|
Welcome to the YorkieTalk.com Forums Community - the community for Yorkshire Terriers. You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. You will be able to chat with over 35,000 YorkieTalk members, read over 2,000,000 posted discussions, and view more than 15,000 Yorkie photos in the YorkieTalk Photo Gallery after you register. We would love to have you as a member! Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please click here to contact us. |
|
| LinkBack | Thread Tools |
04-06-2006, 08:03 PM | #1 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Savage
Posts: 23
| puppy class I need some advice. Mickey is 3 months old. I would like to take him to puppy classes, but just yesterday we had a BAD experience with a neighbor's big dog. The owner said it wouldn't hurt Mickey, but it went after him. Mickey wasn't really hurt, but it really scared us both. I'm afraid that big-breed puppies in a class won't even realize he is the same species!!!!! Are there any classes for small breed puppies only? Is it safe to take him to a Petsmart class? Thanks for your help! |
Welcome Guest! | |
04-06-2006, 10:05 PM | #2 | |
YT Addict Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: London
Posts: 284
| Quote:
I did introduce him to a number of dogs after that but in every instance (even though the owners said they were okay), they would lunge and bark at him - frightening him even more. In fact, I would go so far as to say, the puppy socialisation experience he had has given him real reason to be afraid. After a couple of weeks of this, I called a good friend of mine who has been breeding Yorkies for 25 years and she said to just forget the puppy socialisation until he was older. In her experience, Yorkies tend to be a lot more sensitive and they shouldn't be forced into situations they're not ready for. I would go with your own best judgement as to what's best for your baby, but for now I'm limiting Badger to human contact only. He gets on very well with people and children and meets loads of them every day. Even with people, he can sometimes feel a little intimidated and as much as I want him to be a happy, sociable dog, I'm not forcing any issues with him until he's ready. If I can find a puppy playgroup with similar size dogs, then I will take him but I'm not prepared to introduce him to potentially rude and aggressive dogs until he's a little bigger. I may be completely wrong according to the 'experts' but I'm not exposing my little boy to a potentially dangerous situation. In every instance, the owners have been adamant they're dogs are okay with puppies but they've always gone for him so it just proves that no-one can ever really predict what a dog will do in any situation. It's just too much of a risk as far as I'm concerned and he's only tiny anyway. It's not like he's a rottweiler or bull terrier that poses a threat if he's not properly socialised. There is a nice little pug at the vet's office that he seems to like, so I'm finding all sorts of reasons to go in to buy stuff (they have a drop-in-and-visit-us-anytime policy) so he can see her and say 'hi' Hope that helps but let us know what you decide and how it goes. Good luck Last edited by Annie&Badger; 04-06-2006 at 10:08 PM. | |
04-06-2006, 10:17 PM | #3 |
YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: California
Posts: 459
| My puppy, Aggie was also "attacked" by a big dog in my neighborhood when she was 3 months. The big dog thought she was a stuffed-animal and simply picked her up but it scared Aggie, me, and his owner. He slightly bruised her shoulder blade, nothing "biggie" physically. Under my vet's advise I enrolled her in a puppy class. It was a class meant for small breeds and in deed it was a class full of "small" breeds. One that was Aggie's size was a pom-pom. All the rest was twice or three times bigger. In the end, I'm glad I enrolled her. She no longer fears big dogs. She was actually jumping, pawing and chasing these other dogs in the class. It was a proud moment! Lol. Yes, if you're thinking of enrolling your pup in a class, find a class for small breed. As far as I know, PetSmart, PetCo normally doesn't separate pups by size. Good luck and have fun! |
04-06-2006, 11:07 PM | #4 |
YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: American in London
Posts: 1,739
| I highly recommend puppy classes! It's been a wonderful experience for Joey and I. But, you do have to do your homework first. You want to make sure that the trainer uses positive methods and you want to find out how she handles socialization. Off-leash free play is potentially dangerous for small dogs mixed with large dogs. Joey is the only small dog in our class - all the others outweigh him by at least 40 pounds. BUT, our trainer doesn't allow off-leash play. She uses a specific greeting ritual which is done entirely on leash with the dogs well controlled. If the trainer does allow off-leash play, I'd want to find a class only for small dogs.
__________________ FirstYorkie We Love Clicker-Training! |
04-06-2006, 11:29 PM | #5 | |
YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: California
Posts: 459
| Quote:
| |
04-07-2006, 12:17 AM | #6 | |
Our Blessings R Many Donating Member | Quote:
| |
04-07-2006, 04:06 AM | #7 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Edmond, Oklahoma
Posts: 24
| My dog Bentley was very social with bigger dogs. That was until I took him to a Petsmart puppy training class. The trainer and handlers were not paying enough attention to their dogs and a couple of the large dogs had trampled my Bentley and it scared him to death. And the trainer had the nerve to yell at MY dog for barking during class. Now Bentley just barks at bigger dogs and won't go near them, unless they are very calm. I now have him enrolled in a beginner obedience class at a REAL training facility and I feel he is at no risk of getting hurt (But he still barks at the bigger dogs in our class). Just remember training is always a good idea. Just do your research and find a reputable trainer. Good Luck! |
04-07-2006, 04:33 AM | #8 |
Follower of Yorkietology Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Cali-fo-nee-ya
Posts: 1,325
| it's important to note that even "small breed" puppy classes will have pups that are much bigger than yorkies. "small breed" are usually dogs that will top out at about 20lbs when grown. so comparatively to our little yorkies, other small breed pups will probably be a good 2x or 3x bigger than your yorkie. when i enrolled bunjee in puppy classes at petsmart, i asked ahead of time how many puppies are in the class and what breeds they are. there was a total of 7 pups in class with 2 larger pups (labs) and 4 other smaller pups (jrt, cocker, pom, min pin). bunjee was the smallest of them all and although he was rather intimidated in the first couple weeks of class, he did help with his confidence and socialization with dogs of varies sizes. there were exercises where the smaller pups were separated from the bigger pups and there were exercises where they interacted together. i remember at one point where the owners traded pups to practice loose leash walking and i traded with one of the lab owners. boy... is there a difference between walking a 40 lb lab vs. a 4 lbs yorkie. haha. lemme tell ya, it was a workout. i think it's important for you to be able to observe a class and see how much emphasis the instructers place on the owners maintain control of their dogs. i wouldn't enroll my pup in a class where the owners are allowed to let their dogs do "whatever" with minimal control. you never know if the big pup will think your yorkie is a stuffed animal. eeks! depending on where you are, petsmart *may* have a small breed class. in my area, they didn't but a friend of mine in southern california is also taking her pup to petsmart for class and they had one for small breed pups. |
04-07-2006, 04:35 AM | #9 |
Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Canada
Posts: 2,999
| Gioia have had a similar experience . When I was looking for a puppy training class , a trainer told me that it is good to search for a small breed class but in real live , the puppy will have to encounter all breeds of dogs . He also told me to don't encourage her in her fear . So , she went in a class where was 2 corgis , 3 golden , 1 doberman , 3 Yorkies and 1 toy poodle . At first , Gioia wasn't sure but after the second lesson , she was alright . |
Bookmarks |
|
|
Thread Tools | |
| |
|
|
SHOP NOW: Amazon :: eBay :: Buy.com :: Newegg :: PetStore :: Petco :: PetSmart