We go to training class with Loki every week and work on things every day. While he will never be an obedience star (those "stays" are not so good!) he is easier to communicate with. He's on the "no free lunch" program and we try really hard to treat him like a big dog. It's hard to go and sit by him and pet him rather than just pick him up. I have to let him be himself or be alone sometimes. We take advantage of his size by taking him with us everywhere, but we *try* not to treat him differently. I've never had a dog before him, so I need the training as much as he does. We use target training for fun games, we teach him tricks and then show them off places so that he can learn to focus his energy and attention.
Every dog owner needs a copy of The Other End of the Leash and right now I'm readng The Power of Positive Dog Training. Because we've been immersed in positive training and I've done so much reading about it, I don't believe in the whole "Alpha" thing. I don't believe in the scruff shakes or any of those things (I'm not saying you do or don't either), however it is absolutely vital to be a calm leader so that your dog looks to you for guidance. He has to "ask" for everything by sitting or by doing what I ask him. I tell everyone that I require him to be "polite" I also know that I have to show him what behavior I expect from him.
People always say how "lucky" I am to have a well trained dog. My husband and I have put so much time into Loki that luck has nothing to do with it. I suppose we are lucky to have a dog who is very food motivated and learns quickly, but WE have to take the time to train him. We don't go out a lot and training Loki is kind of our hobby. We teach him things and then show them off for friends. We're proud of him! I spend a lot of time reading books and researching training.
Even after all of this we still have a few problems with him. He is very mouthy. He nibbles toes or barks when he wants something! (Ignore bad behavior... ignore bad behavior...) We're working on that. We had to teach him fetch as it did not come naturally. He has some major object posessiveness. Even working on a trade/drop command is not progressing as fast as I'd like. He's a Yorkie and he is not going to be as responsive as a Lab. As long as you know that going in you can learn to work with it. I don't let him off the hook though, he has to try even harder. I can't imagine how difficult he would be to live with if we did not do all of this.
Thanks for posting this as it is a very good conversation to have. People are amazed that we have a trained YORKIE. TONS of dogs are trained, but people I run into rarely see a well trained little dog. I think it helps him feel like a dog and takes advantage of how smart he is! Also, talking about this can help us share our successes training Yorkies, since terriers are different than other dogs. I would love to have more people to talk to about how you've overcome things like object posessiveness, something a Lab for example is much less likely to have. |