Dominance questions
 

Alright, I'll try to make this brief. I have 3 dogs a male Rottweiler, a male Yorkie and a female yorkie, ages 3 1/2, 3 and 2 1/2 (I don't know if any of that is relevant to my problem or not). The male Yorkie has constantly tested me and anyone around him his whole life. We are in the process of training him and trying to ingrain some kind of obedience into him, only to have him cycle back again. The problem being- he marks, he is very vocal and whinny, he's food aggressive, he humps- other males, steals toys, growls at us when we try to make him move off of our chair, ect...

I can not put up with this, neither of the other dogs are a problem, both are calm, confident and well trained. Melvin seems to learn, then stop the problem behaviors for a few weeks only to resume them again. I've talked with several Yorkie owners and they just laugh at me, telling me "it's a Yorkie thing." No, it's a problem child thing. My dogs are dogs, not humans, I suppose my problem was asking someone for training advice who thinks their dog isn't a dog.

I've been forcing him to do everything last, humans first, the other dogs, then him. Everything I read on dominance is so conflicting, do the alpha roll, don't do the alpha roll, use a leash, use food, blah, blah, blah. I'd like to find something that works for a stubborn dog and stick with it, I have yet to find something though.

Oh and Melvin isn't fixed- yet. He will be as soon as I can get the DH's credit card. However, I'm worried this won't change a thing.

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

Consistency with any dog is key. Maybe you need to try one and one time with your little boy. Also, positive training may make him more responsive, if you aren't already do that. Training sessions without the other two around may help him focus more on you. And make him wear a belly band if he is marking this may help as well.

We also have a large dog who behaves extremely well and sometimes it causes Sophie to "act out" or seek more attention when she notices we work more with him than her. Then it's our cue that we may be neglecting her needs and she loves to train, too!

My Sophie definitely has the "yorkie" mentality down and we have to be super consistent and try to catch her so we discourage her when she does incorrect things.

So with the consistency, does this mean he will learn, but we will never be able to trust him?

I've been meaning to get him a belly band, but in the mean time have been extra diligent about watching him in the house. However, he isn't limited to messing in the house. He will "go" in his crate, and has taken to marking his and Marilynn's crates. This is extremely frustrating. As I type this he is in his crate sobbing, like a human. Mind you, the other two are silent and probably sleeping. If I'm on the computer, the dogs are put up, as I can't watch them 100% and the other two would be fine...but DH says it wouldn't be fair to lock one and not all up...

I'll try to put some of my frustrations aside and work with positive encouragement.

Anyone else have any thoughts?