I got a puppy, need help!

[Strawberry Requiem]

The problem is that you are giving in and not exerting your dominance over the dog; the dog doesn't see you as an authoritative figure.

You said that you have to crate the dog at night, which is fine; many people do. But, you need to stick to that. She's whining because she knows that you'll let her out or even just pay attention to her. Ignore it to the best of your abilities. And, if you can't, put her crate in a different room so that she cannot see you. Make sure to get her on a strict bedtime routine too: play with her a little bit before bed (to wear her out), let her have something to eat, take her out to use the bathroom, and then crate her. Consistency is key.

Potty training can be a hassle, and it is a very arduous process, but, like everything, you need to be consistent. Don't scold the puppy for mistakes, but instead, give her plenty of access outside. Reward her for successfully going outside-- make sure it's a special reward only for success in relieving herself. Putting her on a feeding schedule will help with this too, because then you will be able to predict when she will have to go. Your puppy more than likely has a certain behavior that she does when she has to go. When you notice she's doing this, take her outside instantly and don't forget to reward her.

I know you said that your husband works a lot, but you need to make sure that he is reinforcing these behaviors with the puppy, otherwise training will be twice as hard.  

[Femme Mantis]

Your first big issue is being soft on it. If you don't ignore her crying she'll never learn and continue to do so, I apologize if I sound harsh I can come off as a bit cold but I'm not trying to. Trying putting in a blanket or towel with your scent on it or a stuffed animal to see if she'll sleep better like that. If she's in your room move her crate elsewhere to a laundry room, living room, etc so you'll hear her less. I agree with Strawberry that she needs a routine too.

Wear her down with about 15-30 minutes of play before bed then crate her but make sure to take her outside and see if she'll use the bathroom. Feeding needs to be on a schedule too, depending on your situation a meal in the morning then take her out right afterwards and reward her with praise for going outside and same in the afternoon if you plan to space out her feedings. During the day if no one can take her out invest in puppy pads and keep her to one room with some toys and water at the most.

I also read that you have a husband and agree that he should work with the pup or else you're gonna have a hell of a time training your pup. Trust me, from personal experience toy breeds can be an absolute pain to train. I have a Pekingese and while he's getting on in years he's a stubborn little monster and I still have to boss him around. emotion_donotwant

Good luck with it though, hopefully you can get your puppy to listen to you!  

[Green_crayon42]

Crate training is serious.
When she does something bad, stick her in there, walk out of the house if you can't stand her wining.
She wants to be by you every second. My Jack Russel is the same way.
After a few months, he got it. We didn't need to use the thing anymore.
MAKE HER WANT TO BE GOOD SO SHE CAN BE WITH YOU.
Being away from you is hell. She'll learn.  

[Strawberry Requiem]

Are you crating her every time she whines, or just at bedtime?

You need to not indulge her when she whines. Ignore her. But, if you're crating her for the whining, you should probably stop that. She's going to start viewing her crate as a punishment. Instead, as I said before, just ignore it. If she gets too vocal, tell her 'no' or 'stop' with a stern voice, but don't yell at her. Using the same word would probably help as well.

It's good that you're giving her exercise before bed; that's one of the reasons why a lot of pets are very rambunctious at bed time.

As far as her bathroom tell, just try to keep an eye on her. You'll know she has to go if she starts sniffing around at the ground a lot, but there may be other signs as well.  

[xena91388]

Next time, skip the puppies and adopt an older dog, they come with the bonus of already being trained for you. There are lots of nice, wonderful adult dogs that never get adopted because most people don't want to invest in them if they can't at least 10-15 years out of them.

Anyways, for your chihuahua: Think of her as a toddler. If you were taking care of a toddler who cried every time you wouldn't let them sleep in your bed or put them in time-out, would you A) give in and have them spend every night in your bed and never have a time-out; or B) step up as a parent in ignore their tantrums for their own good.

Because that's all your dog's whining is, a tantrum and giving in is setting her up for failure as it encourages bad behaviors that get most dogs abandoned.

The usual method for house breaking a puppy is to keep them in a small enclosed area. Set up a small area she can't escape, cover the floor, and leave her there unless you take her outside the house. It may seem cruel but it's not. You can even set her up in a place where you or your husband spends the most time, so she has company. What this does is as she pees and poops, she's forced to remain near her droppings and all dogs hate that so she will hold it in as long as she can until you take her away from her area, outside. Give her a treat when she does it outside. If you watch dogs who spend their whole life as yard dogs, you'll notice they never poop where they sleep, this is the pattern you are trying to encourage and letting her have freedom to walk around your house gives her places to do her business away from her bed while still in your home. As she becomes more used to the pattern, you can start giving her freedoms to walk around the house and remember to take her outside regularly so she doesn't have accidents.

Also, be watchful of your dog's behavior. Not all dog do the trope of scratching at the door when they want to go out. With my dog, one starts licking me in an overly affectionate manner and the other scratches and barks at me, sometimes even biting my finger. Watch out for things like sudden going into a corner and sniffing, this is usually a sign they are looking for a place to go.  

[stacilo]

My puppy did the same thing. They don't understand that you will let them out eventually. I just put a blanket over the kennel so he couldn't see us at all and (although it was annoying and sad) I just dealt with his whining. Giving my dog treats when we kenneled him helped as well. That way the kennel isn't a bad place.  

[AstridMiriam]

My dog pees the floor
She had a UTI but yeah I never had a small dog so I can't really say anything but my dog is 12 years old
We may have to put her down