[gemy]

I do agree with YorkieMom1 My Yorkie came to me at 12wks old already used to a leash and walking. No overt biting behaviour. He was already toy focussed and had a great and healthy appetite. He was and is a joy to groom. Again thanks to his breeder.

I had and have a selection of diffferent toys - hard soft quiet sound makers etc etc. Many dogs gravitate more to one kind of toy. All my dogs have liked the soft toys - but unfortunately those are rare treats as they decimate them oh somewhere around 2-3 hrs which needs to be constantly supervised as that stuffing is definiately not good for them. Also after a certain age they love the chew keyrings this is a toy with different sized key shapes on it - when teething I put it in the freezer and that works a lot.

With our big breed we will place puppies between 7-8 wks old for some very important reasons having to do with owner bonding and owner training of a pup by then that weighs close to and sometimes over 20 lbs. But the owner will need to diligently work on bite inhibition. It is totally unacceptable for a large dog to bite unbidden. We have a variety of techniques to train with but all techniques require consistent application. I personally like the toy method - the tickle tongue as well. Training starts immediately. A working breed must learn how to work early on from the day you get them in fact. They learn to sit for their food - to leave it and drop it - at times you might need to make them stay at the bottom or top of the stairs while you proceed first. There is a good program which explains all this in detail - which is NILF nothing in life is free. You want to go out for a walk you sit quietly while I put on the leash - then you wait for me to exit the door first. You want to go swimming - we have obedience work first - swimming is your reward. And trust me having a frisky 80lb pup pulling to get to that water is and can be exhausting. A battle of wills at times. Sometimes your will must be like a rock and sometimes you need to be like water. It depends on the dog and situation.

When I expose in gradiated increments a nervous dog to foreign places sights and sounds - I am very very calm. I have lots of treats with me and reward with voice and treats as each little hurdle is accomplished. I show no anger or surprise and definitely do not reward for the nervous behaviour. Instead I refocus the dog and sometimes I am fast enough to refocus the dog before the behaviour happens.

Really the whole trick with training is for you to be calm and consistent and quite frankly adamant about the behaviours you do want.