It's also Yorkie Knowledge 101 that Yorkies are not the best to be around with young kids. The reason? For posts just like this. Owning a Yorkie is a HUGE responsibility.

Matthias

jayma,
I wish you luck in figuring out this problem. I posted here about serious agression issues with mine ( growling and snapping, going after me and others. now charging and snaping when trying to move her when she is laying in MY lap).
I got responses that implied that she has been mistreated and it could be my FAULT.:confused: wish you well.

I think I'm going to agree to disagree with this comment. The OP stated that her son is 9 which isn't too young. Also, it's not that they're not good with kids. In fact many terriers (including the pit bull terriers) were used basically as babysitters and you can find many older photographs with terriers in them basically watching over the child . It's when young children and babies are too rough with Yorkies, then it becomes a problem.
They are a huge responsibility, but I don't think the OP is being irresponsible. I think she's experiencing what many dog owners go through with regards to a dog establishing a pecking order with his pack.

To the OP, don't get discouraged. Make sure your children become part of the training process. When I got my first dog, my mom made sure my brother and I took care of her (walks, potty, etc.) as well as be apart of her discipline and trianing process.

This established the pecking order. Also, my dog was a terrier...And I was 6 when we got her... And she was amazing with kids...

Keep updated and good luck!

Our older yorkie is a nose getter. He has bit me and my brother and my dad on the nose. And he has left a scar on my husbands nose from biting him. Its our own faults from getting in his face. Some dogs do not like people in their face. My little one Jackson who is now 18 months old, I have been in his face all his life and he has bit me once on the lip just saying hello. He has been trained to have us in his face and not get mad. The older one on the other hand, is the man of the house and you DO NOT get in his face or he will bite you, LOL. Sounds like you have an honery one and the kids need not get that close. Not all dogs like that kind of treatment. Not that they are doing anything wrong, but some dogs are particular.

I didn't teach mine no bite. Instead I taught them that biting down hurts. Now when they want to be pet they grab my hand in there mouth and nod. :D

I would startle them (loud OUCH) when they bit me until they learn to handle my hand softly. And I would encourage them to play rough with there toys and there toys only.

My kids now play with them rough (if thats the right word). For example play tug of war with a toy or silly stuff like that. But they weren't allow to do that when the pups were in training. Have your kids train Baxter like sit or stay. That may help in the long run.

I've been bit by my yorkie before when he was 6 months or so. He was more aggressive and possessive. Is your dog neutered? Neutering helps with the aggression and of course training. I also got my yorkie around 7-8 weeks old so he didn't know how to play nicely. Now, he never bites and learned that we are the alpha. When he gets aggressive, turn him on his side and pin his neck down softly said no no firmly. This will teach him your the alpha.

Generally speaking, meaning this is not always the case, yorkies and young children (and that is open to interpretation) simply don't go well together. For some, like me, 9 years old is too young to handle a pup without proper supervision. Others are ok with that, so really it's how you feel about trusting your son and your yorkie together alone. My pup will pee himself and get very defensive if around children. There is only one little boy in the world you will see my pup play with. He's also around 9 years old, and is not allowed to tease or pick my pup up. He also doesn't interact with my pup unsupervised. For me it's about baby steps. I'm trying really hard to get my pup to trust children. For me it's a long battle. For you, I think it will be easier.

I'm guessing your Baxter loves your kids right? He sees you, your hubbie, and your children as his pack. Having had Baxter since he was 7 weeks old means there will be a handicap on his learning proper behavior around your children and during playtime. That doesn't mean you can't overcome it. It means you, your hubbie and your kids all have to work together to teach him the things he missed out on from being separated from mom and litter mates way too soon. He's only 6 months old, so this can be mended. I also don't think the biting is malicious. Baxter just doesn't understand how to measure his bites.

For starters, no more teasing from anyone. At least not until you get the biting under control. Also, only adults should pick up Baxter. If your children want to hold them, have them sit on the floor and handle him there. That is, until the biting is under control. Have the entire family participate in daily obedience training. It only takes 15 mins a day to get a routine down, and everyone will be on the same page as to what commands he knows.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll be able to solve this problem.

I agree that due to your pup leaving his Mom so young; she did not have the opportunity to teach him proper bite inhibition.

I see the difference in my Westie - who we got at 8 weeks and in my Lucy - who we got at 12 weeks. The Westie simply does not realize how hard his bites are.

Like someone said, a quick withdraw of your hand and a loud "Ouch" and playtime stops for a while - might help to give him the picture.

Your children like to play with your yorkie and that is good; but supervise their play until you get this under control. You want to make sure that your Yorkie is not getting too rough or 'bitey' and your kids aren't getting too rough either.

I'm sure this is something you can get under control since he is still a puppy.

Try and google "Nothing in Life is Free'. It's a very gentle training program of teaching your dog manners.

Good Luck.

The teasing part is not a good idea, In their puppy times is when they learn how to play and not to play. When they get teased it only teaches them aggresive behaviour. He did miss out on good teaching by being removed from his momat such a young age.But now this teaching lies in your hands. Good luck

Maybe I'm remembering the wrong thread - but I thought you got lots of advice.

Yes, a lot of it was to discontinue use of the 'alpha roll'; but there was lots of other advice on there too.:confused:

I did have to rehome a yorkie who was about 4 yrs old. She was always fighting aggressively with my other 2. After rehoming her the new owner text me after a couple of weeks having her. She told me that the yorkie had bittened her 4 yr old on the nose. The child always was loving on her and the dog snapped. The child was ok, he did not need stitches or anything too serious. Because this was a rescue we did not have the background information on her. The new owner took her to the vet, and did find out she had a health issue.
It is a good idea to take your puppy to the vet and make sure he is completely healthy. I am glad your going to teach the children not to play so rough or tease him anymore. At 6 months old your yorkie is still getting all his adult teeth and was taken away at too young of age. That is important because the pup has not learned propper social skills. So it is up to the owner to teach him. He is only a puppy so their is time for him to learn and to be trained. I would always have the children sit down calmly and pet him nicely. Playing fetch is ok, just not any games that promote aggressive play.
Every toy breed of dog has the ability not to like small kids very much. Because of their small size , they can easily feel threatend.

I have raised many Yorkies with my young children over the years...they are adults now. I know what you mean by "tease play"...unfortunately my youngest loved to play tug of war and keep the toy away...and she was the only in our family ever bit by any Yorkie...and it was several times...I put a stop to this type of play and the biting stopped...she forgot once and teased "Tricket" with a baseball cap...she was bit really well on her leg...and finally learned.
These types of games make Yorkiea agressive according to Victoria Stillwell and all the dog experts...and I saw it first hand so I agree...and have him neutered if he is not...best wishes

Agreed. It's fun for us, but it's completely serious to a dog that has socialization problems. In the natural order of things, the dominant dog ALWAYS wins. When we play tug of war, sometimes we win, other times we let them win. That's a confusing concept for a young dog.

It also seems that Baxter views your children as his litter mates and not as higher up in the pecking order. I have a doxie that used to nip at my middle daughter. We ended up going to training classes and she was his main trainer. Problem solved, he learned to view her in a new light and has never bitten at her again (he's 9 1/2 now).

Good luck.

LOL! Feel free to do so! If you think taking care of yorkies is not a "HUGE" responsibility, like my statement clearly says, then that's your problem. Also, young children in almost all areas of life have to be in adult attendance or supervision because they don't know better and 9 years old do fit in that category... unless you're the type to let 9 year olds do their own thing, etc, then that's your freedom to do and think like that. LOL!

Matthias :rolleyes:

Evidently you chose not to read her entire post. That's your freedom to do. It's not our problem.