hi i bought a little shih tzu a few weeks ago she is a lovely wee thing no accidents around the house but she is peeing and pooing in her crate and eating it when i'm not looking which i think is disgusting "YUCK"!

mimi which is her name is my first ever puppy/dog..
i have taught her to sit and lay down working on stay at the minute..never had a dog before not even when i was a child..

she also gets very excitable and doesnt listen to commands at certian times every day,
should i ingore this behaviour?
any suggestions!

Don't have any advice to offer sorry, but I do dog grooming for a living and have had lot's of people tell me their shih tzu puppies do this and are hard to house train.

One of the most helpful things you can do is get a copy of "The Perfect Puppy" by Gwen Bailey (available on Amazon). It's full of very useful advice on all aspects of puppy ownership, including house-training tips.

If she's messing in her crate it suggests that she's in there for too long; crates don't stop them needing to relieve themselves, it means they can't mess away from their bed, so need to be let out frequently, even overnight. If they can't get away from their bed to mess, then they'll have to do it there, and then that can be a vry difficult habit to break. Have you ever scolded her for messing in her bed? If so, that's probably the reason why she's eating it - to remove the evidence so that she doesn't get scolded.

The 'mad half hour' is a normal feature of puppy (and adult dog!) life. Early evening seems to be a popular time for rushing around like a loony; enjoy watching her having fun!

If they can't get away from their bed to mess, then they'll have to do it there, and then that can be a vry difficult habit to break.

Just to add, and this above also means that it isn't necessarily you as the owner who has kept the pup crated too long, it COULD have been a case of the breeder having done it. I had a dog like this and I stopped using a crate altogether, it worked the best.

> she also gets very excitable and doesnt listen to commands at certian times every day,
> should i ingore this behaviour?
>

At eleven weeks old she is a tiny baby I wouldn't worry too much about set commands yet just let her bond with you and play. Puppies of this age sleep a lot and don't have a long concentration span.

>this above also means that it isn't necessarily you as the owner who has kept the pup crated too long, it COULD have been a case of the breeder having done it.

Thank you for clarifying that - I didn't mean to suggest that you're leaving Mimi in her crate for hours and hours! But it seems that at some time in her life she's been crated for too long for her, and this is when she's learned to mess in her crate.

> At eleven weeks old she is a tiny baby I wouldn't worry too much about set commands yet just let her bond with you and play. Puppies of this age sleep a lot and don't have a long concentration span. <IMG class=qButton title="Quote selected text" alt="Quote selected text" src="/images/mi_quote.gif" width=20 height=10>

I agree.  A pup this young already sitting and obeying commands?  Please do let her be a baby for a while.  You will miss out on so much.