Food aggressive Yorkie
 

I have three Yorkies, the mother named Savannah, one from her first litter named Kayli and one from her second litter named Willow. They are all females and have been sterilized. My problem is Willow. She is a beautiful, very affectionate little Yorkie, but she attacks her mother if her mother wanders close to her food dish, or a bone. I can't give them bones because of this. Also, if I try to pick Willow up when I'm bringing her in for the night or moving her to her own bed if she gets in the wrong crate, she makes a growly noise, the mother starts barking furiously. Then Willow growls aggressively and tries to jump out of my arms and get at the mother. It's mayhem!

I've had to pull her off Savannah many times! I am so tired of her aggressive attitude, but I don't know how to change it. The mother makes it worse by playing into it with constant barking at her, using a different bark than her usual one.

She has tried attacking Kayli, but Kayli stands up to her and the fight is over before it begins. Savannah doesn't fight back, just rolls over on her back in submission, and Willow bites her hard. There is much growling and snapping going on.

I tried doing the dog whisperer thing by holding pinning Willow down and holding her down, telling her no, and stroking her trying to calm her down, but this doesn't work. As soon as I let up, she's after Savannah again. All the time I've got her pinned down, Savannah is yapping non-stop and trying to get at Willow. We have to pin her down, also. This just isn't working. I also tried what the trainer at PetSmart suggested and that was to show Willow that Savannah is the main dog and my favorite, but that didn't work either.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to break Willow of this aggressive behavior towards her mother. Also, another problem is both Kayli and Willow bark at strangers outside when I'm walking them on a leash. Savannah is totally friendly and will go up to anyone to be loved on.

Lorna Newlin

I'm not a dog trainer, but I'm wondering if the mother might be instigating it? I say that because of the "different bark," and I know exactly what you mean. I have four, and I know each dog's "voice." I can also tell the difference between "I see a squirrel on the deck" bark and a bark that says something is wrong and I need to run into the room to see what's going on.

Some on here will probably have better suggestions, but I'd suggest you look into a socialization class where you can take both of them and work with them together. Sometimes even the local Humane Society or pet stores do those.

As far as barking at strangers when they're walking, that depends on what kind of bark. Dogs sometimes bark a little just to say hello. If they're doing "the" bark, that could mean they're trying to ward people away from you or themselves. All the terrier breeds are very territorial. When mine bark at people (only two do it), I crouch down by them and hold their chins up to make them look at me, and tell them "quiet." That works for me, most of the time.

Protecting the area where food is served to her is an obsessive behavior. This is especially true if your Yorkie was the runt of the litter, as she's probably had to fight for her fair share of food. You can help your Yorkie get over this behavior by giving her some dog treats at her food bowl. She will soon learn to associate the food bowl with a reward instead of a fight. Best of Luck!

YOU have to lead the dog. You absolutely CANNOT give the yorkie ANY affection while the bad behavior goes on. AND you must correct the behavior as SOON as it happens. Don't yell as this just makes the dog nervous. Behavior correction simply means that you command the dog's complete attention at that time so that she understands who's boss.

great advice Sandy!

I think I remember from the dog whisperer that showing favoritism for one dog can also cause aggressive behavior from another.

I also know from experience that it is very difficult to tell which dog is the one starting it. If you notice that they are staring, or growling under their breath. I used to put my boys in time out - one in the bathroom, one in the laundryroom. The 'top dog' actually ended up turning over the dominating position - it was a power struggle. It was a little tough on us as we had accepted Teddy was the 'boy boss' and we didn't like it when Quattro took over. Now it is just fact.

We did have to give my mother one daughter - the mother began to hunt her down. It was terrible, Trina would attack Zoe back, so they were hard to separate. Trina was already 2. We visit her often, but a year later, they came to visit - after a couple of hours, zoe attacked her. Like an elephant, she hasn't forgotten.