Aggressive behavior towards small children

[frenchpastry34]

Hi everyone, I need some advice. My yorkie is 2 yrs old and sweet as pie with me and our family, but when we are out in public if any children and sometimes adults come up to him he acts very aggressive. I have never had a dog act this way and I am lost on how to react. I warn people that I prefer they not pet him because I worry he may bite. He is very attached to me and if he is lying on my lap and my husband comes to pick him up he growls and acts very aggressive yet my husband says he never bites down on him, but that does not make me feel better. My daughter was attacked and seriously injured by her friends dog a few years ago and I cannot stand the thought that my own dog could hurt someone. Is it possible to stop this behavior? I know that some dogs are very leary of children so is this just the way he will always be?

Thanks for any advice...

Lauren

[patty58]

I would love advice on that too. Murfee is 6 and is only agressive if someone tries to touch me or if children run at him.

[Baxterino]

This is the exact reason I signed on today - to get advice on this subject. I feel awful when a little kid wants to pet my dog and he barks and scares the kid. We have been trying to yank a little on his harness and make a noise to scare him and that works sometimes but not all the time. I would like to take him through an obedience course if that will help but wanted to see what others have done.

[suda]

George is 20 months old and just recently he has started barking at children when we are out walking, usually they (the children ) back off, I have just been growling at him and walk on, not sure what else to do, yet another lady here has a yorkie and children and they get on fine. I suppose we must mix more with young people to stop this behaviour, but he will have to be supervised. I will watch this thread with interest.

[Britster]

Hi

I would suggest clicker training/positive reinforcement for a situation such as this. You can Google "clicker training" of watch YouTube vids of kikopup and zakgeorge21 to see a few training videos.

Basically, not all dogs like children. However, aggressiveness should be strictly enforced as a no-no, like you said. Jackson loves the kids that he knows and sees often and will jump all over them, all them to put their face up to his, put hands in mouth and food bowl (we don't purposely allow this, btw, but it's good he doesn't care). He also loves young babies. However, I wouldn't say he "likes" kids. He gets pretty nervous around children he doesn't know (especially the hyper ones).

I started taking him to my little cousins little league baseball games (with children ranging from all ages wandering around) and many kids want to come pet the dog, of course. I'm totally fine with it and always carry a pocketful of treats. If kids want to pet, I nicely ask if they wanna give him a treat. So now Jackson associates kids with treats and the first thing he does when meeting a new kid is usually go up and sniff their hand to see if they have any, LOL. He's never shown his teeth, or growled, or anything, he just gets nervous.

Start slow... take him to a park or a playground but stay semi far away but where he can still them. Give him a treat whenever he looks at the kids to let him know... kids=treats. You can slowly start to get closer. Just keep doing this, it takes time. YT username 'Quicksilver' has been conditioning her dog to like skateboards so you may wanna ask her for tips on conditioning.

If he growls or tries to bite anyone while he's on your lap, take him OFF of your lap immediately. Do not pet, stroke, or 'reward' him in any way for this behavior. I notice so many people (including my father) when their dog is growling while on their lap and clearly stressed, they will pet her and try to 'relax' her when in reality, they are reinforcing the behavior. Maybe even keep him on a leash and the minute he growls or bites it's a firm 'ah-ah' and take him out of the room, then bring him back when he's good again. This method is shown quite a bit on 'It's Me or the Dog' on Animal Planet. I don't always think this method is the most useful but in your case, I do think it would come in handy.

Also, obedience training never hurts! Basic commands (sit, stay, down, come) and even fun tricks can boost a dogs confidence and can make them more well behaved dogs. Jackson loves doing tricks and this is a great way for him to feel more comfortable around kids. He loves to show off his tricks and the kids loves to watch. I've even let children do the commands to him and he will listen to them (so long as they have a treat in their hand!) so it really lets him see children as a leader and a fun thing!

Good luck, hope this helps a bit

[Rachael x]

Your pup will just sounds over protective of you...
Like someone else said try the clicker and when she is good around children give her a treat.
If that fails you could always try spraying her with water when she is snappy, It may seem cruel but its not.. it's only water and It can be very effective good luck.

[Lisa and Pic]

My girl is not the greatest around young, active children. She would lunge at them during high activity, if I did not have her under control. I think she is trying to boss them around, but not sure. But, I do keep her on a leash and give her 100% of my attention, if we are in this situation. I also like Britster's advice about slowly getting your pup used to this.