Cute video, who would think GPs could be trained.
Thanks for sharing

As an adult I have had 3 hamsters and I potty trained all 3. Certainly made cleaning the cage much much easier and if something happened I could just clean the potty and put in back.

I wasn’t going to respond because you just are trying to bait me but the actual guy who coined alpha theory came out and said he was wrong and debunked it so it’s not bad research. I find it very interesting that you want to give advise and get involved in a training discussion when you would have rather sold your dog then train them. Of course that is if the situation really did exist.

To the op I was asking if it was Debs dog because if you were going to decided to to not keep him I believe most breeders like Deb have it in their contract that you have to return them to the breeder if your not going to keep them. I hope everything works out for you but I am taking the words from a wise friend to just leave it and not come back to this post. I really truly hope everything works out.

Yes. Hamsters, like cats, use a 'litter area'.....and you can train them to do tricks and agility. hamsteragility.com I LOVE HAMSTERS! What type/breeds did you own?

Oy vey, now we are going to tell the OP about theyre contracts.

Bhanish, great for trying and I wish you the best!!!

You have got to be kidding me and yes I saw what your post said before you edited it. I know the breeder she got her dog from so I was just reminding her about that clause. You are the one who has a hard time letting go and have to get the last word. She got her puppy in 2016 so she very well could have forgot about the contract.

Oy vey is right, I happen to also know for a fact who the OP got Whimsy from, it's all out there in YT. And yes a reminder about the contract is a good thing. In case you don't know it, there is a thing called "breach of contract".

OP is a Lawyer!! Let OP be the expert.

Oh good grief, y'all are still trying to converse with this person? Walk away and let him/her have the last word. As to the OP and his/her pup, I am finished with that was well. Pray for that poor pup is the only advice I can give.

At YorkieTalk, all members are welcome to post on all threads - no matter the subject and no matter the opinion of any other member. In addition, this is the internet - anyone could say they're a lawyer or an astrophysicist or whatever -- so what someone claims to be expert in is kind of a moot point on the internet.

I really think you should give this dog up to a person that will be with him always and give him lots of love. I feel the trainers are out for your money. I feel if you are going to have a dog train it yourself with lots of patience and love. I hate hearing about people that hit their dogs and throw them in a kennel. Maybe you should listen to Lady Jane I feel she is very knowledgeable. I know you love your dog but maybe you should not have the terrier breed. You should of had our last beloved yorkie Keally. She tore my house up because she had separation anxiety issues. We chose to love her and our poor baby had genetic IBD from a dysfunctional breeder. With love,patience,and lots of time and I mean time it helped her. I stayed home a lot with her and took her with me. I miss her everyday she lived twelve and a half years. If you cannot be with your baby then find a loving home for him. Susan

Huh? Dog hit and forced into a kennel?? What? Did you read that in the thred? Im sorry I missed that.

Sorry you had IBD troubles!!!!

I am sorry I worded it that way. I meant to give the dog up to a loving home. I hate to see the dog go to a place where it is hit and thrown in a kennel for something it did wrong. In fact I have a neighbor that drags her yorkie and hits it for barking. If it is bad she screams at it. I tried to tell her it is a puppy and they do not understand. I finally had to turn my head and not look at this lady with her dog anymore I get too upset. Susan. Again I apologize.

oh gosh, so sad you had to see that witg the nieghbor!! that is not right especially with a puppy!!! I would be so upset too no need to apologize!

I did forget, so thank you for the reminder. And I'm familiar with the concept of "breach of contract." :)

We're doing lots of treat training—mayyyyybe went overboard because he's a little over 7 lbs now—and I think he's SLOWLY getting better. Unintended consequence of COVID, I'm home all the time and Whimsy's separation anxiety is at bay, so we are able to focus exclusively on his reactivity. Still, I wouldn't say he's safe to be around yet. Short leash is a must.

But we're temporarily putting our training on hold. The trainer thought Whimsy may be in pain, and we just happened to have our annual after that bit of advice. Vet called and it's likely Whimsy has kidney disease. We still don't know what it means; we're getting an ultrasound on Monday. But the vet thinks this is why Whimsy is "grumpy." As much as I am devastated about the news, I'm anxious to relieve Whimsy of the pain he must be feeling. Here's hoping that it's "pre-kidney disease" or something incredibly manageable.

Thanks again for everyone's advice.

I am so happy you still have Whimsy and have had time to work with him. As far as treat training, you can use his food as a treat, example, lets say you feed a daily 1/2 cup of kibble, from that 1/2 a cup take 10 pieces out for training treats, this way you are not adding extra calories to his diet. Frozen green cut beans is another treat that most dogs love and there are no calories in the green beans. Boiled boneless chicken is another no calorie treat that dogs just love. Frozen broccoli and cauliflower more calorie free treats.
Undoing all the negative training by several trainers will take much time to undo, you must be committed and consistency is key in retraining, changes will not come over night, everything is baby steps, what we see as tiny changes is major changes even if it took months of work on your part, it shows you are making progress.

I am very sad to read Whimsy may have kidney disease, but on the flip side, this could be an added cause of his aggressive behavior...pain. There is treatment for kidney disease if that is what Whimsy has.

Please keep us posted after Mondays ultrasound.
And, thank you for this update.

Yikes I hope he is ok and does well with treatment if there is an issue.

Training
 

I have recently completed Animal Behavior College Dog Trainer Certification and would love to give advice on any issues you folks may have. I prefer to TALK so call Lucille in NYC 212-744-9380 and I will help you.
PS I have BB the yorkie, 6yo, 4lb. Again I will try to post her photo. STAR died 6 years ago and I don't know how to update.
Actually the photo with LAD/me is BB, so I must have done that!

Check out kikopup on youtube for training. It works! Ive had my baby for a month now, and have been training daily for 5 minute intervals 6 times a day.

If your pup is food motivated they will learn fast.
5 to 7 minutes training through out the day worked for me, my kid is very food motivated, so he learned very quickly.

The key to training is high value food reward, lots of praise when they do what you are training for. Train only one command a day, when they get it down pat, then move on to the next command. Consistency is key in training.

Training
 

I agree, I have now received my Dog Trainer Certification from Animal Behavior College. I started in 2019. It took so long to complete in March 2020 and i recently received certificate in mail.

Congratulations, way to go :cheer::clapsmile

Ive been using boiled chicken breast maybe 3 strands for high reward. Low reward is the kibble she rejects from her bowl. (she'll still gobble it up if it comes from my hand LOL) You are 100% right! Consistency and praise is key.

The other option is using attention. 100% feedback for doing something, 0% feedback for acting out. Negative attention is a attention reward.