Hi Jessica. How old was your little one when you got him? It sounds as if possibly he may have been mishandled as a pup. My Noel was beaten as a young pup and it took a long long time for her to move on from that. She was the other extreme though. Never aggressive just very very passive. She's now a little over two years old and she is still timid. Some Yorkies are fear biters. Keep working with him, but I'd use gentleness rather then being overly stern. If he's been mishandled, he needs to realize that you're the boss but that he's also safe now. I know that Noel is especially fearful of men. It took over six months before she'd go to my husband, but now she sits on his lap every chance she gets. And, yes you are right I would classify some breeders on the same line as a puppymill. All three of my Yorkies were from a breeder environment but not a good breeder - a breeder on the same lines as a puppymill. Noel was actually sold as a full Yorkie w/ papers and she turned out to be a Yorkie Poo who weighs in at 16 pounds. Newman, is a bigger Yorkie too. He's 12 pounds and has a collapsing trachea, as well as hip trouble and he's nueratic. I would classify him as a fear biter. We've had him ten years, yet if you raise your voice to him or corner him and correct him in a stern voice, he will raise his teeth to you. He's extremely lovable, yet I would not put it past him to bite if he felt threatened and that includes biting me, AND he has NEVER been mishandled. It's just his breeding and his nature. Sometimes if they are closely bred this happens, as in the Labrador Retrievers, a very good natured dog but yet plenty have turned on their owners for no reason. Why? Because a lot of unethical breeders are in it for the $$ and are inbreeding these dogs. Bella, my other Yorkie (I have three Yorkies all together and one Morkie
was also from a breeder, however her parents originally came from Shake A Paw Pet store in which they came from a puppymill. Their traits, etc... were passed down to the pups. Bella is the little one I had since five weeks. We bottle fed her and nursed her back to health yet at 10 weeks of age she knew to growl when she didn't like something. It took a lot of work but she's a good girl now, still has some aggressive tendencies but will tolerate being corrected and will back down when she is and I can tell you that I would never in a million years give her up. I always say if I did who the hell would put up with her bitchy ness. LOL. Anyway, just keep working with him and I think that you'll also get more from him with lots of love more then trying to boss. As they say you get more with honey. That's not to say that you don't correct him, it's just saying to correct gently and that will let him know he's safe and loved yet he can't get away with what he does. Elaine