training/behavior

Question
1-My 6 month old teacup, Bella, is too rambunctios all of the time. She plays all day and never tires out. Even at night she will not sleep when everyone else is quiet. She also will play with every little thing she sees. She goes from one thing to the next in a matter of seconds. Shell play with my sock and then shell go on to diging herself ehind my bed and finding something she can chok on. Ive read some other stuff on line and it said not to scold them so i look her in the eye and in a firm voice I say "No Bella, no" but that doesnt seem to work. What can I do to make her not so wirey and to listen?

2- Bella is also very stubborn when it comes to going to the bathroom. When I first got her in October, we were training her to go outside. But she wouldnt go all he time. She would play and run around this big tree we have in our backyard. Then it got too cold for her so we bought wee wee pads. She knows to use them because if she has to go in the middle of the night I bring her in my kitchen where the pad is and shell o right on it. But for some odd reason, she takes her "waste" off the pad (eats it/plays with it). She drags it eveywhere and my mom is starting to get very angry because she doesnt listen. I also have another dog who is 11 and my mom just keeps getting mad beucase my other dog is a saint. What should I do??

Answer
Small dogs tend to be a lot more active than large dogs. It depends on a lot of things, breed, sex, environment and temperment. From your description it sounds like the dog needs basic obedience training.  Reward/no reward has to be within 3 seconds of an act for the dog to associate it with what it was doing.

As for hyper activity, the dog needs lots of mental and physical exercise. Crate the dog with a challenge toy (treat inside it has to work to get out).  Most dogs slow down as they mature to adult age and then again at mature age and again at geriatric age.

Lots of dogs will eat their and other dogs excriment. All you can do is dispose of the soiled pads as soon as the dog uses them. You might want to try litter box training.   

Regards,
Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC