Problem housebreaking new puppy!

[SophieLiz]

we have just (2 weeks ago)got a new puppy, she is a 9 week old Chorkie (chihuahua X yorkie).
She has learnt not to toilet in the house and has even started asking to go out by squeaking at the back door...but... she had a bought of diarrhoea last week and had an accident in her crate overnight since then she has taken to pooing in the crate and eating the evidence! it took us a day or two to catch on to what she was doing but its almost as if she waits untill we put her in her crate to do it as if she thinks its what she is supposed to do. she does all her wees outside (we still have the odd accident) and when she does do the occassional poo outside she gets lots of praisebut im stuck at what ele we can do to sort the problem. Any ideas how we can get over this?

 

[CAYLA]

Is there any particular time, when he is left in longer/bed time/after a meal, could there be a correlation with meal time?
How big is his crate, could u make it smaller or use a cat carrier(as he is so tiny) then gradually increase the space again, to discourage him from doing it, by taking some space away?
What are u feeding him?

 

[SophieLiz]

hiya thanks for your reply,

her normal day goes.... (please note i work evenings in a pub and my boyfriend works perminant nights so our days are a little odd)

6.30 .. my b/f gets in from work and lets her out for on the garden and plays with her for half an hour before putting her in her cage and coming to bed.

about 9.30 ish...i get up, let her out onto the garden, feed her breakfast, play with her for about an hour or so then take her back out before putting her to bed again.

i then go out and sort the horses and return at about 12 and feed her.

then she stays out for the afternoon and mills about doing puppy stuff, she will be put in bed for about an hour when i pop out to feed the horses

5 she is fed again plays, let outside.

i leave for work at 6 and my boyfriend takes over watching her.

at 9.30 he leaves for work so again she is put to bed after being let out on the back yard.

i come in at about 11.30 let her out, play with her and normally she goes to bed at about 2-3ish

normally whenever she is out and about in the house the back door is left open and she will take herself out for a wee (we always go with her and praise her when she does) and if it isnt she goes to the door and squeaks till we open it, occassionally in the afternoons she will poo outside but not often it is normally when she is in her cage.

the crate is a small sized crate, which i was told would be small enough for her but she does look tiny in it. ive never crate trained a puppy before but it seemed like the best way for her becaque of our routine and how the house is set out.

she is fed pedigree chum puppy food (wet food) i personally dont like it and will change her to ry food soon but it is what she was fd when we bought her so we have lef her on it for the first few weeks.

 

[CAYLA]

Crate training is definately the best and safest way to train and keep her safe from harm when u are not there, u seem like u are letting her out frequently enough.
If the crate seems a little to big, try down sizing, u would def get away with a cat carrier, I use them for all the smaller rescues, then gradually increase her space as she becomes cleaner, generally the smaller the space the cleaner they stay.
If all meals are puppy chum, she will def pass more faeces than if she is on a good quality dry diet

Try getting a good food like James well beloved or burns, not sure if they do small breed, but u could still use the chum, but jsut to mix in a very small amount with the complete biscuits.

Do u leave food in with her? if so try not to? feed her when she is let out, and allow a good hour for her to empty herself whilst playing in the garden before putting her in, food passes through very quickly in these little breeds

How many meals is she on?
Is there a time when she passes the faeces more commonly, like after her 12 o clock meal, when u go to work?