my yorkie chews EVERYTHING

Question
i have a 6 month old Yorkie male that chews on EVERYTHING. i have spent an
enormous amounts of money on chew toys but he'd rather chew on cords, i.e
cell phone chargers, extention cords. he even chews around my shoes to get
to my shoe strings. anything i leave out he will chew up.

additionally, if we are in the yard and someone rides their bicycle or walks by
he will run up on them or chase them. and will not respond to me when i am
yelling his name. i've always had dogs but none has ever acted out like my
Yorkie.

i don't know what to do and desperately need help. i will not be able to keep
him if this continues. what can i do to change his behaviors?
what can i do to stop this?i am fed up and almost at my wits end.

Answer
Sean,

Well it sounds like you have a real problem on your hands.  There are several methods that you can use to train a dog to be obedient but which method you choose would have to be based on how much time you have to spend on the training.  The most important thing you have to remember when training a dog is that you must be consistent.  They are like small children and if you tell them no ten times and then let it slide the eleventh time, you have just erased the previous ten times.

I am wondering if this is the first time you have had a male?  If you are not planning on using him for a stud you should seriously consider getting him neutered as soon as possible.  The reason I say this is because if he runs after people going by one of these times he is going to keep on going because he gets a wiff of a female in heat. If you are planning on using him for a stud then your problems are only just beginning.  

If you are unable to fence in your yard or do not want to keep him on a leash there are a couple of things you can do.  The first would be to purchase an invisible fence.  This would not be my first choice because they are expensive and don't always work.  The second and in my opinion the better choice would be to purchase a shock collar.  I know that sounds horrible but it really isn't as bad as it sounds.  For years I was opposed to them and thought they were cruel.  Then I rescued an Australian Shepherd mix from the pound and I had to change my thinking.  She was a good dog but at the age of six months it was evident that she was going to be a barker.  She would bark at her own shadow and would not listen when we told her to stop.  I was at my wits end and thinking about getting rid of her when I decided to try one last desperate thing, a shock collar.

There are two kinds of collars, a bark collar and a collar that you control.  I decided to get the one that I control.  I won't go into explainations about how it works but basically if I push the bad dog button it emits a sound and if she doesn't obey within 5 seconds she gets shocked.  Now I must tell you that before I ever used it I shocked myself.  It was not pleasant and I wouldn't want to do it again but it was not cruel either.  Since purchasing the collar I have only had to shock my dog twice.  Now, if she barks and I say no she stops.  If she doesn't stop I go and get the collar and put it on her.  When she sees the collar coming she stops barking right away and after I have put it on her she won't bark.  If she does bark I push the button (which emits the warning sound)and she stops right away. I take my finger off the warning button and so she does not get a shock.  So basically I now only have to give a warning sound and she stops so she is not getting shocked at all.

This is the fastest, easiest, and least expensive way to train a dog.  If you don't want to use a shock collar then you will have to put him in obedience classes or fence in your yard and hope he can't get out.

As far as the chewing goes I believe he will outgrow that when he gets a little older.  Until then you are doing the right things.  keep your shoes out of reach, put cords up (tape them to the wall if you have to), and keep things put away that he may chew up.  If you don't already have one make a toy box (it can be cardboard, plastic, or a basket of some kind) and put "his" things in it.  These things can be and old pair of shoes and even some shoelaces.  The purpose here is you are teaching him (just like you would a toddler) what is his and what is yours.  When he gets into anything that is yours you scold him and tell him NO, BAD DOG, this is MINE.  Then you take him to his toy box and tell him this is Yours.  Give him a toy and then tell him good dog.  If he has chewed something do the same thing but give him a raw hide so he know what is acceptable to chew on and what is not.

Again, the most important thing to remember is that you must be consistent.