Guard dog

[Lady of Yorkies]

Out of the 5 that I own not one of them is specifically protective of me. Course Mr. Big is only 4 mo so he's got time yet. But they all think they are guard dogs, even if the only thing they are guarding against is their reflections in the glass of the back door. lol

Jessica, when I was trying to read your post I hit something wrong and got your profile. Guess what? You and my youngest son share a birthday! But he's 8 years younger. Sylvia

[April]

See i thought i was the only one with this problem . Well Toto does the same thing only he will literally snap and bite him (my brother) when he comes near me or sits on the bed with me to watch t.v. I don't understand why he does this. My brother gets really upset and then it causes everyone to fight in the house. My brother says when i'm not there he does not even act like this at all. Its weird though sometimes when my brother is there he still won't do anything to him. Its just random he'll growl and bark and run towards him and try to bite him and if he does get a hold of him he won't let go. It gets me mad because they say your pet shouldn't be like this. My brother has tried giving him a treat at times to make him stop. But it seems to work only sometimes. What to do Please give some advice.

[KimB]

Jordan sleeps on his back and will hang his head off of the edge of the bed and watch my husband come to bed. Skeeter is more edgy. She will growl and pace. My husband calls out on his way down to the bed, It's me Skeeter and picks her up from the bed, gives her a kiss and takes her paw and pats my shoulder. Funny enough, I have to do the same thing with her when I leave to go to work and he is still in bed. I think that she is protecting her bed and not either one of us. Serious though, a trainer told me that my husband should bring her a treat and over the last year it has gotten a lot better.
Good luck.

[ranedrops]

Daisy sleeps at the foot of our bed in the corner nearest the doorway. She is "on guard" all night long, warning of anyone passing by the doorway, be it cat or human. Should my husband come into bed late she growls and barks all the while he is saying "it's me, it's me." (And once in a while adding in a few other words I will not repeat!) But once he can pet her she is just fine and goes back to sleep in her guard spot.

My husband wasn't too happy with all the "alarms" during the night until one evening my 9 year old was sleep walking. She passed our doorway and headed to the kitchen. After Daisy the alarm sounded I checked to see what all the growling and barking was about and found my daughter and returned her to bed. It was kind of scary to think she could have left the house or hurt herself. My daughter had no recollection of it the next day. If it wasn't for Daisy we might not have woken up.

Now when the alarm sounds we don't mind as much anymore.

[Biddy's Mom]

Originally Posted by Lady of Yorkies

Jessica, when I was trying to read your post I hit something wrong and got your profile. Guess what? You and my youngest son share a birthday! But he's 8 years younger. Sylvia

Gotta love us Leos!!

[maddiesdad]

Originally Posted by Biddy's Mom

Thanks, Tom - this actually makes a lot of sense. Biddy definitly thinks that she & I are equal and everyone else is below us!

BTW - where in MA are you?? I live in Dorchester (but I'm originally from South Boston)...

I'm originally from East Cambridge but we just bought a house in Oxford.

It might help clarify things with Biddy if your boyfriend puts her in a submissive position on a regular basis. Once a day or so while I'm petting her I flip Maddie over on her back in my arms and rub her belly. It just helps show her who's boss. Obviously he'll need to do that when she's not growling at him

Tom

[Biddy's Mom]

Originally Posted by maddiesdad

I'm originally from East Cambridge but we just bought a house in Oxford.

It might help clarify things with Biddy if your boyfriend puts her in a submissive position on a regular basis. Once a day or so while I'm petting her I flip Maddie over on her back in my arms and rub her belly. It just helps show her who's boss. Obviously he'll need to do that when she's not growling at him

Tom

I work in Cambridge (I'm there right now as a matter of fact!).

I've read that (putting her in the submissive position) works, but we've never actually tried it. We definitly should - she is 1/2 Jack Russell so you can imagine her personality! we've such pushovers - we need to learn to be a little tougher with her. 99% of the time her behavior is fantastic, but when she is bad she is very very bad!