We've had our 12 week old puppy for a week now and she's been doing well with crate training. We live in a raised ranch and at first we had to pick her up and bring her down the stairs to go outside. Then she started walking down the steps to go outside when we told her "outside" and "come!". Now, every once in a while she'll take the steps, but more often than not she'll sit at the top of the steps and look at us then start running around whenever we come up to get her to pick her up. Anyone know why she runs away? The only reason I can think of is that it's been cold outside and she doesn't want to go outside. She always GOES when we actually go outside, even if she's just squeezing out a few drops. I always praise her and tell her she's such a good girl and she is very happy, tail wagging etc, when we come inside. Today I even bought her a little sweater.

The other reason I can think of is that we're bringing her out really often and maybe she doesn't HAVE to go as often, we're just trying to be proactive so that she doesn't have any accidents, taking her out every couple of hours. Are we doing something wrong? I don't think after a week she's ready to tell us when she needs to "go". How long does it take them to get the hang of it and let you know when she needs to go?

Looking for any advice experienced dog owners can give me!! This is my first puppy as an adult and I just want to make sure we're being effective with the training and not making "outside" a punishment.

i would keep letting her out often but maybe not as often, some times an accident in the house and the correct mild punishment can be just what the dog needs to really in a sense convince it of the link between, in the garden good, in the house bad. some reinforcement that it is not allowed to go in the house
it can be this that makes the dog completely understand what is expected