[gemy]

Op the link that AprilLove posted above would be a very good thread for you to review.

It contains within it many replies of good advice; as well as lots of opinions about this that and the other thing.

I too am very supportive of positive re-inforcement training, and yet, there are some dogs, that might require sterner methods, when the behaviour is very dangerous to themself or to the public and other methods applied consistently over a long period have not worked!. Those dogs are very few and far between.

I have never had a dog cower in fear that I have raised from a pup, and I do have one very large dog, with a very large dominant and stubborn personality, that did require some harsher discipline methods over a short period of time. That how-ever was done under a professional trainer's instructions and under his/her's supervision. This dog is now a top obedience dog, and has never/ever cowered in fear of me,despite his appropriate discipline.

Quite frankly toy breeds and Yorkies rarely need harsher discipline methods. And for them harsher means a sterner voice of discipline, maybe with a sharper sound of clapping. I personally have a barker, and we do many different interruptive methods to calm his barking; but if I let his barking go on for too long before intervention it winds him up even more and he is on one long barking jag. The "harshest" interruptive method I have used is a quick firm tap on his shoulder which snaps him out of his reverie of barking. Then he is removed from the window, and if he is silent for 10-15 seconds one lovely cheese treat is his! Cheese is his highest value treat. A close tie to playing fetch.

Training your dog is never over; it should last the life of your dog. When you start to train and to continue to train over the years, it is a bit like learning how to dance with a partner. In the beginning you stumble, you go right/they go left, you are too fast, they are too slow. With persistence, practice, and love and humour, one day you might find the beauty and fun of having a happy/loving and obedient dog.