OT We Got Another Dog

We actually got her a week ago today.  We adopted her at the Petco in AV from Last Hope.  She was a breeder release because they have another breed they want to concentrate on for awhile.  So they sold off some of these dogs ( I'm sure they kept some).  She is 4 years old and very smart and loveable.  She has been bred but is spayed now and will have a MUCH different life than her first 4 years now that she lives with us.  She did great with housebreaking till night before last.  I took her out before bed and she peed then the neighbor set off fireworks. Grrrrrrrrrrr!    That scared her into the house and she pooped on the floor.  Last night I had her in our bathroom while we were out and she peed on the rug.  Was it because of the fireworks or because we were gone a long time or because we locked her up?  But that's the only two accidents she's had in the first week.  She got her teeth cleaned at the time of her spay and the vet she went to said they saw no health issues when she was there.  She's coming out of her shell a little more each day.  She doesn't know how to play or what toys are, but she knows what love is!  She just wants to be with us all the time, she rode to St. Cloud with us on Friday, spent the day and came back with not one problem.  She is just a flea of a dog at approx. 10 pounds.    She is a pretty little Yorkie that has a terrible lopsided hair cut, and a naked belly from the spay.  We'll be getting that fixed as soon as she's better settled in.  I gave her one quick bath already as she smelled a bit when we got her.  She's never seen a cat before and ours is bigger than she is, and wanted to play with her (she and Millie played alot).  That scared her too, so we are taking it slow with the two of them.  She let my friend's 10 year old son hold her the other day, and walked on a leash a for a few feet once she realized her feet weren't glued to the grass because of the leash.    She hates being in a kennel as that's all she ever really knew.  I guess I will have to put her in it this afternoon when we go out for awhile so she doesn't potty on the floor, as we will be gone a few hours. They had already named her Belle, so we just added to it.  Our daughter loves Audrey Hepburn who also had a Yorkie.  So we call her Audrey-Belle.    

Oh Gwen....this post made me teary. I am so happy for Audrey-Belle and all of you too. She sounds just adorable!! She is lucky to have been picked by you. She will have a wonderful and happy life. Post a pic when you can!! Hugs, connie d

We got some first day pics but I can't do anything but e-mail them till hubby downloads them to a different program.  I will post some as soon as I can.

OH for wonderful!!!  Thank you for taking in one of the special needs releases!  You will have a very loving and faithful sweetie I"m sure!! The following are just MY opinions and breeders and trainers may not agree.  They are however from my experiences and those are all I can draw on to try to help folks  :) Many things are going to be new to her.  You don't say if she's a mill release or just backyard breeder release.  They can be different in temperment and experience, though neither is good  :(  I'm sure the fireworks scared the heck out of her.  Just be careful you don't baby her though when she's afraid as then she will think it's normal and ok to be frightened... causing it to perpetuate...  If she's a release, chances are her potty training wasn't very good if anything at all.  Even though she's 4 years old, you are in essence training a puppy.  Please be patient and she will reward you ten fold  :) For some reason many of my mill furkids pee on soft things... I've got 2 shih Tzus right now that sleep in the pee box and pee on their beds...  argh  I don't know why this is but seems fairly common. She's going to be a real treat for you as she warms up... I have never found more grateful and lovable dogs than breeder dogs.  They are just so grateful for a new life and love yuo all the more for it  :)!!! If there is anything I can help out with if you have questions, please don't hesitate to holler!  I"ll help if I can! *hugs* to you and the peanut!!

Everything is new to her.  I got her a couple small toys and she just ignores them, when I try to play with her she just looks at me.  She walked on the leash after awhile but only in the direction SHE wanted to go.  She will only eat sometimes if I sit with her and feed her a couple crunchies to get her started, other times she eats alone if you are where she can see you.  She is learning to take food from our hands, we found a treat she just loves.  We are using the treat to reward her, but she won't touch milk bones.  The fireworks made her jump everytime they went off and the squeeling ones sent her running for cover.  I figure I am in potty training 101 with her, I wish I didn't have to take her all the way through the basement to go out.  But she takes off running sometimes and won't always listen so I want her in a fenced area.  Sometimes she takes off running in the back yard then just stops and looks around like Where am I going????  I don't think she had any potty training till she was fostered by Last Hope.  She is supposed to have come from a responsible breeder that owned alot of property and is still breeding a different type of dog.  So they were calling her a breeder release, not a puppy mill dog.  They said the breeder may breed Yorkies again at another time.  She is so quiet and for the most part just sits or lays and sleeps.  The only activity we see is if she outside.  I was able to find out her birthday and where she was spayed but that's about it.  We took her in on Monday and got her spay stitches out.  Hubby and I both had her in the backyard while the fireworks were going off, but she was scared.

Another treat they seem to really like is small pieces of grated cheese or tiny pieces of hot dog.  These guys are so used to crap dog food they don't know what the good stuff is.  We have also used little bits of wet food as enticement. When you are working on conditioning her to something new, give her her favorite treat as soon as she take a small positive step.  Like put a toy on the ground and if she takes a step toward it, PRAISE and treat...  if she sniffs it... the same until she gets that it's something good because it means a treat...  Kind of a Pavlov response set up with the food and bell.  Ring the bell and the dog will salivate...  go to the toy and get a good treat.  *shrug*  it generally works Also if the dog has issues going to the vet, when you are out for rides, stop in at the vet and have the techs give her treats...  pets and praise!  The vet all of a sudden means GOOD THINGS!  lol Ok, putting the puppy soap box away for a while... :)  Good luck!  and keep in touch - I'm excited to hear how she progresses!! *hugs*

I am feeding her Nutro Natural Choice small bites Lamb & Rice formula, and her treat she loves is Canine Grillers chicken flavor.  I give her one a day broken into small bites.  She will stand on her hind legs for those bites!  I think I will start keeping some in my pocket for potty rewards etc.  I always praise her for potty outside.  Hubby says I can NOT feed this dog table scraps.  We were gone tonight from 3:30 to 8:30 and she peed on the bathroom floor again.  I wanted to kennel her but hubby hates the idea because of her past.  I'm not thrilled with it but I know crate training is the best method of housebreaking (or so I thought).  I took her to the spot and told her no rather firmly and cleaned it up.  I thought of taking her to the vet just to show her off.    Thanks for your help, please keep the tips coming. 

It is so very hard to put these guys back into a crate...  you might try a pee pad on the floor and see if you can pad train her while you are gone.  Keep her in the bathroom but put that pad down.  Some are "scented" to help the dog understand what it's for... I can't smell anything though  lol You can use a crate - you are right, it is the best method.  If she is as smart as you say, she should train in no time at all! You might also try taking that tissue that you cleaned up outside with you and rubbing a bit of the urine in the grass or where ever it is you want her to go so the scent is there.  Every little bit helps! Keep in mind that her bladder is tiny... just like she is!  It's hot so she needs water but she can't hold much - especially if she's not used to holding it. You hubby is going to hate me but we always feed just a bit of scrap to our dogs...  that way if/when they get into the garbage, it isn't totally foreign to their stomachs and it doesn't see to make them sick...  Just another thing we do that is kind of "outside" the book  :) Keep up the great work!  Sounds like you are getting along great!!! *hugs*

Hubby doesn't want her to have people food because our last dog became such a begger it got hard to enjoy a meal.  She will pee outside with no problem, it's only when we are gone that she pees on the floor.  She can hold it all night and in the car when we are running errands etc.  All our trash cans have lids and the kitchen trash is under the sink till it gets to full then we set it out till the bag is full and then take it out.  The trash can doesn't hold half as much as the bag.  She officially wagged her tail when we got up this morning.  She loves rolling and tunneling in clean clothes when you throw them on the bed.  That's the closest thing I've seen her do that could be related to playing.  She comes to me sometimes and puts her front feet on my leg to pick her up.  We have to go away for awhile this afternoon, she can't go as their cat hates dogs.  So I guess it's pee pad shopping for me! 

ok on the food... you can always put it in with her food in the bowl and then she maybe won't get the connection... but I understand his reasoning  :) Let me know how it goes!!  I've got my fingers crossed she gets things quickly and comes out to play  :)  I still (and will always) say that rescues make the best pets  :) *hugs*