Why is our 6 month old reversing toward all training? Our little Girl duchess from day one has been pretty good about potty training and general obedience. For the last two weeks or so though she has been a little terror(no pun intended) and we are at our wits end. The Wife and I have always had her on a schedule of every morning taking her outside and peeing and pooping. and roughly every hour taking her outside. Naturally she likes the outdoors and sometimes would want to run and play more then use the bathroom but a little discipline and patience and she would go. Recently though my wife has been having trouble with her. She will take her out in the morning and watch her do her business or after 10-15 minutes she won't do anything. Then not 5 minutes after bringing her inside she'll pee or poop in the house. This isn't just in the morning but all day and it's a recent development. We do discipline her when she has an accident and we place her in her kennel for a while. We will then immediately take her back outside and if she potties then she's allowed in the house otherwise she's back in the kennel. Again it's worked great up until the last couple weeks(2). Additionally it seems as though she is testing her limits with us. As a very young puppy she would come on command, sit, and the best of all place(which is her bed in the living room) on command. She's always done super good at it and would stay without being watched once put in her place. Again within the last two weeks it takes two or 4 times of saying place for her to place and you'll have to start walking toward her before she runs to the place. Additionally once in her place she will scoot out to where just her butt or back legs are in the place. Again we like she's testing her limits. She has never ever been a whinny pup and again recently she has started whinning more and more. even after disciplining her she'll whine just enough to get in trouble. Duchess is right at 5 1/2 months old and we think she is teething as she's lost one back tooth recently and is chewing her toys to shreds and chewing on her bone like crazy. She hasn't done this in the past either. I guess to make a short question long my question is this. Do most yorkies go through a terrible two type of stage where they try and get away with a lot and generally disobey? Do we need to be more stern then we are already being with her regarding minding and potty accidents. We have always had the understanding that a dog doesn't know that they did wrong if you try and discipline them after the fact(don't catch them in the act of immediately following the accident)and so typically we will put her in her kennel for an hour or so after an accident and then if when we let her out she goes potty outside she's aloud the come inside and be free. We don't spank her with our hands but use and old center of a paper towel roll which has seemed to work in the past but is loosing it's effectiveness. Please help my wife is going nuts!!!!! |
She sounds like a Yorkie.... And YES - just like human kids, they DO regress... Mine did around 9 months old, so back to the beginning with basic training we went. I use positive praise and a yummy treat reward (Peanut Butter Chips from the Baking isle). I limited their freedom again, meaning when I was home, I set up "stuff" to keep them in the same room as I was in, this way I could make sure no one was doing potty in the wrong places, etc....It took a couple of weeks of "re-training" but then they were on track again. The had free run of the house when no one was home when they were about 1.5 y/o |
P.S. They don't learn from punishment. Rather, if you praise and reward her for doing good things, she will quickly learn that pleasing you is the route to go... Hiting her (even with an object) is ONLY going to make her fearful of you, so please don't do that anymore...you will only make matters worse. |
Oh we praise her believe you me. We are single handedly keeping the hotdog industry in business. It's just been fustrating to say the least |
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You figured it out yourself. She is going through the puppy equivalent of the teenage stage and testing her boundaries. Teenage puppy stage: The dog's character begins to form at this stage. The owner must impose their authority so the puppy dog knows who's the boss and hey should begin with the training. It is also time to start ridding them of bad habits, since once they are a year old it makes it much harder. Dog must be able to go out, relate to other dogs and people, and have plenty of exercise. They must follow a routine so they are well balanced. At some time during this training stage the young dog may become stubborn and even appear to forget orders or habits it had learnt before. This is all part of its adolescence. The dog tests their master to see who the pack leader is. It is very important to enforce authority. The dog begins to be independent around five and six months. It must learn how to walk on the leash, turn, stop and respond when they are loose and their owner calls them. http://www.seefido.com/html/puppy_do..._12_months.htm http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...P=A&A=1701&S=1 |
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