Thursday, June 9, 2011

Stop Your Yorkie From Running Away

By George Fox


One of the scariest things a Yorkshire terrier owner can experience is their Yorkie getting out the front door without a leash on and attempting to run away. Yet, many owners struggle daily with a Yorkie that attempt to do just that. So, how does it happen that there is a number of Yorkshire terriers having that unstoppable desire to run away, as long as the door is opened or they are not on the leash? It is important to not only understand why they do it, but specifically how to stop it to keep your little friend safe and to maintain your peace of mind.

Why Yorkshire Terriers Run Away

Yorkshire terriers run out the door because they don't understand the danger out there. When someone opens that door of your household your Yorkshire terrier sees this all new world and they want to explore it not thinking of any consequences. And it's unrealistic to verbally communicate your Yorkie that if they run away the would automatically become a subject to cars, other dogs, cruel people or just simply the fact that they will not have anything to eat. And usually if your Yorkie has escaped from your household once but you caught them they would typically try to do it again, since they have already taste that freedom and nothing has happened to them.

Establishing the Rules of Your House

The first step you must take is to make your household rules that are clear for everybody in the house and the Yorkie as well. For instance, nobody in your household can open the door without first knowing where is the Yorkie, or the Yorkie will run away almost guaranteed sooner or later. Let someone hold the Yorkie when you or other people attempt to enter or exit the household.

Second, make sure to communicate these rules to visitors. If your visitors have a dog but without this particular problem, they would never figure it out unless you tell them.

Teaching the Yorkshire Terrier to Stay Inside the House

Right before you begin the training spend an hour at your computer and gain some Yorkie training information because this may help you. Begin with some simple verbal orders such as "sit", "stay", "down". When it comes to getting your Yorkshire terrier's attention and keeping them in a single position applying these commands is very helpful. These commands are not going to manage the issue right away but this is an important first step. What you teach your Yorkie with commands like that is that you is in control and own the door and they cannot go through it without your approval first.

Maintaining Position

While teaching a Yorkshire terrier to sit and stay is important, it should go a little further when taking control of the door. The following are some easy steps that you can take:

Hand Signal - teach the Yorkie a hand signal along withe the verbal command. When you combine those two it works more effectively.

Creating Distance - Choose a line beyond which you don't want your Yorkie going when you open the door. Have your Yorkie sit and stay behind the line while you walk to the door. If at any point they get up, make them sit again and again.

Holding the Position - just having the Yorkie to sit when they move toward the door is not the whole thing you have to do; what is also important is to bring them back to their original position. When you bring the Yorkie back to the position where they supposed to be, start the process once again. Overtime they will learn that the barrier can not be crossed and their attempts will fail.

Practice you will need to practice this command repeatedly and reinforce it whenever the door is opened. It can be distracting to make guests wait when training your Yorkshire terrier, but it is important to teach the Yorkie that they need to wait patiently away from the door whenever it is opened. What can help you to dramatically save time with the training process is a clicker. And surprisingly to learn how to train a Yorkie with a clicker is easy, so everyone can do it.

When you are practicing it is crucial that the Yorkie performs the desired task correctly. If they move forward even a little bit, start the process one more time. Over your Yorkie will stop reacting when you approach the door, open it or leave.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment