Thanks for the responses.
To answer some questions and provide a little more details....Lucky turned 2 when we adopted her in February. She is 9 lbs, so she can obviously do more damage than the smaller yorkies. Her previous owners did not provide a reason for giving her up. I know that they had two boys between the ages of 6 and 12, but I do now know if she was aggressive towards them. All of the dogs that are turned over to the Humane Society in Milwaukee are temperament tested. Lucky received a PG rating, the best rating, meaning she should not be aggressive and she should be fine with children.
Overall, she is not an aggressive dog. She has learned many tricks and listens fairly well, although she has difficulty focusing when she is excited. We have not taken her to obedience classes yet, but we plan to this fall. She will bite when she is excited or feels threatened, sometimes unpredictably, but she has yet to break the skin. I am more concerned about her biting someone on the face or in the eye (as an aside, don't feel bad about the Max story. My sister was also bit in the face and has a scar, leading to my childhood dog being put to sleep.)
I do not know if she was abused. She loves everybody, even strangers, so I suspect she was more neglected and ignored than physically abused. She is highly emotional and sensitive which might be a sign of mental abuse. The Humane Society had to shave her down to the skin because she was so matted. She looked sickly when we got her. |