My Yorkie will NOT walk on her leash.
 

My Yorkie, Lexi is 10 weeks old. Since she was about 6 weeks I took her on daily walks. She hated the leash so i let her walk beside me without one and she never left my side. Since about 8 weeks I have really been pushing the leash and she still wont do it. All she does is sit and whine, and if i try to pull her she just drags. Any tips or tricks? Also, she likes to eat wood!! She chews at my bed frame, my door frame, my basket, constantly! Oh and she bites like crazy. I am a new yorkie mom so I have a lot of questions lol someone please help me!! :)

I have a wood eater. Princess Sophie has been chewing at the woodwork in the kitchen. LOL I just keep spraying it with Bitter Apple.

As for the leash...I don't know what to tell you. I got Sophie used to her leash by tethering her inside the house. Now when we go for walks outside, she doesn't mind it at all.

Hopefully someone else will come along and offer you some good advice. Good luck!!!

She should not be going on walks until she has had all of her puppy shots or she could pick up parvo which in small dogs has a high death rate. She is having biting problems because she left her mom to early she should have stayed with her until 12 weeks because there mom teaches them bite inhibition. I would squirt Callie with the water bottle when she would nip and say no it was the only thing that worked for us.

She is too young for leash walking outdoors because of the afore-mentioned parvo issues. You should wait until after she's had all her puppy shots, and maybe 4 weeks beyond that time (to give the vaccinations time to take hold) before taking her for walks in areas where there could be strange dogs or other animals. However, you can practice leash walking inside the house. Get her a harness instead of attaching the leash to the collar to avoid collapsed trachea. Before attaching the leash to the harness, try to accustom her to its presence by showing it to her, letting her smell it, etc., and give her treats and praise. Do that every day, and eventually, she will get used to the leash and let you attach it to her harness and allow you to guide her without protesting.

With respect to the biting problem, every time she bites you hard, say "ouch!" or "no!" and remove your hand and substitute a chew toy. She will probably always bite at least a little--the goal is to get her to bite you gently and playfully--that is the bite inhibition that the puppy's mother should have taught her, but you are the mother now and have to train her.

I agree with the posts above, she is too young to be walking. If indoor leash training doesn't work, wait until you go back outdoors. My boy chewed on the leash the entire time indoors.

When you do go back outdoors, enlist the help of another person to stand or walk 10 feet in front of you and your pup. Have the person use a treat or toy lure for your pup to focus on. Use keywords and phrases like "Let's go!" to coax her forward and forget about the leash.

I would use the leash 100% of the time, otherwise you might end up with a dog who refuses to walk on one. Going without a leash is a risky proposition.

I agree with Maximo. Treats will urge a pup to go forward along with alot of positive reinforcement. I also bought a long piece of nylon cord (about 10' long) and hooked it on the harness and just let my girl walk where ever she wanted while I followed her in the yard. As the days went on, I would roll up the nylon rope a little at a time in my hand to make it shorter. finally when the rope was about 6' long we graduated to the road or sidewalk. It took a couple of months with alot of patience but now she loves her walks.

I didn't take my Riley out on walks until he was 14 weeks (he had all shots by 12 weeks, and advised by vet to wait a further two weeks before taking him out). Before he went out I gradually got him used to his harness in the house, then attaching the lead and slowing he got used to it. When he did start gong out he was fine on the lead.
Riley also used to play bite, I used to say "ouch" in a high pitch sound and he did eventually stop. X

Walking On The Leash:

The brain develops an understanding of fear anywhere from 7 - 10 weeks of age and she could be understanding fear. Outside can be an intimidating place with all of the sounds and sights and scents and big cars, trucks, the knowledge there are other dogs, critters out there nearby. No wonder she is acting reluctant. Most puppies are with their mom during this imprinting time when the brain is beginning to develop the knowledge of various things and mom helps the baby learn a healthy way to deal with fear rather than a scary experience outdoors.

When the vet clears her for going outside, re-introduce her to the outside with her in your arms and just walk out and back in, giving her a treat as you stop and stand still for a second or two. Keep repeating that and then take her out in a carrier she feels safe in, put it down and toss in treats and back inside. Keep repeating that for a time.

In the meantime, toss treats and toys all over her leash in the floor and allow her to eat off it and play on it. Keep it around when she is having fun. Leash her up and walk around the house and treat her as she walks ever so often.

After she's settled and doing well when you take her out in your arms or carrier, leash her up and toss some treats on the porch and allow her to walk out onto the porch and have her treats, look around and then back in. Keep doing that for a day or two and then graduate to tossing treats or toys on the sidewalk and walk her to them and allow her to eat, play, etc., walk around that area and then back inside. Keep tossing a couple treats/toys out further on the sidewalk and walk her to them, wait there a bit and back inside. See the pattern? Each time push her a little further little by little and then back inside where she's not afraid and over time, she will begin to accept this is just part of life and not so scary.

Biting:

(Here are posts from another thread today on biting)

from Anny Mendoza:
Rufus does the same!
It is getting better though..every time I pet him or play with him, he turns and tries to bite or nib so I just tell him "No" and stop petting or playing. The he realizes that if he want me to continue he has to stop so he starts licking instead
______________
Agree. Good technique to deal with this.

Another is to instantly stand up and turn away from the dog the moment he bites hard. Some stand up and leave the room. Others immediately turn their back on the dog. Still others will push their finger or hand being bitten back against/into the mouth and leave it there, gently pushing the finger/hand further back so he can't get his mouth away quickly. That takes his control away and dogs really dislike that and they get the message quickly. Being puppies, they tend to forget over and over but with repetition of whatever method you use for correction, in time they learn to stop inappropriate biting.

Ditto, ditto, ditto.

We live on a small reserve, a car might pass us 3 times on our walk. Our walk is small, usually about 20 minutes. At first I let her walk by herself and she does fine, running around and whenever we saw a dog on the loose I would pick her up until we passed him and I put her back down. I've noticed she really likes the grass. I let her run around my back hard and she has a blast. I have tied her up outside and she doesn't mind at all, still runs around and plays but the leash is her worst enemy.

I use some training techniques that may help with the least training and getting your pup to walk on a leash. You can find them on my site under Simple Commands. The address is listed below in my signature. As for the chewing, she is probably teething. Be sure she has lot of different toys and such to chew on. Soft ones and hard ones too. The knotted rope ones work well for teething pups. Just be sure that if she is chewing or biting you always, always stop them the moment it happens. Use a quick and firm voice when correcting them. (Name & No or an AH AH ) for whatever your pup is doing that isn't acceptable.

She could pick up parvo and other things she is not fully vaccinated against so it is much better to not walk her until she has had all of her shots. Is it worth risking death?

I'm sorry, this whole thing makes me nervous.. You let the dog walk freely on the side of u with no leash..? That's not a good idea, puppies get overly excited & if she sees something that interest her, she possibly could run away from u. God forbid something tragic happen if she got away. I would wait until she has had all of her shots to take her outside for walks. In the mean time, practice using the leash indoors w/treats. She could really catch something or run off.