Training the importance of

[gemy]

We have so very many repetitive threads on here about biting growling and generally bad behaviour of Yorkies.

I am going to start from this premise : Your dogs bad behaviour is Your Fault!. You have failed in your training or worse you have failed to train at all.

Next premise: Yorkies are no better than or that different from other dogs. Each breed has its quirks and sometimes special needs. Yorkies can and should be trained.

Next premise: If you would not accept a behaviour from a 100lb dog why would or should you accept it from a Yorkie???

So we look at growling; as a puppy awh ya think it is cute? It is not cute - it can be a sign of adult problems with growling. Correct it now and always. It is not okay for your Yorkie to growl at hubby or wife when they sit on the couch with you or go to bed. It is not okay for Yorkies or any dog to growl at children and btw other dogs unprovoked. It is not okay for Yorkies to growl at strangers be they men or woman who are merely walking by.

Biting nibbling etc etc: It is your job to stop it when they are puppies. It is not cute. How-ever it is expected to happen with a young pup and it is your job to correct this behaviour.

Jumping up: Again not okay. Correct it when they are young and do not accept this behaviour. Oh you say they are only wee and small. But what happens when your Yorkie jumps up on an unsteady toddler and causes them to fall? How about an old senior frail and using a cane?

Take your owners' responsibility seriously and train your dog to be a good canine neighbour here is a thought do the Test!

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by gemy

I am going to start from this premise : Your dogs bad behaviour is Your Fault!.

I had a really hard time accepting this premise a few years ago, but it is true.

Although, I still wonder what I am missing when it comes to the boys' barking game in the car. They understand I do not want them to bark so loud, and they need an off switch.

[lovestiny]

I agree with your post...both of my yorkies are housebroken, one is 4 months old and one is 20 months. My 20 month old knows many commands and knows how to behave wherever we take her. I will be teaching my four month old the same commands and I wonder if he will be even easier to train because he came to me already knowing how to walk on a leash and potty outside. with my 20 month old though, do feel she definitely has some sassy in her personality despite being so obedient lol. I guess that is just her yorkie-ness My boy is just all sweetness so far lol.

[canana]

Originally Posted by gemy

I am going to start from this premise : Your dogs bad behaviour is Your Fault!. You have failed in your training or worse you have failed to train at all.

And every dog owner needs to accept it! It's easy to blame the dog, but dogs don't know 'good' vs 'bad' behaviour. Good / bad is defined and determined by us humans. If they're not being 'good' then we need to help our dogs learn to be.

My furbabies definitely aren't perfect, but I realize that every flaw they have is my responsibility to correct.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I had a really hard time accepting this premise a few years ago, but it is true.

Although, I still wonder what I am missing when it comes to the boys' barking game in the car. They understand I do not want them to bark so loud, and they need an off switch.

My dogs are usually very quiet in the car until we get to the lake or the park. And then the barking the help me Lord that annoying whining when I pull in and park. Now this is my fault - as I have not had the patience to train them not to do this. I kind of understood it was so desired by each of my dogs that I sort of shrugged my shoulders and said I would put up with the 5minutes or so of annoying sounds. But if today with all adult dogs I wanted to try to train this out of them. I would issue the quiet/hush command and if they did not obey all doors would be closed - I would drive out of the park - park on the side of the road. Open the doors and if I got the sounds again after the Quiet command - I would calmly close the doors and drive another 1/4 to 1/2 mile away again. Rinse and Repeat. If of course they obey the Quiet I would treat each dog a whole lot. Then drive in a little closer and Repeat. It might take 5months or so of 3at least times a wk to break them of this habit.

Now with the boys barking game - Are they crated together? If so I would break that pairing up if at all possible. Actually I think you don't use crates but same idea - maybe one in backseat and one in front seat.

I would start off just driving down the driveway - if they bark - issue Quiet command and if they don't stop the car. You exit car and if they bark. Back up the driveway you go. Each dog is put back in the house. It is exhausting to break each final behaviour down into small small steps. But look at it this way you trained your Yorkies to sit still for a topknot cause they knew a yummy walk reward happened afterwards.

[Nancy1999]

Couldn't agree with you more, but I had tried so many different kinds of training and nothing produced consistent results, every time, until I found a new trainer who advocated a type of punishment. I trained Joey to do every trick in the world, but he couldn't be trusted to be around my granddaughter so we had to do something different. We had a member here whose beloved and gentle dog bit her granddaughter and I just thought that could easily be Joey. He didn't like certain moves and if she had food or walked in a certain manner with her skirt flipping he got too excited. The trainer changed my life. My dogs are now two of the best behaved dogs I've ever had, I can get them to stop barking on command and the doorbell can ring without them going nuts. They seem so much less neurotic. I know people hate the word, "punishment", but in behavioral terms, punishment is anything that decreases the probability of the behavior, so a punishment could be a kiss if it decreases the probability of the behavior. I'm all for positive reinforcement, and it should be the main type of method used for teaching them to do something, but to teach them to "stop" doing something, reinforcement is not as reliable, and I think that's why many people think there dog is trained until something bad happens.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by gemy

I would start off just driving down the driveway - if they bark - issue Quiet command and if they don't stop the car. You exit car and if they bark. Back up the driveway you go. Each dog is put back in the house. It is exhausting to break each final behaviour down into small small steps. But look at it this way you trained your Yorkies to sit still for a topknot cause they knew a yummy walk reward happened afterwards.

I have done this and it works for short term. I've deprived them of their outings (we have to drive to our walking place), which is really heartbreaking. Within 3 days, they are back to their game.

The barking in the car is definitely a game to them. They share a seat. I'm sure crating and depriving them of the view would stop the barking, but they would be heartbroken because they love their car rides.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Couldn't agree with you more, but I had tried so many different kinds of training and nothing produced consistent results, every time, until I found a new trainer who advocated a type of punishment. I trained Joey to do every trick in the world, but he couldn't be trusted to be around my granddaughter so we had to do something different. We had a member here whose beloved and gentle dog bit her granddaughter and I just thought that could easily be Joey. He didn't like certain moves and if she had food or walked in a certain manner with her skirt flipping he got too excited. The trainer changed my life. My dogs are now two of the best behaved dogs I've ever had, I can get them to stop barking on command and the doorbell can ring without them going nuts. They seem so much less neurotic. I know people hate the word, "punishment", but in behavioral terms, punishment is anything that decreases the probability of the behavior, so a punishment could be a kiss if it decreases the probability of the behavior. I'm all for positive reinforcement, and it should be the main type of method used for teaching them to do something, but to teach them to "stop" doing something, reinforcement is not as reliable, and I think that's why many people think there dog is trained until something bad happens.

There is no way to know if a dog is 100% reliable no matter what kind of training is used. I think we always need to be prepared for the unexpected.

Happy to hear you have had success with your training. What kind of "punishments" do you employ? Like you, I believe in positive reinforcement, but I do use the withdrawal of attention, which is a negative. I walk away, leave the room where they cannot follow.

[canana]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I have done this and it works for short term. I've deprived them of their outings (we have to drive to our walking place), which is really heartbreaking. Within 3 days, they are back to their game.

The barking in the car is definitely a game to them. They share a seat. I'm sure crating and depriving them of the view would stop the barking, but they would be heartbroken because they love their car rides.

Aww...your true love for Max and Teddy really shows in this post - I know very well the issue and headaches of barking, but this sounds so sweet, that you don't want to deprive them of their views

I've always put both Scottie and Casie in their carriers whenever in the car - I guess they don't know what they're missing out on and I get my peace and quiet hehe...

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by canana

Aww...your true love for Max and Teddy really shows in this post - I know very well the issue and headaches of barking, but this sounds so sweet, that you don't want to deprive them of their views

I've always put both Scottie and Casie in their carriers whenever in the car - I guess they don't know what they're missing out on and I get my peace and quiet hehe...

Hehe! I'm envious. I started Max out in a soft crate, but he cried non-stop. Giving him a car seat and a view helped him overcome his fear of the car.

Teddy has always loved the car. When we brought him home from the breeder's house, he spent the entire 6 hour drive sitting up watching the world go by. The barking didn't start until he was about 2 years old.

Now the boys play "spot the UPS truck, motorcycle, school bus" and they compete to see who can bark the loudest. I wouldn't mind if they had a normal bark volume, but my boys could easily win a loudness contest against any dog breed. They have quite an impressive vocal range too.

I just don't have the heart to take away their view. They are such good boys in general. That is probably part of the problem -- they know they are forgiven for this one weakness.

[canana]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Hehe! I'm envious. I started Max out in a soft crate, but he cried non-stop. Giving him a car seat and a view helped him overcome his fear of the car.

Teddy has always loved the car. When we brought him home from the breeder's house, he spent the entire 6 hour drive sitting up watching the world go by. The barking didn't start until he was about 2 years old.

Now the boys play "spot the UPS truck, motorcycle, school bus" and they compete to see who can bark the loudest. I wouldn't mind if they had a normal bark volume, but my boys could easily win a loudness contest against any dog breed. They have quite an impressive vocal range too.

I just don't have the heart to take away their view. They are such good boys in general. That is probably part of the problem -- they know they are forgiven for this one weakness.

Don't be envious - I think I'm just heartless!

Scottie cried a lot at first too! He really wanted to sit with me on my lap (crying would stop every time he was out of the bag and on my lap). I decided it wasn't safe, so I convinced myself that his cries were cute. When that didn't work (think Scottie and Max&Teddy could have a competition for vocal ranges ), I would talk to him during car rides, with him in the soft carrier, and tell him everything was okay and also to "put your head down". The second he lied down, I'd throw a treat through a small opening of his bag. It took about two car rides for him to get it. You could give it a shot if you'd like Though...I know the views are the most enjoyable part of car rides

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Maximo

There is no way to know if a dog is 100% reliable no matter what kind of training is used. I think we always need to be prepared for the unexpected.

Happy to hear you have had success with your training. What kind of "punishments" do you employ? Like you, I believe in positive reinforcement, but I do use the withdrawal of attention, which is a negative. I walk away, leave the room where they cannot follow.

I agree you can never be 100% certain, I just know now that I have confidence in them, where I never did before. I use something called a bonker, it's basically a rolled up towel, with think rubber bands to hold the towel in place. For large dogs you use a tightly wound up large bath towel and for Yorkies you use a hand towel and mine is very tightly wound. I'm afraid to talk too much about the method, I believe some people would use it in anger or for such things as housebreaking and it should never be use for this.

Basically you attach a word to the bonker and actually have to hit them once. The trainer was sitting on the floor with a bowl of food, and when they tried to get the food, he bonked them. Obviously, you have to be careful how hard you hit them, and never hit them in the face, I go for the side of the neck, it's just something to get their attention and let them know you mean business. I practiced on my arm before I ever hit them. The towel is a good thing to use, because you can learn to throw it when other things like a water bottle require you to be close to them. When I throw it I actually don't try to hit them, I just try to get close, (the trainer may not agree with that), but the word "halt" has kept up it's strength for over a year, so there is no need to hit again. During training, they were each hit a total of two times. Here's his website if anyone wants to read more about it. I hope no one tries this method without understanding thoroughly the principals behind it. You have to reward them when they do behave, and most people skip this step, so if you are just hitting them without the rewards, they eventually get use to the punishment and you have to step it up, and that's were abuse comes in. So the rewards help them to learn a new behavior, while the bonker and the new "word" helps them to stop a old behavior.


Inhibitions

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by canana

Don't be envious - I think I'm just heartless!

Scottie cried a lot at first too! He really wanted to sit with me on my lap (crying would stop every time he was out of the bag and on my lap). I decided it wasn't safe, so I convinced myself that his cries were cute. When that didn't work (think Scottie and Max&Teddy could have a competition for vocal ranges ), I would talk to him during car rides, with him in the soft carrier, and tell him everything was okay and also to "put your head down". The second he lied down, I'd throw a treat through a small opening of his bag. It took about two car rides for him to get it. You could give it a shot if you'd like Though...I know the views are the most enjoyable part of car rides

Heartless, lol. Great job training Scottie! I would try your treat method, but I have found with Max that he nearly chokes himself trying to eat the treat while going back to barking.

Vocal ranges: I wish we could all get together and have the contest. Video doesn't capture the volume adequately. I've tried.

I tease M&T by saying I regret walking them so much, allowing them to develop their lung capacity.

[Zoey Zendaya]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I had a really hard time accepting this premise a few years ago, but it is true.

Although, I still wonder what I am missing when it comes to the boys' barking game in the car. They understand I do not want them to bark so loud, and they need an off switch.

Lol! Boy I can relate to that too! I HAVE trained , trained , and trained in my car . They aren't too bad until we get too close to like some one walking, a nearby animal...and they both hate the Amish horse and buggys...we live in Amish country! I bring my little spray bottle and just shaking it and saying " nooo, spray bottle" ! They look at me and stop...some times I'll spray it out the window and that will stop them...but sheesh!and this is ZOEY! She who will sit still Inside The house and let a bird come right up to the patio door in front of her...lol!

[canana]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Heartless, lol. Great job training Scottie! I would try your treat method, but I have found with Max that he nearly chokes himself trying to eat the treat while going back to barking.

Vocal ranges: I wish we could all get together and have the contest. Video doesn't capture the volume adequately. I've tried.

I tease M&T by saying I regret walking them so much, allowing them to develop their lung capacity.

Haha...sigh. If only I did a great job training Scottie. He's still so nervous around dogs and people during walks, he has to bark at everyone. The one major flaw I cannot correct in him. I think that's worse than barking in the car because we do walks daily

Scottie has a pretty deep solid manly bark. It's surprising to me, coming from him who has such a pretty girly face! Hehe..must be like you said, we walk them too much!