Getting my yorkie to ride in a purse/carrier

[battyboop]

I am a clothing designer who works for herself at home and therefor have a lot of time to spend with my yorkie momoko. When I 1st got her I thought it would be so cute to train her to ride in a doggie purse so I could take her with me on some of my errands and appointments and such. She has alway sbeen terrified of the dog purse or carrier. No matter how hard I try I cannot get her to stay in one without freaking out. I go ther at 4 months old and started trying to slowly train her then by putting her in the purse/carrier a few times a day, every time she would just freak out. She is now 11 months old and the only way she likes to be carried is up in my arms. This also is a problem with getting her to go in a dog carrier if I want to go on trips etc. She starts yelping and trashing around if I put her in a crate or carrier. Any tips for training a good purse/carrier riding doggie??

-Tracy

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by battyboop

I am a clothing designer who works for herself at home and therefor have a lot of time to spend with my yorkie momoko. When I 1st got her I thought it would be so cute to train her to ride in a doggie purse so I could take her with me on some of my errands and appointments and such. She has alway sbeen terrified of the dog purse or carrier. No matter how hard I try I cannot get her to stay in one without freaking out. I go ther at 4 months old and started trying to slowly train her then by putting her in the purse/carrier a few times a day, every time she would just freak out. She is now 11 months old and the only way she likes to be carried is up in my arms. This also is a problem with getting her to go in a dog carrier if I want to go on trips etc. She starts yelping and trashing around if I put her in a crate or carrier. Any tips for training a good purse/carrier riding doggie??

-Tracy

Some dogs just don't like it. We tried to get Chip to ride in a doggie purse thing and he would FLIP out. I think he is claustrophobic. You may just have one that's happier to run and walk rather than be carried.

[lopresm]

I began training Remi to go into the doggie pocketbook by carrying him around the house. I make sure several of his favorite treats are already in the bag so that he bends his head and body down to retrieve them. When he does this I zipper up the bag. I do this almost every day at different times so that when I go out he is used to the routine.
I think that because he is used to this as a normal occurence, he accepts being in the bag. Yesterday he was in the bag at the dentist's office. He is quiet and well-behaved in the small space.

Of course, he is never left in the doggie pocketbook for extended times. I also have a carry on suitcase with wheels that is made for little dogs. I also put him in this with his treats almost every day and wheel him about the house. I have brought him to weddings and parties in this great "suitcase".

Hope this is helpful.

[marcerella02]

does she go in a crate? Layla loves her crate... so when i wanted her to start going in her carrier... i left it out for a few days.. let her sniff around.. we would play.. hide the toy with it.. i'd put treats in it (it has a top entrance and a side) and she would have to sneak her little nose in there to get it.. then i started by going around the house... CONSTANTLY feeding her treats while she was in it... and now it is to the point where when i take it out... she can't get in fast enough becuse a) it means she gets to come with me and b) she gets a treat.. when she first gets in and when she gets out. if she is going to be in there for a while she will get them while she is in there.. good luck.. it is a slow process but the time is worth it!

[barneybu]

Barney liked his from go- but then again I got him and then had to fly him out to LA in it on a fun flight from chicago two days after I got him. Yikes!

I think he was just happy the top was open after that.

But in all fairness- I really needed to take him everywhere in it- I would leave it out all the time and he learned to understand that if we left the house he was in the bag.

Now I have to keep it locked in a closet otherwise he will drag it out- and put it by the door. If it is out he would rather sit in it then anywhere else.

That said he hated his crate...

[battyboop]

Originally Posted by marcerella02

does she go in a crate? Layla loves her crate... so when i wanted her to start going in her carrier... i left it out for a few days.. let her sniff around.. we would play.. hide the toy with it.. i'd put treats in it (it has a top entrance and a side) and she would have to sneak her little nose in there to get it.. then i started by going around the house... CONSTANTLY feeding her treats while she was in it... and now it is to the point where when i take it out... she can't get in fast enough becuse a) it means she gets to come with me and b) she gets a treat.. when she first gets in and when she gets out. if she is going to be in there for a while she will get them while she is in there.. good luck.. it is a slow process but the time is worth it!

I think I need to get one with a top and side entrance, her doggie purse just has a top entrance and she hates being put down in it.

[patty58]

Have you tried one of the ones that are like backpacks except they are in the front?

[battyboop]

Originally Posted by patty58

Have you tried one of the ones that are like backpacks except they are in the front?

I was thinking of those too...I'll have to look over all my options and see which one Momo likes best

[sweetr72]

As long as Soleil can pop her head out she is more than ok with riding in the purse...she actually really likes it too!!

Dawn

[kay6688]

I have always taken Jax in a carrier-I tell him he has to get in the bag when we park the car. He never complains, but I have done it since I got him.

[battyboop]

Originally Posted by kay6688

I have always taken Jax in a carrier-I tell him he has to get in the bag when we park the car. He never complains, but I have done it since I got him.

I am sure my main problem was that I didn't start putting her in a carrier early enough, when she was a puppy I tried a few time and it freaked her out so I never made it a habit or offered treats in the carrier. Now she is almost a year old and I am afraid it's going to be really hard to train her. She was never crate trained either, I work from home and she is almost always right next to me.

[michiko]

I have Celltei, and Haruka loves it. WHen I started carrying her, I tried to make sure to make the space comfortable with comfy blanket etc... I put a little treat sometimes... She loves being in there!