Terra, I wanted to tell you not to give up on teaching your Yorkies to come when called. This was the scariest thing with my babies. My girl Pippa is a little spitfire and would take off running full speed if she could find a way out the front door. She did this more than once and we live in a busy area with lots of traffic. I would nearly have a heart attack everytime and "chase" her till I caught her. She even got out once when we weren't home (a good samaritan found her and she was back home in less than 24 hours). Talk about a sleepless, heart-sick night! It was then I determined that she needed intensive training for her own safety. But let me tell you, it's not easy with Yorkies! Pippa does come when called now, but we had to find what worked for HER...she's not a big treat girl, so that didn't work. She IS a very playful girl, so we found that if we called her name playfully (HARD WHEN THEY ARE RUNNING INTO THE STREET!) and run the other way clapping hands and looking joyful, she turns around and chases us right into the house. We are still working on her, though. And I think it requires constant work. Scout, on the other hand, completed 3 courses at Petsmart and had one instance where he got out of the house with me and started toward the street, and all I had to do was say, "scout come, scout come". He has never failed me on that. I think they just have different personalities, so you just have to go with what works with the individual. Good Luck!! Oh, and definetely look into classes to GO TO-there's nothing like having an actual dog trainer and homework to motivate you to work! |