[yorkietalkjilly]

He sounds like a toot of a pup and my Tibbe would probably have been just like that at his age in a family setting if he hadn't been in a cage alone his first 9 months of life, as he's a feisty, aggressive, terrier who loves to push the envelope by nature. When I got him after no socialization and in a state of kennel-craziness, he screamed if he were left alone for an instant, wouldn't come out of his crate willingly and didn't want to go back in it unless he was panicked & dashed in because I opened the refrigerator door in the kitchen or turned on the TV in the den, was fearful of people, aggressive, nippy and scared of everything to do with a house and a total wreck of a dog with no housebreaking or even knowing how to drink out of a bowl or what grass was. He couldn't even run without falling sometimes and his teeth were a wreck at only 9 mos., totally brown.

I realized he had no self-control and did not know what it was to listen to a person tell him what to do or what I wanted of him and if left to his own devices, would grow into an unhappy, anxious little guy who no one could stand to have around. So I started him getting control of his impulses by tiny sessions of obedience training for praise and treats, getting him to wait longer in his sit or lie down for the treat, taught him to "Watch me" and focus in on my eyes for his reward, longer each time, taught him wait, stop in his tracks, sit up and beg, shake paw, wave, go in circles, play dead, rollover and rollover to his back and wait there(great for grooming) and crate up, jump through a hoop and so on.

I taught him "Leave it" so that whatever he was getting into, he'd immediately stop it or drop whatever he had in his mouth in order to get what he knew would be a bigger reward - a series of treats, huge smiles from me and lots of praise - a real celebration. In no time, though, with just the first few things he learned, he had control of himself, wasn't so impulsive anymore and knew how to respond to my voice and would do it for the positive reinforcement in store for him which was evidently made more rewarding than whatever he was doing at the time.

I taught him the meaning of "No", he quickly learned a stern look, a point of my finger or my standing up and perhaps starting to walk toward him staring and pointing meant he was in trouble and he would just stop and lie down and await his discipline, which of course rarely ever came but I would stand there over him until he turned away or left the area if he were especially acting up or into something he shouldn't be. There were a few times early on that I had to say "No" and grab the scruff of his neck and hold it or clamp my fingers down over his neck in a "bite" type hold and hold him there until he relented and lay down, turned away or left the area. But those were only early early on when he was still untrained and unresponsive to me but he soon learned it went easier for him to stop his bad behavior before I ever stood up. And he learned if a word or look would stop his bad behavior, he'd often get a "that's a good boy" and a smile even though he had been misbehaving. He learned stopping bad behavior pleased me and that ultimately gave him his best outcome.

And he's no over-trained, unhappy robot of a dog whose scared to be a dog. No, he's just the opposite - an adorable, happy, feisty, toot of a dog who is always baiting me to train him or play with him, is always up and around the house patrolling his domain and getting his toys, tossing and shaking them and barking out the windows at squirrels and birds and cats and people walking by. Despite his training, he'll stand up to me if he thinks I'm unfairly asking something of him as he's not the least bit afraid or scared of me - he knows I think his attitude is cute. Still, if I have to insist he do something, he'll do it, albeit with a little growl at times and a defiant little look! Melts my heart every time that this well-trained dog is so self-confident and self-assured that he'll go toe-to-toe with me still if he thinks I'm wrong!

The key to getting a dog under control and reshaping its wild tendencies is upbeat, fun repetitive training with lots of positive feedback and always making the dog's doing the right thing more worth it to them than what they are doing that you don't like. Once that dog has learned to listen to and obey your requests/commands, he is happy and eager to do it for what's about to come his way - your pride, happiness and pleasure in him and a lovely treat in the bargain most of the time. And a well-trained dog rarely ever misbehaves. Train your little guy, get control of his impulses and watch him change his ways.