Extreme Aggression in Year & 4month old Yorkie

[FinleyOak]

It started out as food aggression. A bone, his food, our food, would set him off to growl and get stiff. He's attacked me multiple times and came close to breaking the skin on my fingers.
Now it's aggression due to loud noises, gun shots, fireworks, etc, will set him off to be rigid and extremely aggressive for a few hours.
He seems to snap in and snap out of it within minutes.
I'm at my wits end with him. I love him to death, but I live with my parents now and I'll be moving out in a few months. I'm terrified of him.

The other night I was sitting in bed eating with him on my lap, I dropped a piece of food and went to grab it and he started growling and giving me warning signs he was going to bite. It was 2am and I couldn't call my dad in for help or anything. I had to sit there and not move in fear that if I did he was going to attack me.

I don't want to rehome him, but at this point I am terrified one day he's going to seriously injure me, or someone else.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

[GracieJane]

I am not a behaviorist, but one trick that may help is to begin hand-feeding. All food should come from you in return for some requested behavior: sit, quiet, down.

Have you done any obedience training? It does help, though many of us don't bother because these guys are so small.

I hope others will chime in.

[FinleyOak]

Originally Posted by GracieJane

I am not a behaviorist, but one trick that may help is to begin hand-feeding. All food should come from you in return for some requested behavior: sit, quiet, down.

Have you done any obedience training? It does help, though many of us don't bother because these guys are so small.

I hope others will chime in.

He is obedience trained.
He'll take food from my hand, but he will not eat it while I'm near him. If I were to try to hand feed him he would never eat. He only eats a few bites a day as it is.

Thank you for your input

[GracieJane]

I am sorry I had no new ideas! Are others able to make him behave? Your parents?

[matese]

NEVER show a dog you are afraid of him, he will sense your fear and use it to his advantage. A firm NO BITE or NO BITING when you see he is going to bite.

Have you trained him basic commands, sit, stay, wait, LEAVE IT.

My first two yorkies I thought they didn't need training because they were toy breed dogs, I changed my mind real fast when at 1 year old the baby got loose while I was on a camping trip, she headed straight for the woods, calling her name did nothing, the more I ran after her, the faster she ran. I was able to catch her and when I did all I could do was hug her and cry, I thought I would never get her and she would be lost forever in the woods.
All dogs need to be taught basic commands no matter what size they are.

[Maximo]

First rule, never show anger or frustration. Always remain calm and confident. You can be firm, but not angry or animated in any way. Negative energy from you will only feed his aggression.

Here is an article from Victoria Stilwell about resource guarding:
https://positively.com/dog-behavior/...urce-guarding/

Is your boy generally a happy dog or more serious overall? Does he get enough exercise? A daily routine also helps with obedience and confidence.

No teasing either. Definitely a no-no with dogs with guarding issues.

Max guards chew bones. I hold the chew and him to prevent choking. He tries to get away from me and will growl aggressively. He has amazing bite inhibition though, and I will just remind him to settle down.

Withdrawing attention is also very effective. When Max is naughty and won't listen, I say calmly but firmly, "Okay, I'm leaving the room." I cross the baby gate where he can't follow. That always ends the unwanted behavior.

[FinleyOak]

Originally Posted by GracieJane

I am sorry I had no new ideas! Are others able to make him behave? Your parents?

My dad usually takes over when he's aggressive state because I'm too scared to and he's stronger than me

[FinleyOak]

Originally Posted by matese

NEVER show a dog you are afraid of him, he will sense your fear and use it to his advantage. A firm NO BITE or NO BITING when you see he is going to bite.

Have you trained him basic commands, sit, stay, wait, LEAVE IT.

My first two yorkies I thought they didn't need training because they were toy breed dogs, I changed my mind real fast when at 1 year old the baby got loose while I was on a camping trip, she headed straight for the woods, calling her name did nothing, the more I ran after her, the faster she ran. I was able to catch her and when I did all I could do was hug her and cry, I thought I would never get her and she would be lost forever in the woods.
All dogs need to be taught basic commands no matter what size they are.

He knows sit, stay, lay down, drop it, no, and a ton of random tricks.

Usually when he's like that we grab his muzzle so he can't snap at us and we tell him to "cut it out" in a calming voice.

The other day he had one of those silicone bags that they put in packages to absorb moisture. I went to grab it out of his mouth and he immediately started growling. My dad had to come over and pry his mouth open for me.

[FinleyOak]

Originally Posted by Maximo

First rule, never show anger or frustration. Always remain calm and confident. You can be firm, but not angry or animated in any way. Negative energy from you will only feed his aggression.

Here is an article from Victoria Stilwell about resource guarding:
https://positively.com/dog-behavior/...urce-guarding/

Is your boy generally a happy dog or more serious overall? Does he get enough exercise? A daily routine also helps with obedience and confidence.

No teasing either. Definitely a no-no with dogs with guarding issues.

Max guards chew bones. I hold the chew and him to prevent choking. He tries to get away from me and will growl aggressively. He has amazing bite inhibition though, and I will just remind him to settle down.

Withdrawing attention is also very effective. When Max is naughty and won't listen, I say calmly but firmly, "Okay, I'm leaving the room." I cross the baby gate where he can't follow. That always ends the unwanted behavior.

He's usually a super energetic, loves to go on his little "tantrums" of running around in circles as fast as he can.

He has an everyday routine. We wake up, I let him outside, fresh foo and water, play time, then he usually takes a nap, gets a bone, more play time, and he's in bed by 10 every night.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by FinleyOak

My dad usually takes over when he's aggressive state because I'm too scared to and he's stronger than me

Originally Posted by FinleyOak

He knows sit, stay, lay down, drop it, no, and a ton of random tricks.

Usually when he's like that we grab his muzzle so he can't snap at us and we tell him to "cut it out" in a calming voice.

The other day he had one of those silicone bags that they put in packages to absorb moisture. I went to grab it out of his mouth and he immediately started growling. My dad had to come over and pry his mouth open for me.

Strong arming an aggressive dog is dangerous for humans, and won't solve any problems with the dog.

Sometimes my 2 male Yorkies get out of hand wrestling and get aggressive with each other. I do not physically intervene or restrain them because it can create a dangerous situation for us all. To break them up, I do raise my voice, "Noooo!" and make a very loud noise, sometimes stomping my foot, to snap them out of it. I tell them to sit down and then I sit down or leave the room.

Definitely work on "drop it" and "leave it" for items that your dog should not have. When he does it correctly, praise profusely and give him a reward.

Sounds like he also needs to learn bite inhibition if he is actually snapping on you. If he is air snapping, use the ignore and withdrawing attention tactic. Leave the room and go where he can't follow.

When Max was about 7 months old, I tried the Cesar Milan way for about a week. It was horrible! I know some dogs are more strong-willed than others, but I firmly believe that positive reinforcement and positive energy work so much better. The only negatives I use are withdrawing attention, and making the big noise in dangerous situations that involves more than one dog.

I would worry that the muzzling and physically restraining are creating more negative energy with your dog, leading to more aggression.

[matese]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Strong arming an aggressive dog is dangerous for humans, and won't solve any problems with the dog.

Sometimes my 2 male Yorkies get out of hand wrestling and get aggressive with each other. I do not physically intervene or restrain them because it can create a dangerous situation for us all. To break them up, I do raise my voice, "Noooo!" and make a very loud noise, sometimes stomping my foot, to snap them out of it. I tell them to sit down and then I sit down or leave the room.

Definitely work on "drop it" and "leave it" for items that your dog should not have. When he does it correctly, praise profusely and give him a reward.

Sounds like he also needs to learn bite inhibition if he is actually snapping on you. If he is air snapping, use the ignore and withdrawing attention tactic. Leave the room and go where he can't follow.

When Max was about 7 months old, I tried the Cesar Milan way for about a week. It was horrible! I know some dogs are more strong-willed than others, but I firmly believe that positive reinforcement and positive energy work so much better. The only negatives I use are withdrawing attention, and making the big noise in dangerous situations that involves more than one dog.

I would worry that the muzzling and physically restraining are creating more negative energy with your dog, leading to more aggression.

[gemy]

I am wondering how old you are given you say your Yorkie is stronger than you?

While no one likes to be bitten on an adult hand or arm Yorkies could not do too much damage. A dog that growls on my bed is summarily removed. Or my lap for that matter. Dogs are rewarded for good behaviour and disciplined for bad.

[FinleyOak]

Originally Posted by gemy

I am wondering how old you are given you say your Yorkie is stronger than you?

While no one likes to be bitten on an adult hand or arm Yorkies could not do too much damage. A dog that growls on my bed is summarily removed. Or my lap for that matter. Dogs are rewarded for good behaviour and disciplined for bad.

I'm 19 years old. When he tenses up I can not pry his mouth open. He's broken skin on my mom and left quarter sized bruises on me, my mom, and he's cut open my dads arm.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by FinleyOak

I'm 19 years old. When he tenses up I can not pry his mouth open. He's broken skin on my mom and left quarter sized bruises on me, my mom, and he's cut open my dads arm.

My Teddy doesn't quite know where his teeth are when we play or hand feed him fresh chicken, so I know that Yorkie teeth can do damage easily. My dad has thin elderly skin, and he bleeds and bruises easily.

You can help solve the problem by being really careful not to drop anything, or to be really fast in packing in picking it up, and to make sure everything is out of reach -- things you don't want him to have. It's the same as having a human baby or a toddler in the house. Babyproof and use extra caution.

When he does get something, grab a towel and wrap it around his body. Keep a towel in close proximity for this. The towel will help subdue him and keep him from using his legs. When Max won't give something up right away with the "drop it," I put my hand on his shoulders and keep saying "drop it" and "that isn't good for you."

The most dangerous things my boys have picked up have been outdoors on our walks. They hear the fear in my voice (fear for their safety, well-being) and they will spit the item out.

You definitely need to work on drop it and bite inhibition and resource guarding. A professional trainer might be necessary.

As I wrote before, strong arming and muzzling are not going to solve your dog's problems. You have a big job ahead in training, but you definitely need to change tactics for success, for your safety and your dog's.