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Matthew · 11-15-2007, 03:03 PM

Katcarasella:
I recently posted a thread about my finding a lost Yorkie ("Greetings and advice needed"). The Yorkie has since found his rightful owner, but he did try to go after my kitten several times. I have a larger Lab/Pit mix that used to do this with the cats and other dogs at times. With both of them, I did the following to break them of this:
The minute your little "bully" jumps the other dog, or appears to be gearing up to do so, go to him, and firmly tap him on the butt (My bigger dog gets a short spank on his butt, but Yorkies, being much smaller, only seem to need a firm tap with a finger or two). I don't say "stop" or "no", I firmly say "Cut it out!". This stopped both my Yorkie stray and, in the past, the big dog, from doing the attack thing. After several incidents of doing this, you may see the dog decreasing his bully behavior. The key, as has been stated earlier, is to be consistent and follow through. I have, with my big dog, followed this up by sending him to the "doghouse" (a time out in my bedroom), where he has to stay for up to 1/2 an hour. He does this now with the door to the bedroom open (don't have to shut him in). He is then greeted back to the normal routine, without making a big fuss over the bad behavior.
The tap or "spank" is to get their attention, followed by the admonishment to cut out the unacceptable action.
I have found with my dog and my little stray, that they will test you to determine who is "top dog" in the house. If they are not clear that YOU are, they feel that "someone" has to take over that role, and they will be happy to do so.
Again, this is not walloping the dog, or hurting it in any way. So watch the intensity of the "tap". But it should be enough to get their attention and distract them from the behavior.
Another good thing to try is to train your dog to come to you, so that you can call him away from a fight. You might have done this already. If so, please ignore. If not, then let me know and I will share how I did this with my big dog.
Just my thoughts, hope this helps. I know what it is like to live with a bully dog! You love them, but when this aggression occurs...ARRGGH!!
Matthew

11-15-2007, 03:03 PM	#5
Matthew Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Northport, AL Posts: 123	My experience with a bigger dog and a temporary Yorkie Katcarasella: I recently posted a thread about my finding a lost Yorkie ("Greetings and advice needed"). The Yorkie has since found his rightful owner, but he did try to go after my kitten several times. I have a larger Lab/Pit mix that used to do this with the cats and other dogs at times. With both of them, I did the following to break them of this: The minute your little "bully" jumps the other dog, or appears to be gearing up to do so, go to him, and firmly tap him on the butt (My bigger dog gets a short spank on his butt, but Yorkies, being much smaller, only seem to need a firm tap with a finger or two). I don't say "stop" or "no", I firmly say "Cut it out!". This stopped both my Yorkie stray and, in the past, the big dog, from doing the attack thing. After several incidents of doing this, you may see the dog decreasing his bully behavior. The key, as has been stated earlier, is to be consistent and follow through. I have, with my big dog, followed this up by sending him to the "doghouse" (a time out in my bedroom), where he has to stay for up to 1/2 an hour. He does this now with the door to the bedroom open (don't have to shut him in). He is then greeted back to the normal routine, without making a big fuss over the bad behavior. The tap or "spank" is to get their attention, followed by the admonishment to cut out the unacceptable action. I have found with my dog and my little stray, that they will test you to determine who is "top dog" in the house. If they are not clear that YOU are, they feel that "someone" has to take over that role, and they will be happy to do so. Again, this is not walloping the dog, or hurting it in any way. So watch the intensity of the "tap". But it should be enough to get their attention and distract them from the behavior. Another good thing to try is to train your dog to come to you, so that you can call him away from a fight. You might have done this already. If so, please ignore. If not, then let me know and I will share how I did this with my big dog. Just my thoughts, hope this helps. I know what it is like to live with a bully dog! You love them, but when this aggression occurs...ARRGGH!! Matthew