I housebroke a seven-week old spaniel in one day. Here is how I did it.
I let him roam free in one room that had a balcony. I watched him constantly. Every time I saw him hunch over I picked him up and put him on the balcony, where he relieved himself. The important thing is that I never took my eyes off him. Because of this he was never allowed to make a "mistake." The next day he went out the the balcony all by himself.
I am bumping this up hoping for some suggestions. My puppy is still not getting the housebreaking idea...and when she does go outside, she won't go in the grass, she does it on the back patio right by the patio doors. And she is still going in her crate every night and getting it all over her even with me taking her out in the middle of the night. HELP!
Well I just thought I would give an update...first of all, my Yorkie is already in a very small crate, with just enough room to stand up, turn around, and lay down in, and she is still soiling it. It was clean when she woke up this morning though so she made it through the night without going potty in the crate. I have given her more freedom in the house...I don't put her directly back in the crate when I bring her in from outside. And she has of course had several accidents in the house now, and is not learning from them at all. I am doing exactly what my vet said to do...when she has an accident, I put her near it so she can smell it, tell her no, and take her directly outside. I am still spending over an hour outside with her at a time, walking her all around the yard...she runs and plays hard, and still, she rarely goes to the potty outside. She does it in the crate, or on my carpet. I know I was lucky that my chihuahua was housebroken in a week, and I didn't expect my Yorkie to be housebroken that fast, but I at least expected her to be sort of getting the idea by now, and she isn't. I have had many dogs in my life, and never ever had a problem at all housebreaking them. My sister told me that sometimes if they spend a lot of weeks in a cage like at the breeder or in a pet shop, that they are very hard to housebreak and sometimes can't be housebroken at all. I know they sell housebreaking pads, but I don't want to use those. To me, that is teaching them to go potty in the house, and I definitely don't want to teach her that. I want her to learn to go outside.
Basically, what your saying, is that she is still living in a crate? Until she has acidents and you correct her, she will not understand what is expected of her. Her bladder is the size of a thimble and the longest she should be able to hold it is 3hrs. at this point. Do you have a kitchen (With easy to clean floors) that she could be babygated in? This would be a good start to keep an eye on the situation. Let her eat and drink and take her immediately out to potty. Do it each time...Praise, Praise, Praise her when she pottys outside. She soon will figure out what you are wanting her to do. You have to be consistant....Potty training a dog in a week is very unusual and shouldn't be expected again. Each furkid is different. Until you let her have more freedom than the crate, I think your fighting a losing battle. She's too young and hasn't been with you long enough to figure out anything, yet. Please, get her out of that crate, so she can explore and have an accident........Good luck and hang in there.....She'll understand soon.
The crate should only be big enough for her to stand up, turn around, and lay down. If it's bigger than that she will have enough room to walk around and therefore get her bowels moving. You don't need to get another one, just partition it with some cardboard until its small enough.
You should take her out often, and praise her when she "goes" outside. I understand you do not want her running loose in the house at this stage, but I wouldn't just be sticking her back in the crate, unless you can't watch her. Keep her leashed to you at all times in the house and keep an eye on her..Or block off the kitchen door and let her run around the easily cleanable floor when you're in there.. Do work, read, or whatever at the kitchen table with her loose. Accidents will happen, and if you think about it, if she never had an accident, she would never learn from it.. So keep a watchful eye and when you see her go, scold her and go straight out.
Small dogs can be more difficult to potty train simply because their owners treat them like fragile babies, spoil them, and let them use potty pads. I was able to leave my Yorkie with my lab and rottie for up to 12 hours if I had to and she held her bladder with the big boys.
It takes patience and a watchful eye, but any dog can and will learn how not to go in the house. Just make sure she doesn't have any room to mess in the crate when your not watching, or it will never work. And walking is the best medicine.. Give her water in the house and then go for a long walk after.. she will almost certainly need to potty during it, and praise her like nobody's business when she does.. Make that a habit and you'll see a change..
Good luck!