Behavior problems at 9 weeks

[Blue gumdrops]

So I play with Richie and hi favorite toy but he's always trying to bite me whenever I hand him his toy. I think it's because I allowed him to bite my fingers as he was teething and now he thinks it's okay. His teeth are barely growing in so I really can't train him yet as treats are solid and I don't feel comfortable giving him a solid treat. He jumps and tried to bite me in the face. I don't know if that's him being aggressive towards me or if that's just how he plays but he does that. Whenever he jumped on me his claws dug in on me but that was because they were pretty long. We got them trimmed and I don't get scratches anymore. Anyways he doesn't listen when I say no and at times when I pick him up or when my mom tries to play with him he growls. He also started humping his toy dog and I read that by that he's showing he's a leader. How do I make my 9 week old pup behave? He tries biting my skin and I grab him, put him on his belly and hold him down and say no. I read that that's a way to make them listen and be like "okay okay I'm listening" but that doesn't seem to work as he continues doing what I just said no from. I don't understand why he's like this. I show him love, I feed him and make sure he's as healthy as can be. What am I doing wrong?

[GracieJane]

At nine weeks, he is just a baby and learning how to behave. There are folks here who have trained many puppies, and they will give you great advice, but it sounds like a normal nine week puppy. Do some research here and at other dog training sites--in a few months you will have a best buddy!

[Deviruchi]

My puppy trainer told me that when puppies bite you, just yelp a little bit and back off of them. If they continue to try to play bite, just face different direction and avoid him for a bit. You yelping a bit will let him know that it's not good to bite and you are hurt.

Humping wise, it's not always dominance issue, but sometimes it's because that they are just too excited. My puppies did this (ofc boys) and I told them *no humping* and if they continue, just say no and correct them. repeat and it should stop. one of my puppy did this early and he doesn't hump anymore.. he's 8 months and not fixed yet. He tried to hump my girl puppy when she was in first heat, (humping the air next to her) and when I told them *no humping* he immediately backed off lol

*the forced relaxation pose* is what my trainer calls when you put them on their belly to relax them. But when you do this, make sure that you are petting him while doing it, and if he moves and you didnt say *ok you can go*, just say *no, relax* and return back to that pose. it may take awhile, especially since he's a puppy and maybe a stubborn yorkies.. (mine was lol), he should also probably let out a small sigh when he's done.. but if you continue to do this consistently, he should learn quick

If anything, look into AKC CGC trainers and they should help a lot

[matese]

Welcome to YT and congrats on your new baby. This is just THAT a BABY, 67 days of life. You play rough with him, he plays rough back. When he bites, in a FIRM voice, NO shouting, NO yelling, NO screaming, just FIRM voice say NO BITING, and him him a toy he can bite. Consistency is the KEY word. Use the same phrase for correcting biting. DO NOT put your face near him until he learns not to bite, those baby teeth are SHARPE like SHARK teeth. He is NOT being "aggressive" lol. he's being a puppy lol, playing, it is up to you and your ENTIRE family to correct him, USING ONE COMMAND, NO BITING. LOTS of praise when he stops biting, LOTS of PRAISE when he does what you ask of him.
Growls lol, sorry but I LOVE those baby growls, it's most likely just play growls, but correct with FIRM command NO GROWL BE NICE then put him on the floor if you have picked him up. I have to assume you got him at 8 weeks old, he in now 9 weeks old, means you have him for 1 week, 7 days, not long enough for a 9 week old puppy to know what the word NO is, lots of patience, and consistency is a MUST with a puppy this young. Yorkies are super hyper pups, LOVE to PLAY and nip, get a bit WILD lol The humping comes from excitement at this age, what ever he is humping, take it away until he calms down, use command NO HUMPING. PLEASE remember he is just a BABY, it will take him time to learn command words.
You do NOT have an " aggressive DOG", you have a "yorkie puppy".

[Wylie's Mom]

This is *not* a behavior problem at all - this is normal puppy behavior that all dogs need to go through.

Also, he should not have even been taken from his Momma and littermates at this young age - he should've been there until 12 weeks of age. So some of the things you're seeing are things his Momma and mates would normally teach him about in terms of limits - but they are not there.

Keep redirecting him and make yelps whenever he bites you.

[JadeD]

So cute at that age!!!! He is just being a puppy. You need to train him, but right now he is just a baby.

Someone suggested exactly what I was going to do, yelp when he bites you or say OUCH in a really high pitched voice. This is how litter mates let each other know it was too rough. This would have been taught him by his litter mates and mom if he had stayed with his mom for a longer amount of time. Now it is up to you to teach it to him. I got 2 puppies last May and they already knew this for the most part, I just had to re-enforce it and now they can chew on my hand and they will NOT hurt me in any way. My puppy does like to chew at my hand but he never leaves a mark or makes me yip. He knows exactly how hard he can bite down because I YIPPED when he bit too hard.

If he is biting at your face you need to remove him from being near your face. Mine tried to bite my ear once and I let out a huge high pitched ouch and removed the puppy from being near my ear. Now they only lick my ears.

This baby needs direction and you have to teach it, patiently, how to behave. It is really too young to start teaching commands in my opinion, but at 10-14 weeks it can learn sit. Keep working with it on sit and when it masters sit then teach it down. Let the puppy master the new command and keep going over ones it learned daily and then add a new one in. Mine were worked with at 10 weeks but really didn't pick up on what I wanted until about 12 weeks or so and then learned well after that.

Love it, but don't let it get away with biting, that is not a good habit for a puppy to have. My puppy still enjoys my hand almost like a pacifier, but that is something that I allow as long as he doesn't hurt me and he is 13 months old and just adores me. The other puppy gave up that kind of behavior on her own after her adult teeth came in.

Good luck and enjoy the puppy. It will soon be grown and hopefully well behaved. It really is just being a puppy! Also, watch your feet, mine loved to bite my feet and I would yelp or say ouch and they would stop, but if they didn't I removed my feet from the situation so they were not there for them to bite. I have never hit my dogs and don't like to raise my voice at them and they are wonderful. Sometimes distraction is the best way. If he is biting at you then give him a toy and encourage him to bite it.

Humping is just how a puppy plays sometimes. One of my puppies did it and the other did not. I just ignored it really and he rarely tries to hump anything (he is fixed). The growling is probably playing. You should have heard my 2 puppies playing, they would growl and make the worst sounds, but they were just playing with each other. Even now they will growl while playing tug of war over a toy and it is nothing serious, it is just play. If you can learn the difference between a play growl and a viscous growl that will be good. At 9 weeks old I don't believe a puppy can be viscous. Playful and funny and not well behaved, but not mean.

Good luck!!!

[Bamboo15]

Puppies have no manners at all! It's normal puppy behavior but I know it can feel frustrating. It will get better with time and training. I have two Yorkies now and the first one was like this. I read that yelping and freezing when they bite during play makes them stop (it's what their litter mates would do). It didn't really help with my dog. I started to get up and walk away after saying NO! when he would bite too hard during play. I did let him continue to just mouth. I also got a second puppy shortly after that. The second one would stop playing with him and hide if he bit too hard. I think the combination of these two things finally got him to stop. I also give my dogs Nylabones and let them chew on those lol.

I agree that the growling is just playing.

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

This is *not* a behavior problem at all - this is normal puppy behavior that all dogs need to go through.

Also, he should not have even been taken from his Momma and littermates at this young age - he should've been there until 12 weeks of age. So some of the things you're seeing are things his Momma and mates would normally teach him about in terms of limits - but they are not there.

Keep redirecting him and make yelps whenever he bites you.

[JennaPenny]

Originally Posted by Blue gumdrops

So I play with Richie and hi favorite toy but he's always trying to bite me whenever I hand him his toy. I think it's because I allowed him to bite my fingers as he was teething and now he thinks it's okay. His teeth are barely growing in so I really can't train him yet as treats are solid and I don't feel comfortable giving him a solid treat. He jumps and tried to bite me in the face. I don't know if that's him being aggressive towards me or if that's just how he plays but he does that. Whenever he jumped on me his claws dug in on me but that was because they were pretty long. We got them trimmed and I don't get scratches anymore. Anyways he doesn't listen when I say no and at times when I pick him up or when my mom tries to play with him he growls. He also started humping his toy dog and I read that by that he's showing he's a leader. How do I make my 9 week old pup behave? He tries biting my skin and I grab him, put him on his belly and hold him down and say no. I read that that's a way to make them listen and be like "okay okay I'm listening" but that doesn't seem to work as he continues doing what I just said no from. I don't understand why he's like this. I show him love, I feed him and make sure he's as healthy as can be. What am I doing wrong?

Dude, I agree with the comments but had to add, he's just a little bittle guy! Chewie-ini growls all the time. It's usually a playful one, or an I need some attention one. I've only heard her growl in earnest at the ferocious hose beast, and the Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. Apparently she dislikes the man talking about certain subjects in a loud voice. She's older, too. Any way, I had to add my 2 cents.

[Russpilot]

Originally Posted by JennaPenny

I've only heard her growl in earnest at the ferocious hose beast, and the Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. Apparently she dislikes the man talking about certain subjects in a loud voice.

What?!? She doesn't like R. Lee Ermey? The Gunney Sgt. Will not be happy to hear that! He might have to come have some words with her... LOL

[JennaPenny]

Originally Posted by Russpilot

What?!? She doesn't like R. Lee Ermey? The Gunney Sgt. Will not be happy to hear that! He might have to come have some words with her... LOL

It was RIGHT at the reach around comment and I was laughing too hard to breathe.

[QuackXP]

8 Week old Yorkie, she has been home 3 days.

I'm a little worried about how to handle roughhouse playing with our Yorkie and not encouraging her to bite.

Right now I let her bite and swat at me when we play. But not chew on me at all. I just push her playfully away. If she chews on anything she is not supposed to she gets a stern NO!. We are also discovering all the stuff we probably cannot keep on or near the floor in the future.

She has a tendency to attack my big toe when sitting on the floor. I usually just playfully push her away or should I be using the NO! here as well.

I also try to giver her a stuffed toy or rubber chew toy if she starts to really try to bite.

[JennaPenny]

Oh, gosh. 8 weeks. Holy crap these little guys under the 12-14 week mark must be SO tiny.

Well, they love to roughhouse. They do, heh. Chewie will do it no matter what. Just be sure to keep any toys or your hand low to the ground.

Also, they are little bottom feeders. Anything on the ground is fair game. Even things you don't see.

[Myzterious32]

My new little girl is doing the same. I've been saying ouch , giving her toys and saying only kisses or love nibbles. She seems to really be catching on. She was born Jan 28th. I drove 1200 miles to pick her up on April 4th.