My Harley? Mean?
 

Every breed description I've read has told me the same thing.. That Yorkshire Terriers do not do well with children. I thought that rediculus until I got Harley. But his dislike for them is quite justified when you learn that his first encounter with someone 3ft nothing kicked him in the face. And it's always such a shame when little children want to pet him bc he's just so darn cute but I can't let them bc as soon as they put their hands near him he trys to nip and growls and sometimes barks @ them. I think it has a lot to do with the way they act and the energy the kids put off. They're loud and unpredictable and move around at a million miles an hour and I think that makes him anxious and so he bites. (saying that hurts so much) It's tough taking him out sometimes bc I fear that some kid is going to rush over (has happened atleast a dozen times) and reach out and touch my dog before I can even react or warn them not to do so. I mean in a world like today I nip on a childs hand means death of the accused dog. Whether he was provoked or not. Does anyone else have these problems? I reprimand him and try to explain to the kids that they need to calm down, not jump around, lower the voices, approach him slowly and not to scream at him or flail their arms and hands around. But I mean how do you explain to a 3-7 yr old that they need to learn how to act like an adult in about a minute? It just doesn't happen. I want Harley to be approachable and I don't want to fear the worst. You guys have any tips? Or atleast know where I'm coming from?

Another problem happened 2 days ago. My boyfriend and I went to visit my grandaddy who lives in assisted living a couple miles from our house. We've been taking Harley there to visit everybody since we first got him and he's been fine. But last night everybody had just finished eating dinner and they were all sitting out in the great big 'living room' conversating and watching Harley run around chasing his fav orange plush bone everywhere I threw it. A lot of the residents like to try and call him over so they can pet him but he basically likes to show off and run around their feet before they can touch him. (he's more of a "Watch me! Watch me!" than a "Please cuddle w/ me!" kind of doggie) But one lady in particular decided that she wanted a closer look and walked over to one of his toys and stepped on it and was reaching down to pick it up when Harley attacked. He basically jumped up her leg and tried to bite her all over until she finally got away from his toy. He was growling/barking/snarling the entire time. She then proceeded to try and poke him with her cane which only further 'ticked him off'. I mean no pun when I say we were all lucky that it didn't cause her to have a heart attack right then and there. I was appauled and embarrassed to say the least. I instantly jumped down on the floor beside him, rolled him over on his side, said sternly "NO! Bad boy!" and used my fingers as if they were teeth in his side and kept him pinned there until he calmed down and became completely relaxed. (he basically showed that he decided to be submissive) So I let him back up, asked him to get on my lap, where I took away his toys and made him sit quietly. I personally would have thought that the scare would have been enough but the sweet old lady seemed unabashed and came right up to his face while I was bent over stashing all his things back into his bag. I felt his growl before I heard it (he was on my lap) and I grabbed him just in time. The lady just couldn't understand that he was scared of her and she wouldn't stop. So I took him to my grandaddys room where he was totally fine. I was scared to death and feel awful. My baby isn't a bad dog.. I just don't know how to stop/avoid this terrible behavior. I mean, if he had actually broken skin it could have been the end of this poor lady. At their age their skin is like paper and their blood doesn't clot as fast as it needs to and... I just don't know what I would have done if he had really hurt her.. I always warn people that he's a nipper and more of a watch me dog than a cuddle me dog but they're never convinced until he acts out.. Please help if you can.. Or atleast let me know he's not a jack-the-yorkie-ripper.. :cry8:

I'm so sorry you are having troubles. I don't know anything about agression training but I'm sure that someone who does will write you soon! For the time being...let me just say that it sounds like Harley has run into some really irritating instances. It sounds like maybe he's afraid or aggravated and when he changes body language etc. to show people they aren't getting it. I mean really, if a dog tries to bite you why are you going to go back up and try to touch it again? Good luck! I hope someone helps you out soon.

Im sorry that you are having this trouble with him. My Mickey barks at samll kids well really anyone that he doesnt know. So I have to keep a good eye out for him when some ones around.

Isn't Harley just a puppy? They aren't unlike children when they are puppies. Misbehaved sometimes. Everything is THEIRS, so don't touch it. There are lots and lots of books available for training and dealing with aggressiveness. Mine doesn't nip, but she's still doing a little bit of teething and she likes to chew on your fingers. I would go look for a good training book that deals with aggressiveness and biting or research the net for training. I know there is a lot available. You will just have to put the time into training and I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

I know how you feel. my 8 year old pom (12 Lbs) has always been more aggressive than I would like. I do not trust her around children alone. She will bite me if she is under the bed ,her territory, and I try to put my hand under there. She is so embarrassing to take anywhere because like you , people will come up and say oh how cute and try to pet her and she starts snarling. That's one reason I got a yorkie again, I have had three in the past always sweet. Before I got the puppy the end of August, I stated working with her to let me put my hand under the bed without biting me, she has done pretty good but will snap at the puppy when she goes under the bed.
I fortunately have 2 neighbors with 2 kids each, they love Cali to pieces and she sees them about 3 times a week. I have told the kids they can only hold her if they are sitting on the ground and hold her gentley ane at a time and no quick movements. They all sit in a circle and take turns holding her. The kids are 4, 5,5 and 9. Even though Cali nips me all the time as puppies do she has never even tried to nip the kids. Maybe you can find an understanding parent will well behaved kids who will help you get Harley used to kids. Even Maya will tolerate the kids petting her now but i do not trust her so i always hold her around the kids.

My Lexie has the same type of personality. I've tried everything I know of to get her to accept people approaching her but so far nothing has worked. She seems to be very protective and if people insist on getting in her space she nips them and barks and lunges right at them till they back off. She also makes sure she gets the last word in. I also advise people she is a nipper and not to try to pet her and if she gets into one of her rages I remove her. She is 17 months old. We have two older yorkies one is 6 years and the other 5 years -- neither of them like kids but they like older adults. Hopefully Lexie will calm down and be more approachable as she gets older. Her she is -- don't let her face foul you -- she is a rotweiller in a yorkie coat.

WOW! you guy's have lil' hell fire's....I hope it works out..Were they well socialized from the beginning or was it just the 2 or 3 of you!?

Yes Harley was well socialized. His breeder had 3 kids. Two of them were teenagers but the other was only 2. They also had a bigger mixed breed male dog and a grumpy old fat cat.. All of whom Harley totally harrassed! (meaning he bugged and bugged them until they either played w/ him or tried to kill him!) He's only about 7 months old. But I don't think this has to do w/ being a pup bc when he was younger he liked chewing on my fingers etc but this seems to be down right aggression. The look on his face just changes.. It's scary.. My mom told me to get him a t-shirt that says, "Back off! Rottweiler Undercover!".. hehe I'm definately going to look for some aggression help books. The time and practice will definately be worth it if I can get him to just "Be nice!" :p

Oh yea, Will just reminded me and I wanted to add that last night @ his house Harley started a TERRIBLE fight w/ his two boxers and his bulldog Lulu all bc they all went to sniff his toys.. I've never seen anything more rediculus than three HUGE dogs cowering to a 8lb dog.. But he was attached to Brandys(boxer) ear for a good 10 seconds so I don't blame them much!

I think you can deal with it if you work on it really hard NOW. :) All mine does is wiggle herself to death when she sees someone. She thinks the world is hers to hug! :D I wish for you the same that I have in Kacee. The only thing that scares Kacee is when kids start running toward her when they see her. She gets ready to go the other way. :D

hehe I just had the cutest visual of a lil yorkies eyes getting HUGE like in a cartoon and zooming the other way! :p

Macy has always got along well with kids. Kassie (my 2 3/4 yrs. old granddaughter) kisses Macy on the mouth and helps her chase her toys. They race to see who can get there first. If Kassie wins she tosses the toy so Macy can win. The 5 yr. old next door is scared of her, but that's only because her Mom has never let her be around animals and she's scared of everything.

Well, the first behavior doesn't sound out of the ordinary for a dog who hasn't been well-socialized to young children. If I were you, I'd work on this by first taking him some place where there are young children in the distance. Like a park. Stay away from the kids while interacting with Harley and giving treats for appropriate behavior. When he's comfortable with this, take it a little closer to the kids. When you feel like you can trust him enough, let the kids toss some treats to him so that he learns "good things come from small people". If he is comfortable, let them advance to feeding him the treat. This will all take some time. Don't try to do it in one day.

In the meantime, when little kids approach you can 1) position yourself in between them while holding up your hand in a "stop sign" fashion. This should buy you enough time to say "Don't touch. He bites". 2) Alternately, scoop him up before they can touch him. You are right. You can't risk his biting a child.

The second behavior was quite extreme. I would consult a trainer ASAP. I also wouldn't take him back to that facility.

sorry for your troubles. i hope you get it figured out, so no one gets hurt...

Good luck!
 

My Angel never ever got used to kids. It seemed that anyone close to her size was meant to be dominated, and that was her self-appointed job in life. Although we used to warn the "rug rats" in our lives on multiple occasions, there was still multiple blood lettings, and some were unforgettable. However, as soon as the child was 4 feet plus, they were allowed to become fast friends with Angel, or as she was affectionately known by the kids in our families, "Angel-NOT". We couldn't ever figure it out. It really seemed to be height related. She never liked strangers, either, but could almost always accept adult family members.

Some dogs are aggressive/protective. I am not sure they can be changed, though I bet there are some dog-whisperers out there with success stories galore. I was just never talented enough to change my own dog's personality. I wish you the best of luck!

I am always scared about Miko being around children unsupervised only because I'm afraid of what the kids might do to him. He loves children so much and I don't want that to change and that's why I'm extra careful.
My aunt's yorkie used to Love children also until one day she had a Christmas party at her house and one of the kids went into the room where her yorkie was and started tormenting him and choking him...If it wouldn't have been for my mom walking in, he might have died. Now, he tries to growl and bark and bite any child. We can't let kids anywhere near him because he freaks out.
My husband and I plan on having children in the future, so I don't want anything to make Miko aggressive. From the time we got him, we have always tried to make him tolerate loud noise, sudden movements, etc. Thank goodness it has worked so far!
FirstYorkie's advice sounds really great!

My Harley?Mean?
 

Our Bayley is five months old. We have him three weeks. Our kids are ages 8 and 5. The first two weeks was pure hell between the kids and the puppy. Bayley went nuts every time they came in the room. Attacking them, growling, nipping, barking. The younger one couldn't even walk passed the dog without him biting his feet or his legs. I think it was a combination of the noise and the fast movements that scared the dog.

I also read that Yorkies are not good with children and was really beginning to worry that this wasn't going to work out. So, I had my kids sit quietly on the floor, not touch the dog or pick him up, let the dog go to them. Bayley got used to being with them and is getting used to their wild ways. Lets face it, they are kids. Whenever he goes after them, Bayley gets it from Momma. In one week, Bayley behaves much better around the kids, but we still have a way to go. Good luck.

Sounds like Bayley is doing great. You could maybe speed up the process by having the kids give him his meals. Also, make the kids into mini treat-dispensing-machines. I like your advice of having the kids wait for the dog to come to them and not vice-versa!

Mine were practically raised by my grandkids. My Yorkie girls are six years old, and my grandchildren are now 10 and 7. So, you see they were 4 and 1 when I first got them. My Yorkie girls are very nice to my grandgirls, and vice versa. Sure, there were a few scary moments when my grandgirls got too rough with them, but they never did anything harmful to them, thank God! My Yorkie girls love everyone, kids and adults alike. Chewy is definitely more outgoing, like I am, and Sierra is more of a quiet, stay at home body like my husband. Thy all have different personalities like people, I'm sure. And they do tend to take after their owners, JMO.

I would definitely look up the agressive training, for sure, if I were you! They are easily trained and aim to please. They learn quickly! Good luck! :thumbup:

Aww I hope you can resolve your problem with Harleys' aggression. I have some problems with Gucci too. She is fine as long small kids dont get on top of her without letting smell them first, she will growl and will try to nip. Also she doesnt allowed anyone but me to tocuch her when she is eating. ANy suggestions?

First, as far as not wanting to be touched while eating, this is known as food or object guarding. There is an excellent article on how to deal with it here:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti...ctguarding.htm

As far as the kids, I think it's perfectly reasonable on Gucci's part to want to smell them before she lets them get all over her. Again, as kids approach, I'd hold up my hand in a "stop sign" fashion and say "Stop! Let her come to you first". If they don't stop, add "She bites!". If they still don't stop, scoop up Gucci and leave - these kids need more training than you have time for! :rolleyes:

While Gucci is sniffing the kids, I'd give them some small dog treats to give her so that she learns "good things come from small people". At first, have the kids just drop the treats (to be sure Gucci doesn't nip their hands). As Gucci gets more comfortable, show the kids how to offer treats from an open palm.

I'm betting that Gucci can learn to tolerate kids!

Thank you so much for the link and advise. i will defenetely check out that link. :thumbup:

You're welcome! Let us know how it goes!

I wonder how Harley is doing....

I took Harley w/ me to a church event and discovered something.. He has a sweet and social side! When I arrived I announced to everyone in advance (it was a PJ party.. about 2 women dressed in pjs @ a Praise Jesus party! hehe) that he will nip/bite/snarl whatever if you charge him too quickly. So I asked everyone and anyone who might feel an impulse to touch his cute goofy butt (he was wearing his pj's too!) that they give him a couple feet, try and call him over and then let him sniff you. If he likes you he'll stick around and roll over for a belly rub. If he thinks you smell silly or he's running low on tolerance he'll flip up his little tail and prance off! All of them listened (being that they were all between the age range of 18-60 instead of 3-12!) and he was AWESOME! He never once acted out! And I mean there was a lady trying to pet him every other minute! I feel a lot better and realize that he needs to check THEM out before they touch HIM!

I don't have any aggresion issues with Logan, but i also socialized the crap out of him from the moment I got him. I got him the 4th of July weekend and took him to a family reunion on sat. & a friends party on sun. So he got used to all kinds of people real fast. The only times he gets a little shy or scared is if someone rushes him. He likes to be the aggressive one, or approach people on his own terms and most of the times he does because he runs right up to people before they even see him. Maybe somethng you can do to help is act like a kid yourself. Ever since he was little him and I would go outside and play chase. I would jump around and act like a idiot and he would jump and bark and chase me. and if he ever snapped or bit to hard I would just say no. That way he got used to fast sporatic movement in a safe environment.

We had a Scottish terrier when I was a kid that bit everyone. Even me and mom, so it had nothing to do with strangers. I was a small child at the time. Something I realized that my mom thinks I'm nuts, but I think it might have merit is that everytime he bit me it was in a kinda dark place and I was moving in very quickly to pet him. If I moved slowly I was fine. I think it had something to do with instincts. He saw this quick movement in the dark and went after it as if it were a rabbit or something. Just a thought. We never got him over it and he had to be put away any time strangers were about.

I wish I had some great tips for you, but unfortunately, maggie is pretty much in love with everyone. I'm not sure whether it's because the first two days I had her she lived in my dorm and met a lot of people or just her personality in general. I know it sounds a little crazy, but i'm only 5'1" and maybe she just thinks kids aren't any different than me lol. Hope you get it worked out. I'm sure he'll come around with a little work.

Harley has made another step in the right direction today! I decided to bring him on campus w/ me today and brought him along to my drawing class. I carried him in my kari pack so I didn't have to worry about him scampering away from me. Well of course EVERYBODY wanted to pet him.. I mean geesh.. Who can resist a yorkie!? So I told them all to let him sniff you first and once he licks you or starts wagging his little nubby tail :animal36 then you're A-ok to pet him.. And sure enough.. No problems at all! He was soo friendly! And over 10 people even held him and he gave them kisses all over their faces! I'm so impressed w/ the difference it makes just by giving him the chance to see who's about to pet him! :D And my professor is a real nut! He's originally from yugoslavia and has been teaching for over 45 yrs! He can barely speak english even though he's been living in the states for 20+ yrs and his accent made Harley act funny! But Fadja was soo sweet w/ him and let him check him out first and then he spent most of the class playing w/ Harley rather than critiquing our sketches! (everyone appriciated this!) :p

Now all I have to do is tackle the children aggression.. And I have found the perfect little helper! My little 4 yr old cousin Donovan has brightly volunteered and I'll keep you guys updated!

Don't think you'll neet this
 

Lee Ann, you and Harley are doing so well that I doubt if you will need this
but there may be something for someone else. This is from a book that I
really like on dogs. My Crystal loves everyone, adults, kids, dogs, cats etc.
but a couple months ago my friends two boys were shooting b b guns (no
noise and I cannot figure out why she was so frightened) I hate the things
and she doesn't watch tv so she's not frightened of guns :) . You just never
know what goes through their heads. Anyway this is from the book

If your dog is only a puppy between seven weeks and six months old, his growling (snarling and nipping, too) can be ended with corrections using vocal reprimands ("No") with or without rattling a shake can. Careful
employment of the corrective jerk (use is based on the dogs temperament)
can successfully solve this problem. Young dogs between the ages of six
and ten months old can still be turned around with firm corrections. Of course
at this age growling is often accompanied by snalrling, snapping and shallow
bites and must be dealt with quickly and effectively. But growling dogs ten
months and older are difficult to change. Once a dog is past ten months of
age and has a growling, snarling, or biting problem, he can cause serious injuries and requires professional evaluation.

We have a great trainer that will help you over the phone if it's not a busy
day for him and you may have someone like that in your town and possibly obedience training would help so that the dog
knows that you are alpha and not he/she. I really believe in obedience
training. I know I was trained as much as my dogs were.

That makes me so happy to read this about Harley. You're doing a great job with him. I think it will all work out fine. ;)

I'm glad this is working for you, LeeAnn! Just be careful because there seems to be one in every group who think they know more about dogs than you do & won't follow your instructions. It is especially hard in a Nursing Home because of many residents' reduced ability to hear and/or understand what you are saying.

Your cousin is a great place to start with working on the kid-thing! Once Harley is happy with him, it would be a good idea to extend it to other kids before "turning him loose".

Thank you for all your tips and support everybody! I know EXACTLY what you mean FirstYorkie, by that one person in a crowd who thinks they know more about dogs than ANYONE on the planet! I get those ALL the time and I try to stay patient but in the end if they persist I end up giving them a correctional lecture explaining to them exactly why they are wrong! If they don't like it they can go away! If they take it in stride then great! lol

Oh yea, I almost forgot, I've decided not to allow Harley to run around on his own or be pet by anyone in the nursing home anymore. If he comes at all he will be in his kari pet or in his bag and he will go straight to my grandaddys room! No problems there! :D And my moms older terrier mutt (oh tut tut my language! ;) ) rescue TA has replaced Harley! She is now their official visiting buddy! But this dog could be a therapy dog if you asked her to be! She's perfect for the job! Calm, quiet, patient, comes when she's called (even by strangers), loves being in your lap, will sit in one place for an hour as long as your rubbing her ears.. Basically.. She's everything that Harleys NOT! haha :animal36