Unmotivated Shorkie

[ZoësMom]

Hi, I'm new here.  I found this forum yesterday, and I was so happy to see other people with cute little Shorkies.

My little girl is Zoë.  She's 3 yrs old, and she's a sweetie.  She's also the most laid back dog I've ever seen.  Even as a puppy, she was never very playful.  She doesn't like to play fetch.  She will give her squeaky toys a few squeaks once in awhile, but not very often.  She's very good with the kids, but she doesn't really play with them. 

I am wondering what kind of things I can do to get her to do some tricks and play with us a bit.  She's perfectly happy to cuddle up on our laps, but that's about it.  She's not motivated by food or treats, so what else can I use as a training reward?  One thing I don't do enough of, is take her for walks.  She does love walks.  My kids are getting a bit older now, so I have more time, and I'd like to spend more time playing with and training Zoë.

Any ideas to get a low-key pup to be more playful?  She knows sit, come, stay, and heal. (stay and come aren't as good as I'd like).  I'd like to train her to do some tricks. 

Oh, and last March, she tore a knee ligament.  we did conservative treatment (no surgery0 and her leg is back to normal now, although arthritis later on is a big possibility.  So I'm kind of leery about letting her do things like agility.

Sorry this is so long! 

[teddybear]

Hi, I own Teddy, the almost 10 month old 12 lb shorkie. I'm so sorry about Zoe's leg. She is so adorable! Well, I might not suggest so much jumping and agility as you said to bond with her. Sometimes for your shorkie you just need to get them motivated, such as trying to get her off of the couch or taking her for walks, which you said that she loved to do. You might have to tempt her; is there a toy or some sort of treat or something that she is tempted by? I never really heard of a shorkie that doesn't like getting motivated by treats (my shorkie Teddy loves them ) , but is there anything else that she really likes? Also make sure that you tell her that she has done good, such as saying "good girl" or "what a good dog!" I'm sure you have something that you always tell her when she does good.  About her not being very active as a puppy, most puppies sleep a lot, though it is odd that she wasn't really playing at ALL. Teddy only knows sit, and we've worked on stay and come a little bit. She seems to be pretty good in the training. I'm sure the others will have some advice, so hang in there!

[ZoësMom]

Well, Zoë has always been a weird eater.  She is fed premium food (Orijen), but she only eats when she's super hungry.  (We can hear her tummy growl, and we're like, "Zoë, go eat already!")  Some days she won't eat at all.  It used to concern me, but she's healthy, and I just make sure the food is available.

But, I tried something last night, I think I've found her treat!  She loves cheese slices!  I was able to cut her nails w/o fuss.  I am excited b/c I think I've found her motivation.  So, I too am motivated to work with her.

[Kim]

Welcome to the forum! Zoe is such a cute dog! Glad to hear that her leg is better. As for getting her motivated, I guess you can try giving her cheese strings as an incentive. You could also try taking her to your nearest dog park more often. That way she can get more socialized with other dogs. Usually people try and train their dogs to do tricks when the dog is at a young age. Now if you want her to do tricks, it may take a lot of patience and persistence.

[codysmom]

Welcome! I have Cody he is just about 10months old. He's pretty active, but I also have a 4yr that runs around with him nonstop after school lol! Cody's also funny about fetch, I've  learned he'll only play it with one toy it's this little bear squeakie toy (I think it was one of the mini kong stuffies). It is the only thing he will fetch, it's crazy. He likes balls, but just to mouth at. 
Cody's fave treat and what we use to train is pupperoni's he goes crazy for them. I just ripe them up into small pieces.

[Bailey]

Hi & welcome...Zoe is very cute !!! how big is she ??  our shorkies name is bailey and she is 9 months old and 8 1/2 lbs..she too is very very laid back....sleeps a lot on our laps and just wants to be near one of us..usually my 19 year old daughter who she sleeps with...my daughter does say that bailey is sometimes "boring" since she only will fetch and play when she is in the mood....so far i don't have any ideas how to make her do tricks...looks like you've gotten a few good ideas from the posters above though..glad her leg is healed...and keep us posted on how you do with Zoe

[ZoësMom]

Bailey sounds a lot like Zoë.  She's about 12 lbs.  She enjoys cuddling on our laps, or just being near us too.  I'll continue to work with her. 

[Cash]

Might be the breed...Cash has alot of energy when it comes to walks and playing with other dogs.. but he's so laid back in the house.  I said in one of the other posts how my husband said that he can do whatever to Cash and he just sits calmly and takes it.  I think he'd like Cash to wrestle with or something and he doesn't.  I have to admit I haven't been the best at training Cash to do any tricks, but I'm sure he'd pick up on the quickly enough as he's very motivated by treats.  I've also just recently added bells to the door as I'd like to be able to hear him from wherever I am in the house.  It took him less than a week to learn when he went to the door, and I'd say "ring your bell" for him to do it.  I can see why some kids would think these dogs are boring.  I just love his sweet nature to death though and am glad he doesn't get into too much mischief.

[Stinkum]

Hi!  Zoe is a cutie.  My 'lil Stinkum is a lot like Zoe.  He turned 2 in April.  He's very laid back and just very cautious about everything including treats.  He does like to play fetch but only in the hallway of our apt, and only plays for a little while.  He does like to play find the treat where I use 3 exact same looking plastic coke bottle caps and put a treat underneath one and have him find it.  That keeps him busy and it's cute watching him figure out how to flip the cap to get to the treat.  He also loves to play tug-o-war with his little stuff animals., and loves to have the stuff animal dangle up high so he can jump for it.

[Ann]

These dogs do tend to be timid and if they have anything happen to them they tend be very afraid of hurting themselves again so I beleive this is what has happened. So I don't know if Zoe will ever be any different.