Rockie takes EVERYTHING!!!
 

My little Rockie turned 1 in December and he continues to take anything and everything that he can get! I never had to lock cabinets and put up things when my kids were little but with Rockie it's just like having a toddler. We have come to the point where both kids doors have to be closed, our closet has a kiddie gate and you have to be careful where you put items such as remote controls, cordless phones, cell phones, etc., because if it's reachable, Rockie will take it and bolt out the doggy door. I told my husband that it's a puppy thing and he said "how long does that last". Does anyone know??? --or have this issue??? The good side of this is that he usually does it for attention (unless we aren't home-then, I think it's either boredom or punishment to us). He also never destroys the item, you just have to go hunt for it outside (to include, personal laundry!! UGH!!). Anyhow, I am curious to see what anyone knows about this------Dawn:eek:

Is it normal? Yes, definitely.

How long will it last? That I can't tell you because it depends on the dog and on how those in the household respond to it.

What can you do to make him do it less often? Two things that I know of. First, never, ever, under any circumstances, chase him when he picks up these objects. That makes the game soooo much more fun. Second, try not to respond to it any way. You took something else? Ho hum. How boring. It neither pleases you nor bothers you so what's the point in doing it? That's also true when you find pieces of underwear outside after the fact: no response at all.

Does your pup have his own toys? My two have always had tonnes of their own toys and they've never really been lil thieves. But I don't know if there's any cause and effect relationship in play there. I'm just talking about my experience. Their toys are always available for them.

When Rockie has something he shouldn't you could try making a swap with one of his toys. when he's got something he shouldn't make a big fuss with one of his toys. Like "o rockie look at this what have I got!" (Like Firstyorkie says don't chase him when he's got the forbidden item as that makes it a game) make him come to you by being way more exciting and interesting than that TV remote and if he swaps for his toy then play with him for a while with his toy so he knows that is acceptable behaviour.

I hope that helps!

Thank you both for your replies. In response, yes Rockie has a boat load of toys in his toy basket and he can have them whenever he wants. The problems as I believe he sees it is that if no one is playing with him he will make you play with him by taking something. For the longest time whenever he would take something other than his toy I would swap it and say "that's not yours, give him his toy, and say this is yours" and play with him. Sometimes we have to chase him because he takes things that could be a choking hazard or as in the case of Emma's barbies, he turns tends to dismember parts of their bodies. I know that chasing him enables his game but when we are not home he does the same things and we can look out in the backyard which will look like a yard sale sometimes. If some items are big enough to resemble a bone, he will bury them and some have gone missing for awhile--just now he has grabbed the kids gameboy case with games (don't know how he can pick that up--and run out of the room). We have come to call him "El Diablo" instead of his given name--yikes!!:eek:

OMG I'd be pulling my hair out if I were you! Thankfully neither of my two have been quite that bad. (I get their toys jammed into my hands as a reminder to play with them.)

Sorry the advice wasn't more helpful too. And seeing as you'd thought of those things I'm sure you'll already have thought of the following. Could you take Rockie for more frequent or longer, walks? He's still a growing kid so he's got energy to burn no doubt!

Have you tried teaching him all sort of tricks? If you tire his brain out he might have less energy. It must be hard with kids tho! I barely have time to do these kind of things and I've only gotta worry about me and the yorkies.

If your kids are old enough could you set up some kind of competition between them that the one who teaches Rockie the best trick wins some kind of treat - then they'll keep him occupied for you. There's loads of advice on YT for how to teach cute tricks. I do agility training with my two and getting them to weave and turn left or right on command is keeping me occupied.

I don't know if that's any more help to you. Probably teaching ya to suck eggs :D :p . Good luck. Hopefully once Rockie's older he'll have a bit less energy.

Dougal&Little's advice to tire out your pup both mentally and physically (by teaching tricks and going for longer walks) is excellent. I would also do the following:

Close the doors to the kids' rooms.

Do NOT Chase The Dog! Don't do it. Follow him where he goes with the forbidden item and then trade. Do it all matter-of-factly. Do NOT Make It A Game!

Respond matter-of-factly to toys later found in the yard. Ho hum.

Rotate "Diablo's" toys. Make his toys more interesting by only having a few out at the time. Then pick those up and put out new ones.

Give him more things to chew on. I personally like Rawhide although many here don't.

OMGOsh, I just got online to post a question like this! how funny!!
Shena is a little over 4 months, and she takes EVERYTHING, outside through the doggie door. Slippers, my 17 month old daughter's toys, bones, her toys, my other dog's bones, shoes, lids, etc.. whatever she can find!!! It is soooooo annoying! I mean she grabs them, then runs like a crazy dog out the door, and just drops them there and comes back inside. She doesnt even play with them when she is out there! I get really mad especially when she takes something of my daughter's out there, and then of course I have to wash it blah blah blah....
I was looking for some words of advice too :)
Diana

Loki used to be really bad about this, but we luckily have an awesome trainer who gave us similar advice to First Yorkie's. Anyway, Loki's 2 now and he rarely steals stuff. If he does, he also is doing it to get attention. Exercise and training helps big time, especially since he knows "leave it" and if he approaches something I don't want him to take I just say "leave it" Otherwise I just let him steal it (usually paper) and have some run "killing" it and then he just drops it and walks away. If he persists in stealing stuff I usually wait until he is being good (so I don't reward him for stealing) and then try to play fetch with him and do some training "homework" If I am busy (and that's why he's not getting attention) I go get a Kong or a new Bully Stick and that keeps him busy. Sometimes just a walk or 15 minutes of attention is enough to stop his attention seeking behavior.

And yes, while training to leave or drop things does increase the stealing at first - since trading gets a treat - but wouldn't you rather he steal things and then drop them for a treat than run outside? Loki used to pick up my socks and drop them at my feet for a treat :D The other part of it is learning to pick up your stuff! Yorkies are short so we have no excuse with food since Yorkies tend not to be counter surfers. I have many many laundry baskets and we always put our clothes IN the basket so Loki can't steal the stuff. All the trash cans are either covered or too high for him. He luckily never took our shoes so we leave those out, but that's about it. We just keep things put away. I know when we have kids that he's going to love stealing binkies though!!

Also try crating or gating when you are not home, especially if you have a chewer. It's safer for the dog and for your stuff.

Wow--once again, thanks for all of the advice. I do know that one (or more) of you hit on the exercise thing and I am soooo bad about that. We have a HUGE backyard and so I become very lazy about taking him for a walk. I know that he is stealing for attention and I do trade treats for certain items but I only WISH he would bring the item to me to trade--usually I send my kids for the item while I distract him with a treat. Also, with the weather being so darn frigid here, a walk has been out of the question. As for crating, I can't crate him while I am gone as he will punish me with leaving presents (which he will roll around in--no matter how small the crate). He isn't really too bad while we are gone as we are diligent about closing doors and I come home at lunch-more for attention as he has access to his doggy door 24/7. I have found that he is not distructive if I come home 1/2 way through my day to spend even 20 minutes with him. Hopefully, the weather will warm up and I will try to do a better job about taking him for long walks. The tricks idea is intriging, however, I will have to read up on that because the only thing I've managed to teach him is to sit. I had an Australian Terrier whom I was able to teach many tricks to but Rockie simply cocks his head and looks at me like I'm from Mars. Thanks to all of you--at least for some, I know I'm not alone with this issue--for the rest of you, I remain jealous (but not too much, I do love my little guy!) :) Dawn

Teaching Rockie tricks?
 

:confused: Hey--I'm trying to find a thread about teaching your dog tricks? Can't find anything==even in search. Anyone have any clues??

It sounds as if you are describing Chewie, He does everything you mentioned. He is 15 months old and has always snatched and ran out the doggy door. He will wait to see if I am going to yell or come toward him but will eventually take it out and leave it anyway. I believe he is waiting to make sure I see him. He forces me to play and give him attention, just as the previous poster has said. But somethings I just don't want him to have, because he does chew on them and has destroyed a pair of prescription glasses and other valuable things. I started the trade thing at 12 weeks and he is just smart enough to get something just to get a snack to trade.
The nightstands are his favorite place. He looks as if we leave something deliberately for him. Now there is nothing left on the nightstands and I have even trained hubby to put everything in the drawers. He wears glasses and I have had to chase for them on many occasions.
Chewie even took a waterbottle off the stand and lay on the bed and chewed the lid off and soaked my bed with the remaining water.
I don't think it is a puppy thing because Suz says her older yorkies still do it.
Sorry, I couldn't help but I do feel your pain!LOL:rolleyes:
I might suggest a playmate, but I have 2 dogs and he still does it?

Hi ya, I did an advanced search of just the training thread with trick* as the search word and came up with quite a few entries one that looked promising is: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...ighlight=trick

Just try googling dog tricks for some inspiration.

As for him just sitting there looking at you funny you could try "shaping". Which FirstYorkie can probably describe better than me. It's a clicker training technique - tho clicking is not a pre-requisite - it's just a neat way to think about training. I LOVE clicker training and there are some really good books available on how to click - but training classes are really good. There are some really good threads on here on how to click I used to have them bookmarked but I've lost them :(.

Don't forget he won't know what any commands mean til you show him what you want. Sadly they don't speak the same language as us.

dcelmo--it's always nice to know I'm not sailing this boat alone! I am with you on the nightstand--he's worse than a toddler! He will take anything--even if it's too big for him! He has also taken both my husband and my glasses but only chews on the earpiece (not so comfortable sliding those babies on after he's had them!). Anyhow, I'm with you on having to trade for certain either dangerous or high value items! We have considered getting a little pal for him but are afraid that he will only teach the new pup his "old" tricks and then they'll double team us--ugh, LOL, Dawn:)

P.S. Dougal and Little: thanks for the thread and advice on the clicker training, I will look into that :animal36