[Clyde_Dexter]

Originally Posted by Marilize

I was in the same position as you are when my first Yorkie was about a year old. You have to understand that he's not doing this to get back at you. He is just frustrated and he is taking it out on whatever is near him when you're away. You can definitely fix this and keep your puppy! I am very proud to say that my Yorkie is still with me after more than six years.

No dog is untrainable.

Here's what I did:

1. No more free feeding. I am the boss, I control the food and toys.

2. No more freebies. Every single thing he wants, he has to earn. Want to go outside? Please sit first. Want to play? Please sit quietly first.

3. Clicker training. I spent a lot of money on a great course of obedience training and to my great surprise, I learned that he wasn't necessarily naughty. He was very intelligent and BORED out of his mind. Clicker training helped me to teach him tricks - to date he can roll over, play dead, high five, low five, reach for the sky (like a cowboy), shake, wave, kiss, jump, sit, lie down and we are working on getting him to lick me when my alarm sounds in the morning. Clicker training was godsend for us and with just one course, we understood each other so much better. And we had a great communication tool that I still use to this day.

4. A walk a day. Having a dog means taking him for walks and just because Yorkies are small doesn't mean that they don't love going for walks. We do at least three walks a week of about an hour long. I love it and the dogs love it. Win-win situation. Plus, it's good for everyone's health.

5. Designated chew toys. Hooves and kongs filled with yummy snacks like frozen peanut butter keeps them busy for hours! Complicated whole raw meals will do the same. If you give him something to chew, he will stop chewing everything else. Whenever you catch him chewing something he shouldn't, simply take it away and hand him the chew toy. He'll catch on quickly.

It doesn't have to be this way. You can change his behaviour to make him into a dog that you can live with. Give him a second chance and work with him. He deserves it.

I definitely agree with this. Clyde had THE WORST behavioral issues when I adopted him as a four month old puppy, some of those issues even involved chewing, but following similar steps above I was able to not only break the bad habits, but train him to have some good habits as well!

I agree with everyone else. Don't give up on your dog. The situation is really frustrating, but with proper training ... he can work through this. These dogs have so much love to give and can truly make your life so happy.


HOWEVER, if in the end .... you do decide that it is all to much, and you're going to find your dog a new home, please make sure to disclose ALL information to his new adoptive parents. Make sure they know what they are getting themselves into with his destructive behavior. I'm not saying this is what will happen to your dog, but it is very sad when a dog is passed around from home to home because no one has the time to work with him on behaviors that could be corrected and they were not aware of the issues when they adopted.

Good Luck with your decision.