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I got the pup on June 21 - the owners said that she was 5 weeks old - so I guess she would be at 7 weeks now. The sister pup is an outside dog

Ok, no way in hell is this puppy house trained! If she is an outside dog it might be as simple as she prefers to be outside, so she scratches to get out to the prefered place. Simple as that. She's not going outside because she wants to go pee, she's going outside because she wants to go outside! I bet if you had her in the house long enough she'd pee right in front of you without an ounce of thought gone into it.

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maybe I should have let my daughter take her also.

if your daughter will take her, it might be best for the pup during this very malleable period of her life. you could always take her back after she's had a good foundation of socialization at your daughter's, and is old enough to be left alone while you are at work.

why not farm her out to your daughter now, and then bring her home again at four to six months of age? it sounds like, from what you have posted, it would be in the pup's best interests.

I wonder if she simply got the genetic "short end of the stick" when it comes to nerves and confidence. In many litters, you can get young that are extremely confident as well as those that shatter just by looking at them. In any case, yours will require TONS of socialization, in other words this dog should be spending every waking moment being exposed nicely to good things. I think Ed Frawley has even recommended that owners should find people who scare the dog and turn them into hot dog machines, teaching the dog that good things come from all sorts of people. You especially will want to do that with men similar to the jerk that keeps revving his bike whenever the pup is around (what a butthead). Take your pup everywhere with lots of treats to encourage your pup (but don't reward hiding behavior and don't coddle when the pup gets scared). You don't want to overwhelm her, just expose her to various stimuli without overloading her. This is how you should be spending your mornings, evenings, weekends, and days off! If you have an especially awesome workplace, maybe you can see if they'll allow you to bring her in with you. Welcome to your second full time job! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Hopefully you read the sites I posted so realize you got your puppy WAY TOO EARLY! I agree with what others are saying that it may be better to keep the puppies together (so they can socialize the normal manner) and in the other home (without the neighbor you have that you can't get to leave your puppy alone).

Some breeders don't sell their puppies until they are 10 -12 weeks old because they know how important that time with the mother and littermates can be. And how important the HUMAN interaction is during this time (and how easily we can accidentally mess things up). It's a huge responsibility when we take a puppy too early, and then have to figure out alot of the 'work' so when the dog is a huge adult they are the confident and secure dog we all want to have.

Not only human interaction, but dog to dog interaction is critical at that age.

knowing that the pup was just wanting outside - that is obvious - my thoughts were that maybe some of that wanting outside would rub off on my pup since she was so scared to go out. I'm not totally clueless! I got on this forum mostly to sound off, talk about my frustration & to get advice. Some posts have been a great help to boost my confidence and re-affirm what I've been doing is correct or in-correct, others I've had to take with a grain of salt. But for the most part, some of you have been a great help!!

I took my pup in to work for about a half-hour while I did a few things on Saturday. She did OK - that is, after she got over the double glass doors at the main entrance. She was confused at her own reflection. She even started barking and wanted to play! ha! ha! Everybody liked her. We went on our 1st walk on a leash this morning. She struggled at first & no I didn't drag her. She started walking on her own following my cat. Things went even smoother when she took the leash into her mouth - she would then walk with no problems. I guess she had to think that she was leading me. Don't worry, this will be something that I will correct in the future. I don't want her to be dragging me along on every walk.

Now for the bad news:

My daughter told me they have a lot of bold coyotes in their area. That sweet pup has been missing for 4 days.

pat, i hope you can overlook any minor offense anyone here might have inadvertently committed. dog people can be blunt, but everyone here has been supportive of you and has tried to be helpful. no one is criticizing you. we're just trying to help you by educating you.

very sorry to read of your daughter's missing pup. that does not sound good. but i have never heard of coyotes killing a domestic dog. and i do live in coyote country! maybe others here will have had more experience with that.

take her everywhere you can with you, you are getting the idea! she is going to look to you for how to react to things that spook her, so you remain calm, confident, and light, and she'll take her cue from you. act like whatever it is is no big deal, and talk in a light, happy voice. do NOT reassure, pet, or comfort her when she acts fearful, because that just reinforces her fearful behavior.

ex: just recently, my dog spooked when he saw someone's racoon lawn ornament. i stayed calm and relaxed, and said in a light, teasing voice: "you silly boy! what is that? what is that? huh? you silly!"

this gave him the confidence to go up and inspect and find out that it was not a living animal.

Thanks Alice, but I'm afraid that around my part of the world - this happens alot. I once lived in the area that my daughter is living at. You could sit in the kitchen with the lights on and see the coyotes actually get up on the back porch and stare at you.
That's when my husband said enough is enough - target practice time. ha ha
I just hope that whatever happened to the pup was quick and merciful.

So...why was a 7 week old pup outside and unattended in coyote country?

I don't know whether or not the pup disappeared during the night or followed the older dogs and got lost. This is country life. The dogs run and play during the day - when everybody comes home after work it's feeding time. The pup never showed up to eat. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />