We found a little Yorkie by the road last Tuesday who is approximately three years old. She was scared, dirty, severely underfed (about 4 lbs and should be about 6 lbs from the looks of her), in heat, and very anemic from hook worms.
How could someone let this happen to such a little darling!? She has gotten medical care and on the mend.
She seems to be a real sweetie but we are unsure just how well she is going to fit in with our Maltese, Macy. They seem to get along until Macy starts moving in for attention when it is the Yorkie’s turn. Our new Yorkie friend snips at Macy for this. However, I know this little pooch has had it rough lately and is in heat on top of it. She was obviously treated well at some point in her life and then it looks like things eventually took a turn for the worse. (I am thinking that she may have gotten away from her original owners and maybe someone under qualified took her in.) I want to do everything I can to help her adjust and feel safe but do not want to ignore bad behavior that could worsen if not corrected. On the other hand, she has really fragile feelings. We trained our little Macy from puppy-hood without her ever knowing a hitting hand. We used a sharp “NO!” when she went potty in the house and took her outside to finish her business with much praise. That seemed to work well with Macy. However, when I say “NO” to this dog, she cowers like I am going to hit her. She is also very destructive when left alone. She will destroy anything she can while alone and dump her food.
Q #1:
What can I do about this little dog’s SEVERE separation anxiety? I can’t even leave the room without her having a complete fit. If confined at all she becomes very destructive. Having Macy with her seems to make no difference on the level of anxiety she experiences.
Q #2:
What can I do to start the training process while offering the right amount of assurance to her? It breaks my heart to see her cower down as if to wait for the sting of my hand. She does this even if I just walk up to her much less if I am trying to get her to stop doing something. So far, I feel like correcting her hasn’t done anything but make her afraid.
Q #3:
Also, with her not being housebroken by the age of three, is there going to be hope down the road?