How do you discipline when your yorkies being naughty?
 

Im just curious as to how people discipline their yorkies when they are being little bad girls or boys...time outs? strong voice? take something away? cold shoulder? put in thier beds?
no right or wrong answers, just gaining some yorkie wisdom.. :)

I use an empty soda can filled with a few pennies. Then get him something he can have like a toy and praise him for doing the right thing.

It depends what it is now that Callie knows the word no I say it firmly. When she as a puppy we tried the pennies in a can and she then became afraid of loud noises and still is so when she would nip we would use a spray bottle and say no.

When Gracie was a puppy she was a naughty little thing. She would get all wound up and not pay attention when I would tell her "no." I found that having a rolled up newspaper worked well. Not to hit her with but to bang on my hand or a table to get her attention. Apparently my voice did not carry enough authority to break her out of whatever snit she was in. I guess it is the same concept as the can with coins in it. The noise breaks the brain out of the bad behavior mode and gets them to focus again.

After using that method over several months I no longer needed to use sound. She had learned to sit, stay, and come when called by then and was very attentive to my voice. I really think obedience training is your best defense against the terrier personality. The are busy and aggressive little beings. Lots of exercise is also very helpful. A tired terrier is a very submissive terrier and is not constantly looking for something to get into.

I've come full circle on this idea. I started out thinking of appropriate "punishments" when they did something that was unacceptable, including the coins in can trick for barking and loud yelling for other things. But I've come to the conclusion that what I consider "naughty" is just the dog reacting naturally to its environment. So instead of getting angry and seeking out an appropriate punishment, I try to teach them how I want them to act and I reward for success. Here are some examples:

Barking -- reward success, remove the threat
My dogs bark out of fear or a desire to protect their space. They're the smallest things in their universe, so it's natural that they would have some defense mechanisms. And not all barking is bad. When they bark in the middle of the night, I get up and investigate -- they've run off intruders before!

But a few barks is enough. Beyond that is an annoyance. So when they bark, I investigate what they're barking about. Usually it's someone outside. I tell them that's OK and say "No bark." If they stop barking for a nanosecond, I stick a treat in their mouth and say "good dog!" If the barking persists, I take away the threat, which might be closing the drapes or just moving farther from the perceived threat. When the barking stops, they get treats. Distracting them with a toy or other activity works too.

Potty training -- Limit their freedom, reward for success
Nothing gets an owner angrier than a dog peeing and pooping in the house, but dogs have to be taught that skill just like they have to be taught any trick. I started with my dogs in a 10-foot X-pen at all times when I couldn't directly supervise them on leash. On one side of the pen was a pee pad or litter box. On the other side was an open crate with their bedding. When they used the pee pad, I rewarded and praised.

I brought them out of the pen regularly -- potty breaks outside (or to a pee pad inside) immediately after feeding. If they didn't go where and when I wanted them to, they went back to the X-pen for 1 hour. After that, they went outside again. When they finally did what I wanted, they were rewarded with treats and praise. Once they figured out what I wanted, they got more freedom around the house.

Aggression -- Increase exercise, limit their freedom
I have a toy hoarder, Eddie, who was the sweetest dog in the world until another dog looked at his toys or, heaven help them, took his toys. I learned that a big part of his problem was he had excess energy and didn't know what to do with it. So when he attacked other dogs in the house, I upped his exercise. A tired dog is a good dog.

To train him that serious fighting was unacceptable, I took away all the toys in the house when I wasn't directly supervising. At toy time, I would leash the dogs and play with them individually and together. The reward for good behavior was the toy or a treat. The "punishment" for setbacks was no toy.

After several months of leashed toy time, I was able to unleash them. I still put the toys away when I wasn't supervising, but the fighting abated.

Eventually, I was able to leave the toys out. Every now and then we'll have a setback, and I go back to the beginning. Toys go away. I've also taken to "timeouts" and quiet time if the energy level gets too high. But so he doesn't feel it's a "punishment," I always go in there afterward and talk to him and massage him and help him relax. If the aggression happens when we're outside on a walk or at a meetup, I isolate him from the situation until I see him relax.

Sorry so long-winded. I'm not a trainer and surely make my share of mistakes, but I've learned from trainers and smart people here on YT and I honestly think I'm on the right track.

Good luck!

I use "no" as a correction. If the boys are naughty while we are playing, getting too rough with each other and won't stop, I get up and walk away.

I use to give Max time outs in the bedroom when he was naughty. He hasn't had one in a long time. :)

:thumbup::thumbup: Mike.

We never yell, hit, tap on nose, intimidate or anything like that.

First and foremost, we like use positive reinforcement to teach them things. But if they do something wrong, we just use a firm normal-voice 'no', and we might put our hands on their body to hold them still...just to get their attention/focus off of whatever it is they have too much focus on. As in, let's say Marcel was trying to boss Wylie around on our bed (bc Marcel thinks he OWNS our bed) and was going to go after him a bit - we would say no, grab Marcel and hold him still so that he's prevented from moving forward with his evil little plan :).

Some people can correct bad behavior with their voice, however, some people have the kind of voice a dog can tune out. That is where the can of coins or newspaper comes in. It is not really the loudness that matters it is the tone. If you have can muster up a dominate type of tone to your voice they will look every time. Yelling is not the solution and neither is anger. That only creates fear in the animal. Fear will create much larger issues. Noise from coins or any other source should never replace your personal intervention. A dog can't understand what you expect of it unless you take the time to train it.

Surprisingly my yorkie is very well behaved, to correct her behavior it just takes a simple "No ma'am" or I say "Ella" in a stern voice. My maltese, on the other hand is a different story, these tactics normally don't work on her! Lily sometimes needs time-outs when shes being too rambunctious..

I have to be extremely careful on any verbal corrections. All my guys are very sensitive about that, and I think it's my "gruff" voice that alarms the others when I focus on one.

I've had to resort (beside the verbal's) to reaching out and touching the "culprit". Not a slap or anything like that, just light touch on their head or back, to ID the right guy. Even then sometimes, I have to pet and "coo" the others, to get them to settle down.

Same thing happens when I'm watching something I get involved in on the TV, I have to keep my voice down, or they'll get upset at that, and they haven't done anything wrong :rolleyes:

Cheering isn't all that bad, but verbal attacks toward Umpires is a NO NO ! :eek:

In addition to some of the things listed above, instead of saying "no", we use the word "aught" (? spelling). It gets their attention much faster than us using the "no" word.

What does discipline mean? :p

It's a term which applies to the conduct of all other Breeds except Terriers. :rolleyes:

When mine are naughty, it's mostly from barking...so even when I say 'no bark' in a low firm voice, they can't hear me (or they're ignoring me? loll) even if they know this command. So what I do is stand in front of them w/ my fist on my sides, like I'm taking a stance & they know I mean business. Then, I take my index finger & put it over my mouth & do the 'shhhh' command. That usually works, they respond better to body language & signs than commands when they're excited.
I never discipline them, don't think it works...besides, I end up feeling bad.:p