Teach yorkie to stand guard? I think someone wanted to steal her on our walk today!
 

Okay, I just walked in.. my hands are shaking.

Me and Chloe went for our usual little walk around the neighborhood.. and as I got out and turned the corner there was no one around us it was just nice and sunny. All of a sudden some very strange man in sunglasses approached us WAY TOO CLOSELY AND WOULD NOT LEAVE! He moved his hands near Chloe 3 times to pet her nose while Chloe tried to get away from me and to him - FIRST THING: How do I teach a yorkie to stand guard and learn the difference between owner and stranger? She has been wanting to break free from me to strangers whenever she sees anyone walking outside and it didn't bother me as much as it does right now - I did not feel me or her were safe at that point and I want to teach her to NOT jump on a stranger. The man WOULD NOT leave he proceeded to ask me questions about myself and if she's a girl, etc.. I quickly picked her up and left the other way. I feel intuition is always right and maybe I am making too big of a deal but I do not feel comfortable with anyone getting that close to me or my yorkie! To make matters harder the whole jumping on a stranger thing was not good because he is a man and could have easily taken her with her trying to pull towards him.

Ugh. Ruined our perfectly good walk. :mad:

you have to teach her to not jump you can use no jump/down and then stay...with treats..maybe find a friend to stage as the stranger walking toward you and with high value treats you can work on teaching her (commands) to walk by a stranger instead of to one. I am sure others with much more viable solutions will chime in. with mine I dont use treats but we stop. if there is a dog approaching and they go bark crazy we stop and do not resume until they have stopped barking but obviously that is a bit different from jumping. patience and consistency and practice and you are right always follow your instincts...sounds like he was not just a stranger being nice to me either. Glad you both got away safely.

When I was walking in the mall a few weeks ago, a woman with 4 gorgeous yorkies was walking with her yorkies in a nice basket-type stroller.. when I approached the basket too closely the dogs barked really loudly and stood up - I think it's time to teach Chloe this, I'm sure the owner had to teach this to them. My yorkie doesn't bark at all unless someone comes home so I was trying to avoid teaching her this but I feel when I am outside and if a dog barks at me it automatically just makes you back away.

I taught her the stay command which she follows in the house but outside she ignores it. I think I need to start bringing the treats outside as well so she can learn "stay" is for outside, too.

Always good to follow your instincts.

Teach her 'down' and 'sit.' I use down for a variety of moves, but maybe this is not right. My boys understand when I mean to go down on their bellies, or not to stand at a person's leg.

How long of a leash do you use? I would use a 4' leash to keep her close to you and more under your control. If you want to use a longer leash, you can always shorten it when a stranger approaches by wrapping it around your hand.

I use the 4' when we are sidewalk walking in populated areas.

Why would you want to teach your pup to do that?! I think that is wrong and you will end up with a dog who cannot be in populated areas without being a nuisance.

Most dogs do that with out being trained some just don't like strangers.

That's what I would be worried about or a dog who no longer likes people.

^^ A lot people have to work hard to train their Yorkies to NOT be "protective" and bark at every stranger who gets within a few feet.

Max can be a little protective of Teddy and me when we are out walking. I do NOT want him to do this. He needs to let people pass us on the sidewalk without barking at them. Part of the problem is that he also thinks everyone should stop and greet him. He is an attention hound.

Yorkies do draw a lot of attention and people are going to want to fawn over your baby. If you don't want to talk to people, that's fine, but don't train your dog to have a negative reaction. I do a hand wave to people who try to rush up to us, waving them off or back, and tell them in a happy voice that we can't stop, or that the boys are too cranked to meet anyone.

I basically don't mind if someone wants to say she is cute or to pet her real quick but I felt this guy was way too close and not leaving us so at that point I think barking for him to leave us would've have been better than her trying to jump on him? You are right though, I wouldn't want her to just bark at everyone because that would be a bad idea.

I haven't measured it but it's a short leash which I do wrap around my hand.

Do you think she jumps because she is still a puppy? I know some people with dogs and their dogs don't seem to care if a stranger is around. If Chloe sees anyone walking outside she automatically speeds up and tries to sprint away. It scares me sometimes because she doesn't even look back. This makes me wonder what kind of training people do with the dogs that they walk without a leash?! I want to train that type of loyalty.. not that I would walk her without a leash, but I think you know what I mean.

You just need to train her not to jump on people. There are always going to be shady people who come up when it has to do with yorkies because they are seen as a price tag more then anything else. When shady people are freaking me out I pick Callie up and get out as fast as possible. Maybe take pepper spray with you incase someone tries to take her.

It could be a puppy thing or just that she is friendly. It takes a lot of work to train a dog without a leash but terriers are not a dog I would trust off leash.

If a strange man approaches, or anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable, tighten her leash up so that she is near your feet. Then give her the sit command. The person should not invade your personal space.

You are the one who should control the situation, not the dog. The dog should be neutral.

When all else fails, definitely pick her up.

We do have a member here, YazminD (Carla), who had a man try to snatch her dog. Thankfully, Carla was holding onto the leash tight and fought off the man. Her baby Yazmin was unharmed. A warrant was already out for the man's arrest and he was captured.

Another reason for using a shorter leash is that there have been reports of dog nappers running up and cutting the leash to take the dog.

I agree with Maximo and Lovetodream on this. Some yorkies are innately suspicious of strangers and are protective of their owners. While sometimes it can be seen as "cute" and a good thing (being suspicious/wary) it can also be a nuisance if you have friends over or take them on a public outing since they're likely to cause a scene. I would teach Chloe to "stay" when ppl approach it's a great command to know in any situation including those when ppl are approaching. I'm glad that you trusted your intuition that guy sounds awfully shady! Encounters like that always make me nervous to walk my dogs do you think you could carry pepper spray?

I agree with you on that one lol, they are too courageous to be allowed to roam free like that. I've seen a lot of people walk their dogs this way though, but I personally wouldn't do it because you just never know.