Why Does She Do This?
 

I am getting so frustrated with Bella. My husband is worried we will have to get rid of her when we have kids. Here is what she does. My nephew who is 6wants to play with her and loves her but she HATES him. The first time they met was at our house and he kept wanting to hold her an play with her and she just barked and barked and barked at him and chased him (not like play chase, mean chase). We thought this was strange because she has never shown this aggressive behavior before. So we thought well maybe it was the first time and next time she will be better. At Thanksgiving another bad thing, she not only barked at him again, but she tried to bite him. Jus tlike a nip, but still this is not good dog behavior. So now we are thinking what is going on she has never done this before, even with other dogs. she loves my mom and dads three dogs, and plays with them all the time. And she is fine with people. So again yesterday we were at my mother and father in-laws house and my nephew was instructed not to touch Bella to leave her alone and if she wanted to play she would come to him, so he was good, Bella was not! He came in and she was okay well then my nephew went to lay down on the floor not even near her, and she went and barked at him and tried to bite him, and then another time he was walking into the living room and she did it again, We spanked her and told her bad girl and then she pouted and she let him pet her after that, but I am scared about having her around children, and afraid that we will have to get rid of her when we do have kids. What do I do?

Did your nephew did anything to her before? Like physical that may have hurt her and she remembers it well? Is the play always supervised? If not, maybe something happened and thus Bella remembers it?

Honestly, some dogs just do NOT like kids. He most likely didn't do anything to her, it's just that she thinks he might. I have a chihuahua that does not like children at all. I have two kids and she tolerates them but honestly, she has nipped them both. I crate her whenever kids visit because she will try to chase them. She really doesn't even like most adults either :rolleyes:

Play has always been supervised with then and he has not done anything to her, and she likes adults so I am just baffled. I hope she can learn to deal with children.

It might be that Bella is telling your nephew that the space she is in is HERS and she is protecting it, as one of the leaders of HER pack. Hopefully, you and your husband have established yourselves as pack leader with Bella, and as such, she is calm submissive around you. However, your nephew is a new person that has not yet established himself as a leader in her eyes. Gosh, I have been watching the dog whisperer too much! Anyway, can you try some activities with your nephew to help establish his ranking in the pack? Things like going on a walk with you and Bella, he holds the leash and keeps Bella a bit behind him. When going out of the house, have nephew go out before Bella. Have nephew feed Bella, but only give her the food after she performs a command like sit, or down. Teach him some of the disciplinary things that you do with Bella so that he is consistent when he is around her. You will need to work with him and supervise him. Just some thoughts. If those don't work, you might consider hiring a behavioral specialsit to help you?

EXCELLENT suggestions! I was going to ask if Bella had seen you in a positive physical setting with your nephew. Maybe sitting beside you, or playing - to show her he is an accepted pack member.

It has been my experience with Yorkies that most are not fond of kids. I think because of their size they are just rightfully afraid. The screaming, loud noises, and jerky motions are just to upsetting for them.

...All the more reason my Abbie is so special. She fights to get to my daughter, when daughter is in a seizure. If we don't intercept her, she ever so gently crawls up daughter's body toward her face, to lay beside her.

disagree with this generalization
 

I don't post much here but I have to disagree with this - I have had Yorkies for more years than some of you are old and if properly handled I have only seen a couple that would not tolerate little people around them. Usually there is a valid reason - sometimes its a spoiled child of the skin kind and some times its a spoiled child of the fur kind. Either one needs to be trained to proper behavior- no excuses- they all can and should be properly socialized and taught proper manners in all situations. Accept nothing less from 2 or 4 footed children.

Gracie loves kids and I make it a point to keep socializing her with them.

Nico does too...it would hurt me if he began to not like kids...:(

As far as having your own children, I wouldn\'t worry about that now. When you bring a new baby home, your dog will have time to gradually get used to the idea before the child can grab a hold of her. What you will have to do is give her enough attention so she doesn\'t feel left out. I feel so sorry for dogs that are treated like a child until the human child comes upon the scene.

The suggestions about having your nephew give her treats may go a long way in helping her accept him but he shouldn\'t hold her or play with her if she doesn\'t want him to. Who could blame a little dog for being afraid of kids?

Thanks guys for your advice, I really hope she will do okay when we have children, B/c I could not stand the thought of having to get rid of her!

Ditto. :thumbup:

Toto will be 2 years old in March. He just loves for children to come to "play"
with him. He gets so excited when one or more of the grandchildren come to visit. Oh, I have 8 grandchildren from the age of 3 to 17 years, so Toto has plenty of 2 legged playmates! :D