Behavior Question
 

I was wondering if anyone's yorkie gets SUPER excited when they see another dog.

Yesterday I was walking DaVinci out to go potty and he spotted another yorkie. He was super excited and started running towards the dog but the leash wouldnt let him. The thing is he starts crying (doesn't bark) if he cant get closer. It got to the point where I tried to carry him to another area so he wouldnt see the dog, but then he tried to jump out of my arms. I try not to have him play with other dogs because I'm afraid other dogs might get hurt because he jumps on them and bites their tails (that's what he does to the chihuahua(his sister)). Does anyone know how I can keep him calm in these kinds of situations? He knows his basic commands like "come here, sit and lay down" but when another dog is present he just forgets im there and doesnt listen to me. Is this normal? And also, how do you know playing vs. fighting?

-Jeff

Yes, I think this is pretty common behavior. I know that is how my Yorkie acts. You would think that he didn't have any doggie friends. He thinks he has to meet every person and every dog that he sees.

It just sounds to me that your little guy is way too excited. That can be fixed through your energy as well as just patience and training. I don't think this SHOULD be a "common behavior" even though I see it far too often. It needs to be corrected. If your dog is pulling, and trying to get to another dog, the other dog could take it as a threat and that wouldn't be good for your little guy. He sounds like a dominant little fella and should be corrected when he's doing things wrong, like terrorizing other dogs (the Chi). Socialization would do him good. Find a dog park or get together some people with other small dogs to get your dog familiar with others of his own species. He's excited and pulling and going crazy because he's probably not aware of how to properly greet another dog, which needs to be taught to him. He also sounds like he needs to be release some of that built up energy. How much exercise does he get per day? When you're walking him on a leash, very calmly just continue walking, you need to act as if there is no other dog even there. Give him a slight tug on his harness, and just keep going, no big deal. He will most likely put up a fight, but just keep going, and try to not put tension in the leash. I highly suggest looking into Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic Channel. His new episdoes are every Fri. night. Re-runs every day at 2pm. Victoria Stillwell is also good, she's on Animal Planet w/ "It's Me or the Dog." Good luck :thumbup:

:thumbup: Good advice! I will try that as well, because Baxter does the same thing..

Joey gets quite excited, but he knows what I'm gonna tell him to do, so he does it before I ask - he sits. It's so funny! Since he was a little tiny puppy, if I tell him to sit, he sits - no matter what. Bless his little heart. He's so cute, his little butt wiggling all over because his tail is wagging so hard, wanting to go say hi, but he doesn't, he stays until I release him. Tank kinda barks at them for some reason, but he keeps his distance. He's not very social, as we got him a little older, and I just can't break him of his shyness. He's very slowly making progress. I think it's just kinda a "dog" thing to get excited when they see another one though.