Yorkie gone mad
 

Yorkie – 2 years old – 7 pounds – good health - After having her for about 3 months, (have had her 6 months now) out of the blue her personality changed. She has always been playful but fairly calm, but she began urinating in the house, especially when we would go to put her leash on. I think that she was abused before but not since I have had her. She became very territorial and possessive, but not aggressive. If you pick up something of hers she will constantly bark as if showing her authority, until it is put back down. She will take things from the male Yorkie or make him move off of the big pillow. She has made it clear that she is the alpha between her and the male, which she has spent almost her entire life with. They came as a package deal to me. Luckily, the male is very passive and doesn’t seem to even notice or care. She barks at any little noise. When taken outside she shoots out the door barking a dominant, stiff tail bark, as if she wants everyone to know she is the boss. She will continue to bark until she is back inside. She will just about gag herself barking and running to the end of her leash if she sees someone, or even worse, another animal of any kind. If she does happen to get near someone she was barking at as if she were a Pit Bull, all she does is jump up on them and lick them. She will bark at cars, my shadow, or a leaf blowing by. It is just a major overall change in attitude for the past three months. Two days ago I noticed when my son was playing with her that her mouth was slightly trembling. I put it off to her being so overly excited and anticipating him throwing her toy. Tonight though, she was just standing there and my husband noticed her mouth trembling. It is so slight that it could almost go unnoticed if not looking directly at her mouth. Besides the slight tremble all else appears normal. Is my dog losing her mind? :confused:



Sorry such a long post... and btw, I am thrilled to have joined the Yorkie Talk and look forward to getting to know everyone :D

It appears as if she has taken over the role of pack leader. I suggest that you get Cesar Milan's books or DVD's to learn how to address this issue. Welcome to Cesar Millan's Official Web Site | Cesar Millan

Meanwhile you start to establish that relationship by making her sit and wait before you put her food bowl down. You can pretend to eat from her bowl before you give it to her. pack leader always eats first.

I would take her to the vet and tell him about her trembling chin to rule out anything physical. It sounds like she finally feels at home and her real self is showing. She sounds like a normal Yorkie to me. That is not to say that she does not need discipline.

There was a thread on here not long ago. A lot said their yorkies little bottom lip quivered when they got excited. Mine trimbles or quivers when we are playing tug of war, or I have to take something away from her. It really is cute. Reminds me of a little pouting child.

Pasquale's bottom lip quivers when he gets overly excited. Unfortunately i think you need to start at the beginning with this dog....as if it was a puppy and retrain it.

Many Thanks
 

Thank you all so much for the information and advice ;). My vet seems to think her lip is just from excitement and that I need to take her to a behaviorist, which is a great idea. The only problem with that is that they are expensive and even more so than normal with me living in Germany. Maybe I can get the book and that will help. For the time being.... at least for the most part she is extremely entertaining. :eek:

I believe that you can do the same thing a behaviorist can do if you read Cesar's books and learn to understand how dogs think. Believe me, it is YOUR behavior that has to change before the dog will change.

When we don't know how a dog thinks, we have no idea what impact our behavior has on them. Humans do not make much sense to dogs.