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Originally Posted by misstivy  Baxter is 5 years old, and I have had him since he was 3. He's smart and a good boy, but he does have issues. We live in an apartment.
1. He barks at EVERY noise he hears outside, and when someone comes to visit, even my family even though he knows them. He almost attacks the door before they open it, BARKING!
2. Once the guests are in and he stops barking, he climbs all over them, when they sit down, he gets on the arm of the couch and climbs onto their back.
3. He follows me every move I make. He has to have me in his sight at all times, and when I sit down, he thinks he has to be beside me.
4. He acts like he is starved at all times, he begs while I'm eating, or follows my Great Grandson around waiting on him to drop something. He has plenty of food of his own.
I am retired and I spend a lot of time at home, and when I do go out, I'm not gone for long periods of time.
I could use any advice you have. I'm at my wits end. |
Well, don't take this the wrong way because it is meant to be helpful -
He obviously knows he gets away with doing this and has probably been fed by a human (hence the begging at meal times). Even though he is 5, you can still reverse this.
First, I want to address #3 - he's a yorkie..most of them are "velcro dogs" so it's normal for him to follow you around and want to be right with you. That's part of their charm so you are probably stuck with that..I'm sure it doesn't bother you tooooo much
The barking, jumping, climbing - Use the basic principle and command to stop all. Find a word to always use (mine is "enough"). If barking, you don't want to deter the "watch dog" alert...so a good thing to do is say "Good boy. I've got this. Enough." Reinforce the "enough" with something to jar their attention (I use pennies in an old coke can and rattle it). Some use squirt bottles with water (I've actually used this too and it works).
Do the same sort of thing with the jumping and climbing. Say "enough" and rattle the can/squirt the bottle. If he persists, pick him up and put him in another room. After a little bit go get him and repeat the process.
It takes consistency and patience. Trust me, I'm still working on things with mine. Just don't get mad or frustrated...stay calm and simply repeat the process until they get it.
A very good thing to do is get him to master the sit/stay command. Praise, treats, and more treats work with this. It can actually be very effective in stopping the jumping climbing. Do the first thing I said to get his attention, then "sit. stay." and treat/good boy. If he doesn't stay, try again and then remove from room..rinse repeat
The begging. It's just going to have to be known that he NEVER gets human food (especially during human meals). That one is just going to take time of NOT EVER feeding him during that time. He'll eventually figure it out and lay down.