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07-10-2006, 07:08 AM | #1 |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Buckley, WA
Posts: 930
| Training a yorkie Hi everyone. I have some questions. I have had many dogs in my lifetime, and have always started doing tiny obedience things right away and ended up with very pleasant obedient dogs. The dilemma I have is that I've never had a toy/tiny dog before. My dogs have all been either labs or shelties. (well, I did have one golden retriever). When training these bigger dogs, I would use a collar and leash for starting training for come, and stay. It doesn't seem as effective with the harness. So how DO you start teaching your yorkies to "come"? I really need Phoebe to get this, because our property is wide open and we have horse pastures all over. I don't ever leave her outside, and never will. But if we are outside playing, I don't want her to start wandering and not come when called. Obviously, it will take some time, since she is only 11 weeks old, right now. But my main question is, is it safe to use a collar, gently, for just doing this part of my training? Hmmm.... If anyone has other methods they have used... please pass them on! Thanks sooo much! Phoebe is a little spitfire, so she will definitely need some boundaries before long! deb |
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07-10-2006, 07:24 AM | #2 |
Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: .
Posts: 493
| Hello. Congratulations on having your first Yorkie. I cannot answer your question about using collar, because I honestly don't know the pros and cons. The way we are teaching Mia is, first my husband and I sat on each end of a narrow hall-way, and put Mia in the middle. We both had treats in our hands. We took turns calling Mia, and whenever she came right away, we praised her and gave her a treat. When she is on a leash outside, in the middle of her playing, we call her to us. When she comes right away, she gets praised and also gets a treat. When we are home Mia always comes when called. Outside, however, she completely ignored us at first, but now she comes running most of the time because she knows she will get yum yum treats. Eventually we will switch to just praising. It seems to be working out fine, but I cannot tell you how effective this method is since Mia is 13 weeks today We got her when she was 9 weeks and started teaching her to come within a week. Good luck!!
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07-10-2006, 07:27 AM | #3 |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Buckley, WA
Posts: 930
| Thanks! Phoebe definitely likes her liver treats, so I will start carrying them around in my pocket so I can reward her when she comes. Thanks for the help! deb |
07-10-2006, 12:32 PM | #4 |
Banning Thread Dictator Donating Member | I used a leather collar through Eddie's first five obedience classes before realizing I probably shouldn't have. My instructors treated my Yorkie just as they would a large dog. They even recommended slight "corrections" on the leash. One instructor recommended a prong collar, which I declined to use. Eddie suffered no apparent damage, but in retrospect I would have refused to use a collar. Their necks are just too frail. One mistake could have changed his life. I like lolabella's advice for teaching come. I did something similar. The idea is to make "come" the funnest thing your dog does in life. Some of the best advice I've seen on YT involves clicker training. A woman named FirstYorkie has typed up instructions on what it's about and how it works. She uses nothing but positive training methods, no collars, no corrections. And her Joey is among the best-trained young Yorkies I've seen. Here are two links where she discusses clicker training. Be sure to check out the vids of Joey on the first one. http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29467 http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30866
__________________ Mike ~ Doting Dad to Jillie, Harper, Molly, Cooper, Eddie (RIP), Lucy (RIP), Rusty (RIP) and Jack (RIP). Check us out on YouTube |
07-10-2006, 12:57 PM | #5 |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Buckley, WA
Posts: 930
| Thank you Alaskayorkie I agree, it doesn't take much to hurt a tiny yorkie neck... I am definitely going to try the treat training, and look into clicker training. I've tried to read about it before. It confuses me. I'm such a visual person, I need someone to be here to SHOW me! I don't have sound on my computer either, so it's hard to tell what's happening on those videos. But I will try to find out more. Thanks so very much for the help. I know obedience training is what can make the difference between a dog that you tolerate and one you can truly enjoy! I find the dogs seem to enjoy having a task, too. My shelties (years ago) loved working. The labs...hmmm... they are happier just sitting by me and having their backs scratched. But they are food motivated, so they have had some obedience. have a great day... deb |
07-11-2006, 06:44 PM | #6 |
My Three Hearts Donating Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Wrapped around their paws :-)
Posts: 7,190
| Hi Deb, I highly recommend the clicker training. AprilLove is my 4th dog and first I have used this method with (heard about it here!! on YT . It is really not complicated at all. You basically just click immediately when they finish the task you give them (such as shake, sit, come, down, etc), then you treat. They learn that click means treat and reward, and they love getting praise and reward. I got the training DVD and book by Karon Pryor and started when AprilLove was 13 weeks old. My biggest concern is the come command and she comes RUNNING whenever I call her. Whether outside or inside. I have not used a collar on her yet. She is 17 weeks old now and we have about 5 or 6 minutes a day we spend on clicker training, she even knows when we do it now, when I come home from work after greeetings and letting all the doggies out, she comes to me and sits and waits for the session to begin, it is so cute. Do a little every day and be repetative and consistent, and it will work. Hope this helps. MaryKay AprilLoves' Mommy |
07-12-2006, 01:47 AM | #7 | |
My Three Hearts Donating Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Wrapped around their paws :-)
Posts: 7,190
| Quote:
I can't seem to edit my post. I have to correct it! AprilLove is one week over 6 months not 17 weeks. Tx MaryKay | |
07-12-2006, 02:31 AM | #8 |
YT 500 Club Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 689
| Congrats on getting a yorkie. I use a stern voice to call Mya to me when I need to or she is not paying attention then I always tell her she is good girl and give her hugs and kisses. I have tried the treat method but she seemed too focused on the treat at first but it did help to teach her to stay, sit and sit pretty. If the dog totally looses focus and takes off for some reason (has only happened a couple of times) I fall back on screaming out "I have your mouse"(her favorite toy) or with my other dog "I have a carrot" ( his favorite treat). Not professional at all.....but hey it works.
__________________ Regards,Cyn Driving the grammatically correct insane, one posting at a time |
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