Am i being a bad mom??? Please read :(
 

Ok so here is the scoop.. I have a 6 month old male (shobi) and I love him to death.. BUT.. I have a couple of issues that I need some help with. First.. I recently switched him to Natural Balance (ultra premium). I realized that it wasn't grain-free which is something that I wanted to try since he an itchin fool. So when he was done with that bag I transitioned him to Natural Balance (same brand) Potato & Duck. Unfortunately I have ran into some issues since. He has thrown up twice. Although one time was after he ate dinner he went into a barking frenzy then threw up. The second time was today he ate dinner then just threw it all up, but again he had an exciting day being outside all day. BUT im not sure if I am the problem being that I feed him 2x a day about 3/4 cup total. I know they are supposed to have 3-4 small meals a day, but with work that is the only way I can do it. Is it too much at one time??? Sorry all the questions!!! 2nd problem is if I get after him he starts barking hysterically and will jump at me and try to nip at me. He hasnt bit me yet but I dont want him to either. Any suggestions?? Thank you so much!!! hope to hear back

i work 8-10 hour days 5 days a week and i leave out plenty food and water for my Chloe all day... yea when i get home there's some poop here and there but i dont mind picking it up as long as she doesnt starve!! and Chloe sometimes runs when i try to pick her up but thats if she sees the brush in my hand lolz a lil baby talk always does the trick :)

when you switched the food did you gradually mix it in with the old food? and about the nipping routine...shea is also 6 months and does the same thing. Only she may be a bit more excessive than yours, as she likes to use out hands as chew toys rather than her chew toys alllll the time. And if we yell at her she does this jump forward nip thing at the face...she is lucky she has not gotten my face yet because than she will have one mad mommy. Try this with yours... when he bites, roll him on to his back and place two of your fingers on either side of his neck(not tight obviously, just enough so that he cant get up) let him mellow out and when he calms down and when you want him to, let him up but dont talk to him too much. I found that this has started to work with Shea. I think it is a dominance thing. Good luck!

Well yea I leave plenty of food and water also. Whatever he doesnt finish for breakfast I leave in his playpen and if he does finish it I divide of the second meal, but majority of the time the food will be there when i get home.

I will try that... And yes he does try to be the dominant one.. Thanks again.. oh and yes I did switch it gradually I am just wondering if I switched him to another flavor too fast??

I think you have received some great advice. I also use natural balance potato and duck, mine love it. I just want to welcome you to YT in case I missed your first post;)

The have automatic feeding bowls if you want to feed him smaller portions 4 times a day. You put the correct amount of food in the slot and set a timer that dispenses the meal/feeding slot at set times. Also, did he just throw up with the NB Potato & Duck or also with the NB ultra premium? My guess is it's only happened 2 times and you have fed him quite a bit both brands (the NB P&D and Ultra Premium) it's not the food itself.

As far as the biting, it's not something you can excuse in my opinion. With playful biting (there's obvious signs it's playful vs. fearful or aggressive) you should say "OUCH, NO!" and remove your hand or whatever and substitute with a toy. If he continues, just stand there and ignore him. They soon learn that when they play too rough, you don't want to play with them anymore. I also read that that you can say the "OUCH, NO" and pinch them VERY lightly on their neck and them ignore them or put them in their pen or whatever.

With fearful biting (sounds like your situation - can be when an owner punishes the dog and swoops down to grab him), our dog may have found that warning growls and bites makes you (the threatened person) STOP, which teaches your dog that such behavior is rewarding. With this I've read that you don't want to place your fear-aggressive dog in situations that could cause him to be afraid, don't punish the dog for this behavior (only makes things worse because it verifies his fear), don't force your dog to face his fears, don't corner or reach for him and instead call the dog to you and have him act calm or do a trick for a reward, but also don't reassure or pet the dog while he is acting inappropriately because it gives the dog a message that he is acting appropriately.

As far as "alpha rolls" forcing your dog on his back and holding him there until he stops struggling . I've read that you shouldn't use them. And they have been shown to be in effective, unsafe and based on faulty interpretations of wolf pack behavior. I read that it often results in more dog bites as you are trying to subdue an already challenging dog....

Ok so first i would like to say that some people will not agree with what I am about to say..And that's ok .But In my case this worked for me.

A little back round: Chloe used to be a terror!! It was around 4months old when I even posted a thread asking if it were possible for your dog to hate you..lol She never listened, She tore everything up furniture, molding, carpet, cords, cord's and more cords. She wasn't making any progress with potty issues In fact she would pee right in front of me and even on the couch! I tried everything from bitter sprays etc. The last straw was she lunged at my face a lot and she would nip me in the nose or lip.The only thing she never did was bark (luckily).

I called my breeder and she told me it was all about dominance. She told me a trick she had used that was controversial. When the dog bit she would grab him/her and bite their ear. Not hard enough to do damage to actually hurt them, But apply enough pressure for them to make a noise. She explained that when dogs are with other dogs playing, They bite each other to show dominance not to hurt each other. Well I reluctantly tried it.... But it worked!! She got the point right away, I think I only had to do it twice. I also made my commands very clear, And simple, keeping them to one word. I also made sure she had lots of chew toys and while playing with her if she nipped my hands id Drop the toy, put my hands behind my back, And leave the room for 10-15 min to show I was not happy.

She is now 8months old and She is a compleatly different dog. No chewing what-so-ever, 99.9% potty trained, plays fetch, obeys commands like sit, stay, ect. And if she does do something bad and I even have to say the word bad, She puts her ears down, And will beg for forgiveness with licks. She is also always praised by for everything good. Every time I see her go potty where shes supposed to, when she sits, stays etc. getting older prob played a factor but being consistent, and showing dominance I now have the best companion I could ever ask for!

Sorry so long, Hope that helps & best of luck!

Please, please don't use the Alpha Roll on your Yorkie.

ClickerSolutions Training Articles -- The History and Misconceptions of Dominance Theory

Thank you so much for that article! It was very different from what i thought I knew about dogs! Glad you posted it!

you are not harming your puppy by placing it on it's back and holding it. You are not abusing it. You are using a submissive move that a yorkie(and any other dog breed) uses naturally with eachother. And to be honest with you this has actually been the ONLY technique that we have made progress with shea. I dont believe you can "ignore" a dog when they bite you. You are not teaching the dog that what they are doing is unacceptable. Yorkshire terriers are just that, a terrier. They will do as they please because that is what they want to do...unless you show them another way. I have also tried the "ouch" technique on shea...unfortunately, it actually got her more hyped up and made her nip more. Go figure...it couldn't be easy!

I suggest you read the article I posted above.

For example, alpha rolls. The early researchers saw this behavior and concluded that the higher-ranking wolf was forcibly rolling the subordinate to exert his dominance. Well, not exactly. This is actually an "appeasement ritual" instigated by the SUBORDINATE wolf. The subordinate offers his muzzle, and when the higher-ranking wolf "pins" it, the lower-ranking wolf voluntarily rolls and presents his belly. There is NO force. It is all entirely voluntary.

A wolf would flip another wolf against his will ONLY if he were planning to kill it. Can you imagine what a forced alpha roll does to the psyche of our dogs?

Some will probably disagree w/me but I found w/my dog, anything w/duck was to rich. She didn't vomit, but it would give her the runs. That's just my experience. If I remember, you didn't have vomiting problems until you switched to duck.

Actually you are teaching them. You are teaching them that with that behavior (biting) they aren't going to receive attention and you've had it with the biting and play. Ignoring them is the punishment. It's a quick way to stop the behavior and with repetition they learn that the behavior doesn't earn them any rewards or positive reinforcement. It's basic Psychology 101.

I actually agree with you. I seek the advice of a pet nutritionist because Bailey has Chronic Pancreatitis and IBD. I feed him Natural Balance Fish and Potato (among other things and supplements). I wanna say she may have said the duck was too rich but don't quote me on that. It's standing out in my mind for some reason tho. :confused:

Karma is 2 years old and she nips and bites or mouths me all the time. i reach to pet her and she does it. never has hurt or even really made closed mouth contact. if she is out of reach you can hear her teeth snapping shut. I have tried ignoring her, and she does it even more. if i dont move and just stand there ignorning her she snaps at my legs and tugs on my pant legs. I haven't done anything about it cuase i think in Karma's case its a nervous thing she does and seems almost like she doesnt even know she is doing it let alone controling it. although, she doesnt do it with the kids at all.
i personally agree with the "roll" but i dont put them on their back, i put them on their sides, and the important part is them calming down. I have watched my dogs interact with each other and others for YEARS and this is something they all do. My border collie does it to the puppy we have all the time when the pup is getting too wild and nippy. She will push her over so she is on her side and then stands over her until she calms down. if she doesnt calm down and keeps running my bc will snap her. as far as my yorkie, my bc completely ignores her ALL the time. I sware she doesnt even know she is there! My yorkie barks and screams at her chasing her around the h ouse and yard all the time and bitting her back legs, and my bc just ignores her.

I want to clarify and state I'm not saying just to ignore the act all together and to just stand their idle letting the puppy bite away (as is evident in my posts if read in their entirety). There are steps you take up to ignoring and confing the puppy. They go hand in hand. The key, though, is to always ensure that your dog has something to chew on so they will not use you or another person or another animal as a chew toy.

The solution that other dogs use is when a puppy bites his mother, the mother will yelp. The puppy might get surprised at the reaction, but he may also try a second time to bite his mother. This time, the mother will yelp louder and may even growl at the puppy as she turns away from him, IGNORING the biting puppy. Many puppies will then get the message that Mom does not want to be bitten. If not, Mom will get a little more aggressive with them the next time.

The human way of implementing the dog solution which many agree upon is to yelp in a high-pitched voice the next time your puppy tries to nip at you or bite you. You can even exaggerate it to get your point across. If the biting continues, or the puppy ignores his chew toy then you IGNORE the puppy for a while and refuse to play with him. If the actions continue, you should continue to ignore your puppy. MOST dogs get the point and will realize that biting leads to the fun being over and will realize that biting people is not acceptable, but I guess their are those few who don't get it either as I'm hearing from some posts.

Biting is a problem that I think is very important to address. If you do not address the problem of your dog biting, you may find your dog or even yourself in trouble!

yes, the vomiting didnt start until the transition, and another thing is his poop is softer then usual. which is probably normal with the transition? thank u!!

I feed Natural Balance and I free feed which means there is always food in the dish. Zeke is not a picky eater, but he does not eat much at one time, and mostly eats at night. I have talked to other people who says their dogs eat mostly at night, but I want him to be able to eat whenever he is hungry.

He has never like to be picked us and will always back up if anyone tries to pick him up and he is 2 yrs. old. He does not like to be held, so is not a lap dog. He will lay beside you or come to you if he wants petted, but it has to be on his terms. I think Yorkies on the wholoe are very strong willed and do not like to be corected when they are bad.

I'd also like to add the "biting" technique above to Ladymom's suggestions of what not to do...:thumbdown

Mine refuse to eat anything duck period. Chicken is also a common allegen to Yorkies, and white potato.

When I get a new itchy Yorkie, first we see the vet.

Then, I normally do 2 applications a month apart of Revolution, to eliminate any mite/flea/fleabite allergy itchies. If this is the cause, improvement can be seen within 24 hours or less. I also put them on probiotics with digestive enzymes and prebiotics.

If itching continues, in the food I eliminate chicken, first, then grains. May try a limited ingredient diet...


As for Alpha Rolls.... this technique was never intended for use on puppies. It can be very damaging to their psyche, causing fear and hiding to name a few negative reactions.

Also, the Alpha Roll when done correctly, only needs to be done once. If the owner feels the need to repeat it, then it either wasn't done correctly, or it is the wrong correction to eliminate the undesired behavior.
Repeated use of the Alpha Roll is never indicated, and it becomes ineffective and damaging to continue to try to use it.

The way to be dominant to a puppy is to act like their biological Mom. For way out of control pups, you need to be consistent. When any dog/puppy is hyper barking, to interupt is inviting a bite. As the owner, best thing to do is to foresee these situations and do not let the pup escalate to that level. At that level, an interuption will cause frustration and will redirect any aggression to the interupter. So when you do interupt, don't take it personally, but be ready for the transfer of agression to you. When the pup realizes its you, he will regain control of his brain and back down. Instead of picking him up, try blocking him with a large piece of cardboard to stop his frenzy.

Actually taming a pup/dog will help immensely.

Well I think you should do what you feel comfortable with. I would never TELL someone what to do..But by sharing my personal experiance of what worked and what didnt you can judge for yourself...But this technique worked for me 100% so...

thanks everyone for your responses!!! he has stopped vomiting but now just not really eating!!:(

Probiotics may help with not eating.

Bailey's on Probiotics! Does it make them more hungry?