Welcome to YorkieTalk.com. You will learn a lot here. I, too, had a problem dog when I first got him. I thought my Tibbe was psychologically damaged when I first got him at 9 mos. as he ran in circles all the time, whined/screamed at the top of his lungs, among many other odd behaviors. Tibbe, however, is an only dog so he had no possible issues of stress or issues from other dogs around. But I started just working with him, slowly teaching him basic obedience, positive reinforcement, stopped any unwanted behavior with a gentle hand, perhaps an "uh on" said softly and redirected him where I wanted him to go and after a couple of weeks of this persistent but very positive retraining, he began to respond to it. I was very persistent with his training and always very calm, loving and positive in my training interactions with him, mostly using just body language, my hands and eyes to redirect unwanted behavior. Soon, his wild behavior began to calm down and I found out my dog was just very needy and very, very intelligent. He loves training, seeking out hidden objects via smell and other games that we play. Research Obedience and Behavior Training resources here, read up on it and stay gentle, loving, positive and persistent. I hope you enjoy YT as much as I do! |