Help!!
 

Hi,
I have an 11 month old yorkie. He is really sweet and cute; but I am at my wits end with his behavior! Here is a basic run down of my life with him:

1. I have taught him to ring a bell when he needs to go outside to go potty. He does it sometimes; but most of the time he will just go inside right in front of me. He sometimes will ring the bell just to go out to eat snow or get a treat. I know he knows the words "go potty" and "go outside" because when I say them he will go to the door!

2. He chews, eats and ruins everything. The other day he chewed a lamp cord! I have tried yelling, shaking a can of coins, spraying...nothing works. He does not care.

3. He will go to the bathroom in his crate. I don't get it. I thought animals will not go to the bathroom where they sleep!! He can go outside right before bed, and he will still go! If I leave the house he will hold it all day; but I think because he knows I'm home, he just goes.
Also~ he hates sleeping in the crate. He sleeps so little at night (I let him play for hours before bed). I am so tired of waking up at odd hours. He wants to get up and go out, and then eat. Then he will go back to bed. It would be different if it was a normal hour; but 3am?? Come on!! I know I should let him bark; but we have neighboors who can hear him, and he just won't stop.

4. He is obsessed with me. I can't do anything or go anywhere. If I leave the room he tries to find ways around the gates we have up to get to me. He almost jumped over the back of the couch!! For example: at this very moment I have my husband holding him so I can type this e-mail, and he is turning his head around so he can stare at me, and trying so hard to get loose, and crying (real tears...no joke). It used to be cute; but now it just gets exhausting.

I have tried training, being harsh, asking questions...nothing is working. I really thought I was doing everything right. I know they say you have to be right on top of everything; but I would be yelling every second!!!!!

HELP ME PLEASE!! :(

I'm sure others will have lots of good advice. Here's my 2 cents:

1. Only give him a treat if he goes potty. If he doesn't go potty within five minutes of you taking him outside after ringing the bell, take him back in. It can take up to a year to potty train a yorkie.

2. You need to puppy proof your home and get him some acceptable chew toys.

3. Is his crate correctly sized? He should not be able to potty in one corner and sleep in another. Also, you may need to let him bark it out. If he learns that barking gets him what he wants, he will bark. He should give it up when he realizes it's not working anymore, so your neighbors will not be bothered forever.

4. Yorkies are exceptionally devoted to their owners. Are you his primary care giver? Does your husband play with him, give him treats, etc? Have you considered doggy daycare? I got Thor on dog bones, and he will happily ignore me for hours once he gets into one.

Other notes:

- How long have you had him?

- Are you exercising him enough? My goal with Thor is that he should be eating, chewing, outside, or sleeping. That means I take him for walks or play fetch with him for 1-2 hours every day.

- You mention "being harsh" - what does that mean? Negative training should be used sparingly. HOWEVER, you might try a spray bottle or canned air as negative enforcers. Again, the large majority of your training should be positive.

Hi, welcome to Yorkie Talk! Sounds like you have your hands full with this little guy. Hang in there, this too shall pass.

He is still pretty young and Yorkies are known to be a bit difficult to housetrain, so it isn't too surprising. Patience and persistence will pay off. Chewing, also common, is helped by offering alternatives; many people swear by bully sticks for chewing and entertainment.

As far as him worshiping and adoring you.... well I have no cure for that; maybe just love him back and he'll get more confident and independent.

For serious focus on training, you might want to post in the Training section, where people with more experience and advice will help you. I'm just another dog spoiler myself, and not much help.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the advice,
I have had him for 7 months. I guess I will have to bite the bullet and let him bark it out. I will also try the "not giving him a treat until he goes" thing...that could be part of the problem!

Anyways, all of the things you suggested sound good...it's worth a try.

:)

Okay, thanks Maui Girl. :) I don't want to give up...he is so darn cute ;)

I agree with the others. Only give him a treat when he does something good. Yelling never helps. I hope he gets on track.

I am no good at giving potty training advice but I am familiar with the neediness. take him on lots of walks and get him a ball that you can throw and he can retrieve. Things that wear him out. Mine dont pester me when they are tired

okay..thanks Chachi. :)

okay...thanks yorkie kids :) I will try it.

You got great advice already...the only thing I can interject...is you should avoid yelling at him. Dogs view people as unstable if they yell...it doesn't foster his respect. AND:

Even though yorkies are small...they still need exercise.. You should try to walk him...play fetch with him...do some type of physical activity every day....that will help release some of his pent up energy. That's probably why he's chewing and destroying things that he might not normally chew on. He sounds to me like he's bored. See if you can get your husband to walk him. A little time with him might help your little guy to bond with him as well.

Also chewing does help to relieve some of his energy and Bully sticks are great for that!! My babies are exhausted after chewing on one of those. You can look for the ones that dont stink!!

Good luck, and remember loving consistency will go a long way to help you and your....yorkie!

Wabbit,
Thanks for the advice...
I will try not to yell; but what am I supposed to do if he is doing something wrong? I guess that's where I am confused. If I don't yell then he will just keep doing it. Do I just ignore him??

Also- to clarify...I really am not mean or "harsh" to my puppy. I just meant that I try to be firm. I don't agree with hitting your animal or even screaming. I do yell; but it is not continual (it's more like "No" or "Wrong"). I just feel like if I say nothing he will just keep doing the negative behaviors.

I do a firm "NO" then try to distract them. Had to get that bitter apple spray to put on things my furry girls were chewing on, and it worked great. It's also easier here having 2 pups to play with each other.

I'm glad so see you are getting some constructive advice cause like I said, I'm a spoiler, and all I could think of after reading your first post was "ahhh, he wuvvvvs you, how sweet". :wub:

I know it is hard, but try not to yell at him what I have done with Baxter, is when he has done bad stuff, I sort a growl at him and say BAD at the same time. It is only done with wrong behavior. He is such a smart little guy, that he knows to go out of the room when we are eating, and not to come back in until the tables are cleared. My Lhasa is 6 years and is learning some tricks from Baxter who is 14 months.
Bax, has been completely house broken since 5 months old. And has chewed on a cord one time, but saying bad to him stopped that. He is so smart. He has tried to trick me into taking him outside when he has not needed to go, and he will not get a treat for that. He only gets them when he has done the right thing. Hang in there, it is hard. But these guys are so smart, that they will do anything for your attention. Maybe that is what yours is doing. I agree with everyone on the walking and everything else.
Good luck, he will turn around.

It's been said that most dogs think they are named "No!".

Rather than yelling at him, I would try to teach him a command that produces the desired behavior. Then you can praise him for following your direction. Most dogs love praise. So you can teach him Quiet, and as I mentioned, Leave It / Drop It.

I don't know about the yelling. If we yell our guy immediately stops what he was doing. I don't think yelling is bad, I have tried the NO and BAD and that didn't work for me.

And ...I have the posters brother so I know him well.

When and what do you feed your puppy? Do you leave food and water down all the time?
1. You should schedule meals and water. I leave water down but when you leave food down on a schedule, you can also schedule potty time. Try it. Feed him and take him out immediately. Wait an hour and take him again, and take him out until you fiigure out how long it takes for his food to digest. Mine is 2 hours. If you leave food and water down all the time you will have trouble helping him figure out when he needs to go. Water is touchy, you dont want to dehydrate them but you can still control it.
2. Is the food something that promotes high energy? Is it puppy food? Puppy foods have more calories (which equals more energy). Perhaps a change in food will calm him a bit.

Finally, you need to play with him to wear him down. You can get him toys but he needs a game that wipes him out! LOL

Hubby and I havent come to terms with food scheduling which means there is no house training here BUT when I am home on the weekends and its on a strict schedule, I do not have one mess to clean up! Now if I could just train my husband!

He does only eat when I put the food out for him...i don't leave it out all day (he would eat it right away) :) He does eat puppy food; but it is prescription...cause he used to have a really sensitive stomach. The only other things I ever give him are cheerios, apples, strawberries, carrots and stuff like that...but they are minimal amounts and sometimes only as treats. I do play with him a lot (trust me, he will not let me just sit. He brings his toys over and taps my hand to play with him or tosses it in my face). He has always had a lot of energy...we used to joke about how high he jumps. He is not afraid to jump really high or to jump off of high things.

As far as saying "leave it" or "wrong", I tried that and it did not work. :( He just ignores me. Honestly, my husband tells me that even when I yell at rufus (our dog) it does not seem like i am yelling. I think he knows I love him, and he just looks at me with those puppy eyes and I melt. I think it's just him...my friends have his brother (Hi Len), and his brother is calmer and sleeps, listens and does not chew as much... he is also pretty much trained!!! I think my dog is just a punk ;) He knows what is up, and just wants to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it! I guess I will have to wait it out.

I appreciate the advice, and I will try some of the ideas out. :) Definitly the Bully Bone!!!

Bully Stick
 

Can I just thank everyone who recommended the bully stick!!!!!

At first he growled, backed up and barked at it. He even would jump on the couch to go around it...lol Then I picked it up and pretended to eat it and kept saying "yummy". He licked it a bit, and all of a sudden grabbed it and took it to his crate (he hates his crate) to chew it!!! He is totally, independently entertained!!! I will have to see if he will sit with it when I have to do things around the house.

Anyways, thanks again! It's a lifesaver...I hope it continues to work. :D

Oh, does anyone know- can i leave it with him in his crate when I leave the house? Or- is it better to just give it to him when I'm home?

I would only let him have chewies when you are home

Thanks!!

I am glad the bully sticks are working! The puppy stage is so much work! Your little guy reminds me of a little child! into everything, demanding, does not listen, and full of energy!
one big thing is to be very consistent with him. Make a potty schedule around his eating time. Also with the peeing in the crate, make sure he is not in it for hrs at a time. Being a little puppy he will want to be with you all the time and want your attention as much as possible, that is just what a puppy will do. He loves you and now your his mommy. You are his world ! Bully sticks are great for him, as well as safe puppy toys just his size.
I have a pillow that I placed right next to the desktop on the floor for Suzi to be next to me while on the computor. She likes that she can be near me .
Remember to try and turn your back on him when he is being naughty, don't give him any attention. However when he behaves reward him! Always use positive reinforcement. :aimeeyork

Glad to hear bully sticks are working for you.

Now, I wonder if sometime down the line you will be posting "help, I have to hide his bully stick cause he ignores me".... ha ha, just joking ;) Glad he has a distraction to bring balance into your lives.

I can see you already got great advice. The only thing I can tell you I do with Mia and works great is. Positive reinforcement.
When Mia has her accidents I go and clean them I dont tell her nothing at all because if you do she would just learn to go when your not watching.
When she does go on the wee wee pad cause that's what I want her to do. I give her a whole celebration. Lots of prasing and special treat that she loves and would only get for going on the wee wee pad.

Mia is 4 months and she pee's on the pad but would not poop there for nothing in the world. The trainer told me to get an x-pen this way she wont have the whole house to poop.

Good luck.

You need to have a lot of patience................that's the answer! They are very smart and very stubborn! Abbey has a lot of energy and it's difficult to get her out for walks in the winter so we play fetch with her often - especially in the evening to tire her out. We bought a laser mouse and she LOVES to chase it! Bully sticks are the best! Especially the non-smelly ones!!!

Maui Girl-
He is totally ignoring me!! You were right. :) He has been chewing on it for one hour!!!! Crazy! ;) Hopefully this lasts!

Get him together with his brother for some play time - this should help wear him out and keep him busy ;) Glad the bully sticks are working. Don't get discouraged with training, consistency is key. Dogs will test you to see what their limits are.

I whisper a lot to my girls and that seems to work. I tell them how good they are but a rare poop on my carpet will get a hearty "bad dog". They are pretty well behaved but are very much on the adoring side. As others have said don't under estimate their intelligence. They are smart little cookies and will test you and your limits. Avoid hands on punishment. They are so delicate you could crack a bone easily. Have fun.