Hello All:
I have a Chi/Yorky mix. Her name is Ginger. I've had her for about 5 months. She was given to me by my bosses boss. He knew that I was looking for a dog and came over to my desk and offered to let me "trial her for the weekend." He found her in abandoned in a dog park. I didn't really want to (I'm not that into small dogs), but caved into the peer pressure of my peers. Long story short, it isn't working out.
She bites and is not house trained still, but the worst part is, we have no connection. I am familair and experienced with all sorts of training methods and have tried everything from NILIF, which I started from the git go, to pretending like she doesn't exist when she is bad, treating her when she goes potty outside, and have even resorted to rubbing her nose in it. Yes, I do crate her when I am gone. Maybe I am just not familar enough with small breeds to train her and that is why I am posting. Does anyone have some ideas on how to stop this behavior?
It suddenly dawned on me, after spending $1,000 on a tooth extraction and dental cleaning for my terrier mix, Joey, that I would never do the same for Ginger and that is horrible. The difference is, is that Joey would jump out a window for me, but Ginger, if she could, would push me out. I would be devastated if I had to give Joey up. I would be relieved if I could find a good home for Ginger.
Concerning the biting, it is when she has a treat and you get too close, or have to take it away from her that she will bite. Not hard, but I have always said that there are too many great dogs in the shelters to waste my time on one that will bite. She also adores my boyfriend and will snap at me for getting to close to him. She is very convincing w/ her growling and snarling, but I have recently learned that if you actually just take the treat or push her away from my boyfriend, she won't really hurt you. She actually threw an all out temper tantrum when I took a sock she wasn't supposed to have away from her. She realized that I am on to her and don't take her seriously anymore, but that was months ago and she still pulls the same ***.
She doesn't know how to tell you she has to go out. I have tried to take her out on a regular schedule, but she still pees or poos in the house almost every day. She has ruined the mattress in my guest bedroom. Here I thought she was being so good for weeks on end and we were finally getting through to her and then I lifted up the blanket on the guest bed and, "oh my." Since then, I have kept her gated in the room I am in, which is a pain in the ass and I was really hoping was just going to be a temporary thing, but no, I turn around and sure enough there is a puddle or poo on the floor. I've had her checked for UTI's - she's fine. Oh, she recently peed on my cell phone. Good thing I have phone insurance or that would have cost me a good $300.