Monday, May 13, 2013

Surprised : :

Meet Penelope!

Penelope

Penelope Rose Cracknell 
March 13th, 2013 

Penelope and me -- photo by kaiden

On Saturday my family surprised me with a new puppy, I am still in complete shock! Since we bought our house back in November, the kids have been asking for a puppy almost weekly. In the beginning I was completely against it, but slowly I have been coming around a little more. For about a month now we have been looking at cute puppy pics online, just for fun, and in these last few weeks anytime Holly would share a photo of her Morkie on Instagram I would gush to everyone! Still, I never thought for a second my husband and kids would surprise me with a Morkie for Mother's Day!

the kiddos and penny

This -- already!

penny in the snow

snowy penny

So far it's been going great! Minus that it's snowing here this morning in our part of Pennsylvania, another surprise!

My husband and I are a little tired today, we're crate training newbies. So if you have any tips, we'd appreciate it!

Lily is coming around. She has stayed in the same room as Penelope at all times, always keeping her distance, but I'm taking that as a good sign. 

We are all so thrilled! I couldn't wait to introduce Penelope, Penny for short, to all of you today!!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Maureen

90 comments:

  1. She is so adorable, what a wonderful surprise.
    I have always gotten larger dogs, so we didn't crate train, and they were older so they adapted to the outside bathroom, right away, lol.

    Debbie

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  2. Welcome Penny!! Congrats!

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  3. Oh my goodness--Penny is adorable!

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  4. OMG she is SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Do you have a blanket draped over her crate? I've found that sometimes helps them settle down (kind of like putting a blanket over a birdcage). Though, our big dog ended up pulling the blanket inside his kennel!

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    1. I thought about that, but she's been doing good so far. Did you keep the crate in your bedroom at night?

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  5. We didn't have ours in bedroom but downstairs in utility room,I always think better for them to get used to sleeping on where they'll be when adults. I just set my alarm every 4 hours to let her out. #sleep deprived like when your kids are babies. She's gorgeous

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  6. We didn't have ours in bedroom but downstairs in utility room,I always think better for them to get used to sleeping on where they'll be when adults. I just set my alarm every 4 hours to let her out. #sleep deprived like when your kids are babies. She's gorgeous

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  7. Oh my gosh she is so precious!

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  8. Oh! How cute! I am a Yorkers momma and they are the sweetest! Your morkie is soooooo cute! Brownie points to the hubby! It has been forever since we crate trained but I do remember at night putting one of those old school wi d up alarm clocks that really "ticks" wrapped up in a blankie for her to sleep with to help with the whining at night. The breeder told us to do this to mimicking her mom as heartbeat and it seemed to soothe her and keep her quiet at night!

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  9. Oh my goodness. Cutest dog ever. Jealous!! Cute cute CUTE!!

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  10. oh... and I am no help with crate training. Ours whined at night and I got up with her to let her out. Then I was gone overnight one night and my husband let her sleep in the bed with him. She has been there ever since... cute when they are 4 lbs not so cute when they are 30 lbs LOL

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  11. What a cutie! I'm glad to hear you're crate-training her, great idea! I've found that it helps to make sure they associate the crate with good things, give her lots of praise and treats for going in there but I'm more used to training older dogs so I'll leave the advice to the experts ;)
    I know you'll give her a super home but I do have to take a moment to remind everyone else not to give pets as surprises! Obviously, this was already in the works for you guys but dogs take a LOT of effort, especially puppies, and there are rows upon rows of dogs in shelters because the decision wasn't thought through.
    If you're not going to rescue, always make sure that your pup comes from a reputable breeder (a reputable breeder will do home checks, maybe even check references and will always take the dog back if, for some reason things don't work out). No matter what they tell you, if a puppy comes from a pet store they're from a puppy mill. I haven't been blogging this past year but if you want to learn more about the kind of condition the breeders live in, feel free to check out my old posts about the fosters I've taken in (http://bwpaws.blogspot.com/2012/01/twenty-two-teeth.html). I had a little yorkie girl who couldn't even eat her teeth were in such bad shape, and she had a cavity that had eaten right up into her nose.
    So sorry to be a downer because I know you're going to be an amazing, loving home for that little munchkin. There are horrid exceptions but so many of the dogs that die in shelters every day (thousands a year in my city alone) do so just because of thoughtlessness and lack of education so I just had to pop a reminder up here.

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    1. Hurray!! You said all of the things I was getting ready to share so no need for me to repeat. You hit the nail on the head!

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  12. Oh my goodness, she is just the cutest puppy ever!!!

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  13. Congrats on your new family member! She is adorable.

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  14. Adorable!!

    I'm no help for tips. I wasn't a dog person until our mutt adopted us!! She was a street dog but the neighbor will feed her. Then the neighbor died and we stepped in. Now she's got the best of two worlds: outside dog and inside dog. She's got quite a story and some psychological issues. We love her!!

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  15. AWE! She is so precious! Congrats on the present! You will have her trained in no time at all!

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  16. Oh she is the cutest!! Congrats Cracknell Family!!

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  17. Enjoy! Nothing better than sweet puppy breath!

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  18. She's so sweet!

    We adopted a pup a little over a year ago and he was mostly housetrained when we got him, but he sleeps in his crate every night in the living room. We have a sheet that we put over it (leaving the back side open for air flow) and it seems to calm him down and he knows once that is on it is sleep time. It also allows our one cat to come out and roam the house at night without fear of being chased down by the dog (he wants to play with her and she wants no part of it). Also, when we first got him, we put pee pads by the back door so he would know where to go when he wanted out. Now he scratches the door when he has to go and if he really has to go, he gives a small howl. When we leave the house for long periods of time, we also put him in his crate (uncovered) so he could not chew on anything and get scolded, and when we leave for shorter periods of time, a few hours or so, he is free to roam in 2 rooms of the house. Knock on wood, he has adapted and learned that the shoes and furniture are off limits for chewing and to just chew his toys. Good luck with your puppy training. Patience is the key.

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  19. A very cute puppy! Love her. Great Mother's day gift. Your family did very well. I got groceries...just what every woman wants :(

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    1. Well, I thought we were going to get groceries and new shoes for the kids, since the department stores were having such great sales, then my husband got on the freeway and I was like what are you doing!! The kids were loving every second of me being clueless!

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  20. Oh my goodness, she is the most adorable pup I have ever seen. I love her name too. Have fun being a furry friend mom.

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  21. Oh my, she is absolutely precious - such a sweet little face, hard not to love her. :)

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  22. Oh my gosh Maureen I just want to squeeze her! She looks just like my baby Jackson did, except lighter! Penelope is the cutest, most perfect name for her!!

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  23. We had a Pom that now lives with my parents. When we got him, he had already been trained very well. He knows many words and follows directions. When he was a puppy, Keli (his first momma) must have used the same words consistently with him. "Kennel" sends him directly inside his kennel, "do you need to go outside?" sends him to the door only if he needs to go, the word "go" is his favorite because that means he gets a ride in the car. He is such a loving companion for my parents getting treats from my mom and taking naps with my dad in the recliner. He loves to bark and huff at any perceived invader.
    Congratulations on your new buddy! She is just so cute and treated with love she will quickly become irreplaceable.

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  24. What a sweet puppy. I love her name (my daughter is named Penelope).
    I'm no good with crate training - With our first dog, I got up with him all night when he cried. He was a rescue and had mostly already learned to be house broken. Our new puppy/pony (German shepherd, golden retriever cross) is about six months old and she only took about two days to be housebroken - I planned to crate her, but we still don't have a large enough crate. Good luck and enjoy your new furry bundle of love.

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  25. We have never kept our dogs in a crate but we got two dachshunds from a shelter and they were used to the crate so we got one and they sleep there. Makes it so much better not to have them wandering around at night. Take her out every chance you get, when she gets up to move around and praise her when she does something outside. How fun!

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  26. Cute puppy! I can't imagine the happiness of your kids, but depending on her age, it's like you just got another kid! How old is she?

    As for crate training, we just went through/are going through all stages of puppy (ours is 7 months). We ended up placing the crate in our bedroom at night (but he'll likely always sleep in there) and the living room during the day. That way, if he whined to be let out during the night, we could take him for a potty break, but it was easy to put him in during the day as well. But at night, it was out to the yard to pee then right back in with no playing so he didn't get the wrong idea. The crate should just be big enough for her to turn around, sit and lay down. Any bigger and they may use part to sleep, part for their business. The draped blanket suggestion was a good one if she fusses. We still drape a blanket over ours sometimes. Also, you could get a kong and fill that with peanut butter, or applesauce/ banana and freeze it to put in there to give her something to work on. We also gave him his favorite treat every time we put him in it and fed him his meals in there so that the crate became the source of everything good.

    Have fun, enjoy it as the puppy stage will be over before you know it! They are like sponges though and train so easily at the earlier ages. Teach as much as you can now and socialize socialize socialize! It will pay off with a good, well mannered dog in the end!

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  27. Was it snowing when you were outside with "Miss Penelope" at apx. 3 AM? Your pregnant neighbor spotted you two when she was making a bathroom round also! Penny is so darn precious . . . love that cute little face and those adorable eyes! Enjoy!!

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  28. So cute! We crate trained our bulldog puppy and he slept in our bedroom. But like Julie said, once I was gone and my husband let him into the bed. Now he is still there at 55lbs and he snores like a freight train. Do we love him....oh yes! Penny looks so very sweet!

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  29. What a little cutie -- I was loving your Instagram photos yesterday! We have brother & sister German Shorthair pointer mutts that we rescued from a shelter, and both are crate trained. That first year was pretty intense getting them used to things, but now they are absolutely fabulous about going to the crate whenever we need them to. It can be helpful to have a blanket in there for her to cuddle with that has your scent on it. It's so easy to get overwhelmed with the first year -- it's like having a newborn baby in the house. So just like you do with a new little one, take it slow, be patient, and enjoy her!

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  30. SO PRECIOUS!!!!!!!!!! I love all of the images, Penny and Penny with the adorable children. So sweet. XXXXXX

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  31. She's so cute! Have fun with her.

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  32. Penelope is darling! Congratulations on being a puppy parent!

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  33. I'm so jealous! Puppies are so cute. My advice (besides taking LOTS of pictures since they grow so quickly) is to get a routine down and start teaching her commands like "out", "potty", "good", "unh, unh", etc. I trained my dogs to potty when I told them so (and I knew they had to go) and it was by far the best training I did. When you are in a rush and you want them to go before they get in the car or before you leave the house they will get business done when you ask them to. If you don't want her to get picky about where she goes to the bathroom (this can be tricky if you plan on traveling and they "need" grass), then I would suggest walking her a lot so she gets both on concrete and grass situations. Keep her busy (train her to do jobs if she is the type of dog that needs distractions) or well exercised and you shouldn't have to worry about too much damage. Regardless, you should puppy proof your house and keep an eye on her for a while. They can be quick and stealth! And DEFINITELY don't do newspaper or potty training pads. Just take her outside a lot and start praising her when she does things outside. Potty training pads are the worst habit to train a dog out of. You need to associate them with going to the bathroom outside. Good luck and make sure to post lots of pictures of her.

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    1. "Leave it" is also a great command to have. And practice recall a LOT! We played hide and seek with our puppy for recall training and it's still his favorite game.

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  34. What a cute puppy! I raised a collie puppy years ago before anyone used crates. He slept in our bed along with a cat. I was about 6 month pregnant when he decided he wasn't a lap dog anymore!!

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  35. Penelope is absolutely adorable! I have a 6 month old Miniature Pinscher and I love her to bits!

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  36. Awwww! SO cute!! Sorry to hear about the snow, though :-(. Enough, already!!

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  37. She is adorable!! Happy kids (and Mommy)! What a great surprise!

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  38. She is adorable!! Happy kids (and Mommy)! What a great surprise!

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  39. Ok, not only is my daughter's name Penelope as I told you on Instagram but her middle name is Rose!

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  40. What an adorable girl! She will have a fantastic home.

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  41. Aw she's gorgeous. My baby girl is called Penelope, I think it's the loveliest name.

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  42. So cute! My dog is also named Penelope, Penny for short : )

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  43. I love your Lucky Penny! She is adorable. So are your children:) To me the most helpful thing when training a puppy is just like a baby - routine! Whatever routine you decide - just stick to it and she will learn! Have fun!

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  44. Adorable! I think every family needs a dog, they really do add a lot ( a lot of yelling "Bad dog and "stay" and "no!")...just kidding. We have two dogs and laugh and play together everyday. They are my jogging partners and best friends. I hope you have many fun times.

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  45. Aww, she's so cute! Well thought out by the kids there, present for you, so they get a dog too :oD

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  46. Beautiful photographs! She's trying not to be cute, but she just can't help herself!!

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  47. Congratulations on your new addition to your family, she is adorable!

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  49. OMG!!! She is just too cute!! I love her! =D

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  50. Hi Maureen!

    So tickled to see Ms. Penny! She's a real cutie.

    I've trained several dogs using crates and it was very successful. Both Jess and Allison (see above) make excellent points regarding crate training. If done correctly, Ms. Penny will love her crate for the rest of her life. It will be a "safe" place for her.

    Enjoy the sweet puppy breath!

    Hugs

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  51. Could anything be cuter!!? Congrats, she looks like so much fun!! (and hope the sleep comes back to you VERY soon!!!)Hugs, H in Healdsburg

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  52. Look at that cute face!! I love that she has a full name too!

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  53. What a sweet, adorable addition to your family! Having a puppy is like having a baby again. I hope Penny and Lily become best friends!

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  54. What a Precious Puppy! Congrats!

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  55. Awwww - she is adorable!!! Have fun!!

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  56. SO cute!! We did puppy training (at Petsmart) as soon as our dog was old enough. Best decision we ever made! Delux is 8 now, and has been such a great dog. Highly, highly recommend doing training with someone knowledgeable from the beginning.

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  57. Hi Maureen....she is the most adorable little puppy!! I never had the patience to crate train, but my daughter-in-law did with their yorkshires.
    She found the best thing was to leave them in another room; like Pippa wasy saying. You can ignore them better that way. I spoiled any that we had; they usually ended up in bed with us....lol

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  58. She is just so cute, Enjoy her.

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  59. She's a doll! I do AKC STAR puppy training and would be glad to help with any questions. I had to go anonymous since I didn't want to publish my email address, guess if we talked here it could help others as well!
    Chris

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  60. She's adorable, Maureen. You've gotten lots of good advice. I would also suggest that everyone, adults included, be very careful as you walk/run/skip, etc. around your house. Even after many years I still accidently step on one of my dog's paws because I changed direction quickly, got up without warning, etc. It takes time to get used to having a small dog around. Especially because these dogs love to be around people they tend to nearly always be underfoot, so everyone should always try their best to remember that. Enjoy her, she looks like a sweetie.

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  61. OMG she is GORGEOUS !! happy mothers day

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  62. We trained our rescued Boston Terrier, Sophie, to ring a bell to go potty. We got her at what we think was 9 months and she wasn't trained. We hung a big jingle bell on a ribbon next to the door. Every time we took her out to go potty, we would take her paw and ring the bell and say "outside potty". We did it everytime we went outside. When she came in she'd get one little kibble from her regular food in the beginning as a reward. I'm not kidding when I say within two weeks she was ringing that bell! It was amazing. After a bit we didn't use the little piece of food when she came back in. Now at almost 9 she's so smart she rings that darn bell when she just wants to hang outside in the sun too! She's a smarty pants. We adore her. Have fun with your new addition. It's tiring at first, just like a newborn, but so worth it in the end ;c)

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  63. What an adorable surprise! Soooo cute!!

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  64. So fun to see a picture of YOU!
    Cute dog by the way.

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    1. Ah, thanks!! I much prefer to be behind the camera, that's for sure! This one was taken by my ten year old Kaiden with my phone! I was beaming!!

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  65. Penny is SO cute! A gift for the whole family.

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  66. We have two yellow labs and both are crate trained although the 13 year old doesn't use hers anymore. The 1 year old puppy (we got her at 6 weeks) is definitely crate trained. We never had an issue. Housebreaking wasn't an issue either. The deal was that every time she comes out of her crate, she goes outside first. Every time. If she has been out playing for awhile, take her out. Our breeder told us (when we got the older one) if the dog does something bad, it is your fault, not the dogs. The crate is the safe place. We even use it for time outs when we need a break from the puppy. Have fun. She sure is cute.

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  67. OMG- she's adorable!! I L.O.V.E. little puppies! Have fun!!

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  68. Oh my! ADORABLE! I would love to snuggle you Penny!

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  69. ACK she is toooooo cute!!! you're a lucky mama.

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  70. I LOVE your Morkie and have wanted one since last summer but DH says we are too old and no more dogs. But I miss my Gracie so much that if I would be sensible with money, not gonna happen anytime soon, I could save up and buy one. Penelope is just too gorgeous!!

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  71. Oh so cute. We adopted an OLD rottweiler from a family member who passed on. She came with a crate. I put lots of blankets in the crate; we put it in the furthest corner of the house from the bedroom. She KNOWS that is her bed. We leave the door open all day long, she goes there to nap sometimes during the day, othertimes she is napping in the livingroom. At night, we tell her KENNEL and she goes right in. Obviously she was crate trained as a puppy, so I am thankful. I have taken to not "latching" the door of the crate, as I did for the first 6 weeks. I like having a big watch dog and figure if she is locked inside, she is useless. (She used to sleep on the bed / furniture with her former owner, and that is NOT going to happen in my life). So; as a word of caution, don't allow any habit that you don't want FOREVER. Sometimes she HOWLS and BARKS in the crate, but I think it is because she is lonely. Well, a little more attention in the evening BEFORE bedtime fixes that. Also, I just close our bedroom door, and she stops after a few minutes. Babygates are wonderful way of keeping the dog "contained" or out of the cat litter etc. I have two, one for the stairs and one for the laundry room where the cats live. It has a small door for the cats to go through, but imagine with a small dog, that would not work. Walmart.com sells them in every size & shape.

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  72. She is just adorable! Hmmm crate training tips, you can start out feeding Penny in her crate. This helps her feel like the crate is "hers" (making her feel like its her den is important) so that she both likes staying in there and also will be hesitant to go potty in her crate. I've read advice online never to use a crate as punishment, but in my experience once our puppy got potty trained and used to going into her crate when needed, if she does something bad and we tell her her "Go to your room!", she does and will even go in her crate on her own when she knows she's done something bad (sometimes that's the first indication we know she's done something!) Good luck! :)

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  73. We put a ticking clock in with our puppy and a well wrapped hot water bottle for her to snuggle against as she had come from a litter of 10 and was used to having warmth around her... a stuffed toy may help..

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  74. What a wonderful surprise! She's simply adorable. We've always used a crate with all of our dogs. One of the biggest things is to establish a routine and stick to it throughout her training. I took our puppy out much like we tell our kids -- go potty before bed, go potty when they first get up, go potty after naps, etc. Take her out often and give lots of praise when she goes potty outside.

    Have fun!

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  75. She is so, so cute. My kids would love her to pieces. Congrats on the new family member.

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  76. Oh my gosh. She is so cute. I want one but I'm allergic to dogs. Good luck with the crate-training.

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