Hello!
First, I'm so glad to have found this forum. I've been reading over the posts for days--especially the training ones... Everyone is so helpful and generous with advice. And I definitely need some!
This will be rather long and rambling, but it does have a point, I promise!
My family will have had Zoey for a year this August, but she turned 1 (we believe) on April 15th.
There's a lot of questions regarding her history... We got her from a family who claimed to be passing her to a loving home on behalf of a relative who had realized she couldn't keep a puppy. They claimed to have had her for a little less than a week. When we picked her up, we saw that she'd been kept in a closed-in porch--she'd never been on grass. And she was wary of the husband.
But at the same time, she was immediately sweet, though timid, and crawled right into my mom's lap, then fell asleep. We were in love immediately!
The family said they'd whited out the relative's information on the forms/vet records/etc, and we didn't think much of it. They had advertised her as a teacup yorkie and bought from a reputable breeder. We laughed when we drove her home because we were given a bag of outfits and tiaras, etc, but nothing like a collar or leash...
When I got her home, I went to call the breeder, assuming she'd want to know the puppy had been placed in a new home and to ask about any history I should know... Dead number. Looked at the paperwork and saw the vet's name and info had been whited-out. The more we tried to look into the matter the more we suspected she'd been bought from a puppy mill. (And she's grown to where we now call her a tea-kettle yorkie. Not a full sized one, but definitely no teacup!) Though she had been given initial shots. She needed her second round still, and after giving the vet the whole story and concerns, he agreed she was likely from a puppy mill. From there, we've worked with her under the assumption that she was not given enough time with her mother/litter, and that we were scammed by the people we adopted her from (who also suddenly had a dead phone number).
With that said--we love our littlest puppy. She's such a sweetheart and joy.
Now to some more of the backstory. She's my mom's dog... And my mom, who is not at all impulsive, acted amazingly impulsive in getting Zoey. There were quite a few factors, but I *think* the major one is that it had been about 3 years after my dad's passing. As an engagement present, he had gotten her a yorkie that was the runt of a litter--a very docile and submissive pup. My brother, who can be a jerk, had moved out a month before in a really insensitive way. He'd also stopped by without warning and picked up the family dog--technically given to him as a gift--and for the first time, we didn't have a dog in the house... These among other factors led to this impulse. She called the number and we picked Zoey up that day.
I'd moved home after my brother moved out to lend support to my mom, as well as use the opportunity to build a nest egg... I work from home, freelancing, and it seemed to benefit us both.
But... Zoey bonded (possibly imprinted?) with me. I felt so guilty for so long! My poor mom! The separation anxiety she displayed if I simply tried to close the bathroom door mimicked a panic attack. Slowly, I worked with her to ease this, though she still tends to be my shadow when I'm home. Because I work from home, I took the lead on training... I'd managed to have her potty trained in two weeks!
Yet, the biggest behavior issue I've been unable to break is the barking. She goes into a frenzy at the slightest provocation and, in certain situations, it's almost as if she's manic. I've tried so many different methods to reduce the behavior... a squirt bottle. A clicker for when she isn't barking (the command 'no bark').
The only thing that works is when, if I can catch her, I pick her up and hold her. If I'm able to wrap a blanket around her--almost like a swaddle--she becomes calm immediately.
But my fear is that this only increases her clingy-ness and her territorial-ness over me. She loves my boyfriend--until he touches me. Then she starts barking, whining, crying...
And physically removing her does nothing in terms of stopping the behavior itself. She continues the barking--nonstop--and because she's so little and fast, it's difficult to grab her to remove her.
Particularly in the backyard, where she will look for the neighbors (there's a studio apartment over my one neighbor's garage that is rented out to a couple of 21 year olds, who also frequently host parties...) and go crazy barking at them... running and growling along the fence line (that is connected to the stairs up to the apartment). It's this situation where she is particularly 'manic'.
I can't tell if the barking is anxiety induced, or territorialism, or excitement.
When I take her out of the house, in a swaddle thing I bought, she's so well behaved. And docile. And quiet... When we first got her, she wouldn't bark at all! I think it was two weeks before she made her first little yowl.
Overall, Zoey is really my baby. And I love her dearly. And boy does she know it--this dog is so smart and has a huge personality and she is quite the princess. And such a hoot! She's currently curled up next to me, dozing away...
I'm excited to have found a place to share this love and just bond with fellow yorkie owners.
But I have a feeling I'm going to be asking for a lot of advice! Because I want her to be a secure, behaved puppy. And after a year of trying everything I can find, I'm at my wits end and feeling like I'm failing her.
Whew! Sorry for the lengthy post. I thank you all in advance for any tips/insight you may have! And I look forward to getting to know y'all (and your little pups!) from here out!