18 Week Female Yorkie—She’s a NIGHTMARE!!!?
Posted: May 1st, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: Common Questions | Tags: Female, NIGHTMARE, week, YorkieShe's | 10 Comments »So in April I lost my previous dog due to a severe lack of intelligence…not on my part. My boyfriends friend was supposed to keep an eye on her while he went to the store (I was out of town) and she ran into the road and was hit…
After the wounds healed, I decided to try again. I am a dog owner, and always will be. I got a 12 week old Yorkie puppy, adorable. Well, my late dog was three, almost four so I had forgotten what it was like to have a puppy….She’s a nightmare! I am not one who gives up easily so I will try pretty much anything!
POTTY TRAINING- We have been working on this a lot! She has learned not to potty in her kennel, which is a start. But, as soon as I get home and take her out to do her business…she goes right back in the house and does it on my carpet. I allow plenty of time because I know puppies have to do it once or twice to clear it all out…I usually clap my hands or make some kind of loud noise when she does it…and then take her out immediately! Am I doing something wrong here?
OBEDIENCE-Again, nightmare! I crate her before I leave for work, and she bites the hell out of the bars and breaks her teeth! And then she begins to hypersalivate and screams bloody murder! I leave snacks, toys, food, water and music on to calm her down. I even got a pillow that makes a heartbeat sound! Its supposed to calm puppies I guess….This is a risk to her health, I am very tempted to give her a light sedative so she will be calm until I have been gone a while. She isnt screaming when I got home and listened from the outside, its only when I get inside!
ALSO! She is the most stubborn mule I have ever had! I tell her no, push her away and she does it again! She chews everything including the crotch of my panties!!! She has all sorts of toys, kong balls, treats, socks, stuffed animals to play with yet she destroyed my house plant (fake) WTF?
My other dog wasnt nearly this bad, what am I doing wrong? Is it just her breed because I have heard that yorkies are stubborn!
Beyond that, I am considering dog obedience courses…but that is an all time last resort!
*UPDATE* First of all for the jack A** who just trashed on me, get a life dude! I am not an irresponsible owner and I am trying, if I didn’t care the dog would be in the pound by now so don’t even dare try to judge me!
*2nd Update* I have tried the potty pads, and she doesn’t want anything to do with them. So I ditched that idea! Also, with her crate, she is okay with it when shes not locked up! She runs in and out of it, sometimes lies down in it…gets a drink or grabs a quite bite to eat..I don’t know, this dog is a bit on the neurotic side…the most complicated little thing I have ever had to deal with! And she gets distracted so easy too, and acts like shes not listening kind of like a teenager LOL with selective hearing!
Puppy/obediance classes should be your first resort…not last. It is better to stop these behaviors now for both of your sakes. Classes can help both of you with positive techniques designed to help her understand what you want from her. Good Luck!
EXACTLY like every UNTRAINED,ILL-MANNERED & SPOILED ROTTEN pup on the planet!!!
ALL your fault-100%….take responsibility for your lack of brain & spine & WORK!
HAVE YOU WATCHED ON ANIMAL PLANET THE SHOW VICTORIA STILLWELL” ITS ME OR THE DOG?”YOU SHOULD WATCH IT ON TV OR THE INTERNET ON “YOUTUBE.COM,” CONTACT HER AND SHE WILL COME TO YOU HOUSE, AND BRAKE, TRAIN YOUR DPG FOR FREE AND YOU’LL BE ON TV!
For the obedience section, when i got my puppy they said to get a crate that is only big enough for the dog to sit and lie down in and dont put food in the crate. Any way My family just got a puppy, he is about 4 months now. He was kinda crazy too so we took puppy classes and he is really a smart little guy now. So i think you should take the classes and maybe a walk will help tire him out. Hope this helps.
I personally think that Yorkies are stubborn, so you absolutely must use calm, calm, treatment with her. Do not speak to her, don’t make eye contact, don’t yell. But with your actions make her know what is expected. You can leash her when you are inside so you can rush her out if needed. If she has an “accident” don’t punish her, just clean it up and watch more closely. When she does go outside be sure to praise her royally.
Make sure she has scheduled feeding times, don’t leave food down so she can eat at will. You need to know when her potty times will be and she will potty at odd times if she is allowed to graze.
Be calm and consistent, firm and consist ant. She will get the picture when she realized that you are not going to back off.
And remember she is an INFANT. please don’t expect perfection. A human baby doesn’t do anything perfect either.
I highly advise you find a good puppy obedience class. This class should be geared only for puppies, there should be no prong collars or choke collars used, just plain buckle collars. Also, the class should use lots of treats and toys and there should also be a puppy playtime (seperated by the size of hte puppies).
For the potty training, are you taking her out on leash and waiting while she does her business, then praising and treating when she does? Or are you just letting her out on her own? If your letting her out on her own, she won’t learn what she’s supposed to do out there, after all, puppies, especially young puppies, have the attention span of a gnat.
Crate should only be big enough for her to stand, laydown or sit, not big enough for her to potty in it. If the crate is to big, then put a piece of cardboard in the crate to make it smaller.
Remember, if she’s getting into things when she’s out of her crate and doing damage, then your not watching her adequately, so its basically your fault. She’s not being bad, she’s just being a puppy.
I am a dog owner as well, I have had small, medium and large dogs. No puppy likes to be alone, and it will be tough since your Yorkie is only 12 weeks old. Things you need to do, are try and avoid the puppy following you around the house, spend more time trying to train the dog while your at home. Kennels are good for some people, but I don’t prefer them. What you can do, in the immediate time, is leave your apartment for short amounts of time, from 5 minutes on upward. Just keep yourself outside the front door. This way your dog visually sees you leaving this door, but will always see you return. Your yorkie like most puppies grow an attachment to their owners and will scream bloody murder, when you will leave. Try to spend a lot of time outside with your yorkie. This way your dog uses the outside “toilet” more often, and congratulate your puppy, applaud it.
If you are not giving it food or water before you go out, and this is the reason it is not doing its business outside, and you give the water and food to it after you come back in, then it uses your floor, try giving it to your puppy before you take it out. Treats can be a bad means of training your puppy but I will often carry 2 treats on me, for when I applaud my puppy or puppies, when they go outside and successfully do their business. At this time they are looking so forward to going outside and showing me what they are capable of, by 1 month they are sitting at my front door, bringing me their bowls, etc…. A dog will only be as obedient as the time you are willing to put into the animal. You are at work all day, so in your spare time, you must be with your animal the entire time. After all that puppy is also a baby, and you wouldn’t leave your baby at home alone or not spend time with it, for its the most important time of its life and its education. Also go out and buy some puppy pads for your house, they are scented so it urges them to go outside when you later remove them. I didn’t have such an easy time with those as some have, for 2 of my dogs ended up using their blankets as pads. So I removed the pads. But many people have luck with those.
I know Yorkies, and they usually don’t have such anxiety attacks. But they do take more to potty train. And for some reason, all Yorkies I have known love to chew crotches out of underwear. WEIRD. They also hide things, like, oh… diamond rings, doggy treats, milk bottle tops…
I think you ought to get her an outdoor kennel where she can potty and play when you’re not home, and so she see what is going on around her. Yorkies aren’t crazy about being cooped up in small spaces, whereas my poodle likes it.
With Yorkies, you really need to spend a lot of time with them for the first year. After that, they can usually wander the house with no accidents on the carpet (although mine once tore a whole wall of wallpaper off the wall!). The dog at about one year old will feel more secure if you’ve spent the first year with her NOT working… kind of like young kids do better at home than with Daycare until they start school.
I realize you work and that can’t be helped, so see if you can get a good-sized covered (or partially covered) doggy run outside. Other than that, obedience training won’t do a whole lot if you’re not there consistently. For potty training, crates are great, but you need to be home more. You might consider finding her a new home at this point if she makes you pull your hair out! Conversely, might consider getting another pup to keep her company.
OH, like someone mentioned, never yell at a Yorkie. They WILL “get back” at you in some form or another.
Potty Training: You’re not doing anything wrong. Many small dogs take 6 months to a year to potty train. Be consistent and patient, she will get it eventually.
The screaming in the crate is NOT an obedience training issue. You are dealing with what appears to be a severe case of separation anxiety and a puppy that was not properly introduced to the crate. Their crate should be their den, and when properly introduced, a puppy should feel secure and peaceful when crated.
On the crate-training front: You can not crate this puppy until you can get her to understand that the crate is not a scary horrible place. Since she’s had some bad experiences, this can take a while. Work on crating while you are home. Toss a treat in, give her the command to crate up, praise her for going in and let her straight back out without closing the door at first. Once she will go in voluntarily on command, order her in, close the door for a fraction of a second, and immediately open it again. Give a treat if she doesn’t pitch a fit. Slowly increase the amount of time the door is closed before you give a treat. When she will be ok in the crate with you nearby, then close the door, leave the room for a second, come back in, treat and let her out if she was quiet. Repeat, increasing the time very slowly that she is crated. If at any point she throws a fit, back up a step in the process and try again. Have patience and progress slowly.
As far as the separation anxiety component, this is a very very difficult problem to work with in a lot of cases. I would advise enlisting a trainer or behaviorist to help you out (not an obedience class- an in-person, in-depth, one-on-one consult focusing only on this issue in your home). If you don’t want to do that, here are some links that may be helpful, but in my experience, in-person help from a knowledgeable professional can significantly reduce the time it will take to overcome the issue and can mean the difference between failure and success.
http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/pdfs/dogs/separationanxiety.pdf
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/our_pets_for_life_program/dog_behavior_tip_sheets/separation_anxiety.html
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_separation_anxiety.html
As far as general behavioral issues, dogs have varying energy levels, intelligence levels, training needs, and mental stimulation needs. Your puppy sounds bored, and thus destructive, and also high energy. I would try engaging her in activities that will work her mind. You can set up a tiny obstacle course, get her one of those treat-dispensing toys, play games, etc. I would also strongly recommend the book “Little Dogs: Training Your Pint-Sized Companion” by Deborah Wood. It is a great book, filled with positive, constructive training techniques modified for small dogs. It is easy to understand and the techniques work when applied consistently.
Add: If she goes in the crate happily with the door open, as far as the crate is concerned, start with closing the door for a fraction of a second, opening it up, and progress from there, very slowly increasing the amount of time the door is closed, and also working on you moving away from the crate when the door is closed.
Potty Training – you are on the right path. The peeing when she comes back inside is because she hasn’t quite learned to pee outside only. When she pees outside, make it a big deal – ‘good girl, good potty”. When she pees in the house, mop it up with whatever you use say “uh oh, let’s go potty” and take it and her outside – drop it on the ground “good potty”.Keep doing it – it will take time!
Obedience: Try putting a shirt with your scent in the crate. Since it’s when you are home, work more with her with the crate as a safe “house”. Encourage her to go in and lay down and get a nice long pat.