Rage Syndrome

[fidgetter]

Hi all,
I just wondered if anyone has come across 'rage syndrome' in the Yorkie.
sudden on-set of aggression for no reason and snaps out of it in a matter of seconds. I'm trying to do a bit of research into it and wondered if anyone has experienced this with a yorkie.
I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has a yorkie that shows signs of unexplainable aggressive behaviour. If you could send details such as age, symptoms, what the dog is like before and after an episode, who/what the aggression is directed at etc.
I would be very gratefull.
Thanxs all.
Best wishes
Fidgetter

[Ladymom]

I found an interesting article on rage syndrome. Lack of proper socialization with humans between 7 and 12 weeks of age seems to be a factor. Did you get your Yorkie from a reputable breeder?

Likely Candidates

In Capers, Mugford reports that he sees the problem starting in most dogs at about 7-1/2 months of age, on average, "although some dogs exhibited symptoms as early as three months and others as late as two years of age." At Starfire, the few cases we have seen were between one and three years of age. However, in both Mugford's experience and ours, many dogs first displayed the symptoms at or around one of the five critical learning periods we have identified in dogs. These occur at about 6 weeks of age, 12 weeks (plus or minus a week), 24 weeks or about 6 months of age (plus or minus two weeks), 12 months or about a year of age (plus or minus a month), and two years of age (plus or minus two months).

Says Dr. Bekker, "As is characteristic of dominance aggression in general, many more males than females were affected (68% vs. 32%) and symptoms in males were often more severe than those in females." In our work, most of our clients' dominant-aggressive dogs were intact males.

Other Possible Contributing Factors

Inbreeding may be a consideration but little is known about the mechanisms through which inbreeding could affect the problem. Other factors also need to be considered as possible causes or contributors to dominance aggression. Poor socialization with humans between seven and 12 weeks of age can lead to aggressive behavior toward people.

Articles

[xxmxaxrxyxx]

welcome to Yt...glad you found us....i haven't experience anything like this so this will be a good learning thread for me...thanks!

[nancynancy]

Pookie is a healthy, seven pound, five year old male yorkie who was neutered at six months and definitely has rage syndrome. Pookie sometimes suddenly growls and exhibit aggressive behavior including biting. Sometimes it's in response to triggers such as bones, Greenie biscuits, or beef jerky, but often there's no real trigger.

Pookie has threatened to bite me several times in the past few months and actually bit me twice, both times hard enough to break the skin. Interestingly, Pookie has never bitten my husband or threatened him in any way. We also have a four year old yorkie female named Boo Boo, who is completely nonaggressive, loving and completely attached to me.

Pookie was our first dog. We got him when he was just seven weeks old from an experienced backyard breeder, who had posted a newspaper ad. Pookie was a beautiful puppy, and we were astonished when he began to exhibit aggressive tendencies at the tender age of nine weeks. He behaved well enough during the day but every night turned into a monster, growling and threatening, like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Pookie went through a very difficult teething period (he chewed on the furniture constantly) and my husband and I spent a good deal of time feeding him dog biscuits, but we had to stop when we noticed that these were triggering aggressive behavior. Meat bones in particular set him into a frenzy and the effects can last for hours, so we have banished these from his environment.

Often the rage is over in a few seconds, but sometimes it can last far longer. Weeks can go by without an episode. But once Pookie has a rage attack, he's far more likely to have another. He seems to need a cooling off period during which he's hypersensitive to any triggers.

Pookie does not display affection. He will not lick your hand unless he's bribed with Beggin' Strips, his favorite treat. We also had to train him to lie on his back while we rub his belly. In the beginning he did not do this willingly, which I understand is associated with his aggressive, dominant personality.

About three years ago, I caught Pookie with Boo Boo’s head in his mouth. Boo Boo wasn't harmed, but my husband believes that had we not intervened so quickly, Boo Boo would have been seriously injured or even killed. Fortunately, Pookie never attacked Boo Boo again.

Other strange aspects of Pookie's behavior are that he's extremely vocal and makes a very wide range of sounds. In addition to normal dog barking, Pookie sometimes howls like a wolf or warbles like a bird.

Pookie likes to be groomed and is particularly well behaved at the groomers and at home during bath time. He is compliant during visits to the vet and does not express fear or pain. I think of him as a tough little dog who wants to take life like a macho man.

[anta76]

Hello, I have a 5 mths old Yorkie that also displays aggression issues. Mostly it's when he is playing with an item that he should not have(plastic, glass, paper etc). When we try to take these away from him, he growls and shakes his head with anger. He has snapped at me twice. We are hoping that after neutering him he will begin to show less of these issues. Otherwise he is a playful little pup.

[Desiree1027]

Originally Posted by nancynancy

Pookie is a healthy, seven pound, five year old male yorkie who was neutered at six months and definitely has rage syndrome. Pookie sometimes suddenly growls and exhibit aggressive behavior including biting. Sometimes it's in response to triggers such as bones, Greenie biscuits, or beef jerky, but often there's no real trigger.

Pookie has threatened to bite me several times in the past few months and actually bit me twice, both times hard enough to break the skin. Interestingly, Pookie has never bitten my husband or threatened him in any way. We also have a four year old yorkie female named Boo Boo, who is completely nonaggressive, loving and completely attached to me.

Pookie was our first dog. We got him when he was just seven weeks old from an experienced backyard breeder, who had posted a newspaper ad. Pookie was a beautiful puppy, and we were astonished when he began to exhibit aggressive tendencies at the tender age of nine weeks. He behaved well enough during the day but every night turned into a monster, growling and threatening, like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Pookie went through a very difficult teething period (he chewed on the furniture constantly) and my husband and I spent a good deal of time feeding him dog biscuits, but we had to stop when we noticed that these were triggering aggressive behavior. Meat bones in particular set him into a frenzy and the effects can last for hours, so we have banished these from his environment.

Often the rage is over in a few seconds, but sometimes it can last far longer. Weeks can go by without an episode. But once Pookie has a rage attack, he's far more likely to have another. He seems to need a cooling off period during which he's hypersensitive to any triggers.

Pookie does not display affection. He will not lick your hand unless he's bribed with Beggin' Strips, his favorite treat. We also had to train him to lie on his back while we rub his belly. In the beginning he did not do this willingly, which I understand is associated with his aggressive, dominant personality.

About three years ago, I caught Pookie with Boo Boo’s head in his mouth. Boo Boo wasn't harmed, but my husband believes that had we not intervened so quickly, Boo Boo would have been seriously injured or even killed. Fortunately, Pookie never attacked Boo Boo again.

Other strange aspects of Pookie's behavior are that he's extremely vocal and makes a very wide range of sounds. In addition to normal dog barking, Pookie sometimes howls like a wolf or warbles like a bird.

Pookie likes to be groomed and is particularly well behaved at the groomers and at home during bath time. He is compliant during visits to the vet and does not express fear or pain. I think of him as a tough little dog who wants to take life like a macho man.

I find this all very interesting, even though I have females and no real aggression issues but my 7 month old did express her displeasure two times when we intervened when she was being naughty and playing way tooo hard with her 5 year old sister. It was play but she gets carried away, but it was her reaction to me that showed aggression. I said "NO" and rolled her onto her back and held her there until she realized she did something wrong. It is a Dog whisperer technique I saw him use with aggressive dogs. I figured nip it in the bud. But since yours likes bathing! OMG mine hate it but immagine if he didn't like it. But it kind of makes me wonder if the dominance is toward you only since he doesn't do it to your husband or others. Good luck with it.

[bellasmomok]

My dad was telling me about there being a lot of cons to neutering (either gender) dogs as well as some pros, so he sent me this link today.

Should I spay or should I no... pros and cons of neutering

One of the cons is increased risk of aggression. That may not explain your situation at all, but I thought I'd pass along the info.

[bjh]

Aggression is one of the possible side effects of the rabies vaccination.

What You Should Know About the Rabies Vaccine for Dogs

Possible adverse side effects include, but are not limited to:

* Aggression, destructive behaviors, separation anxiety and odd behaviors (like tail chasing and paw licking)
*
* Autoimmune diseases, including organ disease, allergies and skin problems
*
* Chronic digestive problems
*
* Fibrocarcinomas at the injection site (particularly in cats)
*
* Muscle weakness
*
* Seizures and epilepsy

[Desiree1027]

Originally Posted by bjh

Aggression is one of the possible side effects of the rabies vaccination.

What You Should Know About the Rabies Vaccine for Dogs

This is very weird, Cassie jumped up and growled at both my husband and I after being corrected and we still don't know if it was play or not. But the strange thing is the almost obsessive paw licking that started recently!! It drives me nuts. But it's going to drive me even crazier knowing this. Of course it seems to be coincidental but if I could remember the exact dates of these occurrences, it would be pretty interesting,. She got the vaccine on July 21st. I wonder if I can see when I posted the info on YT.

[BamaFan121s]

Not with a Yorkie...but had a Peke that displayed similar issues. Would just 'snap' for no apparent reason, become super aggressive and try to bite or turn on the other dog. He even 'attacked' himself once and chewed off half of his own tail.
As it turned out, he had some severe issues with some disc in his back that were literally beginning to crush his spinal cord...malformed from birth? due to trauma? No telling...he was a 'rescue' and we had no knowledge of any history with him.
We ended up having to have him put down when he was around 4 years old.

[Desiree1027]

I looked up the vaccine date and it was ten days before the post I made about Cassie acting aggressive(?) I still don't know if it was really anything but she hasn't done it since. The licking has not become "obsessive" but more like occasional. I am going to mention it to the vet next visit even though it seems like it hasn't shown up again.

[bjh]

Originally Posted by Desiree1027

I looked up the vaccine date and it was ten days before the post I made about Cassie acting aggressive(?) I still don't know if it was really anything but she hasn't done it since. The licking has not become "obsessive" but more like occasional. I am going to mention it to the vet next visit even though it seems like it hasn't shown up again.

Often many of the side effects of vaccinations do not show up until weeks or months after the vaccination and many people do not associate the side effect with the vaccination. Many times, as people give their dog an annual vaccination, the side effects will get worse each time vaccinations are given.

[Timmy]

There is a YT member that just had to put her 17 month baby down because of this. The vets found something wrong with her brain. Just please be careful with your other baby. I've heard of yorkies killing other yorkies.

Here is the link from the other YT member that had the same thing happening to her.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/mem...8-13-08-a.html

[JackNDaisy]

I have dealt with "Rage" before and what you described sounds more like dominance or rabies reaction than rage. Rage in Great Pyrenees is generally thought to be caused by a tumor in the brain causing something almost seizure-like with the aggression. when they come out of it they are disoriented and dont seem to realize that anything went on. in every other way a dog with rage is a normal, happy dog and acts like any other dog of the breed except during those moments of rage.

hope this helps some

[Desiree1027]

Originally Posted by bjh

Often many of the side effects of vaccinations do not show up until weeks or months after the vaccination and many people do not associate the side effect with the vaccination. Many times, as people give their dog an annual vaccination, the side effects will get worse each time vaccinations are given.

I plan on doing titers with all her vaccines.