Yorkiepoo

Question
QUESTION: I have a 5 month old yorkiepoo.  I am so frustrated that at this point I am almost ready to give her away.  I cannot get her to come to me, I can't get her to quit barking and she is only about 75% housebroken.  She has had a severe ear infection for about 3 weeks now (the vet has seen her twice for it).  How can I train her to come and to stop the barking?

ANSWER: Here's a great article on how to stop unwanted barking
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1125
Be sure to also go to the link in that article on teaching bark/no bark. But it sounds to me like the barking may be a symptom that your pup is frustrated and confused, and doesn't know what else to do. I think a good, positive training program would give her the skills she needs to be less anxious and listen better.She needs basics to learn how to learn, and you need basis to understand how to teah her.
As to the ear infection, I don't know what you are feeding, but chronic ear infections are often the sign of an allergy. If your food has corn, wheat or soy, especially, I would look for a food that does not. You might even consider going to a grain free food. While the food costs a bit more, you can generally feed less because the dog uses the nutrition better, and possibly avoid expensive trips to the vet and medications to treat her ears. Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com

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QUESTION: I use the Science Diet small puppy bites.  I emptied the bag into a container so I can't read the ingredients.  Another question please....if you have something in your hand she is constantly jumping up to it.  How can I stop that jumping?

Answer
Again, a good training program will be very helpful in stopping the jumping. You can teach her that to get the treat she must sit. You can look at the Hills website for the ingredients in their food. I just did that, and the FIRST ingredient listed (that means there is more of that ingredient than anything else) is corn. It also contains corn gluten and soy. I think I might avoid those ingredients and see if her ears clear up. Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com