[AuntB]

I'm hoping to get some advice from some experienced yorkie lovers. I am considering taking my friend's yorkie as she is not doing this dog any good. She got the dog when she was a baby and never tried to train her appropriately, allowed her wild daughter to play roughly with her, feeds her the wrong kind of food and now just keeps her in a pen in the garage. My friend has an infant (which she did not plan on when getting the dog) and just does not want to take the time with the dog. It really is a sad situation. The dog stinks, lives in a pen in the garage with very little interaction, has a row of teeth that need to be removed and went the whole summer outside without heartworm control and updated shots. She also has very thin hair and is quite pitiful looking. I had bought her a bag of good food for her and she did show improvement, but my friend won't continue this purchase and only buys her cheap food made for very large dogs. Last year I dogsat for her for a week and the dog barked A LOT...it was awful. I worry about the barking more than anything. Also need to get her socialized so she doesn't freak out at the sight of other dogs. When I had her last year I worked with her on the leash and healed very well after a few minutes. Some other things seemed like they would take a while for her to learn. I tried to use some of Millan's techniques and they were helpful. This dog is about 2 years old. I guess my question is: How much more difficult is it to train this breed at this age vs other dogs? I've trained many large dogs with success but never a yorkie. Any advice? Any good books I can research?

Thanks for taking some time and giving your thoughts!!