Dog Behavior
 

As you know my Gucci is a 4 yr. old Yorkie.. She really is a sweet dog.. But yesterday and it happend a few other times in the past. She had something in her mouth and I went to pull it away and she bit me several times as I was trying to remove it. I know she didn't really mean to she was just trying to not have me snatch it.. I really got mad and yelled at her calling her a bad girl, she went to hide under my chair she knew she did wrong... In the meantime I bled and it still hurts today and I hope its not infected I put anitbodic ointment on it.


Now my question most of you have yorkies how do I stop this behavior? God forbid I have a kid over and the child would pull a toy away I wouldn't trust Gucci.. She basically like I said is good but now I am concerned...

Help any advice is appreciated...


BTW I had a tetanus shot 7 yrs . ago do I need to get another due to bite?

You are OK, you only need a tetanus shot every 10 years.

About the aggressive behavior - I have Yorkies but neither have ever bitten me when I've taken things out of their mouth. I have heard of that though. I think there is a procedure where you have to make them understand that you are in control of food, not them, and that you are the pack leader.

I know this is not everything that needs to be done, and I probably have some of it wrong, but this is what I remember. You do not free feed the dog (I know I know, I free feed mine, and you probably do too). You only feed them at a certain time and you do not leave the food down, even if they don't eat.

You make them sit (in front of the food) before you put the food down and you do not let them eat until you tell them to eat. I have seen people get down and act like they were eating the food in front of the dogs while the dogs were having to sit and wait. This lets the dog know that you are in control of the food, not them.

I also think that part of the process is making them stop eating and sit for a bit till you tell them to go back to eating.

That's all I remember and I'm sure others will have better/different advice. It is a dominance thing - Gucci thinks she is the pack leader, not you, or she would acquiesce what is in her mouth without a fight. You are right to be concerned. She might bite a child if they were to try to get a toy from her.

Gina, I don't have any advice, just empathy. We have biting yorkies, too. Chase, 10 year old male, will bite unpredictably. Sometimes he wants to be picked up, you pick him up and he growls and nipps. Sometimes I'm sitting on the couch and go to get up, he's at my feet is startled and bites me on the ankle. When I brush him near his head, he will turn and bite me, and yes, he has drawn blood. I've told people that if yorkies were bigger dogs, we couldn't have them because of the biting. They are so small, they may draw blood, but can't really hurt you too much.

Even my little 3 year old, 4 lb Zoe, will bite me when I'm brushing her near her head, or when I'm bathing her and washing around her eyes. I just have to be stern with her and let her know who is boss.

Chase bites so randomly, I don't know the solution. He's just an agressive dog.

Both are neutered/spayed, so if the behavior is genetic, it won't be passed on.

Sorry this happened to you. Defending things in their mouths is instinct. It's sad that she was so very defensive that she bit you.

Marilyn,
We had a Schnauzer like that, many years ago. However, she was about 25 lbs and DID hurt a lot when she bit. So, when we had our first granddaughter, we gave her up to a lady with no children. We just couldn't take the chance that she would bite the baby and since she was bigger, really hurt her.

I don't know why some dogs are like that, as you say, just genetic I guess.

Thank you ladies.. It is frustrating thank God I don't have little kids around.. When family children come over I watch her like a hawk.. These little furbabies are adorable but aggressive.. lol Gucci does think she is the leader oh yeah! lol

I free feed her to Gayle. She use to be picky and she had liver shunt disease and was operated a few years ago. She has the ameroid constrictor put in. So I have her on a special diet of l/d food so I am happy whenever she eats...

I will try to be more stern with her and lets see where I get. I am a pushover when it comes to spoiling and she certainly is SPOILED! lol


thanks!

Gina, do you warn her prior to grabbing away whatever she got hold of?
I certainly know nothing about dog training, but maybe you can hold the palm of your hand towards her face, talk to her while you take whatever she has in her mouth with your other hand?
Be firm and tell her "watch it Gucci, bad girl" grab her by the neck, and shake gently.
Ive never dealt with this sort of behaviour, please keep us posted.

Hugs to Gucci.

I completely understand the need to free feed and be thankful when they eat! I have one just like that. It is so maddening. I did find one wet food that he loves (I understand that you have to feed Gucci a special diet). It's Merrick's canned food, the variety "wing-a-ling" and "smothered comfort" (I think). Both have whole pressure cooked chicken thighs and chicken wings in the can along with brown chunks. Rowdy will mostly only eat the chicken (the bones are soft, they just melt when you cut them). But sometimes he will eat some brown chunks too. I feed Rex & Rowdy 1/2 can each in the morning and then leave dry food out during the day for them to snack on. Rowdy rarely eats anything other than the wet food. It is maddening too, because he doesn't even want any treats, so training him is very hard since he doesn't care if he gets a treat or not.

I hope someone has a good answer for you, if not, then just keeping a close eye on her should do the trick!

Good luck!

Have you ever watched "The Dog Whisperer", Gina? He has some great ideas on how to handle this sort of thing. Gayle was right in suggesting pack behavior and making yourself the leader and the ways she suggested will work. Also, make sure that you walk through a doorway first, because YOU are the leader. I think that there's a book out by Ceaser Millan.

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/dogwhisperer/

You might want to watch some of his videos and get an idea of what he does.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.co.../dog-whisperer

I only had one out of my four Yorkies try to bite me. It was my little Joey. The girls were there close and I think he was afraid I would take it from him and give it to the girls. Anyway, most will not agree, but sorry, he's mine...I'll do what I want and that I know works. I immediately held his chin hair, flipped him in the mouth twice while saying NO, holding the hair a bit longer, saying No one more time then letting him go. He's never done it since.

Janet, I agree fully.
If any of my dogs so much as growled at me I'd get very nasty right then and there with them so they knew it wasn't going to happen again. You need to teach in a way animals understand, and can relate to. Imagine what would happen if they did this toward another dog... they'd get the same back.

Ava is 70 lbs and looks fierce, yet when she's shown aggression to another dog while right next to me I have grabbed her by the skin on her face and got right in her face and told her what I thought of it. She doesn't do it anymore. She knows I am NOT intimidated by her and she MUST submit to me. I will give treats to my dogs and take them away just to reinforce this. If they give it up nicely they get it back with praise. If they resist, I keep it. (This is training for letting me safely handle their puppies later)

I don't care how big or tiny a dog is, they need to know biting or threatening is not allowed. I have actually had a couple dogs put down because they snarled at kids. Don't be afraid to put her in her place. It sounds like she's testing the limits and will be a little snot if she thinks she can get by with it. Most will try it one time or another, the key is just to teach them the first time so there isn't a second episode.

I fully agree with you!!

I love my girls dearly, you know i do, but there is NO chance i would ever tolorate them try biting anyone, if they did, they could expect a clip from me.

This happened only once with Logan. He was about 6 months old & had gotten ahold of a cat toy. I was afraid he was going to swallow it because that's what he does when he thinks we're going to take something from him. So I corned him & went to take it away & he snapped at me. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck & brought him face to face with him (I was on the floor) and said "He!! no! You will never do that to me again." And he never has. For a month after the incident he would bring me his toys and lay them at my feet & wait for my permission to play with it. Now when I ask for something he gives it to me. He doesn't like it, but he knows I'm the leader & i get what i want.

I am so glad most of you agreed. I'd do the same with my kid. I would never be able to post my opinion somewhere else ya know....without getting bashed to kingdom come.

Ladies I read all your threads and your all right. I will try what you all suggested. Actually today she tried to growl when I pulled something away and I immediately changed my tone and told her NO bad girl and she seems to be listening better. Your right she is a half pint and I am the boss. thanks!!!

When Rowdy was about 8 months old, he started barking at us to get our attention and if we didn't respond, he would just bark louder. It was really getting out of hand, so one time when he barked at me, I grabbed him by the harness, lifted him up, shook him (not too hard, but hard enough to startle him) and said "NO" in a very loud mean voice. I was trying to mimic what I thought his mom might do to him if he tried to boss her (she'd grab him by the scruff of the neck and shake him - at least that is what I thought she might do).

When I put him down, he looked at me like I'd lost my mind, ran over to my husband and got behind him and peeked around him at me.

I only had to do that one more time and the barking at us completely stopped.

Both my boys wait for me to go through the door first, they know I am the boss. They test their limits sometimes, but they always acquiesce.