O-M-G Does any of your yorkies HATE kids??

[Darlene68]

Okay so I care for my cousins little girl 4hrs a day, 5 days a week..and Jesse hates her, I mean seriously it's like he wants to eat her alive, I have to keep him separated from her when I have her. I've never seen anything like it, I thought it would get better when he got use to her, but he has become worse! He really only likes me and my boyfriend Talking to the former owner she said he wasn't around many kids at all. Bailey LOVES kids, he loves everyone, so this is totally new to me. Anyone else experience this with their Yorkie?

[speleogirl37]

No, thank goodness! I am sorry you are going through this. Have you tried working with him at all? maybe when she comes in she should have a treat ready for him? I don't know. I hope you get it straightened out. It would be awful if he got a hold her.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Darlene68

Okay so I care for my cousins little girl 4hrs a day, 5 days a week..and Jesse hates her, I mean seriously it's like he wants to eat her alive, I have to keep him separated from her when I have her. I've never seen anything like it, I thought it would get better when he got use to her, but he has become worse! He really only likes me and my boyfriend Talking to the former owner she said he wasn't around many kids at all. Bailey LOVES kids, he loves everyone, so this is totally new to me. Anyone else experience this with their Yorkie?

That's rough. Razzle since i've owned him hasn't been around children much, only a few times at shows, and then he was quite good with them.

Maybe if there is a place you could go to try and desensitize him to kids, Parks, playgrounds, etc. this way he gets to hear and see kids at play, outside of his home environment.

[Darlene68]

I seriously don't know what to do. He doesn't like other people either, they can take him up and pet him, but as soon as they put him down he starts barking at them again. I had to separate him from the little girl when he started nipping at her legs! She is after petting him down and everything and he never touched her, but as soon as she started to walk away he would go after her! I am taking no chances in him biting her I just wish it wasn't this way, when he hears someone at the door it's like he gets totally stressed out too, and paces and barks at the door. The previous owner said he wasn't socialized enough. I am going to upload a video soon, so people can see what I am taking about!

[Dara311]

Oh Dear! I'm sorry your going through that. Fiona loves, loves, loves, babies and children, So i'm not sure what to tell you about that, good luck though!

[LDandPasquale]

Thank god Pasquale LOVES kids. BUT my siberian husky that i had years ago use to hate kids. He was fine letting them pet him but as soon as they stopped and walked away..he would grab onto them with his teeth and drag them back. I personally thought that he loved the attention and when it stopped , he didnt like that very much.

Jesse is so cute and adorable..its shocking to see he hates kids.

[Perrella]

Oh, that's sad for Jesse too and the stress. Zhoie has not had the opportunity to be around kids, she barks and barks at the neighbor's kids. When we do meet a kid and they pet her, she is ok with it. But, when she sees them from a distance she barks like crazy.

I believe it's due to the first time my son came with his 4 little ones, the 3 yr old boy went into the sunroom and almost upset her cage with her in it, now she is upset when she sees a toddler at all.

I don't think it will improve for my Zhoie, but we'll live with it. I wish you luck on overcoming this and things work out for you and your little guy.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Darlene68

I seriously don't know what to do. He doesn't like other people either, they can take him up and pet him, but as soon as they put him down he starts barking at them again. I had to separate him from the little girl when he started nipping at her legs! She is after petting him down and everything and he never touched her, but as soon as she started to walk away he would go after her! I am taking no chances in him biting her I just wish it wasn't this way, when he hears someone at the door it's like he gets totally stressed out too, and paces and barks at the door. The previous owner said he wasn't socialized enough. I am going to upload a video soon, so people can see what I am taking about!

If you can get access to a pet behaviourist, even if only over the net, and they can watch some of the videos you have of him, that might be a way to go
Okay Zone training and desensitising to the doorbell, knock etc. Here is what I have done.
With hubby over a wkend; we work one dog at a time; he stays at front door with dog in his "no bark zone", I exit house and walk around to front and ring doorbell. His task is to discipline, and reward when barking stops, after his command NO BARK. He rewards for staying in the sit. Then we trade off, I'm with dog, he goes to the door. This has been moderately successful. Very good if we are near to the front door ; ie kitchen or living room.
You must repeat until behaviour is wht you want even if that means 20 doorbell rings.
And then repeat next day, etc
Razzle is a very excited barker, hve you tried a "sharp clap of your hands", or you could use a whistle, anything staccato and quick enough to try to break through the mindset of I'm in BARK mode.

To stop nipping at legs walking away, you need to have Jesse on a lead, and when child goes to walk away, sharply and quickly give a very quick pull /jerk on the harness, accompanied by a firm quick no. It should be sharp enough to take his front paws offf floor and have him look to you.

Hope this helps.

[furbutt]

Originally Posted by gemy

If you can get access to a pet behaviourist, even if only over the net, and they can watch some of the videos you have of him, that might be a way to go
Okay Zone training and desensitising to the doorbell, knock etc. Here is what I have done.
With hubby over a wkend; we work one dog at a time; he stays at front door with dog in his "no bark zone", I exit house and walk around to front and ring doorbell. His task is to discipline, and reward when barking stops, after his command NO BARK. He rewards for staying in the sit. Then we trade off, I'm with dog, he goes to the door. This has been moderately successful. Very good if we are near to the front door ; ie kitchen or living room.
You must repeat until behaviour is wht you want even if that means 20 doorbell rings.
And then repeat next day, etc
Razzle is a very excited barker, hve you tried a "sharp clap of your hands", or you could use a whistle, anything staccato and quick enough to try to break through the mindset of I'm in BARK mode.

To stop nipping at legs walking away, you need to have Jesse on a lead, and when child goes to walk away, sharply and quickly give a very quick pull /jerk on the harness, accompanied by a firm quick no. It should be sharp enough to take his front paws offf floor and have him look to you.

Hope this helps.

Your fantastic xxx

[Rhetts_mama]

Do you have any place where you could go for training near you? I had problems with Sam biting/nipping at my middle daughter for the longest time. I ended up taking him to classes with her and there was a fundamental shift in his behavior once she started doing the training exercises with him. He's never nipped again.

[katienme2002]

Sorry I cannot help you with this one, Roxie adores everyone, she even lets my 2 yr. old niece walk her carefully around the house..lol..(under strict supervison of course) and its so cute cause my niece cannot say "roxie" she calls her "Ra-Ra", and they love each other..sorry got off on that subject...lol...But I do wish Roxie would at least bark when someone knocks..lol..but nope she just starts wagging her tail..haha..

[Britster]

I'm sorry.

Jackson gets nervous around new kids but never to the point where we have to separate.

Jackson has always been the kind of dog who, once he knows you, he will love you forever. He adores both my parents and step-parents. My young siblings (ages 3 and 6). My grandparents. My aunt, my uncles, etc. Even if sees them only once every few months, he doesn't care. He LOVES them. The 3 year old can do anything to him (take his bone away, be in his food bowl, etc) and loves her to death. So he does have quite a few people he loves.

Strangers are another story. He's never been aggressive, never bit, never growled, anything. He just often gets scared. He's curious, but very worried. He'd prefer just not to be pet by them. He's very content when a stranger is not messing with him, and just walks in the house. But you always have the 'dog lovers' who are cooing and awwwing over him when they get in the door, and while he's barking at them, they're making little baby noises, etc. I always tell everyone just ignore him and he will come up to you on his own, and I often will bring treats out, and people love to give him treats, etc.

He's fine in all public places, he never barks at anyone, but again he'd prefer to just walk thru the store with me and not be bothered, lol.

Long story short, I've been really proud of Jackson lately. For example, last week we went to a local dog park, the one where there is usually nobody there and it was packed. There was young kids (a 4 yr old boy, and a 3 yr old girl) and the little boy (who asked me first if he could pet him) was petting him all over, touching his ears, his face, everything, and Jackson was just sitting there totally enjoying it. His head was upright, sniffing the breeze, body was relaxed, tail was content. Then he started playing with the kid, chasing the stick he had, etc. Then this kids mom, he went up to her right away and basically asked for a petting. Then this HUGE dude who was like easily 6'5" and just huge came in, Jackson went up to him and let him pet him (usually he's more scared around big men).

He was being a total social-able and super friendly dog (he always is like this with other dogs, it's the people who he's always been more cautious of).

Anyways, I was just sooo proud of him in the recent months and he's been showing more and more improvement. And I've noticed in general he's become much more laid back and relaxed about voluntarily going up to strangers within the last few months. He will be 2 in October, so maybe it's just age, or he's finally realizing everywhere I take him is pretty much a good place, and people are good. I got him at 9 weeks old and have always socialized him, but something lately has just kicked in.

I think this has been accomplished through positive reinforcement. I've taken him to stores every week (Petco, Petsmart, etc) and my little cousins little league games with tons of kids, and I always bring treats in my pockets. If strangers want to come up and pet him, I ask them to give him a treat, etc. So I think all of our hard work has paid off!

[Darlene68]

Thanks Everyone for the replies, Gail I don't have a behaviorist here, there is nothing like that even half way close to where I live I wish it were just a simple case of barking, but he actually seems to get very stressed out, I never experienced this before, and he is so calm about everything else except people outside the home. Sometimes I feel like a failure for not being able to stop it and help him calm down. This is the only problem I have with Jesse ( and trying to potty train him to use a pee pad since he is not indoor trained, but a belly band has been a blessing ) he is great in every other way.

[Darlene68]

Also Jesse is a very picky eater, I'm still trying to find a treat that he cares for and will think of has a reward for good behavior!

[Britster]

Originally Posted by Darlene68

Also Jesse is a very picky eater, I'm still trying to find a treat that he cares for and will think of has a reward for good behavior!

Jackson is very picky too, lol. He's never turned down real meat! Chicken, turkey, etc. Have you tried just chicken jerky? The only ingredient is chicken, it's just dehydrated. Or just regular chicken breasts and you can bake some for the week. Or any kind of dog treat with only ingredient... like those 'True Bites' you can get at Petsmart, they're freeze dried, etc. What about Wellness Pure Bites?