's when she cries/screams. One night my mother got fed up and let her out and she found herself a spot and conked out for the night.
We kept unsafe stuff off the floor, but ever since she's been really good going about her business. The first year was the rough part in that she has chewed on furniture on and off, but after that she actually got real good about stuff like that.
It all depends on the yorkie of course, but you just gotta watch them and get a feel of their personality. I was lucky that my girl did well but of course now.. as an adult she's spoiled. ^^;

Do you respond at all to her? You can't. You're essentially in a staring contest with her and you cannot give in or she'll be like this every night. Leaving her where you can't hear her clearly at night also isn't a reasonable option. At that age you're pretty much going to need to make a potty trip most nights, her bladder is tiny and she isn't likely to have great control of it yet.

With Cookie one night of just leaving her alone was enough, but it sounds like it will take more for you. I made Cookie cry herself out and shut up for 15-20 minutes before I responded to the whining, as I figured it was a "I have to go pee" request and not a "I demand to sleep near you tonight" request. There were some accidents early on but she hated soiling her crate and learned pretty quickly that crying at night was the signal to make a potty trip. It also helped her make the connection that barking at the door was how to ask out.

Wow talk about an information overload.
I have now read this whole thread twice. Thanks to everyone who added their advice and experiences.
We take delivery of our precious Lilly in two weeks, can't wait, and want to crate train from the start.

After reading this thread I think we have enough info to get off to a good start.
Now to get my beautiful precious wife to to not buckle in those first few nights.

I saw some advice about putting an item with the litters scent on it with her in the crate so I'm gonna make sure our breeder can supply us with such an item to help with that initial separation from her mom and siblings.