Serious problems with my Yorkies

[LIL MIS' MAGIC]

It sounds like you are making some good improvement and if you stay with it you will notice a bigger change soon!! You have to set the rules and make them live by them, if you catch them let them know...but do lots of praise when they are behaving!!

And remember that some of this is still puppy and as they grow up and mature some of this will calm down but you have to stop it now, which sounds like you are doing a great job of!!

Yes, yorkies are very very smart but also VERY stubborn which makes them hard to train....they know what is right but have their habits that they like and that makes it hard to break!! Once they have it down they don't usually forget...

Don't give up you are doing great and before long you will have the best two boys to play with!!

[Rem&Silkmom]

Originally Posted by celstu1

OH, another thing, I use gates to shut them into the kitchen, but I moved the gates so they are in front of the wall, not behind it, so they cannot get to the wall and so the wall chewing has stopped. They have rubber bones, rawhide bones, nylabones and many rubber toys to play with during the day. I had to take their bed and throw it away and Im holding off buying them a new bed b/c they literally ATE their bed. So now they have a blanket folded up big enough that they both can lay on it, but not too big where it becomes their whole play area so they dont pee on it. so far, that is working out better than the bed!

I hear Yorkies are very smart, but hard to train, is this true?

too funny..."they literally ate thier bed" bad boys no bed for you. I do agree that they know who is boss and who is not. My husband tries to tell my boys what to do and they don't listen to him. he he but they do listen to me.

[celstu1]

Yes, thats the problem! They literally EAT things.. not just chew... I had this awesome bed for them.. nice foam bed with a big cushion that flopped forward, it was all cushioned and cost a pretty penny! I got home from work one day and there were some foam pieces, i cleaned them up and didnt think much... the next day, their bed was in TATTERS!!! so I cut the cushion off the bed and left them the cushion and threw away what was left of the bed, so they ate the cushion, I found zipper pieces everywhere! UGH!! hahahaha
I wish I had a camera on the wall too LOL to see what they do all day! They are wonderful boys, they are just ALOT of work. I expected it, but not THIS much... so I guess I did not expect it. I knew it would be a challenge with just me and my work schedule!

They eat shoes.. chew & swallow... they leave no pieces behind... they are crazy!!!

[Kirby's Dad]

Are Yorkies hard to train???

In my opinion, no, I've heard that too, but I've only had Kirby for about two weeks and your dogs sound like him when I first got him. He wasn't hoase broken and didn't mind, whined in the crate, chewed on things he wasnt supposed, etc...

Now, only 2 weeks later and he is house broken, he sleeps in the crate without whining, doesn't chew on things he's not supposed too, he knows what toys are his and can chew on, he knows, sit, stay, laydown (and shake sort of) also, I had problems with him jumping on the couch whenever he wanted too, know he comes up to the couch and sits down and looks at me for persimssion and if I say know and show him my palm, he just lays down by my feet. if i say "okay, up" he loves that and jumps into my lap and kisses my face and snuggles into my chest, I think that is his favorite thing in the world.

Anyway, I am a true beleiver in the 'alpha' role, he knows I'm in charge and training has been a piece of cake. It sounds like your dogs think they are in the alpha role. And also, consistency has been very important in training Kirby, you HAVE to be consistent for them to understand what you are trying to teach them, consistent in your commands, rewards, scolding etc... for example if you want them to learn to stay and they break before you told them too, don't just say "oh well okay here's the treat anyway", this sends the wrong message and they never learn what they're supposed to do. Say, no, pick them up put them back where they were and say Stay, and start all over agin and they will learn very quickly if you are consistent.

Anyway, I think crate training is the best way to potty train, Kirby would go in at bed time and come out in the morning and we would go directly outside and he would do his business and get lavish praise, it only took a couple accidents in the house for him to make the connection, "oh outside-Good" "Inside-I get in trouble", but again, consistency is absolutely key.

Your dogs may howl at first but it will probalby only take one or two nights before they learn to accept it and then they will learn that the crate is a safe place, their private space and will learn to like the crate.

Hope this helps.

Oh, yeah, Kirby is the same age, about 7 months I think.

[SnowWa]

Most of us have had problems with our little puppy Yorkies - the same that you are having -- peeing, chewing, etc..... but you have two Yorkies --so you have "double trouble." Just having this "much more trouble" may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for you. I don't envy you!!!! My pup (8 months old) does all the things yours does -- but I have "only one pup."

I can make you feel better a little bit. As your pup gets older - he'll be able to "hold his pee longer," and this helps a lot as far as training goes -- plus summer is upon us, which means we (people) will be more willing to go outside more often.

Chewing - this is primarily a puppy thing....(or first year). So, this should automatically get better as your little guys get older.

I don't have any wonderful advise. I do know that if I get off my butt and take my pup outside every two hours or so - he almost never pees in the house. But, if I don't - he'll pee anywhere or whenever he wants. He is getting so that he almost never pees in the kitchen where he is confined when I work - 6 -7 hours four days a week. And - like yours - he doesn't pee at night. So -- he's coming along.

My pup doesn't chew a lot anymore - but he certainly has done his fair share of damage and continues to do this to some extent. He has done most of this chewing damage when he has been in a different part of the house than I am in. So -- keeping our pups closer to us (so we can keep an eye on them) is probably a good idea.

My pup does wear belly bands....whenever he has full run of the house. I know for a fact that this has significantly cut down on whatever pee damage he could be doing. (I just use washcloths and pin them.)

I wish you the best of luck. We really should get these little guys when they are two years old - but they are such cute pups!!!!!!!


Carol Jean

[Kirby's Dad]

One more thing on crate training, if you don't want to put them in at night, it's okay to crate them while you are at work, this will speed up potty training a LOT I'm sure. I wouldn't crate them both, at night and while you're at work thta would be too much time in the crate, but which ever period you are having more trouble with them misbehaving and having accidents, that sounds like when you are at work, so that's when I would crate them.

This really will help immensely in their behavior and house breaking. It may take a day or few for them to get used to it but that is all it will take.