hey

[jflo2208]

He will do tricks alone with me. He knows sit, lay down and shake. Me and my girlfriend have been trying to teach him to rollover now, but thats taking a quite a bit longer than the others.

[jflo2208]

He's a very quirky dog I think JadeD hit the nail on the head when she said it's probably a comfortability thing because he won't eat his dog food when i set it out or drink water, but he will eat treats, Yogurt, and peanut butter things that I read and heard that are good for yorkies. When I feed it to him.

[JadeD]

Originally Posted by jflo2208

He's a very quirky dog I think JadeD hit the nail on the head when she said it's probably a comfortability thing because he won't eat his dog food when i set it out or drink water, but he will eat treats, Yogurt, and peanut butter things that I read and heard that are good for yorkies. When I feed it to him.

Every Yorkie is quirky!!! That is what makes them so fun!

Keep working on tricks with him. My little guy knew sit when I got him. He now knows stand, beg and even will stretch on command. He has also learned a ton of other "things" like go to bed, go for a ride, go to Lowe's, go to Grandma's.

I am glad he is good for you. He is going to have his moments where he will test you and that is normal for a Yorkie to do.

Keep working with him, but if he actually is her dog and he lives with her then he may always be that way because even though he enjoys being with you he is still her dog. My dog loves my husband and kids but he is my dog. He will always be my dog. I am the one that brought him home and gave him a whole new life from what he had before.

Good luck and I think within the next year you will have the most amazing dog. keep up the trick training and giving him treats. The treats can keep him from being too hungry while she is work, as long as you don't give him too many during the day. My kids will give my Yorkie a treat or two on the rare occasion that I am not home all day so he has something to eat.

Stick around on here, read some more threads and get to know people. There is lots of information available on here.

Welcome! Sorry if anyone was too harsh on you about the discipline. I just know how we all feel about that and there are so much better ways to discipline these little guys. I work on a system of praising the good behavior and mostly redirecting the bad or even ignoring it if I can. I rarely tell him no unless it is a matter of safety because of his reaction. Today he pooped on the floor (first time he has done this when I was with him) and I just cleaned it up and didn't say anything to him because I knew I was really busy and should have been watching him better. He would not come near me for about 30 minutes because he thought I was going to be upset with him. He has only pooped on the floor in here one other time and it was 2 weeks after I got him and my teenage daughter was supposed to be watching him and she decided to go put on make up instead. I just came home and asked her what happened and cleaned it up. I did not even say anything to Teek and he was afraid of me. I have no idea what happened to him at his last home, but I don't want to see your girlfriends dog end up like that. It is so sad when you don't even say anything to them and they cower and don't want to come near you. I just got out leashes and took them outside and when we came back in he was fine.

[MissSunni]

I love Magnus's suggestion. I find that when Sunni has extra energy its the best time to get her to learn new tricks. These are very smart little creatures and I think when mine gets bored, she's more apt to look for trouble, lol..be it tp (her favorite thing on earth)..or zooming around the house at high speed...kind of like she is ON speed!! When I start training her and get the treats in my hand..she immediately comes to attention and waits to see what's up. Its amazing how quickly she's learning. Now I just have to have my right hand closed and give a command and she does it..she never knows if there is a treat or not. It ends up being fun for both of us. If all else fails..I put the laptop on my lap..get a ball and throw it for her. She does have a frisbee..a light little nylon one that she loves..and she tosses it around and runs after it herself, lol. Probably because you are a big guy, just the idea of you may intimidate her. So, if it were me I would do only positive reinforcement. 100% I'm afraid to spark a controversy but I'm not really a fan of Ceasar Milan's methods of training. Any fool can make a dog submissive, but only kindness, time and effort can build a real true bond of love and trust between you Of course this is only my personal opinion.

[jflo2208]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will definitely be on this forum you have giving me some good advice that I will be using. I'm not worried about people being harsh on me for the discipline because I've only had to do it twice and that was because my girlfriend told me to. I will no longer do that. I know thats her dog and I will always let that be no matter how much i love that little guy. He loves sleeping in between my legs and my girlfriend gets upset at me because he always all over me when we all hangout together.

[smelcerk]

I have to say that the fact that you actually adore this dog comes out loud and clear. Glad you are taking the advice on the physical discipline. Yorkies are just so sensitive about this type of thing. One time my husband killed a fly with his hat and it made a loud slapping sound. Scared my previous yorkie and for the next five years whenever he took off his hat she cowered as if she was going to be beat. No one had ever laid a hand on her.

[jflo2208]

I'm sorry to hear that. I was reluctant to post at first because I thought I would just get ripped by people just because i've disciplined him before. I enjoy being around this dog, and you people have been very nice to me and have given me excellent advice.

[JadeD]

Originally Posted by smelcerk

I have to say that the fact that you actually adore this dog comes out loud and clear. Glad you are taking the advice on the physical discipline. Yorkies are just so sensitive about this type of thing. One time my husband killed a fly with his hat and it made a loud slapping sound. Scared my previous yorkie and for the next five years whenever he took off his hat she cowered as if she was going to be beat. No one had ever laid a hand on her.

I sometimes wonder if it is something like that which scares my Yorkie. Having no idea what his life was really like for 9 years I just don't know. It could be that they rolled up a newspaper and "scared" him with it? They could have yelled at him and scared him. It could have been something that happened on accident like that which has him afraid. I just really have no idea and I just love him and try not to have him be afraid of me. It makes me sad when he is afraid of me and I don't even know what he is afraid of.

I am glad you joined us here. There is just so much info and most of us are actually a lot of fun to be around! LOL