Separation Anxiety and Biting

[DoHxBoY]

Hello again everyone!

So, our little Vino is a bit over a year now, and he is the sweetest little monster ever. Sadly, our little baby suffers from severe separation anxiety and it's a bit heart-breaking.

If he thinks for even one second you are leaving him, he will bark and whine, and now he's started biting like crazy and his little bottom jaw keeps going like he's keeping the engine warm.

If anyone goes near the front door, or says bye, or hugs, he starts freaking out and jumping; thankfully he doesn't bite at this point.

We take him in the car every day since he stays at grandma's during the day. During the ride, so long as no one is around our car, he is a perfect angel; snuggles with us, watches out the windows, and has no issues.

However, if anyone walks by the car, or we go through a drive-thru, he starts barking at them, and jumping around, and if you try to grab him to stop him, or move him, bye bye fingers.

He is even worse when he thinks/knows one of us is going to get out of the car. We reach for our seatbelt and he goes right for our hands to try to stop us. He will do everything to try to prevent us from getting out of the car.

We've tried a bunch of different things; verbal commands, restraints (harness to belt), crates/seats, pheromones, loud abrupt noises to startle him, etc. Things work initially, but he becomes desensitized very quickly and continues to go absolutely nuts.

My wife and I do not mind the barking and whining, his whines/grunts are so freaking cute that it's ridiculous; the biting we need to stop though.

That all said, aside from leaving him home and not bringing him with us everywhere (which isn't an option cause he's our baby and he'd still have his anxiety), we don't know what to do. My wife has even thought of getting him a little muzzle just to prevent his biting when in close quarters (AKA car rides), but we don't ever want to do anything to hurt him, but there is only so much we can take of him hurting us.

What are your thoughts, is this really something someone can retrain in him, what can we do? He loves us so much, and we love him even more, and it's sad that he has to go through this, my wife and I are no strangers to anxiety, and we want to help him anyway we can.

As a bonus, here is some pictures of our little guy

https://imgur.com/a/2eZGddo

Thank you all in advance for your time!

[Lovetodream88]

Sounds like you need to go to the vet and get something for the anxiety. He also should not be lose in the car for his safety. He either needs to be buckled in or in a travel kennel/crate.

[KatysMom]

Hi DoHxBoY,

Vino is a cutie! I'm so sorry that you and your honey-boy have to go through this. There are so many rewards at the back end, so I hope you can see it through.

Your lil guy may have separation anxiety--Lovetodream88 suggested a visit to the vet to have Vino's checked for anxiety. That sounds like a good idea. BUT, it also seems Vino acts out when you are there with him and other folks happen about, which sounds like a socialization issue.

In my experience, yorkies are never too old to train. These little ones so want to please us.

Your post doesn't mention walks. Do you take Vino on long harness/leash walks? Is that part of your routine with him? While the vet may prescribe some meds, walking Vino may do even more for all of you. It's good for his health, helps him burn off excess energy, allows you to observe his behavior around other people and animals. As well, it's good environment during which you can use positive reinforcement to remind Vino that you are the boss.

You wrote, "My wife and I do not mind the barking and whining, his whines/grunts are so freaking cute that it's ridiculous; the biting we need to stop though."

Possible Vino's barking and whining are frequently just a lead in/prelude to more aggressiveness. So, you want to catch it early and have him calm down before it reaches a point at which he has less control.

Bless you for lovin' your sweetie.

[KatysMom]

Cesar Millan, "The rundown on aggression," cesar's way.

Kirstin Julie Viola, "Cesar Millan Gives Us Some of His Most Surprising & Effective Dog-Training Tips," 2017, sheknows.

While the title's focus is on "other dogs," the article mentions meds that may help with doggie anxiety. "When Your Dog is Overly Aggressive Towards Other Dogs," (n.d.?), PetMD.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by KatysMom

Cesar Millan, "The rundown on aggression," cesar's way.

Kirstin Julie Viola, "Cesar Millan Gives Us Some of His Most Surprising & Effective Dog-Training Tips," 2017, sheknows.

While the title's focus is on "other dogs," the article mentions meds that may help with doggie anxiety. "When Your Dog is Overly Aggressive Towards Other Dogs," (n.d.?), PetMD.

I would stay away from Cesar he is not liked by many many people on here. He is not an actual certified trainer and his methods are herindious. I would look more into Victoria Stilwell and positive trainers.

[KatysMom]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

I would stay away from Cesar he is not liked by many many people on here. He is not an actual certified trainer and his methods are herindious. I would look more into Victoria Stilwell and positive trainers.

This may be a case of each to his own. I have not found Cesar's techniques to be horrendous.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by KatysMom

This may be a case of each to his own. I have not found Cesar's techniques to be horrendous.

He has no actual training and believes in being alpha which is not a theory that works and has been debunked. He does not train using positive reinforcements. There are some absolutely terrible training videos of his that have surfaced and he I believe was charged with abuse against his ex wife. He is not a good trainer and shouldn’t even be called that. In some cases he is even abusive. https://canineprinciples.com/10-grea...-cesar-millan/ Modern Dog Training vs. Cesar Millan

[dottiesyrky]

There seem to be a few issues here. Sounds like he has become your watchdog, and I know how that is! He is defending you, your home and car. But I agree the biting is worrisome. Luckily my watchdog will lick any intruders to death, but not bite.
I know that there are many who do not like Cesar’s approach to training, more negative than positive reinforcement, but he has some good idea as well. The most important of which to me is not to allow your dog to become the alpha animal in the home. If we are the alphas, animals tend never to attack them. So perhaps some obedience training may help to let Vino know you are the boss and that you don’t need his protection.
I made the mistake of allowing my dog to rule when he was younger and sick, and he got away with a lot. It has taken years to calm him but he still rules in some occasions. Like a spoiled brat, he likes his way and still is the barky watchdog. I still try training him at nine years old, but some habits are hard to control. But he is such a sweet and loving dog and I can live with his occasional bratty traits.
Hang in there and good luck.

[dottiesyrky]

On this matter, I am sorry your Vono gets anxious. Luckily my dog does not have that problem and has learned to be alone as he knows we will come back and he usually gets a treat when we return! I did ask the vet about anxiety meds but he said that they can often cause more harm than good. So we just used patience, training, and time to make most of the behavior improvements.
Luckily Vino is young and easier to train. But I do agree positive reinforcement does work and inducing fear into the dog does not.

[matese]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

I would stay away from Cesar he is not liked by many many people on here. He is not an actual certified trainer and his methods are herindious. I would look more into Victoria Stilwell and positive trainers.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by dottiesyrky

There seem to be a few issues here. Sounds like he has become your watchdog, and I know how that is! He is defending you, your home and car. But I agree the biting is worrisome. Luckily my watchdog will lick any intruders to death, but not bite.
I know that there are many who do not like Cesar’s approach to training, more negative than positive reinforcement, but he has some good idea as well. The most important of which to me is not to allow your dog to become the alpha animal in the home. If we are the alphas, animals tend never to attack them. So perhaps some obedience training may help to let Vino know you are the boss and that you don’t need his protection.
I made the mistake of allowing my dog to rule when he was younger and sick, and he got away with a lot. It has taken years to calm him but he still rules in some occasions. Like a spoiled brat, he likes his way and still is the barky watchdog. I still try training him at nine years old, but some habits are hard to control. But he is such a sweet and loving dog and I can live with his occasional bratty traits.
Hang in there and good luck.

Dogs will never be able to see a human as alpha because they don’t see humans as another dog that’s one of the reasons the whole alpha dog thing has been debunked.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by dottiesyrky

On this matter, I am sorry your Vono gets anxious. Luckily my dog does not have that problem and has learned to be alone as he knows we will come back and he usually gets a treat when we return! I did ask the vet about anxiety meds but he said that they can often cause more harm than good. So we just used patience, training, and time to make most of the behavior improvements.
Luckily Vino is young and easier to train. But I do agree positive reinforcement does work and inducing fear into the dog does not.

Anxiety medicine really doesn’t do much harm when really needed in fact when it’s really needed it can do more harm not to medicate. Callie had some issues awhile back like years ago and she only had to go on them for 3 months.

[dottiesyrky]

Ok Taylor. It may be debunked, but I believe that a human can be alpha to a dog. But that is just my experience and belief that others may not share.

[dottiesyrky]

Again Taylor, that is your positive experience and I am glad it worked for Callie. My vet said that Prozac, I believe, was not always helpful and could cause bad effects. But perhaps other meds may be more helpful with no adverse effects. A dog psych suggested giving my dog Prozac a long time ago for his fear aggression, but after what the vet said I did not do so. It was time and patient training that improved him.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by dottiesyrky

Ok Taylor. It may be debunked, but I believe that a human can be alpha to a dog. But that is just my experience and belief that others may not share.

If your open to it you might want to check out this article https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/is...s_20416-1.html