Help! Baxter bit my kids!
 

I am beside myself...I would get rid of my dog in a heartbeat if I thought he was a danger to my children....that being said...

Yesterday, he was teasing my 9 year old, and my 9 year old was teasing him back. He jumped and bit my son on the arm, drew blood and left teeth marks.

Today, my daughter picked him up, surprised him, and as she was lifting him, he bit her on the face!! He drew blood!

I don't know what to do. Obviously, he seems himself as dominant over the kids. I see that. But how can I change him??

His stats: he is 6 mos old, I have had him since he was 7 weeks old. He currently weighs 7 lbs. He is very smart, well trained, easily trainable, too.

Well maybe make a rule of no picking him up. And no teasing him. Sounds like both times where accidents. But next time it could be an eye or the dog getting thrown. I would set some rules for the kids. And teach him no bite and not play aggressive with him. He is thinking it's okay to bite and you want to teach him it is not. So if he is biting while playing with you ignore him and tell him to be nice. He is young and can learn this.

At 6 months old, your Yorkie is still learning how to play. Getting him at 7 weeks, he missed some valuable time with his mom and littermates where they would have learned how to interact during play. Sometimes kids are a bit aggressive for these little breeds without meaning to be. These little guys will do what they have to when they feel threatened and cannot be blamed for that. I would make it my responsiblity to make sure the kids are engaging in play that does not make the little guy feel threatened.

Maddie is very cautious around small children because my niece got too rough with her when she was a pup. Totally, my fault. Maddie snapped at her, but she felt she was in danger. I hope you are able to resolve this and it doesn't come to rehoming you little guy. :(

I surprised Teddie when I picked him up a month ago, he bit my nose and tore through the cartilage a wee bit. He was still learning about bite inhibition being under 6 months and showed me he didn't like a quick, surprise, swoop pick-up. My best advice would be to work with your pup on bite inhibition and realize that teasing and picking up by young kids is a possible trigger for him. Set some ground rules with your kids and get him learning and hopefully you guys can move past this stage of his learning and puppy-dom. Good luck to you!!

puppies bite. that's pretty normal you'll just have to work extra hard to train NO BITE commands. when playing don't play rough, don't use tug of war and other fighting style games. when he goes to nip or nibble on hands replace hand with a toy (chewy is better) and say NO BITE. it took almost a year to train Sadie these things because like you we got her at 7 weeks and didn't wait to 12 weeks so she did not learn bite inhibition (basically that biting others hurts) from the littermates and mother. it's hard to train them when they have no experience with not biting siblings but can be done. Sadie plays rough but rather than bite down now she licks me instead. i trained her to be that way.

good luck

He is still a pup. You need to train the "no bite" command. And the children must learn not to tease or any rough play. [ I'm not implying that they do.] It will work out your pup just needs time to grow up.
Gloria Stillwell has some great tips for this.

Before you assume that it is a behavioral problem , a vet visit would be a good idea to rule out a medical problem. Is he allowed to jump on & off the furniture ? If yes it could be that he has hurt himself or he could have an ear infection or any number of things making him cranky.

The kids DO tease and rough house with him...my hubby does sometimes too. I didn't realize that it was such a no no to do...it is apparently teaching him to be aggressive, and that is NOT good.

Thank you for the advice, everyone. I think I will take him into the vet, have him fully checked out, to eliminate that as potential problem. I did tell my husband the other day that the dog seemed "grumpy."

Thank you all. He is my baby, and I love him, but would put my kids safety before him, if it HAD to come down to it.

I agree with the others, he's still a puppy and needs to be taught how to play nicely. He's a dog and if he were playing with other dogs, he would be biting them. He needs to be taught that biting humans is not appropriate. As for when you daughter picked him up and startled him, that is because he was startled. I've accidentally startled one of my dogs and he turned around and bit me. He's not a biter at all, but he was in la-la land somewhere barking in protection mode at the people walking on the other side of a field and a four lane road when I picked him up to try and distract him, which in turn startled him and he bit me. Have you taken your dog to a puppy class? Maybe taking him to a puppy class and having your kids involved, would be beneficial to all of you, not just him. He will learn to respect your children and your children will learn a few things too.

Definitely put a stop to the teasing. Otherwise, sometimes, I don't think kids realize their own strength or don't realize that the way the pick up an animal may startle it or actually hurt it (pinch its skin, pull its hair, or a muscle, etc.) and the dog's ONLY defense is to bite to get out of the situation. Just like dogs need to be trained, so do kids. Even my DH, a grown man and loves our dogs, gets snipped at sometimes when he picks ours up wrong. He simply doesn't realize how hard his grip is when he picks them up sometimes, and they are not rag dolls. I am ALWAYS getting on to him to be careful...probably too paranoid. Also, maybe your dog has an extra sensitive spot that may be sore. He will definitely protect it if that is the case so be on the look out for something like that.

:thumbup:

Maybe get a BIGGER DOG your kids can tease and keep the Yorkie all to yourself:D

You should Not allow children to tease a dog of any size. It is basically the same as letting them bully other kids. The diff is that the dog bites out of fear or because they are sick of being terrorized & then the poor dog gets thrown out for trying to defend itself. I'm sorry but if you terrorize my dog & get bit, Oh Well you should have been taught better. If you can not make your kids & husband stop terrorizing the dog then for the sake of the dog, find him a new home as dogs only live to please & Love & he feels like his people are betraying him daily & basically he's rite.

In my defense, I would NEVER allow my kids to bully the dog. They TEASE like they tease a sibling. Playing keep away with him, or tug of war. It was playing, not bullying. I'm sorry, but I turned to here for some suggestions, not judgment. I am new at this little dog stuff, and thought I could find some suggestions here. Notice, I did NOT say, who wants my dog, he bit my kids. I said HELP. They are NOT terrorizing him, and I have made very firm and clear rules from this point forward that they are not allowed to play roughly with him any more. I myself am guilty of playing roughly with him, playing tug of war, etc. But we don't anymore. I didn't realize how wrong a message it is sending to the dog. But I do now. Thanks for all your advice.

Don' t get discouraged by some of the responses. Sometimes its just hard to express yourself so that the situation is clear to all that read it, and is interpreted as you intended. Some words have slightly different connotations to different people based on their personal experiences. YT has alot of great members with lots of experience, and is a great place to learn more about the yorkie breed and to share your love of these amazing little dogs. I, myself, have been around yorkies for over 33 years, but yet still learned something new just the other day.

:thumbup: I agree with this. Please don't be discouraged. You are in the right place for learning and if you stick around I think you will find it a great resource for your family and Baxter. We're glad you are here.

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.