My dog hates everyone besides me
 

Hello everyone, I have a 1 year old yorkie and he does not like anybody besides me!! If anyone comes over he barks at them and will not go anywhere close to them even if they are very calm. If I take him outside he barks at anyone at my apartment complex. It is extremely irritating that he is like this. I have taken him many places with me hoping that socializing him will help out and he just hates everyone. Any advice???

Maybe have a friend help you. And have them feed him treats. It may help.

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. This problem sounds too big to handle on your own. If you can, I would consult a private trainer or go to a training class.

Have a friend help, as suggested above. Meet outdoors (neutral territory). Have the friend take a position not too close to you and your leashed dog. Have him on the ground, not in your arms. Maybe sit on the ground with him. Let your dog bark until he quits. Stay quiet and still and have your helper do the same. No staring at the dog. It may take a long time, but once he quits barking, reward him. Give him a treat and praise him. If he is treat or toy motivated, use those to reward him. Keep repeating the exercise and have the friend move closer.

The important part of any training exercise is to remain calm and confident. If your dog senses you are anxious or frustrated, he will mirror that feeling.

When doing these exercises, you could also try a Thundershirt, which can be calming for dogs in these types of situations.

Does your dog know basic commands like sit, stay, down? Basic obedience and trick training can be useful in focusing the dog in anxiety-fueled situations. Practice indoors alone and then try outdoors.
A lot of people have had great success with clicker training. Make sure you read up on how to do it before buying a clicker.

Hope some of this helps.

I so like these ideas and I did more when I had a pit years ago.. I got him as a puppy he was so small she fit in a baby shoe box.. but he hated people as well.. A trainer one day when I was in the park suggested having a friend help.. oddly my dog only like my friends but no one out of the circle..lol so he told me to have a bag of treats with me and take hime out for long walks around the dog park and have different people come and pet the puppy..lol so I tried and it worked.. The way it worked was step one get something that the pup really love weather it be a toy or a treat.. then if someone wants to pet him give them the toy or the treat and let them pet him.. he did bite but he growld.. then past it back and keep on till he got ust to it... it took about a good week taking regular walks and having people talk and pet him.. he loved the feeding part..lol I tell you big poop after..but the moral is it worked and he stoped it's like the trainer says you have to work on it with postive reataction not negative.. and it helped to that my dog knew his simple commands, stay, sit, come, and stop..lol I know he was a pit..look around and before getting a clicker you should look up on how to use it.. in petsmart they have clicker classes.. oh and one thing I learned and use it on Brandy with the cammand come you should only use it with postive thought.. like for treats, scratches and fun things.. but their is a come here command to.. use it postive to but with force to instructed athority..trainer rule..I got in teoble because I didn't know that and my pit just would not come till I started doing good things with the commaned..

The dog really needs to be socialized. Carry some treats and do your best to get others to give him a treat, but that may backfire as you may wind up with a dog that barks and begs with everybody.

When ruger barks at a stranger I casually say he wants attention, I pick him up and hold him up to the other person and he calms down, especially if the other person will pet him.

One thing I don't understand is why Ruger barks at some people but not at others.