Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkieusa  I don't know. I'm probably way off, but I wonder if he hasn't picked up something from you, such as, he's sensing your lack of confidence in training him. Since he is your first, perhaps you need to be more assertive. Just a thought.  |
I'm sure he picked up on that the first couple of days he was here and just ran with it. I've fed him in his crate and give him treats so that he likes it in there (because he used to cry A LOT) Now, he begs a little bit but gets over it when he's in the crate. The crate is the only thing I've been consistent with. Unfortunately, I used to have a pee pad in here but the trainer said to do away with that too and now I've had two accidents with him in here because while I try to gather my things to take him out instead of him running around crazy in the house looking for the peepad he just squats and pees anywhere because its no longer there. It's not his fault of course, its mine for not being quick enough. I've NEVER punished him for accidents so no worries there. I do praise him when he goes outside of course, and don't say anything when he goes in the house. I think he is definitely confused about the disciplining for doing the wrong thing because that I have defnitely not been consistent with because I've read too many different things on alpha dog theory vs positive reinforcement. When he started biting me a lot, barking, growling etc I thought that I was dealing with an "alpha" and started looking for information to deal with an "alpha dog." I did not go looking for the trainer based on my "suspicions" of an alpha dog. I actually came across her because I went to a vet here for the first time and asked him to recommend me a trainer than can help me with my puppy because I wanted to get on the right foot. He recommended me to her because he takes lessons with her and he SWORE by her. So, she came here and the second he bit her she tapped him under the mouth and he quieted down immediately. He put his ears down and just plopped down and started playing with his chew toy verryyy calmly. I was amazed by this and when she left (yesterday) I tried doing it myself. Well, me trying to tap him under the chin led to him biting me A LOT harder than he used to...got to a point where he started growling at me and I got extremely upset. My boyfriend said that it was because when I did it, it looked like I didn't mean it enough, and I agreed. I just couldn't tap him or grab him by the neck without being upset at what I was doing. He started biting me harder so I just put him in his crate and left him there at a loss with what to do. I assumed that my boyfriend was right and that it was that I wasn't trying hard enough, but when I woke up today I realized that I cannot change who I am to correct an "alpha dog". I can't be harsh, I understand discipline but I absolutely cannot do anything physical. It upsets me too much and the reason I got a Yorkie was because I thought I was in a good place to be able to provide him a loving home, and I felt as if the road that lay ahead of me with this training technique was anything but happy and loving
