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Originally Posted by prada24  We had been planning on getting a yorkie for quite awhile, but were going to wait until summer. Then we came across an adorable add for a sweet, 7 month old pure yorkie at an amazing price, so we decided to go and get her (about a hundred miles) the next day. She's amazing and we love her so much. She doesn't bark and is a very, very good dog, but when we got her home it became apparent she was abused. At the sound of "No!" she puts her butt to the ground, puts her ears down, and army-crawls to her bed. She isn't used to dog food and won't eat unless we sit with her and watch her. She had been an outside dog and never had a hair cut except around her face. She's afraid of the dark and runs away at any harsh tone, directed at her or not. She'd never been in the car, and when she has a little accident on the floor, she begins to shake violently and hide under the bed when we find it.
When she does something she isn't supposed to we tell her no, then quickly pet her and love on her because we don't want her to think we're going to hit her, but even if we sit down with food and calmly say "No, not for you," she gets scared. We've read that yorkie's confidence and independence are very important parts of their personality, and we were wondering if anyone has any advice for us. We're trying to train her to potty on some mats in our apartment, and have been taking her to the puppy park everyday, but we want to make sure we're doing everything we can so that she can be a very good dog like she already is, but also so she can be spoiled and have that little yorkie attitude. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is a situation we didn't think would happen.
All that being said, we've only had her a few days now and she's the most loving, sweet, good mannered, laid back, amazing dog I've ever met and has become a fantastic part of our family already! |
I know you were hoping for me to give you some advice on how to get Prada to be more bold like Wookie, but its like I said in the other post, its not so much bold as it is spoiled!
I don't have much experience with abused dogs, but Wookie has some issues that are kinda on the same lines. He came from a puppy mill, and I believe he was taken from his mother too soon (plus there is no telling what kind of treatment he saw her get or he got in his first weeks). He is very insecure himself. He is 3 and I am still working on things with him. I just bought Tamar Gellars book "The Loved Dog" (you can see my post "Has anyone read..") and I am going to try to do some of her play training techniques to try and build a stronger bond with Wookie so that he trusts me more and understands the pack order. Perhaps, along with all the other suggestions you have gotten, this could work for you and Prada. It just breaks my heart to know our babies had such awful beginings. It may be something they always carry with them, never quite getting over. I don't want to think that though, and I will try whatever I can. I know you will too! Good luck with her. Keep me updated on how she is doing please.