YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post

lpham · 08-17-2010, 11:33 AM

I'm not too familiar with this kind of situation, but it *sounds* like she thinks she is the alpha of the pack. You should be firm with her and let her know that her behavior is inappropriate. Normally, in a pack out in the wild, the alpha is the one who has the final say in everything. Next comes the beta who is second in command and finally the omega.

There are many things that you can do to reinforce that you are alpha. When going for walks, you must be the one to leave the door first. Alphas are the ones who take the lead in everything. When its time to eat, you can pretend to eat some of her food and make her watch. Then ask her to sit and nicely wait for the food before lunging at you for her food bowl although (if she is an all-day feeder then that probably won't be something you can do). Another thing you can do is train her with basic commands. Dogs need mental stimulation or they get bored and unruly. If she is already trained with some basic commands, you can sit down for maybe a few minutes a day and just make her do them for you. There are many other things you can do but if you google alpha training, you could probably find a lot more information explaining that.

If she is being a "bully"

then it'll take some effort on your part to reign her in. In a normal puppy-mother environment, no matter if there were only 2 of 5 in a litter, it was the mother's job to teach the puppies appropriate behavior before they leave her. If there was an extra rambunctious puppy that needed some "extra" discipline in the litter, the mother will sometimes take it aside and shake it by the scruff and make it lay there in submission until she allowed it to get back up. You can also implement the same kind of training, I read somewhere on the forums a very long while back about another user taking her yorkie and laying her on her back in the crook of her arm and telling her "gentle" or "be good" and making her lay there until she settled down. She also would randomly do it when the puppy least expected it for some "extra" discipline. I use the same technique on my yorkie and she knows that she has to be good for everyone. We also have a german shepherd and she gets along with him very well but she can have her moments where she thinks she has the upper hand and will sit there and bark at him when they are playing.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of what it could be!

08-17-2010, 11:33 AM	#2
lpham No Longer a Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: USA Posts: 143	I'm not too familiar with this kind of situation, but it sounds like she thinks she is the alpha of the pack. You should be firm with her and let her know that her behavior is inappropriate. Normally, in a pack out in the wild, the alpha is the one who has the final say in everything. Next comes the beta who is second in command and finally the omega. There are many things that you can do to reinforce that you are alpha. When going for walks, you must be the one to leave the door first. Alphas are the ones who take the lead in everything. When its time to eat, you can pretend to eat some of her food and make her watch. Then ask her to sit and nicely wait for the food before lunging at you for her food bowl although (if she is an all-day feeder then that probably won't be something you can do). Another thing you can do is train her with basic commands. Dogs need mental stimulation or they get bored and unruly. If she is already trained with some basic commands, you can sit down for maybe a few minutes a day and just make her do them for you. There are many other things you can do but if you google alpha training, you could probably find a lot more information explaining that. If she is being a "bully" then it'll take some effort on your part to reign her in. In a normal puppy-mother environment, no matter if there were only 2 of 5 in a litter, it was the mother's job to teach the puppies appropriate behavior before they leave her. If there was an extra rambunctious puppy that needed some "extra" discipline in the litter, the mother will sometimes take it aside and shake it by the scruff and make it lay there in submission until she allowed it to get back up. You can also implement the same kind of training, I read somewhere on the forums a very long while back about another user taking her yorkie and laying her on her back in the crook of her arm and telling her "gentle" or "be good" and making her lay there until she settled down. She also would randomly do it when the puppy least expected it for some "extra" discipline. I use the same technique on my yorkie and she knows that she has to be good for everyone. We also have a german shepherd and she gets along with him very well but she can have her moments where she thinks she has the upper hand and will sit there and bark at him when they are playing. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what it could be!