Is your Yorkie trainable?
 

Is your Yorkie trainable? Are you confident that you are either in control of its behavior or are headed in that direction?

Or are you putting up with bad behavior because, well, that's just the way your dog is and there's no changing it?

I bring this up because one of the best, most caring dog owners I know has a Yorkie that misbehaves. She barks uncontrollably. She has a dominant personality. Don't get me wrong. I love her dog. I wish mine had her outgoing spirit. But she can be a handful.

I've been lucky. The two Yorkies I own are trainable. My previous one, Jack, wasn't, but I got him as a 10-year-old rescue and he had so few bad habits that I overlooked the barking that I couldn't control.

Just wondering if trainable is the rule or the exception for YorkieTalkers.

I have hope! I think each one of mine fits into a different category. I've been trying different techniques, divide and conquer seems to work the best so far. Group competions work for some things, but can get quickly out of control. The fact that they are clowns and I end up laughing so hard at them doesn't help either! But, I must say, we do have fun!:D

I can identify! There are some habits mine have that I know are wrong, but they're just so cute and funny that I don't worry about it.

Mine are trainable to my standards- I know there are trainers out there who wouldn't agree with everything I do- I don't "invite" mine on to the furniture, they don't need to get down when asked, they don't have to sit quietly before they get fed, they don't need to walk in a perfect heal, etc. However, they are quiet when I tell them to, they don't pull on the leash (they may just walk ahead of me), they come when called, drop things I tell them to drop, know basic obedience skills like sit/ down/ stay. Know to get permission before taking treats from strangers, are well socialized with other dogs.

Basically, they are well behaved to MY standards. I am sure with some work they could learn all those other things, but I am not competing in obedience, or out to impress random people. I want them to behave enough that they do not become a nuisance to others and that they are easy enough for me to control.

A little love and training goes a long way
 

:yorkiej:
Tibbe was practically feral when I got him with no behavior skills, barked constantly, screamed nights, hated cuddling, fought me constantly - but he is now a loving, confident, smart, bright, happy and obedient little dictator loaded with personality! I just used the things I've learned reading about behavior modification and positive reinforcement plus a life of caring for dogs and he ate it all up, quickly learning how to behave himself and do it with a flourish! He loves to work at his obedience and trick training more than life itself. What a ham! He has one remainng behavior problem but it is not bad behavior - it is just that after living the lst 9 mos. of his life apparently outside in a covered crate, he still has some fear of some noises but he is working to master those like the trooper he is. Ninety-nine percent of the time he is an extremely self-confident, aggressive little ball of fun, baiting me frequently to play-fight with him. He always wins! What a gem I got when this little over-animated toot walked into my life May of 2008. LIfe hasn't been the same since!

This exactly. :thumbup:

I don't expect him to be a command obeying robot. I like a dog that thinks for himself, etc. I don't need or want him to be a "perfect" obedient dog but he is perfect to me.

I except him to be polite in public... not jumping all over people (that he doesn't know), no obnoxious barking, no obnoxious leash pulling, friendly to dogs and strangers, etc. These are all things that I expect out of him.

He's allowed to jump on furniture whenever he wants, he jumps and gets excited when I come home and I LOVE it, he's also allowed to act that way with my close family who love him and don't mind being jumped on and given kisses, etc.

It was touch and go for a while
 

After being owned by a Shih Tzu for 15 years I was not totally ready for the different type of personality I was facing when my baby came into my life. I had not wanted another dog after my FooFoo dog left me. He was so well trained and such a good friend but after a few months I knew I was not meant to live without sharing my life with such a loving creature. I had always wanted a Yorkie so I started looking into finding one. At first Gracie was a perfect angel. She basically house trained herself with the help of pee pads. It was when she was about four and a half months old that the bossy, challenging part of her personality came out. It was a struggle for me to make her realize that I was the boss around here and not her. You want your baby to love you but I knew I could not allow the bad behavior she was exhibiting anymore than I would allow my human children to behave so badly. It was for her own good and the good of our family that I educated myself on how to be THE BOSS and convince her that she was not THE BOSS. I must say I have had much success in this endeavor but I have found that each family member and basically everyone who enters our home must use the same tactics in order to have consistent success with this strong willed four legged child.

I have a lot of things to work on with mine, but they are so smart and eager to please.

Mine range from young to senior so what we work on is different for each pup. I love to watch them learn and see how excited they are when they do something right, smart little buggers now how to work it for play/treats!

We use Tamar Gellars books as templates for reward based training and I get a lot of tricks and commands on here from superstar pups like Jackson:D

I need a multiple choice option. Both dogs are trainable BUT they each have habits I haven't been able break them of yet.

George is doing fine really but barks at the neighbors dog, he knows I don't like it too much but I think the neighbor is the problem really as he encourages them to bark at each other. My main issue is going out side to do number 2s during the night if I don't hear him he goes in the corner, I wish I could get him to bark to go out same as he barks to come in. I have been giving him a treat when he asks to come in so maybe I'll start treating when he goes out.:cool:

Princess is still a work in progress.

She can catch onto trick training fairly easy but when it comes to modifying her behavior she's quick to turn a deaf ear.:rolleyes:

I also, do not expect or want perfection. Her mischievous behavior is what I love about her! I'd just like to chill out her territorial barking, I don't even know if it's possible since she's full of those terrier genes. I'd also like to stop her from jumping on people. While most of my family doesn't mind, some do. But it rarely happens at home so it's hard to enforce.

We'll see....holding out hope!

Fortunately my 2 are very good listeners. For the most part I can get them to do what I want but there have been times when the excitement of the situation has taken over. A couple of instances being a guest coming over and they wanting to greet and sniff and seeing another dog on a walk. lol

There is one very frightening thing that I have not been able to stop Gracie from doing. Once she became "Miss Know It All" she decided she wanted to get outside. One day she darted out the front door and ran as fast as she could as far as she could. Thankfully we don't live close to the road but she follows the driveway up to the road. I have to be so careful when I or anyone else opens the door because she will dart out so fast. She snuck out the door with the cable guy a couple of weeks ago. He didn't see her until he got out to the road and there she was trying to hitch a ride I guess. I thought she was shut in the bedroom with my daughter. I almost passed out when the cable guy came to the door with her in his hand. This is one more reason to get those basic obedience commands engrained in your dogs head. Now when I bring in groceries or have to have the door open for more than a second Gracie gets put on her leash. I have ordered a harness so she can go out for walks and I hope this will help her to not have such an urge to explore the world. We are still working on the stay command and will continue until she can be trusted to stay for more than a few seconds.

Andy's issue that seems to be a constant battle is he is not very friendly towards other dogs until he gets to know them. I know why he is like this. At a young age a yellow lab picked him up. Some time ago ago a large dog ran up on him before I could get bent down to pick Andy up the larger dog tumbled him.

These things stick with him and he would rather growl and excessive bark at them than to let them close. I am glad however he has a few that walk the same times we do and he has friends to play with .

I have one that is and one that isnt. Jewels has never even been able to be trained to do tricks. Shes not badly behaved though she has an extremely submissive personality shes just untrainable even on potty training

I marked us down as "no" but I know the problem is me and not my babies. It is always the owners fault, right??? I get that and I accept it. I am the one who is not trainable.

My two do understand simple rules and they will sit/stay at the front door, mind to the front yard or even just hang out in our garage if that is where I am. But Maddie (our rescue) barks excessively at my youngest daughters friends who come over. I tell the girls not to run in the house because I know she would go after their ankle if they came too close to her. It is fear driven for her because the first year of her life was with a bunch of rowdy boys and lets not forget her playmate was an Akita :eek:.

I do need to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to the friendly folks here on yorkie talk. Because of the advice I received on this forum she has turned into a very proud yorkie who prances through her home with her ears and nubbie held high. She has come a long way from where we started. I am so proud of her accomplishments every day!

:thumbs up:yorkietal:thumbs up:yorkietal:thumbs up

Great answers, everyone! And I agree with those who say they don't aspire to having a robot who does every little thing you ask. Mine do what I need them to do, and I don't push them beyond that unless they enjoy the diversion as much as I do.

I'm especially delighted that there are so few 'nos', and even some of those who said so admit there is likely more that could be done.

I've run into ill-mannered Yorkies whose owners don't even try to address the problem, so I've always wondered if it's because they've tried and failed and given up. I'm glad to see so few here have found that to be the case. :)

Same as Britster and ArmaniMan :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Yes, I'm confident all bad behavior will be solved...

I don't care if they get on the furniture...they don't have to heel...they walk in front of me but I don't let them pull on the leash...I do think its important for them to listen when I say "come" and "stay", they do very well with that....I don't let them greet anyone at the front door, they must wait until the the company walks in and the door is closed, they know thats their release command...LOL...than you better watch it cause you gonna get yorkie kisses, like it or not :p. I do make them sit, stay, lay, roll over, paw shake:animal-pa or bark for a treat..I reward all good potty habits..reward system works for us :thumbup: ...they are my babies but I let them be a dog as well.

I do have a few thing I'am addressing...Bella has picked up a bad habit of barking and nipping at the cats Milo & Baby...she just started doing this...I'm thinking the female in her is protecting Harley the puppy...They have really bonded now...and everytime she goes after one is when Harley is trying to play with them or she is jealous, not sure...but I'm getting control of that. I'm about 50% there LOL "leave it"

Barking at my neighbors new pup "a Boxers" he is sooo cute..but Bella and Harley just run down the privacy fence barking at him...working on getting it under control.:rolleyes: with "enough"

My furbabies have a lot of bad habits. But I don't care because I like them just the way they are. Lil bit aka cutie will eat anything, thinks she can take on everyone. She won't lay on the floor or rug unless there is a pillow or blanket to curl up in and jumps on furniture when she feels like it. She's a Yorkie thru and thru. :animal36

We brought our Alphie home and he is adorable and a barrel of fun! He is only 3 months old, so we are still in the teaching phase. He has done quite well with using the piddle-pads....most of the time. For a week or so he never misses. Then, all of a sudden, he goes in the other room, or even in the same room as the piddle-pads, but on the opposite side of the room. It's kind of like he's thinking "just to let you know, i DO have a mind of my own". The playful biting is getting better. Nibbling playfully, we can deal with. But every now and then, he gets a little rough. So we have to quite playing and walk away. But we are confident that he will get the hang of what is expected of him. He is a smart puppy, with a stubborn streak.

Good Tip: bells for training
 

My friend suggested that I buy a pair of bells to hang on our front door for my puppy to 'ring' with his paw when he tells us he needs to go outside.

Since we first brought him home we would take his paw and ring the bell just before we opened the door. It didn't take long before our guy figured it out for himself and so long as he's not busy (with a good bone or toy) he WILL ring his bell for potty use outside.

In my opinion, it beats barking or whining by the front door trying to tell me he needs to pee :)

Good luck!

Woa! I couldn't have said it better myself :good job: That's the way I see it too, we're not in competitions and we're not out to impress. I do want them not to be annoying, but I understand that some people will never be happy no matter what, so I won't stress my pooches soooo much that I become annoying :D

That's what I have at the back door and it works...a little too much sometimes :p Nicky rings the bell to go outside for potty...and for birdies...and for squarrels...and for deer...and....and... ALL DAY if I don't say "no more outside."

Sometimes he's so inpatient that he rings once and if we're not there to open within a few seconds, he starts banging the heck out of those bells as if to say, 'if you didn't here that, then watch this.' :D

My little ones are some characters :D But I can't blame them, they are very smart and will learn quickly if only hb and I were not constantly going in different directions when it comes to their training. They behave when we're alone, but when hb is home, the rules go out the window :rolleyes:

Nicky is a little thief, a tattletale and troublemaker who whines and mopes when he doesn't get his way. I have to warn everybody that if they like their stuff, they have to keep it from where Nicky can reach it. No bags with buttons, zippers or things he can rip apart should be left around---you blink---it's garbage after he gets through with it :p

When Nini steals his stuff, he comes and notches me with his nose around my ankles (tattletale). When he has something that Nini wants, he taunts her by putting it in her face and dropping it, only to pick it up and run with it (troublemaker). And when Nini has had enough of his teasing and bites him, he mopes and whines :p

Nini is just a loud-mouth :D She'll bark really loud when someone gets close to the house or lets out a loud crying sound when she wants a treat.

They both have a constant sibling rivalry going on which can drive anyone nuts. More Nicky than Nini, but they both want what the other has and are always watching to see if I gave both the same thing or different.

These things don't really bother me, but concern me, because as my neighbor pointed out; if something happened to me and hb, they would have a hard time in another person's home. Otherwise, I'm okay with it ;)

Awwww, I love him :thumbup:

:thumbup: Same here.

I won't tolerate pottying on my floors/rugs or any kind of destruction of my property. Those are my two biggies!

ZoE knows all the basic commands, and complies both in public & at home. She heels when walking...I walk her, not the other way around. But, she allowed anywhere in the house and on any piece of furniture she wants. This is her home :)

Very well said! My trainer said the same thing about teaching him to be invited on the couch, was easier said then done... My pooch is such a well behaved boy too, & listens to Mommy. I do not expect him to be without flaws, as us humans have them too right? Love our pooches!

Awww, that's so sweet :p The more I posts I read the more habits I find my little ones share with others fur-butts :D I adore them just the way they are too. Improvements would be welcomed (as long as they don't change what makes each one unique), but optional. God knows they have accepted me the way I am ;)

Most people don't get Yorkies in order to teach to take them to obedience trials. I realize they can and do well in obedience but that is not why the majority of people have them. I think we get them because we want a cute little fur baby who likes to cuddle and is cute and lovable. What some do not realize is that the Yorkshire Terrier was raised to be a killer of rodents. They have quite a shall we say challenging attitude and personality at times. I knew terriers were of a different sort when I got mine but I have to say I was quite shocked at the type of problems I encountered. After having a sweet spoiled Shih Tzu for 15 years Gracie's personality was "different" to say the least. I don't expect her to be an obedience expert but she does have to realize she cannot bully members of the family and that includes the cats. As long as she does not intrude into other people's and kitty's space she is pretty much OK. Basic things like knowing where to potty and how to sit and stay she knows and does. Other than that being a cute little snuggle bug is all that is required of her.