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Originally Posted by mbbruce1  Ok with all due respect I did my research and I still chose a Yorkie. I knew it was going to be hard but my daddy always told me the harder the task the bigger the reward  So nay sayers aside thank you all for the advise. I am not taking the puppy back or rehoming him. Kopper is a part of this family. Just like Fred who btw is a Jack russel that lives outside. A dog that is also said not to be a good small kid dog who is WONDERFUL with my kids. I know Kopper just needs time and patience I just wondered if I was missing anything being the newbie yorkie owner that I am. The dog is never ever ever left alone with either of the kids. My kids are wonderful and great (probably the best kids ever lol and yes I may be partial) But they are still kids and sometimes if they mean to or not kids hurt dogs. So I leave things undone and spend a lot of time socializing our puppy with our family and house training our puppy. He is a joy and runs and plays I honestly think he just has a very aggressive sounding play bark/growl. But I will keep everyone updated. One minute they are giving kisses and the next he is growling. I promised hubby to watch them extra extra close and I always correct him with a no no when he growls at the baby. Play or not its a behavior I want him to know is unacceptable. Then I lay him down sit the baby in my lap and take his hand and show him how to softly stroke the puppy. We CAN do this |
I joined the forum last week after getting my puppy and understand the frustration when some of these people feel it's there duty to treat others like children, scold them and rather than being helpful or not saying anything at all, get on their soap box and rant on and on. I won't do that to you. This is my observation.
I have a daughter, almost 4. This isn't the same as having a baby like you. Now it's time to understand the pack concept. Right now you are the alpha dog and yorky has separation anxiety and also is finding his place in the pack. One of the reasons I chose a male dog is because I wanted to tote him around and he be my pet. I do share him with my daughter but my husband doesn't want anything to do with him. We have 4 dogs and we do keep order. The rotty and european boxer are trained at a military police school for guard and protection. The boxer can attack an armed man if I need him to. What's amazing about him is my daughter can be sitting on him while he's laying down perfectly aware that she's there and he's her pet, then 5 min later attack on command. Anyway my point is keeping boundaries clear in the line of the pack and you being empowered, having the control over the dogs because your "alpha," you call the shots. Whoever is feeding the dog will receive affection from the dog. The baby is seen as competition. The dog wants to dominate over the baby. He feels insecure. You may want to give the puppy a stuffed dog toy, this will sound funny, that it can hump. lol seriously, my toy poodle totally did this because she wasn't big enough to be dominate over the big dogs and she felt the need and that's what the dogs do to show dominance. So if you puppy has something it can be dominate over when it feels insecure, it'll help.
It's best to make it clear to the puppy that baby comes first and puppy comes last in the line. Have your baby sit on your lap and if the puppy starts acting up, do the, "chich," sound. If puppy keeps it up, don't say anything but give puppy a little tap to get his focus off of baby. Also 14 weeks begins the "terrible twos" of puppyhood. Puppy will challenge your authority. So you've got almost two 2 year olds in your home; human baby and puppy at the same stage.
Food is another big deal and like most toddlers, they may want to check out dog's food etc. which a dog doesn't like to share it's food and will snap to defend it if not relaxed. My recommendation is to watch the Dog Whisperer and check out some of his shows about small breeds and watch how he trains the owners to get along with their dogs. Here's one I found he did with a yorkshire terrier that maybe you can relate to?
Dog whisperer S03E14 Yorkshire Terrier - YouTube
I do believe you can make this work but it will be you as a married couple setting up those boundaries and together reinforcing them once you figure out the line of the pack ;0)
I'll tell you, i have a personal protection guard dog, he knows he's my dog. He won't get into the van to go to school unless I load him up. Maybe your husband will let you get a female yorky too that will love him because what I've read is the male yorky gets cuddly with the female humans and the female yorky gets cuddly or prefers the male humans.
It'll be hard with a toddler but hopefully you can do the "chich," sound and definitely give puppy the message that baby comes first and that isn't negotiable. Hope you keep posting!