I am planning to buy a Yorkshire Terrier puppy as a birthday gift for my cousin. Do you have tips on how to take care this specific breed?
It is 5 minutes for each month of age with the walk for puppies, so a three-month-old puppy gets a 15 minute walk, too much walking is bad for legs and joints with puppies. When my puppies are first little, I practice with the leash. In the house, I drape the leash on them and try to call them to me. Outside, I practice in my fenced back yard for about a month before the puppy graduates to the street. I might drape the leash on the puppy and get him to follow me, or drag the leash on the ground and see if he will follow me and try to catch the leash. There are many things in my back yard that scare a puppy, so it is so much easier to address, or correct issues when I am in my back yard and not in the street. We just walk laps in the yard and deal with drama as it comes up. Maybe around 3-months-old I might try to clip the leash to the collar, but if there is too much protesting, I drop the leash. They just get better with the leash around 4 to 5-months-old. So anyway, I use the commands "go" when I want to "go" and if the puppy tugs on the leash, I stop and say "wait". It is my walk and we go as fast as I can walk and no faster. If I want to "wait" and look at a flower, change the batteries in my walkman, count to ten, then I do it, it is my walk. When I am ready I say "go" and we "go" again. When the puppy pulls on the leash, I stop and say "wait" and we stop again, even if we just went two steps. I praise the puppy when he is doing good and talk soothing to him and encourage him when he is doing good, so he keeps doing it. It takes several laps of "go" and "wait" until he settles down, and when the walk is over, I make a big fuss and clap and then they get some play time. They don’t like the walk at first, but they like the fuss at the end. I have to address "go" and "wait" again the next day, but it won’t take me as long to get him to understand what I want from him. I also house sat a dog, and the owner thought he had leash issues, and that dog just didn’t like being in front. He walked just fine with my dogs as long as he could be part of the group, but he didn’t want to be in the front. If you have a family member, or a neighbor that has a dog that walks well, see if you can practice with them. I also had one dog that didn’t like the maroon leash, or the pink one, but did just fine with the blue leash. Sometimes puppies are just puppies. I use a crate* to potty train with, but only for potty training and then I break it down and store it. I put blankets and a small food and water dish in the crate. Dogs don’t potty where they eat and sleep. When they are first little, I only expect them to hold their potty for 4 hours, and then 6 hours, then 8 hours and so on. So when they are first little, I set a timer or alarm clock to wake myself up at night to take them *out. I only allow my puppy in the bedroom* or the living room, only one room at a time. They have to graduate to more space. If I allow them to have full run of the house, it will overwhelm them. I take them out the same door each time. I tie a dinner bell to the door handle. Do not use a jingle bell as they could get their toe caught in it. So when they are little, I ring the bell for them, and then open the door to go *outside to potty. When they get bigger, I take their paw and whack the bell and open the door to go potty. Eventually getting to the place where the puppy will ring the bell and let me know when they need to go potty. Dogs want to please you, so it is your job to let them know what behaviors please you and what doesn’t. So when my puppy goes potty, I give her a treat*, and clap, and make a fuss and praise her. So she learns that going potty outside makes me happy. If she has an accident, make a disgust sound like “tsst” and take her out right away. I never yell* or spank* my puppies. Take them out when they first wake up, after they eat or drink, before nap, finish romping, when their activities change, or when they are sniffing around. Some puppies go pee right away, but may not go poop until 10 minutes later, so wait for the poop. I have a little play time here, because sometimes I think they are done, and they are not. Puppies train at their own pace. While I may have a puppy that hasn’t had an accident in several weeks, I don’t let my guard down. I don’t expect my puppies to be "fully potty trained" until one-year-old. If they have a setback, shake it off, and start over. I only have my puppies in the crate when I am not watching them. When I am sleeping, cooking, ironing, doing chores, basically when I am not watching her. All other times, she is out of the crate practicing being a "big girl." This is the time I train her how to behave in the house. So we are practicing "no barking", ‘no biting", "no jumping", and "don’t eat the furniture." I also have to practice "playing inside" so she doesn’t knock over things. You must keep the puppy in sight when they are little because they don’t know the difference between newspaper and carpet, and you don’t want them sneaking off and getting into trouble. Some puppies can sleep through the night around 3-months-old, but their bladder is grown around 6-months-old.
REVISIONS:
*I use a CRATE to train with. It is the method I prefer, compared to other methods I have tried. I noticed that if they are in the crate, while I am doing chores, they are o.k., because the crate allows them to see me and be re-assured. The crate can also be a comfort when stored in the basement for dogs who live in areas where thunderstorms and tornados are an issue. . However, use the method that works best for you…..a laundry basket, a cardboard box, a woof-woof house, x-pen, child gates, whatever works for you.
*OUTSIDE, pee pad, litter box, whichever method you are using. When the puppy is first little, keep the pee pad, litter box near the food and water dish, so the puppy can eat and drink, and then go potty. You can move it away as they get older. The pee pad has a scent that smells and initiates potty. Sometimes a pee pad makes a sound that scares some puppies, so you might want to use a litter box if that happens. The pee pad allows a puppy to walk around, but a litter box keeps the puppy in one place.
*BEDROOMS, I use the bedroom and living room for training, because it works for me. Choose rooms that work for you, but watch for rooms that are damp, or drafty. While my puppies sleep in the bedroom during training, once they are trained, I let them sleep where they want to. They don’t have to sleep in the bedroom forever.
*TREATS. While I use treats for training, you don’t have to. I like Charlee Bears for training (a little cracker for a little mouth,) I use them for training, but once they are trained, I cut back on them.
*SOME PUPPIES will go potty in the same spot each time. Some puppies have to be told to go potty. A command like "go out" for pee, or "go finish" for poop, might work for you, keep saying “go finish” until the puppy poops. This is a good thing to train if you travel with your dogs. By using commands, the puppy won’t get confused when you are visiting someone, on vacation with you, or when you get to a new home. The command will tell them what you want them to do in an unfamiliar place. You might also want to use a leash method, so the puppy doesn’t sneak off, or for strange places.
*YELLING. It is not a good idea to "yell" or "spank" your puppy and then take them outside when they have an accident. They may get confused and think that going outside is punishment. While you want to correct them, if you are extreme, they may not want to go outside again. Shake it off, and resume your schedule. You have to keep it real. Puppies train at their own pace, but a puppy can only hold their potty for a few hours. A guide would be 1 hour for each month of age, plus 1 hour, so a three-month-old puppy should only be expected to hold their potty for 4 hours at most.
SOURCE: These tips, tricks, and ideas were contributed from many brilliant minds. Thanks for your help!
