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I have 2 Yorkies, 6mths and 10 mths. Both seems be scared of everything. Last night they were barking at their shadow on the wall!!!! What can I do to instill more confidence in them. We play tug of war and I let them win most of the time but not all the time. The barking is driving me crazy! I am just starting umbilical training but am worried that this will just make them more frightened of everything. Suggestions please!!!

You're not supposed to let them win, try downloading the first 2 chapters of Brad's book, they deal a lot with puppy issues, and it's free.

I didn\'t realize that! I will definitely download the chapters if I can find out where to do it?! I have read that if they have confidence issues, then they should be allowed to win at tug of war some of the time in order to build confidence.

You can download from the home page under the title Synergy. I believe that if you establish alpha they will gain confidence by knowing where they fir in the pack, and they can feed off of you, if you show know fear of the shadow there must not be anything to be afraid of. This won't be the case 100% but it shoud help. If you let them win sometimes at tug of war you will be sending mixed messages, as alpha you should win everytime.

I've read alot too that between 6-10months the puppies go through short fear stages?, and then hit their terrible twos where they forget most stuff ???

My two know i'm pack leader but at 6months are also getting scared easy. Its hard not to reinforce it, but be strong

Its TRUE!!! We are at that stage now and just have to be patient til they grow out of it. /. Keeping consistant with all training the same.
Kobe barks at shadow in stove(black front) favorite time to do this is 11pm but we are in our own house so he bothers no one. Once in a while he does this in mirrors we have in bedrooms. I take him out to walk/run/play when he does this -cause i figure he is bored.
he also decided the potato cooking in the microwave was making weird noises and he was scared- all the fur on his back up and boofing-then into a full baying. I went over -was matter of fact. told him he was fine. kinda funny cause as i was calm-didn't tell him to stop barking //he came closer and closer -then quit and was sneezing a few times like he told that thing.

Oh I think tug of war can be between dogs but if us and them -we are to /yes /always win. There are lots of other things to do/so I don't bother with that one. But Kobe did always want to//would put half in my hand so some dogs do like to do that and being green -I did it too. It was a game I could sit and do- So you are not alone in thinking it was harmless to let them win sometimes. to build confidence.
Not sure but as i go through things with Kobe- like show him the shadow doesn't hurt me. Confident owner-confident dog.
Who listens to me!(not always!)

I really hope that they grow out of it! If either one starts barking, I say "quiet" and that usually stops them. They usually end up barking at noises or their own shadows at night when every one is sleeping!! They are slowly getting better though. None of my other dogs have ever gone through this so it was pretty new to me. All my other dogs were big dogs though. Not sure if that makes a difference but I think it does. I will keep patience and wait for the drama to end!

You could try taking agility classes with them if you can find a good place to do it with small dogs. It is great for dogs with low confidence! I take classes with a sheltie named Marco. It has done wonders for him! Marco was a rescue and when he first started he was very, very shy and frightened and lacked confidence and was glued to his mom's hip. Now he is amazingly confident and outgoing, he is independent enough to go around the course and enjoy himself. He can now meet new people and dogs. Val, his mom, is certain it was the best thing for him. Really the change in him is amazing!