Hellobee Boards

Just some questions off the top of my head:

-have you ruled out a medical problem with your yorkie? Is she spayed?

- is there a reason you cant leave the lab in the crate for longer than an hour?

-have you tried furminator with your lab? It works wonders on my cats.

I don't have any specific resources for rehoming and I'm very sorry you're having to deal with this.

@pinkcupcake: I'm sorry you haven't been able to find a medical solution for your yorkie marking. That would drive me absolutely insane as well.

Others will probably be able to weigh in more but there's absolutely nothing wrong with leaving your dog in the crate for several hours. That's what crate training is :). My parents have crate trained all their dogs and they would stay in the crate during the workday and at nighttime.

If you have the financial means, I would say to try a trainer or even pet therapist/psychologist.

Aside from that, rehoming could be an option. I've seen it work for others. Sometimes animals just cannot handle changes in life and they're better off in a quiet/child free home.

Did any of them come from a shelter that has a return policy? For example, my older cat is from an ASPCA and we signed a contract that they agree to take her back for life.

When DH and I got married we had 4 dogs - 2 each. So much work! After DS1 was born we ended up giving away one of them. She was getting snappy and aggressive towards the other dogs. I think because she wasn't getting as much attention. I couldn't have that with kids. I never thought I'd be that person who gave her dogs away after kids. But I am. Life and priorities change. I had to do what was best for all of us. My energy now goes toward my boys and not the dogs. It's just how it is.

I asked my vet's office and they knew of someone who was looking for a 2nd dog. Actually that person had a dog from the same litter. It worked out but we were sad about it.

For me, the behavior was what tipped us towards giving her away. The extra work was a pain but I felt like I had to deal with it.

Do you get your dog groomed? I have two longhair cats and I get them professionally groomed to cut down on the crazy hair we get. It's made a humongous difference

@pinkcupcake: I don't know if it would work for the winter, but my friend and his wife would always get their golden shaved every summer and it lasted maybe 4 months?

Not their dog, but looked something like this:

I know this wouldn't solve all the issues but we just bought this version of a dog diaper for our dog who also marks everywhere:
http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Solution-Washable-Male-Medium/dp/B000FJD5ZS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416104142&sr=8-1&keywords=male+dog+wraps

It has helped a lot!
Good luck with whatever you decide!

If your dog willingly goes in her crate when you're home, do not feel guilty for putting her in there when you're out. It is her safe space. When I first met my husband, his dog would ruin anything she could if we were out-she even ate the linoleum floor one time. I started crate training her and now when we put our shoes on she goes in her crate without being asked. She even sleeps in it at night voluntarily. They really do like the security a crate provides. For our dog, I think she knows when she goes in there, then we are for sure coming home rather than being anxious that we abandoned her.

I'm sorry your going through that, such a tough situation.

I think the next best step would be a short hair cut, and not feeling bad about the crate. Because he goes into it on his own will to nap shows its like his little den and he is happy there.

I also think as PP said, maybe those diapers would help with the marking?

Good luck

@Mrs.ThinMint: i almost certainly completely forgot about diet! Yep, an organic/grain free diet can reduce shedding

That's such a tough call...I agree with all the previous suggestions. When did the Yorkie start peeing indoors? My Yorkie has a tendency to believe she is "above" peeing outside sometimes.

so sorry you are going through this. It's tough, no doubt. I just wanted to chime in about shedding-- I have two small highly shedding dogs and using a deshedding comb has helped immensely! During high shedding seasons I'll do a deshed followed immediately by bath once a month or so.