2nd owner to a previously abused pup
 

Hello all,
I am new to Yorkietalk and I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me. About 2 years ago we rescued our yorkie Sophie from an abusive home. The previous owners had gotten Sophie when she was 3 months old and they kept the poor girl locked in a kennel and shoved the kennel in the closet in the dark until the dog was 10 months old. We had heard from neighbors of the family that they never really fed her and that they never showed her any attention.. we also believe the previous owners kicked/hit her. When we got the puppy she was extremely matted and knotty and she literally did not know her name. She was very skittish which is to be expected but now she is a little lovebug. She responds to her name and is very smart. She is very sweet natured thankfully and she is extremely friendly.. she comes when she is called and she knows to stay when we tell her to stay without problems. She also walks out into the backyard and back into the house without a leash and goes right back into the backyard to go potty with no problems. We are proud of our little girl's progress, however we cannot master getting her to sit down. Whenever we try to reach toward her at all she runs away even if its just to pick her up to put her on the couch when she is crying to come up :( .. We also can't get her to lay down. I was wondering if anyone had any insight on how to train our little girl and make her feel more at ease?

I really don't have any suggestions but I am sure others will.
I want to thank you for saving that little one and giving her a forever home.

Hi mmcarol, welcome to YT, its a great site! I'm sure you will get lots of advice & tips. Have you thought of obedience classes? Training can really help build confidence.

I'm also from NJ (sayreville) are you nearby?

Yes I am also from Sayreville ! What a coincidence :) I have thought about training classes since all the ways I've tried haven't worked. I was considering having a trainer come to the house ..

It took months and months for me to teach our foster how to sit. We practiced a little everyday. Also, whenever I saw him sitting on his own, I would really make a big deal about it. He finally caught on!

So my advice, is patience and practice.

I use Cheerios for treats. I would sit on the floor with her and try to desensitize her from hands reaching toward her. Break being picked up into several small actions. Like 1. Reach for her and reward when she stays put. 2. Reach then touch her, reward. 3. Reach, touch, then move hand under her chest, reward. Etc, etc, etc. She either has a fear of hands coming for her or possibly a fear of heights and may have been dropped at some point. Most of all, patience and repetition...

Sounds like the little Dolly is grateful to have you....I'm going at 3 angles here...my Mini can not sit because of hip issues (Legges Perthes) not on command I just wonder if you shouldn't have, if you didn't already, an xray of her skeletal system just to make sure there are no physical issues, and they are great for comparison later on should any issues arise

Secondly, this pup has been through hell, they don't forget....and something happened along the way that scares her so much that she just associates that with something bad...

Thirdly a good meaningful hour a day one on one at doggie level with her and some treats gently putting her in SIT, SIT, SIT...and rewarding her with pets and a tiny scrumptious treat. I have no problems training my pups to do things when I do this with them one on one in a small space! With that said...good luck cuz I can't get mine to do that the first time say it! It is the only command I have to repeat a few times...down seems to work better, then they go flat. I don't use sit at all because I don't want to offend my Mini! lol But when I say down it takes a few times but even they get tired of hearing me and concede!!

Good Luck...and with Yorkies sometimes you its a give and take, choose your battles! lol

Thank you all for your help! I play with Sophie for at least an hour a day making sure she gets her exercise and we go for daily walks and play fetch with ALL of her babies once a day. (She likes to make sure they all get played with :D) I am going to try to re-enforce her positively when she sits on her own I never thought of that. :animal36 She checks out well health wise, minus having food allergies and being on a prescription diet. She has good knees and healthy skin..A problem I have noticed however is that she is constantly itching/licking/biting especially at her paws and nails whenever she is not busy or sleeping. The vet said that it could be anxiety or she could just like the taste of her nails since that is mostly what she licks..literally every time she's just lounging on the couch she wants to lick. I tell her no and direct her attention elsewhere but I do find it hard to keep her attention sometimes because she will go and start to lick or scratch or chew her nails all over again.. I'm a little afraid to reprimand her for itching/licking which I'm sure everyone understands. Do you all think it could be an anxiety? :confused:

If you notice that after walking her outside, one of her first actions is to nibble at her paws, it is likely a little allergy to grass.

Also it could just be a habit now that she has developed.

It sounds like you have done a wonderfull job with her.

Thank you :) we're really trying and she's making great progress .. we also wipe her paws with non-scented baby wipes when she goes outside since she is so sensitive to things but she still licks and bites. Our vet said it may just be something she'll always do. we're proud of our little girl!

attached you'll see a picture of the princess! i'm not sure how to make her picture actually show up.

It sounds & looks like Sophie is being spoiled proper!

I wanted to help you find your way so that you'll be able to post pics. Here's a link to the YT library of how to do "stuff" on Yorkietalk. YorkieTalk How-To Guides - YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community
You'll have to resize your pics but there's plenty of help in that Forum!

Great to have you here! :)

She is such a little doll . As for the sitting try holding a treat above her head and then raising it up and she should sit naturally and once you do this a few times with her start adding the sit word. Good luck

Wow, I'm really excited to have a YT neighbor!! Sophie is adorable, maybe she & my Phoebe can have a playdate sometime.

We started letting Jess know when we were going to pick her up. We would stand to the side of her and every time we lifted her up we would say "up" first and the same with "down'after awhile she realized what it meant nd stopped running off or trying to get down. We also bent down to her level instead of bending over which can scare a dog.

My Goliath was skiddish when we got him. We had the same problem ...he would cry to come up on the couch and when we would reach for him he would back up. The good news is over time he became more and more trusting. All I can say is keep loving her - she will come around.

I don't have any advice, but I do want to Welcome you to YT and thank you for rescuing this pup. Those vial people should be locked in the same closet for 10 months too - breaks my heart that little ones life started like that. Thank you again for the love you have shown her :)