Yorkshire terrier, aggresive guarding..any advice?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

FWIW, I never hated a dog as much as I hated my best friend's YT, Lucywoosy :cool:

Never met such a vicious, spiteful, nasty animal as that one. The first time I fussed her (age 6) she imbedded her teeth in my cheek, just millimetres under my eye. My friend's mother giggled instead of helping me get the nasty little £*£$'s fangs out of my face.

Used to go for me every time I walked into her house so we could go to school. Turns out they thought it was funny when she snapped and bit, even encouraging her to do it. :mad:

Bearing in mind I had a Beagle of my own, who I could pull around like a rag doll, take food from his mouth, dress up, teach to beg, without anything other than a happy wag of the tail, and was completely happy with any other dog on the planet, right up to Newfoundlands and the monster longhaired GSD next door who would obey me but not his owners, I hated that nasty little ratty thing.


The only thing that stopped her attacking me was, unfortunately, me booting the wretched creature back across the room when my friend was getting her schoolbag and the dog was in mid attack. Something snapping inside of my 10 year old head saying 'I've had enough of this, you're only a flipping dog' is what made me do it, I think. I didn't hurt her, it was more of a flick off the top of my foot, but she never went for me again.


Point is, it's only a flipping dog. So if it gets lairy with your sofa, it gets swept off - that works for stroppy cats as well, by the way. If it gets lairy with food, the food gets taken away. If it gets snappy, it gets put straight in its place - the garden in the rain by the scruff of the neck is a good one there if they are snapping in a nice, cosy, warm place.

It might not happen overnight, but they can be smart little things - and since then, I have met plenty of sweet and gentle ones, so the aggression is an owner mistake, IMO - and they will learn that it isn't acceptable.

Yoghurt_Pot

i have a yorkie and we have spoilt him... he thought he was the boss in our house and had a very dominant personality, anything we did that he didnt like he would growl and bear his teeth. it sounds like you have a similar problem. we went to a behaviourist and what we now do is whenever he wants something (eg. food, to be let out or to be fussed over) we make him sit first, by doing this he has realised that we are the boss because he has to do something for us before getting what he wants. it has been very successful and he hasnt growled since, do you think this is something you could try?
Also you could try positive reinforcement, the behaviourist told us not to shout at or hit our dog as that could turn him the other way and make him worse, instead when he is good reward him, when he is bad just ignore him, no dog likes being ignored

vicx

I've just read this thread and it brings back so many memories of my first ever dog, a Yorkshire Terrier that passed almost 5 year ago. My parents bought him for me when I was young. I remember going to pick him up and the breeders would not allow us to see the parents. I think maybe they were vicious too! I know we shouldn't have bought him for this reason but he was just so cute.

I thought he was a one off but from reading this thread, it sounds like theres more like him. He thought he was the boss of the house, would guard everything epecially clothes, shoes and bags belonging to my mam. If anyone went near them he would go for them and by did he have a nasty bite on him!

He used to sleep in my parents room and whenever my dad got up to go to the toilet, Toby wouldn't allow my dad back in the bedroom :rotfl: We can laugh at it now but he was a very evil dog!

We got another Yorkie when Toby was 4 years old (he passed away 5 month ago) and he was a totally different natured dog, very loving and timid.

I've just bought two Yorkie pups (brothers) three weeks ago, one of the pups looks identical to Toby, same features and wavy hair. I'm just hoping and praying neither of them turn out anything like Toby! Some will say it's the way you bring them up but it can also be in the breed.