Rehoming Help & Advice.
 

Hey All,

I'm having a lot of trouble with my Yorkie. I love him so so so so much but we've gone through 5 trainers thus far and we are still having problems.

(1) The first training was when he was a puppy, in our home city, and it was a 6 week long puppy bootcamp. The trainers basically crated him a lot (sprayed water in the face), socialized him, and potty trained him. (2) Immediately after, my pup and I moved to another city for a year. The pup was an angel until 6 months when he started barking and getting aggressive (he also went to daycare every day). (3) We then got him a trainer to help with "positive reinforcement." She blamed the first trainer for all the aggressive behavior. Well, my dog started to trust me again with the positive reinforcement but he also stopped listening to me and would bark non-stop (neighbors were not happy). After that, we moved to another city for a year (which was very cold). He went to daycare there but walks were scarce given the cold. The daycare said my pup's behavior was erratic. Sometimes he would be great and other times he would nip at the trainers and other dogs. The daycare was very strict, so we had to take him out to undergo training. (4) The behavioralist focused on meds. By the end, my Yorkie was talking a benzo and trazodone. But all that did was make him very sleepy. We ended up taking him off of everything. Another vet suggested that my dog may have back pain and took x-rays. I took those x-rays to a specialist and he said there was nothing wrong with his back. (5) We moved back to our home city which has nice weather. We signed up my pup for pack walks and another trainer. This trainer was focused on stronger corrections. First thing we did was "tie-down" my pup in the house, that way he didn't feel like he had to guard the whole space. We also put a bark collar on him to control his barking, as his barking led to aggressive behavior. We did this for about 8 months, but I found my dog would bark through the zaps and I felt bad... although it did manage his aggression and barking. (6) We moved to a city nearby to be closer to work and signed him up for a daycare. All was well except my yorkie recently developed a habit of biting (roughly two months ago). Before he barked a lot (and still does) but he has never bitten anyone. Well now he bites anyone who comes to the door. The delivery guy claims my pup bruised him badly and that I was lucky he didn't sue me for thousands and reported me to SPCA (I wasn't there for the incident). But the biting has gone beyond guarding the door. He bit someone at the park. He hates children and hasn't bit any yet, but he basically ran after them and tried to climb them in the park. If I wasn't there, I think he would have bitten them. And he used to be good with dogs but now he barks at them too.

Every day is a real struggle. It's not fun walking him because he's always trying to attack people or dogs. I'm afraid to get on an elevator with him in case he bites someone in a confined space. And I'm TERRIFIED of children. I really don't know what to do. All the daycares, dog walkers, and friends say my yorkie is an angel when I'm not around. I just don't know what to do because I think he's going to get put down if he keeps up this behavior.

WOW. I've never had this problem. Hopefully someone on this thread can help you.

That poor, poor baby, this could be from all the moving about and your pup having to get use to new surroundings, smells, sounds, trainers, day care. My own personal experience in moving with my now passed girl. I had two yorkies the youngest was 5 years old, the oldest 11 years old. The baby who was the most mischievous, bravest, overly friendly with all ppl and all animals, she was a big girl weighing in at 17 Lbs she had long legs and could leap over a 3 foot high fence. When I moved to a new state, her world changed completely. My dogs were leash walked 3 times a day before the move, in moving I now had to commute to work via bus, a 2 hour commute one way. I was gone 14 hours 5 days a week. My girls had to be pad trained. All the ppl they once knew they never saw again, all their dog friends were now in the past. The 5 year old did a 360, she was not the same brave, friendly girl she once was. I put up a 2 foot high fence because she no longer was a leaper, she wouldn't go near the fence. I had no clue why she changed so much.

Shortly after she passed my vet gifted me with a 2 1/2 year surrendered boy and I found Yorkie Talk. I read what can happen to some dogs when you move to a new home, new schedules, smells, sounds and I then knew the move had a severe reaction on my girl.

She wasn't aggressive like your baby but she was not the dog she was before I moved.

It's horrible that this poor baby of yours has such bad reactions, he must be so unhappy. I have no advice to offer you to fix this problem I can understand your reasons for thinking of re-homing, I wish it didn't have to come to this but I do understand. We have a member that can possibly offer some suggestions / advise, I believe she is / was a trainer. Hopefully she will see your thread.

Please check back often to see if you get more responses. Many new ppl come here asking for help, they are given advise, suggestions but they never come back to YT to read what has been suggested.

I am sorry for both you and your little boy dog!



Sometimes our best intentions go wrong. Sounds like it could be too much change too often for a puppy. <sighs> Too many people trying too many different approaches. Too many Chiefs.



Other times there is just something wrong in the head of some animals. Many people want to believe, 'No Bad Dogs'..... shame, but it is just not true. Bad breedings can bring this on. Breeding just for size is the cause of a LOT of problems, health, personality, disposition. Look what has happened to too many breeds. <sighs and shakes head>


I have owned, trained, bred, and loved many many types of animals. I have trained from mice and fish to horses....and everything in between. Sometimes, certain animals are JUST 'not right'.

You should also know..... IF you pass your dog on to someone else, knowing that it has bitten, and it bites someone after you pass it on, YOU ARE STILL RESPONSIBLE AND CAN BE SUED. This has been the case for many years in Dogs. In Court, YOU are liable, I can not remember how it is worded. Even if you pass on to someone that says.....Oh I would not sue you. It's not them that sue, it's the Insurance Companies.

Wow your poor dog has sadly come into contact with way to many terrible trainers. In no way should a shock collar be used ever let alone on a small dog. All the negative reinforcement training has indeed made your dog aggressive and that is why good trainers focus on positive reinforcement. Is he neutered? If he isn't that is another reason he could be aggressive. I'm going to be honest here with you unless you can find an actual rescue more then likely if you give your dog up he is going to be put to sleep because he will not pass any temperament tests. It also sounds like he has been put in a lot of stressful situations. I personally would try an anxiety medicine like prozac. I'm really at a lost for words here. Honestly those trainers ruined your dog, yes he can be brought back from that but its going to take a massive amount of work and time.

I'm not sure this is actually true. I would honestly need to see proof of this to believe it.

Look up: Dog Laws in the area you live in. Also. Keep in Mind, that ANYONE can Sue you for ANYTHING. Also. Hospitals and Counties ask ALL the questions. For example....Who's Dog Bit You? Insurance Companies ask....How long have you owned the dog? Did they tell you it bites?

I know all the dog laws where I live and that one is very much not one of them. Sure people can sue you for anything but that doesn’t mean they will win or it won’t be thrown out. That rule would never hold up in court anyway because then breeders and shelters would be liable it just wouldn’t work.

Have you tried taking your pup to an obedience class, as applied to having someone else train him. Need one that does positive reinforcement and will go at your pace - May have to take beginners more than one etc. but you and your dog learn together and begin to bond with over the tasks that the dog is asked to do. They dot will come to trust you more and your will be able to rely more on his behavior. It will be a slow process but is pretty tried and true.

Best of luck to you!

My take is a bit different from the norm and may sound whacky, but here goes... It sounds like both you and your furbaby are under a lot of stress. Dogs communicate primarily through unspoken signals using their senses - sight, smell, taste, hraring, etc. And they generally take their lead from the pack leader (should be you). When you worry and are stressed, your body sends a plethora of signals which can cause negative feedback which your furbaby processes and acts on.

When you add in her hardwired genetic personality traits plus the abuse she endured at the hands of the "trainers", it makes for a lot of confusion for her to process and negative behavior is the end result.

Sometimes the best solution is to step back and just relax and focus on building a positive atmosphere. Relax, enjoy her and for a while try to avoid the negative triggers. Often the quickest way to solve a problem is by taking the slow scenic route.

Try to spend as much quality stress free time together as possible.

This poor baby needs stability. NO MORE "trainers" .. I got sick reading this. While I get he is a "dog", would you do all this to a child? All these people giving you advice, taking your money and "training" him are NOT helping him at all.

Let him chill a bit...stop trying to make him take walks around people and dogs. He needs PEACE and QUIET. Sit with him and talk to him .. let me be who he is. Pretty much all that Chattiesmom mentioned above.

Give him a quiet, save place to call his own if he doesn't have one now...and open crate with bedding and toys perhaps.

Don't euthanize this poor baby! If worse comes to worse, please message me if you want to give him up and I will do what I can to help.

Glad to hear this! I know this was the case years ago. There was a write up on it in Dog Fancy Magazine. When? <laughs> It's been a while. Me? I would still not take that chance.

It must have been an extremely old thing then. Dog fancy doesn’t even exist anymore. It certainly wouldn’t hold up.

It was a long time ago. <sighs> But I would not be too cocky or assured on that, 'could not happen' theory. It's worse, not better.....such as this: (and it is worse World Wide) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europ...Zos1Ol2wmFBD38

That’s a whole different thing. Sadly dogs are still considered property here in the US and our country is different then others. Here in the US it wouldn’t hold up in court and I feel extremely confident about it. I personally wouldn’t give up any of my dogs though.

Thanks, everyone. I'm still at a loss. If I was going to rehome Whimsy, I would ultimately find a family or owner myself. I would never give him to the pound or anything. The whole point is to avoid Whimsy being euthanized.

I should note that Whimsy is ONLY bad when I'm around. For example, when I'm not home, he is excited to see the daycare driver and doesn't bark. When I was home, he barked, jumped at the daycare driver, bit my foot, and cried when he was taken away.

His daycare also says he's really great at school. And sometimes I get help from a dogwalker when the daycare is closed, and she says he's super wonderful on walks.
Meanwhile, I JUST took Whimsy out to the park and had another incident (someone said to avoid people and dogs but it's hard in a major city). Whimsy's tail was wagging and he sniffed the dogs and then tried to bite one of the dog's behinds!

I don't think Whimsy is one of those dogs who are just wired differently. I agree he was always super anxious, even when I got him as a puppy. And you can never find a photo of him where he's relaxed, but I think much of his behavior is experience based.

And I'm not sure it's relevant, but Whimsy had INSANE separation anxiety for his first year or so. He'd literally cry for hours when I left him. Now he has less separation anxiety but he's way more aggressive.

Someone mentioned just accepting Whimsy as he is and stop with the trainers. But, honestly, if I had kids, I'd probably reach out to specialists too. And there's a bit more urgency with getting him help because his behavior has escalated the last two months. I literally tell delivery people to leave items at the door and not to knock or ring the doorbell. I need to hire a walker more than usual because Whimsy is so aggressive when I take him to the park. And I just think he's a ticking time bomb.

The options I was entertaining: (1) maybe Whimsy needs another dog in the house. That way he's not alone (which he hates, even if it's only for a couple of hrs a day). But then that's just a huge gamble. What if they don't get along? What if Whimsy makes the dog aggressive as well? (2) find another trainer; apparently there's a "great one" but the trainer literally charged $150 an hour!! or (3) rehome him to a family who loves dogs and familiar with troubled dogs and yorkies. The fact is, Whimsy is super cute and insanely smart. If he's really OK with others, he might be a perfect pet. Maybe he and I just have a bad history and he doesn't trust me.

Thoughts?

My thoughts? I think you need to be trained, not him. And, I don't mean that in a mean way.
Just because you live in a big city does not mean you can't avoid certain triggers. Many times dogs will carry on when on a leash because they are an extension of the person holding the leash. Here is a link that might help: https://positively.com/dog-behavior/...sh-aggression/

Google Victoria Stilwell and Tamar Geller .. they are both awesome and have lots of positive dog training tips!

I absolutely would not bring another dog into the house with him having aggression issues. It could be dangerous to the new dog. Back of the training for now. You need to bond more with him. Do simply training at home like sit, down and so on a few times a day for 10 minutes. If you rehome him you need to do it through a yorkie rescue that knows what qualifications a person should have. If you are tense and freaking out inside he can feel that and that might be what is stressing him out.

I sympathize. It is very difficult to have a pup like this. One of ours is very aggressive (non Yorkie). He is a rescue and came to us with a broken heart. ❤️

Please stop thinking of it as him hating you and attacking others because of it. It is the opposite. He LOVES you and wants nothing between you and him. That is why the behavior toward humans and dogs is worse around you.

Please, please, please do not add another dog into the mix right now.

Your boy is extremely confused because of the negative training methods used. If a pup barks and gets zapped, they will more than likely associate the zap with the object they are barking at, making the behavior worse long term. Only fear free and force free methods should be used from here on out. No mixed signals.

Your Yorkie needs to be kept away from any situations that could trigger him to bite or get overly upset. Doorbell rings? He goes to a safe space before you let the person in so he cannot bite. On a walk and he starts going off on something? You are too close to the stimulus and need to back off, find a distance that is tolerable to him, and start positive association (e.g. treat bombing).

You will have to manage his world for him because he can’t do it himself. It takes a lot of patience and understanding. Yes, drugs can help and boarded veterinary behaviorist are good. It is important to find the balance between quality of life vs. side effects, etc.

Part of the underlying issue in a case like this is a lack of confidence, especially when punishment has been used in the past. Victoria Stilwell should have some good resources related to confidence building. This would be the opposite of sending a pup into a group of dogs or people while hoping the pup can just work it out for himself.

I believe there is hope for your Yorkie, but realistically it will involve a massive commitment from you and a lifetime of management.

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Good to see you Crystal!

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I am so sorry. I need to rehome my yorkie too due to horrifying behavior that I can't stop and won't be able to for years. Its terrible and I feel for you. But if you know he's dangerus (and this whole thread is proof) you have to do something.

You could fix your dogs issues but you choose not to. These are totally different situations,

And I am so sorry for distracting from your topic Bhanish. I didnt mean to just by posting and having other people go crazy---------- I hope you find tghe right answer!!

For poop....... it’s not the same

Off topic again.

You need to pull it together!!!! Again, pick your one thred to attack me instead of ruining poor Bhanish's.

Seriously? You are going on other threads to attack people like their spelling or how they worded their post as well as for not potty training their dogs but I’m the attacker? Seriously.