Wow! So many caring yorkie lovers here, I could just cry!!! I agree with everyone-patience, consistency! I don't have the same situation, as my yorkie is 9 years old, but he was a puppy mill rescue, so we did have the fear factor in common.
Your puppy wants to love and trust you, and he will! With Sammy, I always kept him in the same room with me (for the potty training!). He was afraid of a human voice, so talking was out. This made it harder-but here's how it did work for us, and you may be able to use it too.
I sat on the floor for HOURS every day! At first, he would just cower in a corner. But when he did come to me, I mostly ignored him-until that little paw came up to touch me (and that's when we bonded!). I just sat there on the floor (and eventually we made it to the couch) with a book or the tv (and he was so scared i couldn't even open a can of pop), and held him. cuddled him like a baby, stroked him when he wasn't too scared. then i was able to coo and not scare him. Every time I moved or made any noise, we were back to square one, but each time, he recovered faster, approached me sooner, and was scared for shorter periods of time. I think the trust really came in when we started going for walks together, but that was months later.
Everyone says not to treat your dog like a baby, but, for sammy and i, this is what worked for us.... I mean, how can you not love a baby? Now, I am slowly starting to let him act like a dog again! I'm sure Nozzel will show his love for you, as you fall for him, too. |