u/OverSoup8600

HELP PLEASE! We adore our seven-month-old female Papillon, but we are reaching a point where we genuinely do not know whether we can manage her needs.

We brought her home from an (edit: apparently well known and reputable) breeder at 12 weeks because she was so small. The breeder said she had been tested and was healthy, so our vet initially skipped the Giardia test. After about ten days of severe diarrhea, despite her never having been outside, we requested testing, and she was positive. We've had to stagger her immunizations because she was so tiny, but she's been good to go outside for about 2.5 months now.

She has now completed four rounds of treatment and is still testing positive. Although the diarrhea has resolved, the ongoing infection has prevented her from attending puppy classes or most in-person training. We have spent a significant amount on private online training, but progress has been inconsistent.

Our main problems are:

• Severe separation distress. She cries and barks continuously if either of us leaves, even if we are only in another room and she can still hear us. Camera footage shows that she is genuinely distressed rather than simply protesting. She has never been alone for more than 30 minutes.
• Potty training. We take her out approximately every two hours, but she does not signal before eliminating. She will pee in her crate, on her bed, and sometimes while eating. She does not appear particularly bothered by standing in urine.
• Crate regression. She initially slept well in her crate, but she has recently begun crying for extended periods at bedtime. Last night, she cried continuously for more three hours. This is less distress crying and more protestation, but we need to sleep. We ditched the create when she was sick, but she will totally relax in her carrier when we're out during the day (ie in a restaurant).
• Limited sleep. She currently sleeps for only about six hours overnight. The resulting sleep deprivation is now affecting our work.
• Training difficulties. She learns some things quickly, but despite daily practice, she still does not respond to her name and can be difficult to engage during training. She doesn't settle near me at all, and I mostly looked after her when she was sick.

We have tried strict schedules, 1 up 2 down, frequent potty trips, crate training, gradual separation work starting with seconds at a time, and professional training. Her early illness made consistency extremely difficult at first, but the diarrhea has resolved now, and it feels as though every improvement is followed by a major regression.

We live in an apartment, which makes the barking, potty training, and separation work harder. We have had dogs before and have never experienced problems at this level.

We are now wondering whether we need to consider returning her to the breeder or carefully rehoming her. We would never surrender her to a shelter, but we are exhausted and worried that we may not be equipped to give her what she needs.

Has anyone dealt with persistent Giardia alongside severe separation anxiety and potty-training regression? Is this realistically fixable at seven months, and what type of professional should we be looking for? I am not open to e-collars or any type of force methods obviously.

Had an issue where we got the sweetest puppy at 12 weeks from a breeder that already had Giardia. Have not been able to resolve the Giardia even after four treatments. As a result, she is comfortable pooping and peeing in her crate. She now poops and pees either in her pen or her crate, up on her bed, and only cries afterwards when she doesn't want to sleep/stand in it, when we quickly change her bedding out. She hates sleeping on the hard create, and no bedding doesn't seem to help. Does anyone have any experience with this, or how else to potty train after having such an issue?

We've tried very strict schedule etc, but she still poops or pees overnight, or sometimes shell even stop eating and poop next to her in her create. We've also tried an open pen with puppy patch. She still goes on her bed. Even when last feed is 6pm, last trip outside is 8pm, and wake up at 6am. We live in an apartment and have a puppy patch (grass), and take her for walks 3xs per day atm.

Looking for advice on how to restart potty training, crate training, and separation training after a rough medical start. She is just the cutest, and I think we have bonded but I have never had a dog so sick before, let alone a puppy. I feel like with all her confusion I am totally over my head.

I have a Papillon puppy who is just over 17 weeks old. She came home at 13 weeks because she is extremely tiny and we and the breeder thought she should stay with her mother longer. She was 2.2 lbs when she came home and is now about 2.7 lbs. She has a healthy appetite and is generally a happy little dog.

Unfortunately, she came home from the breeder with Giardia. The breeder told us not to worry about the diarrhea, so we didn’t realize right away that something was wrong. The diarrhea got worse and worse, and by the time we understood what was happening, she had already had a lot of accidents. She originally seemed fairly well pad-trained, but once the diarrhea got bad, she lost control and started going everywhere, including in her crate.

She is now under vet care and has been treated for Giardia for over two weeks. Her stool is now normal and she likes her current food. Now that she is physically doing better, we want to restart training properly, but there is a lot of confusion to undo. She still cannot go to puppy class, but can go outside.

Current setup/context:

• We live in a small apartment with no yard.
• It takes about 5 minutes to get outside because of stairs/elevator/hallways.
• She was not able to go outside here at first because she was too small for some vaccines on the normal schedule, and the vet delayed the rabies vaccine because of her size. She had an outdoor area at the breeder, but has only been able to begin walking on the ground here this week.
• She was socialized with the breeder’s dogs before coming home, but from about 13–15 weeks she was mostly inside with me while sick.
• We would ultimately like her to toilet outside only, but we are fine using an indoor potty option temporarily if that is best for her age/size/situation.
• Puppy pads no longer work because she mostly plays with them, rips them up, and seems to have lost the association.
• We are considering a grass patch, grate tray, or other more structured indoor potty area. She currently has a puppy pen, a create and a potty area. we are using the pen walls for the potty and the pen area by simply moving it to keep her confined. Previously we had puppy pads stuck down with painters tape but but we need to change them.
• We are create training because in my experience it is good for a small dog to have somewhere to go if they are done with people. Much like humans. I have had other dogs who benefited greatly from it.

What is going well:

• She still likes her crate reasonably well.
• We feed her in the crate.
• She will go into the crate voluntarily and play games in around it.
• She knows sit, down, and a marker word.
• She can sometimes settle in her pen and play alone.
• If she has a good poop before bed, she can usually sleep from around 9 p.m. to 6 or 7 a.m. without peeing/pooping.
• She can sleep on her bed in her pen, and sometimes we put the bed in the crate if she is already calm.
• Outside is exciting for her and has helped her be more relaxed overall.

Main problems now:

1. Potty confusion She seems genuinely confused about where to go. She may go in the crate, on her bed, on toys, or in the corner of her pen. Sometimes she goes outside immediately, and we reward heavily when that happens. But often she gets overstimulated outside, holds it, comes back in, still does not go, then later starts going in the corner of the pen. I had been interrupting accidents and moving her to the potty area, but I’m worried that interrupting may be making her hold it more or feel anxious about going in front of us.
2. Crate history Because she had diarrhea and no control while sick, she had many accidents in the crate. She still likes the crate, but she does not seem to have the normal “keep the crate clean” instinct right now. I’m not sure how to rebuild crate training separately from potty training. She has also started to cry for longer for attention in the create.
3. Separation/attention crying Because she was sick and scared in a new home, I spent a lot of time with her early on. She now cries for attention and also cries if she cannot see me. Some of it seems like separation anxiety, and some seems like learned attention whining. We want to address this gently and avoid creating more distress. She sometimes sees to get stressed and will go to the bathroom if I am out of the room for a few moments. We got a camera, so we can do some training with intermittent breaks.
4. Tiny dog logistics She is still very small, so I do not think it is realistic to expect her to hold it like a larger puppy. But we also do not want to create permanent confusion by having too many potty options.

Questions:

• How would you restart potty training after a puppy has had weeks of Giardia/diarrhea and accidents everywhere?
• Should we stop interrupting accidents for now if she seems anxious or is holding it?
• Would you use an indoor potty station temporarily in an apartment, and if so, what type is best for a tiny puppy who destroys pads?
• How do we rebuild crate training when she has already learned that it is possible to pee/poop in the crate?
• Should crate training and potty training be separated for now, meaning the crate is only used for positive feeding/settling and not confinement?
• How would you start separation training without letting her panic or teaching her that crying always works?
• Any advice specific to tiny toy-breed puppies in apartments would be very helpful.
• What is a reasonable expectation over the next 2 weeks, we really need her to be able to be alone for 45 mins to an hour, without traumatizing her.

Any help greatly appreciated!

We are using positive reinforcement and interruption only. I’m mainly looking for training and management advice for how to restart after illness-related setbacks.