Quote:
Originally Posted by Cak  My 3 year old female spayed Yorkie has always been dominant and "hyper"; however she seems to be getting worse, and has been on Prozac for over a year. She barks incessantly and out of proportion if she sees someone out the window, walking down the street. It's embarassing taking her for walks - she runs toward people, cars, animals, barking like crazy - nothing works. I have to pick her up to get her away from the situation and she becomes agressive with me. She's hypervigilant and hypersensitive - bathing and drying her is a nightmare - she growls, bares her teeth, snaps and bites. If she has something in her mouth that is dangerous for her, we cant get it away from her - she bites us. Now she lunged at her mom's face and has broken skin recently. Her first reaction if she is scared or in pain or some uncomfortable body sensation is to jump at us and mouth us or snap. We are taking her to the vet to discuss this, but I'm afraid she wont get any better. We cant implement a behavioral plan because my dad lives with us and will undo anything we try (this is a certainty, no point in discussing it). She is a beautiful, and often affectionate, loving little girl, but is turning into a nightmare. Can anyone offer some help or encouragement?  |
First off, when your pup is in a hyper aggressive state and you pick her up, she's not thinking....she is in the zone and she's going to lash out at anyone or anything that gets close enough to her. My older dog does the same thing with my younger dog. Both of the boys will be going after the cat in a pack attack and Prince will turn on Ricky and try to attack him because Ricky's the closest thing to him. I think the key to preventing that is to not let them get into that state in the first place...easier said than done, I know......but if you know she's starting to get wound up, you need to redirect her or remove her from the situation before she gets that riled up. Close the shades so she can't see out...or if she's on a walk, try to redirect her with a treat when someone walks by to desensitize her to strangers walking by.
As far as the bath...it sounds like she's learned that when she shows her teeth and growls, people leave her alone...so whenever she doesn't want to do something, she just protests. Have you thought about getting a muzzle so you can safely handle her during her baths?? My pup protests all of the time when he doesn't want to get out of bed. I pick him up anyways and ignore his protests. He still protests, but I don't let it stop me from following through....
My pup is also territorial over certain things, like his treats. Whenever he picks up something that I don't want him to have, I offer him something better and he will usually drop what I don't want him to have.....again, it's basically redirecting him. The other day, he got a hold of a dentastick. I didn't want him to have it because he no longer has the teeth to chew it and I am afraid he will choke on it...so instead, I got him something else that was yummy to eat and when he dropped the dentastick to eat the other treat, I grabbed it. It saved me from having to fight to get the dentastick out of his mouth.
Most likely, the only thing that will work is behavioral modification. Can't you explain how important it is to your dad...not only for your family but for your pup too?!? What if she bites the wrong person and has to be euthanized?? What if she gets too aggressive for your family to handle and you guys have to euthanize her?? It's a danger and a liability to you and if she's getting worse at 3 years old, it could get even worse.
Lastly, I am not sure how your mom got bit in the face, but you should never get your face near a dog that's known to be aggressive. You need to respect their space. If you are staring a dog down, they can take that as a dominant act and lash out. If you are standing over a dog, that can be seen as a dominant position and if you have your face in theirs, they can see that as a threatening position. My step mom almost got bit in the face by my dog because she bent down and was making kissy noises(which he hates). He couldn't talk to tell her to get out of his face, but snapping at her clearly got his message across. In my dogs case, he rarely gives verbal warnings(unless he's just protesting)...usually he just snaps. He also will curl his lips but unless you know to watch for it, you'll miss it.
As an aggressive pet owner, it's our jobs not only to keep the public safe from our pets, but our pets safe from them. It takes constant vigilance. I am always warning others and watching my pup close to make sure nobody gets too close for his comfort. With him, I know there's no "cure." It's all about managing his aggression and minimizing the risks. I guarantee if my dog were bigger, he'd have to have been put down long ago...but because he's little, he's gotten away with being aggressive. I suppose the one good thing about him getting his teeth removed is that he's of little danger anymore...although even when he did bite with teeth, he was never able to draw blood because his jaw wasn't strong enough to bite hard. I still wouldn't want him to bite anyone though as that's a scary experience with a dog of any size.