Walking
 

I am having a lot of trouble going on walks with Owen. He is always pulling and switching sides. Everything is so new to him that it is all sniff-worthy. There is so much stop and go and he won't follow my pace. He'll either be pulling me the whole way or will stop behind me. I also keep the leash generally short so that I have some kind of "control" but this is just not helping me.

Any tips?

The best guide for teaching how to walk your dog on a leash is Cesar Milan
Take a look at some of his episodes and he shows how to walk a lot on the show
When a dog pulls generally what you need to do is a trick about face and turn back only when they stop the pulling
Yorkies are hard to leash train
Mainly because they are easily excited but when it comes to leash training you have to remember you are connected via that leash
If he is pulling you are allowing him to pull

Agree with the Cesar Millan thing ^ if you watch a few of his shows, you will see. :)
I learned a lot from him and still am.

I must say... I bought the Premier Easy Walk harness and it has helped SO much! 99.9%
of the time, Jackson just walks right beside me, very calmly, and I never even have to
look down to check on him. I used to have a harness that attached on the back and
it made him become a sled dog. Ever since I've gotten this harness, since the moment
I put it on him, he's been an angel to walk! And he's 7 mo. old right now.

I just got him a harness today and he seems better already!! :)

What size of the Premier Easy Walk Harness would you get for a 3-4 pound Yorkie? Petite?

Owen already broke the harness I got for him yesterday! I need to get him a better one. Should have seen it coming!

anyone have any video of walking with the Premier Easy Walk harness? I'm still confused as to how it works.:confused: Uni is crazy excited when she's on the leash, but as soon as we take the leash off she listens. She's weird.

Don't have a video, but it's literally exactly the same as loose leash walking a dog with a leash attached to the collar EXCEPT for the fact that it's not on the neck in any way. The leash attaches on their chest, rather than their back, which can sometimes make them act like sled dogs! lol. When they begin to walk ahead of you, they slightly get re-directed because of where the leash is and it automatically makes them stop pulling. At least in my case. Now, that's not to say they CAN'T walk in front of you. Jackson still can walk a bit in front of me but only if I allow him. Usually, he walks right beside me all the time. This started after I purchased this harness :) He's a very good walker and looks so cute just trotting right beside me. I hardly ever have to even look down to check on him, I just know he's walking right beside me.

The harness was a bit hard to get sized perfectly right, but I just blamed it on the fact that Jackson is an awkard size at 14lbs! lol. I got him the Small size as the Petite would have NO way fit him. I've also heard good things about the Premier Gentle Leader, which goes on their muzzle as well. It basically is for re-directing them in the right direction. And boy, does it make for a much better walk!

Have the same problem...
 

with Zoey. She is next to impossible to take for a walk. Can anyone tell me where I can find this Premier Easy Walk Harness? Do stores sell it like Pet Smart or do you have to buy it online? And someone mentioned watching Cesar Milan, does he have his own tv show or do you buy his videos and if so where can I find them?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hey! You can buy this harness at Petsmart or Petco, I think it's between $20-$26 or something. And Cesar Milan has his own TV show, its called Dog Whisperer and it comes on National Geographic channel usually every week day around 2pm and the news episodes are on Friday's at 8 or 9pm (can you tell I watch him a lot? :rolleyes:) He also has a few books out, etc that you can find at Petco.

Some pet stores have this harness. Our Pet Supplies Plus carries them, but never have the Petite size. At 6.5 lbs the small was too large for Roxy. Check around. Saw Victoria Stillwell use this harness on one of her older shows. It looks like it would be great. Plan to get one somewhere.

Cesar is on the National Geographic channel on Fri nights now. We also get reruns almost daily in afternoons & evenings w/Comcast. He also has most of his shows on dvds now. Check out his website. www.cesarmilaninc.com

Owen is at such an awkward size right now! The small is too big and the petite size is wayyy too small!! I need to wait till he grows a bit more but I am excited for no more pulling!

Thanks guys for the info on the harness and Cesar Millan. I have been watching the dog whisperer and it is my new fav show!!

Walking
 

Does this easy walk harness help any with barking yorkies? My yorkie does pull and I have to keep tugging him by my side, but i will be investing in that easy walk harness asap. As for barking, he barks at people and definitely other dogs when we are walking. I take his sister for a walk at the same time, but she just yelps every once in a while, she's really tiny so a bit easier to control in general. I used to take them on walks when they were puppies, but it just got too bad (they are just over one years old now). :( I just moved to a new city and with it comes new beginnings and hopefully my yorkies will be able to enjoy a nice walk along the beach someday without disturbing others. Please...pleeeeeease if anyone knows of any techniques or tools that can help I would greatly appreciate it.

Well, no, the harness itself isn't going to stop your dogs from barking but it will help YOU become more in control and more in a position to stop them from barking. You may look ridiculous doing this on the street, but pennies/coins in a can worked for Jackson inside. He barks, you immediately say "Quiet" and they don't like the sound of the can so they usually stop. You can use this outside as well though too.

Personally, what I do with Jackson... for example, I took him on a walk through a neighborhood today. There was a barking Pekingese dog in their lawn. She was yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. Jackson kind of looked over, like maybe he wanted to bark too but right at that moment, I re-directed Jackson's attention forward and we just kept moving. I stayed calm, I put faith in Jackson that he would stay quiet, and we continued moving forward without a peep from my dog. Even though the Pekingese was barking at him, Jackson just didn't care! It definitely made me proud because it shows my training and work is paying off. :) Not that he was ever BAD before but he definitely would've barked back. It really is about your energy your project too because they feel that through their leash. If you see another dog and YOU start tensing up, expecting the worse out of your dogs, then yeah.. they're going to give you the worse. But if you trust them, show them who is boss and that you are going to be calm and confident, they will respect you more and want to listen to you.