potty training my yorkie

Question
QUESTION: We have an 11 month old yorkie beagle mix.  During the summer last year we kept her in a crate during the day when we were at work, then when we got home-we'd let her out in our fenced back yard to go potty.  Last October or so, when it got really cold, we brought her inside in a crate during the day still, but at night when we'd get home, we would lay out potty pads at three different places in our kitchen/dining/living room.  She doesn't seem to get the hang of going on the pads consistently.  There is no rhyme or reason to her going.  We only feed her three times a day.  But she doesn't make it on the pads consistently.  When she has a bowel movement she only 1/2 the time gets on the pads.  She seems to go over by the pads, but gets her front paws on the pad, but her butt is hanging off the pad.  We can't always take her outside because of the weather outside.  How can we get her to go on the pads consistently?  Our carpet is starting to suffer.  And, I caught her peeing on our leather chair today.  Now, why would she do that?  I had just taken her outside to go, because the weather isn't that bad-but she didn't go.

ANSWER: A few months ago, you had a puppy that was fairly well housebroken, and then one day you suddenly told her she could now potty in the house. This is not a case of having your cake and eating it, too. You either have a housebroken dog or one that potties in the house; it is your choice as to which you want, but you cannot expect her to know on which day which one is correct. Dogs do not work that way. Right now she is so confused that she has no idea what she is supposed to do.

If you want her to be housebroken, pick up all the pads, thoroughly clean those areas with an enzyme cleaner, and begin housebreaking again just as if you just brought home an 8-week-old puppy. Put her outside no matter what the weather is doing. You might have to dig her a potty area and a trail or two through the snow so that she can potty outside, but she will if you encourage her to do so. Put a coat on her if it is really cold outside or snowing. Be sure to praise her when you see her pottying outside. If she goes out and does not potty, put her back in her crate and try her again in a half hour.

If you want her to potty in the house on pads, then stop putting her outside altogether (winter AND summer). Pick one place that you want her to use, and spread the pads around so that she has a large enough area to potty in. In her mind, if her front feet are on the pad, she is doing what you want; she doesn't know that her butt isn't over the pad. Initially, keep her confined in the area/room near the pads so that she has no option but to use that area. Do not give her access to those areas that she has pottied in before (and be sure to clean those areas thoroughly). Be sure to praise her when you see her using the pads.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: So you're saying that we can't have her go to the bathroom outside and inside?  Why not?  She knows what the pads are, she just doesn't use them consistently.  If we decide to only let her go outside, them what do we do with her at night?  We started out last fall putting her in the crate at night and bringing her inside, because it was too cold in our sunroom.  But, she would bark at all hours of the night.  And I'm all for taking her out to potty in the middle of the night, but the problem is she won't go back in her crate without barking again.  When it begins to get warm again out in the sunroom, I intend on putting her out there again.  And in the spring, we can let her out in the backyard to run freely.  We just can't let her run out there now because we have a cover on our pool, and my husband is afraid she'll get confused and walk on it and fall in.  
If I choose to train her to go inside on the pads, should we leave the soiled ones down for awhile so she sees that's where she should go?  Or clean them up right away?  And if we do the inside thing, during the spring and summer when we're outside swimming, does that mean she can't even go outside to play with us?  I am so confused.
Thanks

Answer
I've already stated that dogs cannot understand the concept that one day they can potty in the house and the next they cannot.

If the dog is *not* using the pads consistently, then she does NOT understand their purpose and she needs to be trained more thoroughly as to their usage. Yes, I would leave one down that was a bit soiled to help her along, and just as one would do when housebreaking, I would not give her run of the house until she is using the pads consistently 100% of the time.

Barking in a crate is a training issue. She needs to be fed in her crate so that she learns to think of it pleasurably, and corrected if the little Princess decides she has been in there long enough or doesn't want to go in at all and expresses her outrage by barking about it. I usually let the dog go on for a minute or two and then I throw something at the crate and tell the dog to "BE QUIET!" I do always wait to make sure that it is nuisance barking and not a dog expressing its need to get out and potty before I correct.

Winter or summer, you should have a barrier around that pool. Many dogs have been known to drown in pools because they cannot get out if they fall in. Either buy yourself some exercise pens and string them together so she cannot get to the pool or put one outside by the door and put her in there so that she can potty safely (if you decide you want her to potty outside rather than in). Even if she is trained to potty on pads, she can certainly go outside to play. (She would, after all, be allowed inside the house if she were trained to potty outside!)

To help with the barking issue and to teach her that you are Alpha and she is not, get her into obedience classes and work with her every day, and practice "Nothing in Life is Free" with her. http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm