|
Welcome to the YorkieTalk.com Forums Community - the community for Yorkshire Terriers. You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. You will be able to chat with over 35,000 YorkieTalk members, read over 2,000,000 posted discussions, and view more than 15,000 Yorkie photos in the YorkieTalk Photo Gallery after you register. We would love to have you as a member! Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today! If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please click here to contact us. |
|
| LinkBack | Thread Tools |
12-05-2009, 02:31 PM | #1 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: France
Posts: 3
| Help! How do we stop lenny biting? Lenny, our 11 month old Yorkie, has taken to biting in the past couple of months - passers-by, cyclists, people in the street who try to pet either him or our other dog, Cookie. He actually bit my husband one night as he arrived home on his bike - without looking to see who it was he just lunged and nipped. But otherwise he never bites us or the kids (aged 12 and 7). Here are a sample of the biting incidents: One time, he bit a friend of mine on the shoulder when I greeted her in the street with a kiss on the cheek. ( Vet said I shouldn't approach people when holding him in my arms as this is frightening for him.) On another occasion, he charged 150 yards across an empty park and had a go at a couple who were just walking along minding their own business. He also bit a teenage boy who was cycling in front of our house. In all he has bitten about seven times and now we daren't let him off his lead if other people are around. He and Cookie, a 4 year old male mongrel who is twice his size, get along fine. They play together a lot and although there is growling and nipping involved they both seem to know the limits without us having to intervene. Cookie never bites although he barks very nastily when people walk past our house. The two dogs have human company most of the day since either myself or my husband are around much of the time. We feed the dogs in their own bowls after we have eaten ourselves, never from the table, and we don't allow them on our bed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Alison |
Welcome Guest! | |
12-06-2009, 07:03 AM | #2 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Ontario/Canada
Posts: 248
| . I am sorry I dont really have an answer for you but it sure sounds like you need some good advice and quickly.It might be a dominance issue but I am no expert so dont quote me on this IMO this is a problem that needs to be addressed right away or you might be in for some real problems in the near future. You will get good advice on here for sure from people who have had a lot of experience with yorkies. Good luck with him anyway. |
12-07-2009, 07:40 AM | #3 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Midlands
Posts: 162
| Hi..I am sorry for this problem..Has he just started biting ..i.e. how long as he been doing it...You say 11 months..so I suspect he has al his teeth through by now...It souds to me like heis doing this when he is excited...and doesn't know the boundaries.. Have you had him checked out by a Vet to see if there are any underlying causes for this reaction..i.e. he is not in any pain at all is he.? This really does need sorting out now..because if he is seriously biting people then unless it is corrected now I think he will get worse and get himself and you into real trouble... My 9 month old male yorkie is very fiesty too.and nips a lot at my fingers and toes ...and he too doesn't like to be picked up...He can get very aggitated when playing and we have to calm him down sometimes as he starts to get really wild in his play. Do seek help...xx Chrisann.
__________________ Chrisann |
12-07-2009, 01:53 PM | #4 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Orlando, Fl.
Posts: 37
| Having a biting problem also! My Yorkie, Kodi, is almost 5 years old. He has always been socialized with other dogs and people. He has always been standoffish with strangers, but once he knows someone he is VERY friendly. Over the last 6 months he has started biting. He never bites me or my husband, but he has bitten delivery guys and workmen who come to our door or enter the house. Then he attacked and bit a boy who was just walking by. I'm considering having a trainer come to my house and work with him but I wondered if anyone else had dealt with this problem? I don't want to have to leave Kodi home just because he can't be trusted around people!
__________________ Debbie |
12-07-2009, 02:19 PM | #5 |
Donating YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: North Carolina
Posts: 8,317
| You need to consult a certified animal behaviorist ASAP before he bites someone who reports it and he has to be euthanized. You are also risking a lawsuit. Even a toy breed dog can do serious damage to a child's face. |
12-08-2009, 02:14 AM | #6 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: France
Posts: 3
| Thanks Many thanks for all your advice/suggestions. We have consulted a behavior specialist who concluded that Lenny's agression was territorial - even in the park, he is apparently motivated by territoriality when he goes charging over to passers-by who are quite far away. I also think there is a bit of fear in there. Lenny can be a nervous at times and is very submissive. We have a number of things the behaviorist has told us to do with Lenny and we are putting them into practice. These include putting him (and Cookie) in the kitchen whenever someone comes to the door, and not letting the dogs "greet" visitors. We leave them in there for ten minutes or so, until they are quite quiet, and we then let them into the living room. This has worked quite well so far. We have also completely cut out giving them food from the table. We have also been training him to look us in the eye for a few minutes, by holding up a treat against our forehead which we let him eat if he does the exercise properly. The thing we haven't done yet is use a special collar that pulls the dog's mouth shut if he lunges suddenly when we are out walking him. We haven't tried it partly because he always tugs on the lead, but I guess we should have a go... Does anyone think the water/ air spray technique is worth trying? What's difficult is catching him in the act. He hardly ever bites - thank God - but then suddenly, from nowhere he will lunge and nip and the whole thing is over in the blink of an eye... Sympathies to the other dog owner who's having the same problem as us. Nom-dun-chien. (That's French by the way - it's a mild way of cursing that might translate roughly as "For Dog's sake") |
12-09-2009, 03:43 AM | #7 |
Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Ontario/Canada
Posts: 248
| You were very wise to bring in a pro for this issue. Sounds like you got some good advice. I have never heard of a collar that will pull a dogs mouth shut if he pulls on it. Best of luck with your Lenny |
Bookmarks |
|
|
Thread Tools | |
| |
|
|
SHOP NOW: Amazon :: eBay :: Buy.com :: Newegg :: PetStore :: Petco :: PetSmart