Sorpy69
Now here is one area that I have to disagree on. Sorry other posters. One week is not enough time to give the dog to make the changes that have happened in his//her life. 2 weeks isn't either. Here is the way I see it. This dog has never been socialized if it came from a puppymill, not only that, this dog has been so severely neglected and rejected and isolated from human touch that it's probably so confused right now that it doesn't know what to do. It's bad that it has bitten your 5 year old twice. I wonder, did the bite break the skin? If so? was it a bleeding bite, I mean one where you know absolutely that the dog intended to hurt the child severely? Or was it a warning bite? one that says, you know what? leave me alone I'm trying to work out this whole family thing in my head and I don't know what to do yet.
I would never rescue a dog only to give it a couple weeks and then remove it from my home to make him/her start all over againl. Next time it will even be worse. The dog will understand that it went from a really bad situation to a wonderful situation that it was unfamiliar with. Then once again it was being sent away from what it had and won't understand why.
Think about some of these things before you decide to give your dog away.
1. Crating. Dogs love their little dens inside the forever home, it is their safe zone. It's not a cage, it's not a pen with hundreds of barking dogs driving it mad. It's not covered in feces and stink to high heaven all the while the dog is walking in it's own excrement, laying in it and having to breath it 24/7 because it piles up under the cage since cleaning up crap isn't what makes the millers money!
If the dog show a behavior that is unacceptable, put him in the crate. don't wait until he actually bites to do it, but supervise the interaction and at the first sign of trouble put him in the crate all the while explaining softly that this is not acceptable and that the child is your baby too just like he is and he will have to learn to get a long a love the child. maybe that sounds silly to some, but a soft voice and a reprimand at the time something happens will make you the Alpha in the situation and the dog will LEARN what is right and what is wrong. Think about it for a minute. The dog was in a pen, most likely with at least a male and most of the time with a litter of puppies all of it's life. Small Cage, Small dogs, Small Child, Small space etc etc. The dog is possibly equating the situation it was rescued from with the child since the child is small and more it's size than you are. Dogs can sense adults from children and in most cases respond appropriately. However, this dog has not had that socialization from birth to learn that behavior. He will need your patience and willingness now to work with him and teach him what he never knew before.
2. I have 5 grandchildren, ranging from 2 to 9 in ages. My 6lb yorkie gets along with them all except for 1. He is 3 and for some reason whenever Trystyn even tries to pet him he wants to snap at him. I correct him EVERYTIME he snaps. I take his head in my hand and turn his face to me and tell him NO we don't do that, He's just a baby and you have to get along. On the other hand. Trystyn has learned that he can make out like he is going to pet him, just to get Pita to try and nip at him. This is called teasing. So, I tell trystyn, NO we dont do that. LOL he's just a little fella and we don't treat animals that way!!! LOL LOL Now the other 4 grandchildren, nothing but Yorkie kisses all day long. Go figure. I can only imagine that there is something about Trystyn that gets Pita worked up. But given time and consistant reprimands Pita will stop the behavior. He has never broken the skin, although he has left a mark.
3. There is a terrible general misconception that Yorkies don't like children. This is absolutely false and I wish I could meet the horrible person that started this rumor so I could give them a piece of my mind! Yorkies are free spirits and playful little pups to the day they finally cross the rainbow bridge at 12, 15, 17 whatever!!! They adore children because children are playful and mischevious just like they are. Both share the same curiosities, both put a hundred miles on their feet a day, and both are little instigators. Perfect match. The only fear I have of a Yorkie with a child is the difference in size, and because children tend to play rough the small size of the Yorkie could get it hurt. BUT, never when the play is supervised, which it is supposed to be anyway.
4. Last but not least, and certainly not the last thing I could say about children and Yorkies for sure, but Please before you decide to give him up take him to a behaviorist or a basic training class. Petco offers basic training, it's cheap, it's effective, and if you involve your child the dog will also learn to respect the child as well as you in the long run. Some might say, 2 is too young, but that surely isn't true. Children are in their formative years at this age, and everything they are going to become eventually is taught to the child in the first few years of life in terms of Tabula Rosa, that being that all children are born with a blank slate to which we as a society write on creating their personalities and individualism which will manifest over the years as they grow up. Think of your Yorkie as a blank slate right now. Everything he/she is learning is brand new to him. If you will spend the time, not only will you have a wonderful dog that will love you and your family unconditionally, but your child will learn as well the values of pet ownership. They will learn so many lessons just from this one simple act, and those lessons will of course flow over into the rest of their lives in terms of their interaction with other children, other animals, respect and in general Do unto others.....
Thanks for letting me share my opinion.
