maxiesmommy...
... nice to have you here, and hats off to you for rescuing that puppy
I think you have gotten some real good advice here. It is hard to remember that they are just infants really even if they are so big. And especially a dog who most likely have never really had someone to tell her what is okay and not, and the younger they are when you start telling them that the easier it will be later on.
So the poop and pee first. A crate is good, but being a little puppy there are things mommy needs to do for her. Before she gets into the crate, make sure she is all pooped and peed out. And to start with, take her out very very often, so to not really give her a chance to go in the crate. Most dogs dont go in there if they really really dont have to (youll always find the dog who dont care thoug
) If she is somewhere at night, where it is quiet hopefully shell sleep well, I think if she wakes up, thats when she feels she needs to go and will go in the crate. Even set your clock and take her out in the middle of the night for a few weeks, make the time inbetween the pee/poo walks longer and longer, so she gets used to holding it a little, but still knows that "help" is on its way
When she is not in the crate, during day, just make a point of watching her real carefully, after taking a drink, after playing, after a nap, you know all the situations when she will most definately go potty.
About the biting. It is not uncommon for a puppy to bite, a playful bite that is. The dogs that are real bad with it, you may have to tell your kids (two legged) that a real rough play isnt such a good idea until the puppy knows what is good and what is not good to do. the wilder the play the more excited the puppy will get and then she just cant control herself. When she does use a command like "leave it" or "ignore" or whatever you choose, youll have to say it 1750 times, but sooner or later it will get in there
you can also when she does to you, push a bit of her lip in between your hand and her teeth, that way she bites herself and they tend to be not too impressed by that hehe. But a good start is probably to calm the play down a bit, and tell your sons, why and explain why they have to do and play with her in a certain way, to help her learn how to do things right, kids usually like the idea of helping. Also tell them about her bad start in life, that will probably also make it easier for them to understand.
Good Luck and please please post some pics and let us know how things are going
Marit