My new year old yorkie bites
 

I just bought a year old yorkie (girl) from a college student who had to get rid of her (new landlord). Kiwi is very sweet and loving with me and clearly prefers me to my kids and my husband. She snapped at my son a couple of days ago and snapped at my other son last night. Kiwi was sitting on my lap in both cases and my son was going to pet her. She is also very shy with strangers and I am afraid to take her out in public because I am afraid she will try to snap at a child or a stranger. Does anyone have any advice for me?

If she is not to big , you can start by taking her in your arms when you go out with her and get her used to the public .

Make it known that the behavior is unacceptable. When she snaps or tries to bite, place her in a small confined area. That way she knows that if she does that, the fun ends for her and she doesn't get to be near you either. When she doesn't snap or bite, even though she might have normally done it, praise her and give her a treat. My little pup bites/nibbles but I know she's teething. Even still I don't like it, and I started doing something about it. Hope this helps

Is she used to children ? Is she fear aggresive or dominant ? Or has she simply not been taught this is not acceptable ? You need to know these things to tackle the problem.

Maybe she is not used to children , you have to be patient with her . If she is shy , a punishment for her behaviour is an extremely bad idea for correcting her.
You should take her in your arms when you go outside with her starting with short time and see how she reacts . I have had one who was very shy and she almost panick when she was seeing peoples , actually , she is ok . IMO , peoples want to rush things with a new dog . The best advice for me is give her time to get used to your family after she'll have time to do others things.

My son's friends always want to touch and play with Chewy. I always tell then to hold out their hands palm side up and let him smell. If they see a huge hand lunging over their head, they will get scared and want to defend themselves. Also, when we first got Chewy my son just got down on the floor and let him smell and sniff and run around on him and they got used to each other. Pretty smart for a 6 year old, huh?

I agreed you need a lot of patience with her. Probably she is not used to be with children. Chewy'smom is correct, When they see a strange hand they will try to protect themself biting. Im not saying that behaviour is acceptable. But slowly you can train her and show your kids how slowly she can learn to trust them. By the way, Chewey'smom very smart 6 yrs old you have there/
Karen good luck with your new baby and welcome to YT. :)

Chewysmom good job and great kid. I have my niece bring her twins often when I have a litter starting at about 4 weeks old. I have them sit on the floor and move slowly when they play...the pups love them.

Sounds like the pup came from a single person environment, so the pup had all the attention one on one, now their is several humans your pup has to share his time with.

When one brings a new pup into a new environment I suggest getting on the floor to their level to play one on one as well as include all the family members when possible so they get use to each person and their movement at the puppies level, familys get active and the pup needs to understand how to blend in.

Its very daunting our human size to the puppy size let alone a new environment and new family!

Nipping is unacceptable...but isolating will only make the pup more difficult in the long run, no need to punish a dog that doesnt really understand why he is being isolated. I would not reward with treats either, they need to know they are being bad ..I use the word in a very strong voice when there is growls, conflict or bitting "be nice" they stop immediately. Any firm voice and scolding they will respond to, remember the pup only wants to please you.

Anything good takes time and TLC.

hope this helps