What can help my Yorks to feel more secure?

Question
Hi! Three month ago I took over two 7-year-old insecured Yorks. This shows through barking at anything, urinating in the house and overexcited jumping welcomes. Can longer walks help them to feel more secure? How many and how long walks per day does a York require? We go for 4 walks a day (one 30-40-min-walk and three 15-min-walks). Are there any other tips to help my Yorks to feel more secure? Tankfull for reply. Regards Annica

Answer
Annica,

At the age of seven your Yorkies should be pretty mellow.  You didn't say where you got them from but if it was a kennel then that would explain their behavior.  Dogs that have been kept in a kennel usually display the behaviors (overexcited jumping and barking) that you describe.  As far as the urinating in the house that is a common Yorkie problem that most people don't talk about.  Yorkies are notoriously difficult to potty train.  My vet (who also owns a Yorkie) and I have discussed the potty training issue many times. He has told me that of all the small breeds the Yorkie is the hardest if not the most impossible to potty train.  This problem however, seems to have no effect on the breeds popularity.  In fact I think that because Yorkies are such awesome dogs that people tend to ignore the potty training issue.

As far as their behavior goes I don't think there is really anything you can do about it.  At the age of seven they are going to be pretty much set in their ways.  That is after all how the phrase "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" was coined.  You seem to be handling them quite well and I think the time you spend taking them on walks is commendable.  I don't really think more walks will change the behavior, it is something that you really can't change.  Others may advise that you try dog training school or medicating them to calm them down but I feel that both of these methods are expensive and would really do little to help.  

I wish I could have given you better news.