Does Your Yorkie Roam Far From You?

[fasteddie]

I've noticed that luckily, Yoda doesn't roam too far from me when we are out at play in an open field. The most he will run away from us is maybe 30-40 feet. He'll ALWAYS look back to see where we are. We really haven't trained him not to go far away, and a few strict "Come Here Yoda!" commands usually brings him barreling towards us at full speed.

[max's mom]

Well Mister Max needs a coach......he is bound by a fence but has escaped twice through an open utility room door to the outside world....Once a few days after we bought him....our neighbor found him and had him in a cage on her front porch....I was hysterically searching the entire neighborhood......crying my eyes out and calling his name over and over.....if she had not found him.....he would have been long gone...then a few weeks ago...I was sweeping the driveway......I heard the phone.....ran in to answer it...not realizing the utility room door was cracked....you guessed it........he was tooling down the street runing as fast as his little legs would carry him.....I found him in a few minutes.......marking the neighbors trees....


Also at the beach...he will not respond to his name......completely deaf as a doorknob......that is why I keep a 18 foot leash on him........he can only get 18 feet away.

Maybe Yoda would like to come to Oklahoma and mentor Max.......Obviously...what I am doing is not working....

[Higgin's Mom]

Higgins is usually good about coming, unless he KNOWS you are going to give him a bath. And he is fair (not great) about not going too far away from us. He has learned to roam our environs with Pogo and generally stays with him when he's out. Now that the weather has finally turned nice in Maine, and we are outside more often, he is more interested in staying around us than in roaming. Don is "Alpha Dog" in our family and Higgins idolizes him.....he is like a little gray wart on Don's ankle! Goes EVERYWHERE with him! I'm the one he comes to when he wants a nice soft place to rest.

I've forgotten....how old is Max? We were talking on here a month or so ago about how Yorkies seem to get so focused on something (like running down the street) that it's hard to get their attention. That's certainly Higgins problem. I also think Higgy has Canine ADHD! I have noticed that since we have been home and Higgins has had the run of the property, he is LESS inclined to "take off" like he did when he was leashed/penned/restricted on our campsites. It will be interesting to see how he takes that restriction when we get on the road again. I remember when he was a really little baby and got away from us and ran down the campground road faster than we could catch him.....little devil......Anyway, our Kentucky native neighbor shouted in his wonderful Kentucky accent "Watch Out! The guinea pig is loose!" It was so funny, because that is exactly what that little fuzzy black baby Yorkie looked like running down the road!

Wish I had some answers for you about Max, but maybe time will help, and he'll get a little better about running away as he gets older.

[fasteddie]

Yes, it does take some time. I still wouldn't let Yoda run around at all anywhere there is cars or bikes, etc... Or people playing ball or anything else dangerous, just in wide open spaces, he's really good. I dunno how that came about, but I believe we didn't really leave him off the leash for a good while, until he learned to stay close. Time does help for things like this.

[max's mom]

Thanks for the encouragement Higgin's mom....however mister Max is 3 years old......I think he has developed selective hearing.....if he hears his leash, collar with tags, or me picking up my keys...then he is right at my heels...but you can just see him tune me out if he does not want to come when I want him to come......particularly if there is something to mark ...Even if there is no pee pee left....he lifts his little leg and goes thru the motion anyway....If there is the remotest thing that interests him.....I am calling in vain.....when he does come to me.....I praise him and praise him.....Once...I even raised my voice and clapped my hands loudly...he just hunkerd down trying to be as flat as possible and froze in place.....I never did that again.
I think it can be a safety issue....he needs to come when called.....but nothing that I have done yet...works..SOOOOOOO...I just keep him on a 18 foot leash....and rein him in as needed

[fasteddie]

Have you tried to offer a treat for 'coming'? Like a small Pupperoni stick or some other treat Max likes? I believe that's how we got Yoda to come (most of the time he does at least) when we were training him to 'come'.

[Junebug]

Otis doesn't stray too far either. When I take him to an open playground, he stays pretty close, and looks behind him constantly to see where I"m at, like Yoda does!

I have two leashes for Otis, and I've been using the super long one recently, and even with that long leash, he leaves plenty of slack.

This baby is still attached to momma's apron strings!

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by max's mom

..he will not respond to his name......completely deaf as a doorknob......that is why I keep a 18 foot leash on him........he can only get 18 feet away

Whenever you have some free time at home, practice calling Max's name from another room, and when he comes, give him a treat and praise praise praise.

Do that about ten times a day, and by the end of the week, he'll be coming to you everytime you call (hopefully!)

[max's mom]

Thanks for the advice....I have never bought treats for Max......sounds like that might be an incentive........I will try that soon......Max is very smart but plays me like a drum .........in fact he surprises me by what he knows or figures out.....I can be in the other room and reach under the cabinet for flea soap.......{I open that cabinet often for other things}......but he knows if I pick up flea soap.....he knows the hated bath is near...he dives under the bed .....he also can hear me try to sneak out the keys, leash.....etc and he comes from the far corners of the house ready to hit the road....SOOOO he also knows when I am calling his name.....he just chooses to ignore me .......maybe a treat will change his little stubborn mind.

[Higgin's Mom]

......and then again....maybe it won't......


Little devils! SMART little devils!

[fasteddie]

Yup, smart little devils! It still amazes me everyday what our little ones can and will do!

[bettyeanne]

Originally Posted by Higgin's Mom

......and then again....maybe it won't......
Little devils! SMART little devils!

Yep!!! .... and then again ... it Probably won't .... Little devils ... hit the nail on the head!! The best word I have ever found to describe them is "unpredictible"!! I will NEVER completely trust Toto and will always be overprotective! Even after learning ways to train and even after she is doing those things on command .... sometimes she does ... sometimes she doesn't!! But I would hate for her .... that one time that she doesn't obey be the one time that she gets hurt ... or worse!! She is really doing well with the training but the other morning Pat was walking her and accidentally dropped the leash and she ran like a rabbit!!! NONE of the things we were instructed to do worked! It was as if she were totally deaf!! I quickly grabbed one of her favorite toys and lured her out from under a huge motor home that was parked next to us!! Bummer!!! BUT ... we will keep trying!!

[max's mom]

Max came to me today in the house....BUT..... he flattens out......drags himself slowly slowly toward me as if he were going to an execution ..........quite a performance!!!!!!!!!!!good grief....how smart are these little guys

[fasteddie]

Originally Posted by max's mom

Max came to me today in the house....BUT..... he flattens out......drags himself slowly slowly toward me as if he were going to an execution ..........quite a performance!!!!!!!!!!!good grief....how smart are these little guys

Smarter than us... smarter than us...