Trixie Talks!

 Well, that is taking it to the extreme but Trixie is learning to communicate, finally.  Or maybe I am just starting to listen to her.

When we adopted (bought) Trixie we met the breeder at a Petsmart in a nearby town.  The breeder, who we shall refer to as Miz B, was very proud of her litters as she should be, they were lovely puppies, and she was very quick to tell us that the puppies had already been trained to puppy pads. 

Red flag — although I didn’t know it at the time.

Apparently Yorkies are not particularly easy to train — to do anything — and housebreaking can be a problem.  So, being trained to pads is not necessarily a good thing as we have never been able to UN-train her.  

She is particular though — she will tinkle outside unless it is raining, snowing, icing, heavy dew, etc., her poops are always inside on a particular pad in a particular space.  I have pads in my powder room off the garage and the laundry room. She is very good about using them unless they have been used once and then she won’t reuse them.  They have to be changed immediately.

The one rule we have in this house for her is that she cannot go into the living room until she has done her business.  She understand that and the gate (we have lots of baby gates) won’t be opened until she “performs”.

We trained her to ring bells that hang on the door to let us know she wants to go out and she does a great job of that.  Multiple times a day.  Now, that doesn’t mean she is going to do important business once she is out there — sometimes she just wants to check out the yard.  And chase the birds.

Well, this morning the dew was heavy so when I took her out she decided that her tiny Yorkie feet weren’t going to touch the wet grass.  So, in we came and I reminded her, as I closed the gate, that no living room until she used the potty pad.  I went about my business, paying no attention to her and I sat down to have my breakfast and I am suddenly aware of the bell ringing and this little, low growl at my feet.  This is new, she doesn’t usually growl.

Well, I went to check and she had used the pad and wanted in the living room.  I realized that the growling was her way of telling me she was allowed in the living room now!  Cheeky monkey she is.  I guess I need to listen better!

As you can probably tell, I spend the majority of my day tending to Trixie— trying to deal with her going in and out, changing out potty pads, making sure she doesn’t over eat because she is a porky Yorkie and keeping up with her required playtime.  Being a Yorkie mom is a full time job.  

I keep thinking about getting her a sister or brother.

I must be out of my mind.