Quote:
|
YORKIES take tons of patience to train. It will not happen in one week or one month..hopefully, he will be trained by one year.
|
I wouldn't be quite that pessimistic about it...10 weeks is WAY to young to expect anything, but Chewy went from 0 potty training to going outside on command really reliably in a month(very few accidents, mostly in new places like a friend's home). At 8 months his last accident occured and none since.
I think Yorkies train o.k...but they are a bit socially...numb...By this I mean that they don't read faces and tones as well as many other breeds...this makes them seem stuborn, when they are realy just confused. I've been working on letting Chewy know better what I expect, and he's been really happy to come along...the trick is just to make him understand. WIth PT that was easier than with some other things...but I certainly wouldn't say that Yorkies are hard to train, just different.
Realize that they might no know a smile from a growl. That realization alone cued me into why he did some of the things he was doing...I find 'whispering' and using a quiet clicker highly effective. They easily intimidate (as they are so small) but the respond with the "Freeze" and "talky" calming signals. When your yorkie has himself planted on the ground while you are calling him, and he starts looking away and yawning, licking his nose, sniffing the ground, these are signs of fear in a dog. Try yawning back, looking away, then changing the subject.
This morning I had a case of "stubborn puppy" where he wouldn't come in and get out of the sun-beam we were standing in. "Chewy...STAY!" I said happily. Then I watched him for a few minutes, holding his eye contact "Stay....Good boy, good stay!" Then "O.k!". Up he springs and comes inside the door. lol. Sucker.