First of all let me start by saying I have no experience what so ever in training a yorkie, but I do have a lot of training on teaching "older" dogs new behaviors.
It sounds to me like you are doing the right thing. The only thing that I would suggest would be to use "ah, ah" not "no". That is more of a sound aversion than "no".
When you are going to take her to work, keep a small bag of treats with you...When someone comes into your office, treat her while saying "quiet"...eventually she will learn that strangers are not a bad thing. Something else that you may want to try is taking her with you to as many places as you can (Petco and Petsmart are my favorites because you have people and dogs of all shapes and sizes). Because of your pups age and breed they are going to draw a lot of attention. Keep your treats with you and when someone approaches give her a treat and allow them to give her one as well. Again, this is just another way to reinforce that when a stranger comes around good things happen to Penny.
If she starts to get “mouthy” with you (biting you or anyone else for that matter), make a high pitched, almost squeal “ouch”. You will be mimicking the sound her littermates would have made had she bit them too hard. If you see her start to lunge at people or the growling gets more aggressive when people come around you, put her down or move her out of the room…this is teaching her that you are the boss and you will decide who is allowed to greet you, not Penny.
I hope this helps! Just remember the biggest thing is consistency and treating! (small pieces of diced chicken breast are my favorite but in a pinch or with a difficult dog like my lab I have used diced pieces of warmed hot dot)! |