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01-31-2014, 10:06 AM | #1 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: mississippi
Posts: 3
| I am a new yorkie owner Hello everyone! I have an 11 week old yorkie named Bella. I have been reading on this wonderful forum for a few days now. I am enjoying learning and looking at everyone's great advice and tips. I would like to know how to let my Bella know that I am the pack leader. Any suggestions?? Thanks in advance! |
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01-31-2014, 11:50 AM | #2 |
♥ Love My Tibbe! ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: D/FW, Texas
Posts: 22,140
| Welcome! There are no quick fixes to becoming a great pack leader, rather a process. The best way to teach your puppy you are a true pack leader - and not that of some famous TV dog trainer's idea of pack leader based on an old study of wolves living in captivity and not the wild - is by using positive reinforcement obedience training once she's a couple - three weeks older and can retain more training, teaching her how to learn to control her impulses and focus, how to work learning how to do a new command and keep it fun, fulfilling and always interesting for her. Keep the sessions short - a couple of minutes for such a very young dog when she's been there another few weeks and has really settled in and gradually increase to 5 mins. 2-3 times a day when she's a few months old. Very short and upbeat sessions that gently praise her and give her a treat for getting it right, ignoring or saying a gentle "uh oh" if she doesn't do the command properly, will soon teach her to listen to you and further, teach her how great it is when she listens to you and does what you request. She'll learn that to get all that positive reinforcement and praise and her treat and your happy smile and pride all she has to do is do what you say and then she wins! But the key here is what most dogowners fail at - daily repetition and gentle guidance and not giving out stern-sounding commands as if the dog is in the military. Say the command in a happy, upbeat tone of voice that invites the dog to WANT to do it, shows her it's a good thing you are asking. Most dogowners train for a month or two at best and quit and wonder why their dog is a terror and anxious and barks all day. Exercise her once she's had her vax's and can safely go outside on walks and give her puzzles and games to figure out and play that will force her to focus and think in order to get the treat or win the game or find the hidden treat or toy and then really celebrate her win with clapping, smiling, lots of verbal praise and petting, rubbing, happy-dancing. She's grow to love challenges and pleasing you by figuring them out. An obedience trained dog using any of the good home programs plus teaching her you will stop her misbehavior by getting up and standing over her and backing her off if she's misbehaving a bit will make you a gentle loving pack member just like that of the alpha male and female in a wolf pack or dog pack in the wild - a firm but gentle, loving teacher and not a bully. Those true pack leaders of pack animals in the wild are teachers, using stern looks, body language, growls, showing teeth, advancing into the pack members space and backing them off and the rare, rare, rare nip or holding the neck in the teeth to discipline their pack members. A true pack leader in the wild will NEVER alpha roles another pack member - rather an underling will voluntarily roll over and show their underbelly submissively when they sense they are being disciplined and acknowledge they received the message. A gentle, patient, loving pack leader who works daily with their dog teaching it how to obey commands and makes the process lots of fun, exercises it and gives it life-enriching games and puzzles to play will always have a happy, confident, well-behaved pet that only needs a stern look or a point of the finger to stop any rare misbehavior. A well-trained dog with a good pack leader is a lovely pet to have around. They potty train faster and surer, are calm during the bath and grooming and never trash your belongings or house.
__________________ Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis Last edited by yorkietalkjilly; 01-31-2014 at 11:51 AM. |
01-31-2014, 12:57 PM | #3 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: mississippi
Posts: 3
| Thanks for the reply and suggestions. You mentioned home programs. What are they?? I have taught her to sit and shake. She picked those up fast. They are really smart dogs! |
01-31-2014, 05:30 PM | #4 |
♥ Love My Tibbe! ♥ Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: D/FW, Texas
Posts: 22,140
| Just those you can read about or watch on YouTube. Watch those videos of a good positive trainer who is upbeat and patient with lots of views and read simple obedience training lessons online. Working with your dog at home and outside on the leash will help the dog learn to automatically do what you say without thinking about it because the payoff - the reward of your happy smile, praise and a food treat - will be so good and positive that there won't be any reason not to. Here's a video I watched the other day that has some good training tips but it's not basic obedience training. Haven't watched her other videos and I'm not a huge clicker fan as Tibbe doesn't like them but just watch training videos along these lines that use praise and treats to reinforce the behavior you want:
__________________ Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |
01-31-2014, 05:48 PM | #5 |
YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NY
Posts: 6,582
| You have a baby on your hands and have plenty of time to teach her. Training in simple things like sit, down, stay can start at any time. Sit is usually the easiest to start with. When you are daily teaching your pup how to do things they naturally learn that you are their leader. Gracie is a member of our family. She sits on the furniture with us and sleeps in the bed but she also knows and is eager to do things that we have taught her. When she was a pup she would charge the door when it was opened. She loved to get loose and run like the wind and never look back. Of course that was dangerous for her AND me since I thought my heart was going to stop from fear of her getting to the road! She now knows that when someone comes to the door or is going to go out the door that she is to sit in a particular spot away from the door. Training a dog to sit, stay, come, and down can be life saving activities. Life tends to throw us unexpected circumstances so always be prepared. Lots of positive reinforcement, love, treats are all good tools for teaching your pup to love these learning sessions. Since your pup is young short sessions are best. As she gets older you can go a little longer. You might want to read up on the Yorkie temperament. Because Yorkies are in the public eyes as a sort of accessory people do not realize that they are terriers and they have retained the terrier temperament. They are active, feisty little dogs with a lot of energy. They need a lot of exercise and attention. A Yorkie will not be happy as an ornamental type of dog. They were bred to kill rodents and have that love of a good fight still in them. You have to learn to work with and not against that inbred nature of theirs. Oh, and some good all natural healthy chews are a good idea to help with the pups need to chew and bite. Stay away from rawhide though. |
02-01-2014, 05:21 AM | #6 |
Donating YT 3000 Club Member | Hello and welcome to YT. "Yorkies For Dummies" is the first one I recommend."Yorkshire Terriers: A Smart Owners Guide" is the second book. These are excellent resource books .Another book "How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days" Is very helpful. They are not as easy to housebreak. Good luck
__________________ Teri . . . Galen Jameson Frazier Seraphina Luna Rosencrantz, Saber Tooth Tiger, Pussy Willow Pandora Guildenstern |
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