Yorkie puppy housebreaking getting worse, not better
I adopted a 6-month-old Yorkie puppy last month, and am having a really hard time housebreaking him. He was kept in a pen before I owned him, and I'm sure got used to eliminating whenever he needed to. I've had him for about 4 weeks now and this most recent week has been by far the worst. What am I doing wrong?
At night, he sleeps in a small plastic crate that is just the right size for him to lay down without too much extra space. I leave a hard chew toy (like a Denta-bone) in there for him in case he gets bored and needs to chew. In the morning, I take him right outside, feed him, then take him outside again about an hour later after I shower and get ready for work. When I am at work (about 7-3), I leave him in the crate.
This seemed to work pretty well right from day 1. When outside, he seemed to have no problem sniffing the grass and finding a nice place to go. He had an occasional accident on the carpet, but it was usually if I hadn't been paying close attention to him and failed to see the signs he needed to go. As long as I took him out regularly, he went outside pretty reliably.
This week, though, he has been really bad. One night I was paying really close attention to him and I noticed him squatting on the carpet to pee every 20 minutes. Each time, as soon as the squat took shape, I said "Sparky, no! Bad dog!" and took him right outside without letting him finish. Once outside, he would refuse to go anywhere. We walked around for 30 minutes, and he didn't do anything. Inside though, just a couple minutes later he was in squat position again. Every time he goes outside I praise him.
He has also started pooping in his crate. The first week I had him, he had only one pooping accident in his crate while I was at work. The next two weeks, he did not have any accidents (so he can definitely hold it). This week he has pooped in his crate three times. He always tries to either hide it under the towel that I leave in the crate, or push it out through the door. When he poops in his crate, he gets a bath (which he hates).
This morning, I took him out of his crate and said "do you want to go outside?" like I always do every morning. He ran around and jumped like he usually does, then we started walking down the stairs. Halfway down, he perched on one of the stairs (didn't even go into squat position) and started peeing. This had never happened before. I told him "No! Bad dog!" and grabbed him, put the leash on, and took him outside. In the grass, he immediately finished peeing, but refused to do his usual morning poop. He also threw a tantrum twice when I tried to bring him back inside after waiting for him to poop for 10-15 minutes. I'm afraid of what I will find in the crate when I get home today.
He still hates his crate too. He never goes in there unless I make him or unless there is a toy inside that he wants. He always tucks his tail when forced to go and will try to run anywhere in the room except the crate. It almost seems like he has gotten afraid of me, too, since when I approach him before I leave for work in the morning he balls himself up in the corner like he is about to be kicked (this is new behavior this week; I have NEVER kicked him) and then I make him go in the crate. It is so sad and I hate to leave him, but unfortunately that's life.
I can't even reward him for going in his crate using treats because he is so sad that he won't even eat them. I have these chicken liver treats that he loves when I teach him to sit and lay down, but when I give him one for going in his crate, the treat is still there 8 hours later when I come home.
What am I doing wrong?