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Originally Posted by Loyalp4wn  Hey there, had a few questions about a Morkie that has been with us for 7 months now. we bought him from a breeder, and were told he wouldn't grow more than his puppy size. (which he surpassed within the first few months, and is now quite past the size of an average morkie). I'll attach a picture in here that I took around 2 months ago, he's grown a bit more since then. However, aside from this, I'm concerned that this dog is an extremely aggressive breed. From the day that we bought him, he's had a habit of biting. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of mood he's in, he always wants to bite you. He will under no circumstances let you pet him, and if you persist, he will get very aggressive with biting. It's actually gotten so bad, that on a few occasions when we've tried to retrieve an object that he shouldn't have from his mouth, it has resulted in him snapping and piercing my hand with his teeth.
I would've never expected this kind of behavior from such an adorable dog, and have really only witnessed this kind of aggression in a pitbull that I used to look after. I'm wondering if it's too late, or if there's anything I can do to turn this dog into a lovable pet. Because, it's very hard to exert dominance to a dog with a napoleon complex... Any help at all is appreciated, thanks!! |
This is actually guarding behavior and very troublesome. One of mine is a guarder but will trade for a higher reward object. Instead of trying to take something from his mouth offer a high reward in exchange for the item. This always works for Pebbles. If you don't get the guarding under control and he will begin guarding YOU! This will make things even worse.
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Originally Posted by Loyalp4wn We got him when he was 5 months old. There wasn't much discussion on how he was raised, so there's a possibility that there was aggressive treatment before we got him. We've tried an array of things to discipline him, shaking a can full of coins being one. We try not to let him get away with his aggression, so when he snaps I show dominance. He's become more tame to me, however I think he's identified my sister as lower in the pack, because when he gets aggressive she tends to get scared and scurry away.. so in a sense I think he knows he can take advantage of that? I don't know lol, he's a smart dog... But I think victim to an angry upbringing, and has held onto that.
Also, on a side note, he eats his own poop.. what's the deal with that? When you try to clean it up, he'll race over to it and try and eat it before you get to it, and if you try to take it away from him he snaps. haha |
Dominance training (Cesar Milan) is a horrible way to treat aggression in your dog and it will just cause more issues. I will highly discourage you from using this type of training. You would be much better off keeping a harness and leash on him at all times and using this to guide him in the right direction and to control his behavior. There's a book that I loved when she was a puppy and a lot of the techniques were very helpful. It's where I got the idea for the harness/leash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zof4MFUyZeg
Here is the book and I suggests you get a copy. It really helped me understand much better.
Let the Dog Decide: The Revolutionary...
Lastly, you are in luck because I am the YT Poop Guru
There is a thread with all types of tips on stopping the nasty poo munching habit. If you need more help just PM me. I'm very willing to help you with any questions you might have to get him to stop.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...-his-poop.html