Who knows puppies?

Liberty44140

I cant bring myself to join a dog blog but there looks be some knowledge here about puppies  This is the Admirals new pal, Pancakes. She is 4 months old, we have had her for about 2 months. She is a "Morkie" which is a Maltese/Yorkie. Yes I know that crazy dog people say that she is a mut and Morkies dont exist so consider that point acknowledged. 

Anyway looking for training tips. We take her out often and when she "goes" in the house we rush her outside. We praise her when she goes outside yet zero progress on potty training. She goes wherever she likes. Similar on behavior. When she chews or bites she gets a firm no, second time she either goes to "jail" (large cage playpen with no toys), and sometimes she gets a bop on the nose which she hates. Immediately returns to whatever she was doing bad. What are we missing here? Vet and Breeder say to be patient but mine is running out  Good thing she is cute:

wm61356

I have never owned a "Morkie" but have had both Maltese and Yorkie breeds. Two  common traits I observed with both breeds are stubbornness and difficulty house training. With regard to house training, I found that crate training was a good tool to teach the animal to "go outside". Basically, we found that whenever the dog is let out of his/her crate first take it outside before letting it go anywhere else in the house. Also, make sure to take the dog outside after it eats as well.

As for the chewing, all puppies will chew. You have to watch them every minute and stop them if they start to chew something they shouldn't. Try to have a good supply of rawhide chew sticks or something similar and make sure the dog has one at all times. This will encourage the animal to chew on those rather than something else...like your furniture of shoes. Chewing is a natural habit for any dog. It will take a while for them to outgrow the habit and learn what is acceptable to chew and what isn't.

Lastly, always remember to reward good/correct behavior.

Good Luck!

93Vee

I think she wants to go for a boat ride!

reneechris14

I have lab and maltese,the lab best dog ever just wants to please you,Maltese don't listen,10 years old still has bathroom issues.crate training is the best way to go,it's not mean they love thier own space and it's good for you.

reneechris14

califco

I agree with the crate suggestion. I have the same dog, I felt bad about the crate so I tried to keep him in a bathroom with a mini door but he destroid all moldings and even chew the toilet water line. I figured that will happen so I had the water turn off,  I'm glad I did. Now we keep him in a crate during the night and when we are not home. We also use pads, he goes outside and when is raining he uses the pads. When we are not able to watch him he goes Into the cage, 

Stodge

We have a 12 pound Goldendoodle (Shelby) who took her first boat ride at 9 weeks old.  She loves the boat but does not like the water.  She was mostly trained when we got her and even rang a bell on the door to go outside.  All I can suggest is pee pads carpeting a restricted area (portable gate/fence in a circle).  If you see a pattern/location preference start reducing the number of pee pads.  Then try to migrate to the door and outside.  

If you're in colder weather it may just be a matter of it being too cold out.  Our little girl balances on her front legs a lot to pee.  I think this was to keep her business out of the snow but it stuck.

We took Shelby to puppy training at PetCo.  It was not for potty training but they may have classes/help on the subject.

Good luck and be patient

Liberty44140

Hey gang - thanks for the replies! Love the pics, we did get her a PFD for this summer. Not sure how she will like the water but she loves snow and loves the beach so we are optimistic!

Lots of good stuff here. We will take all of this advice. I think we need to be a little firmer with her. First dog so we are probably too lenient. We did do the Petco classes and got some things out of it from a training and discipline perspective. She is in the laundry room during the day but anything that she can damage is blocked so no issues there and she doesnt go in there during the day - only in the house in the evening! She is in a crate all night and we take her out when we wake up. Hopefully the chewing and biting stops with age, right now a firm no and "jail" seems to be our best option.

Anyway thanks again, we will take the advice! 

Glassguy54

Is this just a character trait of smaller dogs, the peeing and chewing? All our dogs have been larger breeds, Siberian Husky (hated the water) Golden Retriever (LOVED the water) Doberman (ambivalent, but eventually tolerated the water) and Shepherd- Collie mutt (great dog, by the way) We never had the issues described above. 

Liberty44140

I know that Maltese's are known for being very hard to potty train as mentioned above. The smaller breed puppy's do seem prone to chewing based on what I read but I keep hearing that once their adult teeth come in and they are done teething it should get better. I'll certainly report back on Pancakes progress! Yorkies & Maltese do not shed a lick and are nice and small for the boat which is why we picked this type of dog. My buddy with a Tiara actually made carpet to go OVER his Teak & Holly floor because his 95 lb lab was scratching the floor so badly. I laughed when I saw it.

J3ff

Only give a treat after pees outside.  Have done this with many dogs, less than a week and they are "trained" 

Stodge

@J3ff I agree if they are food motivated.  Not all dogs are.  I've heard of folks leaving the leash on their dog when inside to restrict their movements in the house.  That way you can get them outside if they show any sign of needing to go.