Driving me crazy!
 

My 5 month old yorkie drives me crazy some days, he has an entire box of toys bigger than him but when he gets bored he doesn't even look at his toys and wants to chew,bite,play with everything he's not supposed to like the walls molding and he loves to rip his pee pad out of the holder even though he gets yelled at for it about 100 times a day and gets time outs for doing these things. When I take him out of time out its like nothing ever happened and he's right back to trying to chew the pad or the molding.
As far as his toys he has rope toys, squeaky toys, balls, bully sticks and when all else fails kong toys filled with treats and peanut butter but that only lasts about 5-10 minutes. I can't watch him every second i am home but it seems like if I'm not playing with him or paying attention to him he finds something bad to do to get attention even if its negative. He does not have free run of the house and is gated off to the kitchen. Any help would be appreciated and maybe some suggestions on toys to keep him busy for more than 10 minutes. I'm tired of getting aggravated because he's getting into trouble and love him to death and just want him to behave and pay more attention to his toys then the walls and or pee pad. Also we have tried the "no bite" bitter apple spray and it does nothing.

Does he get daily walks? Tired pups tend to sleep during the day when nobody is home & get into less trouble. He's also probably teething. I would get an x-pen & put him in there while you're out so he doesn't have access to the walls, moldings, doors & cabinets. You can make a puppy apt w/a bed, pee pad on the other side & a bowl w/water & food. I wouldn't leave any chews or bully stick w/him while he's unattended, as they can be a choking hazard. Bitter apple doesn't work very well on wooden surfaces, as it absorbs the liquid, must be reapplied as it dries...& some pups are not bothered by it!

We use washable pads, pups can't tear that up. Princess made a hole on the wall when she was 7 months old, my vet said it could be separation anxiety, she eventually outgrew it. So I attached 2 x-pens together to make a huge play/rest area to put my 4 in when I was out.

Hi, i'm new yorkie owner and was having similar problems. My puppy doesn't bite furniture and he's only 3.5 months old, but he would immediately tear up his pee pad as well as any paper that he came accross, and always looked for ways to escape his ex pen until one day he figured out that he could jump out of it...

Of course, the first thing I did was buy him a taller ex pen...but as far as the peed pad, my husband started completely taping it to the floor with some packing tape. That way they don't have access to the edge of it.

also, have you been training him basic commands (sit, stay, down, etc.). I noticed that my puppy became a lot less destructive and much more calm throughout the day after I started training him. I train him in the morning and in the afternoon for about 15 minutes. then i play fetch with him for 20 minutes. By the time I leave for work he is very tired and sleeps from 8am until 3pm, which is about the time that the dog sitter comes visit him.

Reinforcing good behavior with treats and/or praise is just as if not more important than reprimanding the bad behavior. (Learned this thru experience, lol)

He does stay in a play pen when we are at work, and I train him about 4-5 times a week and he also gets walked 4-5 times a week. I try and reinforce good bahavoir as much as I can, but when it comes to telling him no I say it loud and firm and he doesn't even look at me when I say it that's when he gets a time out. After a time out he calmes down some but eventually goes back to acting up and the cycle starts all over again. "No" seems to mean nothing to him.

This may seem silly, but have you tried growling at him? Like imitate how his biomom would react...

Yes and he looks at me like I'm nuts and keeps doing whatever he's doing, I've also tried many different growls they all get funny looks but that's about it. :rolleyes:

You haven't hit on the right one yet... at least you got his attention for a second or so.

Try just putting one hand over his shoulders, thumb and fore finger on either side of his neck, with very gentle pressure, or a little weight to your hand.

I understand it's very frustrating... but until you can figure out how to comunicate with him, you'll have a hard time. Eventually he may learn from repetition, but that takes longer. If you hit on the right growl, results will be immediate and he'll stop in his tracks. Then you add english with a growl for a week or two then you can drop the growl completely.

Zoey was like this during her first year. Eating the molding and barking at me while I was on the computer. I would take her out to play in the yard and take her for walks and I did get a dog trainer but she still demanded constant attention. So I got her a friend - a rescue maltese boy. Solved that problem. I know not everyone can get a friend for their little one but maybe you can find a play group in your area.

Something I found is that the puppies get bored with the same toys. I put out 3 toys very day and totate them every day. They think they are getting a new set of toys each day. Sometimes I will give one then a while later give another and so on. But never more than 3 and I always make sure that one toy is something that is hard to chew on for the teething.

Hi there. I went through a little of this in the beginning with my little guy. I bought a product called Pet Corrector which is basically canned air. When he was barking non stop, I would spray that down at the ground and he would definitely give me his undivided attention. I would then tell him to STOP! He would lower his head a little and then head for his bed which was in the kitchen. When he went there and was quiet I would tell him good boy and then walk away and carry on with what I needed to do. It only took 3-4 times doing this and he seemed to "get it". Maybe give it a try.

I bought this about a month ago, it stops him from what he's doing but he wants to then play with the red can. I don't want him think that he can do something bad and I blow the horn and then it becomes play time.

Do you take him for walks? Do you do any basic obedience with him? Walking will help you two with bonding, and will also wear him out, and give him an opportunity to explore the world around him.

When I first got Tink at 2.5 years old, she was a hyper, biting mess. I could not keep up with her... all she wanted to do was play 24/7. We did vigorous walks, and we had time out with her in my lap. Started with 30 seconds or so, she could not stay still any longer than that. But each time, I tried to hold her a bit longer, and she began to like being held and petted, and enjoyed her 'Quiet Time', one on one with me...

Some pups do better with a structured day, everything is planned and happens at the same time each day.

This is hard for me to explain... so please don't feel offended, as it happened with me and Peek A Boo also. I found myself not enjoying owning a Yorkie... everything he did was wrong, or not what I expected of him. He could tell when I was upset with him, and it seemed his behavior got even worse when I was mad at him.

I made a plan, and at night I would sit him on my lap, before bedtime, and I would tell him he was a good boy, every night, even if he had been horrible all day long. I would make up a lie, or something silly, like 'Well you ate lunch very well, You were such a good boy today!" I knew he had it in him, he just wasn't showing me.

Eventually you will start believing he can be good, and his behavior will change. Within two days, Peek was behaving better. I was so happy, finally. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you love him, you just don't like his behavior at this point in time.

I would sit him in my lap, he would not even look at me, in fact he would deliberately look away. I decided I would do it anyway, and I did, every night. You all know... don't go to bed mad... I would tell him about the commitment I made, and that I loved him. I told him that this was his home, and he could stay here forever, I would never get rid of him no matter how he behaved. And I kissed him on his head.

One night he looked at me and turned the other cheek... so I said 'Oh you want more kisses? So I gave him more kisses, and he turned his head back and forth. It took him 8 months to finally lick my cheek..... and I cried. I don't know what kept him from bonding with me for so long... but it was finally happening. It was a long road, but it was so worth it.

Hope this helps...

Hello again. I, too have found these little guys very high energy and also very attention demanding at times. Although I know it is often difficult to fit into our daily routines, I always try to walk Wallee before I want him to spend time being quiet. (or play a high energy fetch game indoors if walking isn't possible.) I also then give him something he likes to chew on when I need him to be quiet. I do tech support from home often which means being on the phone with clients. I need to make sure that he is quiet during these times. (not always perfect but getting much better as he gets older).
As for using the Pet Corrector, when I did have to use that, I made sure it was always followed by a firm NO. I would then walk away from him and he knew I meant business.
After he has spent time settled, if I am not with another client, I will reward him with more playing so he is sure to burn off that puppy energy.
Good luck and know that he will get better with perserverance, patience and positive reinforcement.

I have a 6 month male Yorkie who I just adore however he loves to bite! Not so much on furniture but on our feet! It is driving us bonkers. We know he is just a pup and is teething but sometimes it is hard to get to one room to the next. I have been walking him more often to tire him out which seems to be helping a little bit. Someone suggested the can with coins because they hate the noise. If anyone has any suggestions or could tell me when this will taper off I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

Same thing here!
 

Funny but we have the same problem with my 5 month old yorkie. Percy gets daily walks, we play with him, got lots of toys and just today he doesn't like his bullysticks anymore. He's been chewing the leg of our dining table and chews his pad. Ugh! The word no is already a played out word for him.. I've read somewhere that you can make strange noises to distract them. So what i do is whenever he begins chewing his pad, i shake a can full of coins, other times i slap the wall with a hard paper like catalogs and stuff. i know its silly but it seems to be working. Sometimes i slap his pad to let him know that i don't like what he's doing. At first he barks at me, like a child talking back to me, it makes me crack up but i have to be firm so i don't back away from him. As soon as he realizes that im serious then that's the time he stops and goes away. Im a stay at home housewife so we spend the whole day together. I love him so much that i want him to grow up well disciplined. I think he has so much energy to unleash that's why they do all sorts of things. I think we just need to be more patient with them

I am looking into another puppy and hoping that will solve my issues but I keep getting mixed answers.... if you are not giving him attention he "talks" and paws at your feet or if you are in bed you get slapped in the face with a toy. He has ate the edges of my coffee table, ate a hole in my wall, ate the moldings, helped remove the carpet from my bedroom in which the vet told me was anxiety and he needed puppy prozac. He even licked the paint off my walls... yet to figure out how you master that one but he did.
We walk, we play tag outside, fetch in the house you name it we do it to try and wear him down!! The ONLY thing that works is pointing your finger at him and saying in a calm yet sturm voice 'you are a BAD BAD BAD yorkie" and he will got whine in the corner till you tell him to come and tell you he is sorry so he then gives you puppy kisses.

Puppies have crazy amounts of energy. The first year can be really challenging. I highly recommend daily walks and multiple brief training and play sessions throughout the day/evening.

Having a schedule, a routine, has a calming effect. Try to do everything at the same time each day so that your puppy knows when to expect things and when not to.

Every dog is different, but for Max, getting angry at him hyped him up. It was much better to ignore him...or if he was doing something that needed to be stopped, we put him in the xpen. For instance, barking inappropriately -- we corrected him in an even voice and if he continued, we left the room. He quickly learned not to make us leave the room.

Lots of good advice in this thread. I hope you find what works for you and your pup.

Pet stay off sprays work wonders saving wood.

I personally use white vinegar and supervision with dogs under a year its all about repetition of acceptable behavior, unleaa you're dealing with an.older untrained dog.

I walked my dog under a year 2-3 times per day.

The only thing that saved me with Remy is Bailey. He is my 26 lb shih tuz and he would play with Remy for hours on end. He is such a sweet loving big boy and he was so gentle. They love each other and I would never separate them

Khaleesi has taken an interest in the little cat toy stick with a toy on the end of a string (called DaBird). We aren't using the one with feathers, but there is an attachment with mylar streamers and she LOVES chasing it around. Sometimes I keep it high so she'll jump for it; sometimes low so she can stalk it; sometimes in circles or sudden direction changes to sharpen her agility. Fortunately, it wears her out before me! She doesn't play long by herself and she won't get her last set of puppy shots till next week, so going for walks has not been an option. This has helped tremendously in burning her puppy energy.

Cat toy or not, until she starts "meowing", I'm using it! In fact, I'm looking for some other toys to dangle from the end of it now. :D

For the chewing . You can put peanut butter or plain yogurt and plain canned pumpkin 1:1 ratio in the kong and freeze it.They last a lot longer and the cold helps their teething. Also kong has hong shaped ice cube tray. Then stuff the kong with it. You can fill a bag with them and store in the freezer so you don't have to wait for the kong to freeze.

That is cute. They have a motorized one. That you attach to a table and spins around.

How do you react or what do you do when he bites your feet? Do you ignore him or reprimand him? Do you react in a way that makes him think you are playing with him?
Blazer, my 5 month old, was always nipping at my children when they would get up in the morning, or home from school, or whatever and they would tell him no but then run away or laugh so he kept up with it, thinking that they were playing. I had to get my girls to be firm with Blazer. Tell him "No bite!" and stand still just looking at him. It took a few tries but now they ALL know that it isn't play time nor acceptable to nip.

That's brilliant! The cat also has one of those little automatic laser toys, but I haven't tried it with Khaleesi. The nice thing about it is that there is a random setting so they don't get too accustomed to the pattern.

What I'm finding (and I suspect is true for most of our intelligent babies) is that they get need constant mental stimulation as well as physical and that requires a great deal of variety. They certainly challenge our creativity, which really isn't bad for our mental well being, either!