What did I do WRONG??? I NEED your support, PLEASE!!!!
 

I've been so sad lately because I realized that Bengi has fear aggression issues. I feel like I failed as a yorkie mom because it looks like I didn't do a good job to help him socialize. I thought I did... I mean, I took him to obedience classes, took him to the park, on walks, but it looks like it wasn't enough. He barks when on a leash at stranger people and dogs. It's like he's telling them to go away. He doesn't let anybody touching him.
This weekend we went to a hotel on the beach and he barked at everybody that was passing by. He barked more if they were walking a dog.
This hurts so much because he's so loving with me and family members. We all love when people compiments our dogs and they say "Oh your dog is so cute!" but then he starts to bark like crazy so nobody would get closer and people kinda laught because he's so small so he's not scary. But I feel embarrassed because I don't want him to be that way. At this point I don't expect him to be a social butterfly, but at least it he would just ingnore people or not care about them would be fine with me.
I decided I want to do something about this. I'm going to talk to a trainer because I want to do whatever is needed to help, and avoid doing things that are contributing to his behavior. I need your support YTalkers!!!! because I know this is a long road and takes a lot of patience. I need to know I'm not alone in this and that I have people here who can make me feel good when Bengi improves little by little.
I just want him to be him anywhere he goes!!!! I don't like when people think he's bad, when I know he's not, and I don't want to try to excuse his behavior by saying "He's just afraid!" or when a little girl asks me if she can pet him I don't want to tell her "maybe it's not a good idea".
He is a year old now and I had him since he was a puppy. I think I can do this!!! I think I can help him!!!!! Can I?

Let me know what you end up doing. My girls are the same way. If they are at home, they'll take a few minutes if someone new comes to the house, but they do warm up. Outside, they bark at everyone. When we go on walks they bark at everyone 2 houses down. In the car, same thing. Neighbors come out in their yard & they bark at them. I'm always telling them to stop it.
Nothing so far has worked for us. They don't bark or carry on at the groomers, or the Vet with strangers there. Strange, I don't know why they act the way they do when they do.

I'm sorry Benji is having socialization problems. Ellie acts pretty much the same. That's because our old vet told us that Yorkies get stressed easy and don't take her around people (we won't be going to that vet anymore). If you figure out something that helps, please lemme know.

Let me know how it works. Mytwo bark at everyone outside when they are inside of the fence and really bark at people when they come to the door. Its embarressing. Luckily they dont bark at people when we are outside of the fence so we can go on walks

Bengi takes some time to warm up around new people at home too. And also, at the groomer, he barks at her, until she grabs him with authority, so he shuts up. Before he's scared, he barks, but if somedoby shows like they are not afraid of him, like groomers and vets, he calms.

Ours is very similar. She is much more aggressive if she is on a leash. I have found that if we take her to the dog park, or if she is off leash, she is very shy around other dogs. She barks at everyone who walks by our house, and she definitely barks at all of the dogs that walk by. She also growls at men who come near me if I am holding her or if they approach my car (even the guy who put gas in the car). I guess that really isn't a bad thing though. ;) We just haven't been able to break her of the barking, and it is rather frightening when she barks at strange dogs while we are on a walk.:aimeeyork

Please don't feel like you did anything wrong. We have always taken Murfee everyplace with us and socialize him. He has over 37000 miles on him from camping and we don't ever leave him behind. When he is one the leash he always barks at people and dogs. We have told him to not bark and really worked with him but he still does it...even though we think he is getting better (he is 3) If he is off the leash at a dog park (not very often) he seems shy around other dogs. If I am holding him, he is usually pretty good and will let people pet him, BUT if anyone tries to touch me, they better watach out! We learned that when a friend tried to hug me bye when I was holding Murfee. Good luck and let us know if the trainer has any good ideas to help the rest of us who are right there with you.:)

I feel so much better now that I know that others have the same problem!!!! I though I was the only one. A couple of times I posted about barking issues and I didn’t have many replies and I was always reading posts about “social” yorkies, so I was feeling so bad. It’s good to know that Bengi is not the only one.
Some were saying that they are shy at the dog park and that’s exactly what happens to him. He does not bark there, but doesn’t let any dog smell his butt!!!
It’s kinda funny how he sits when he sees a dog approaching him, he sits so nobody would smell him because he’s scared!

I have been going through the samething with Buddy.
I said I would never have another dog like my last terrier who hated
other dogs and men. Made it really difficult for 16yrs. I did the same with
Buddy. I said he would love everything on this earth. HA HA didn't work!
He went to puppy classes, day care for awhile, is socialized with neighborhood dogs and plays with them, however anything new forget about
it.
Last Sun we went for a walk around my complex and an apple blossom tree
was in full bloom. Would you believe he went nuts, absolutely crazed because he never saw that before:eek: He backed away from it like it would
bite him. I was laughing but annoyed that he could be so dumb. It's was then that I realized what
his problem was. He does not like change of any kind.
I thought about a trainer as well but to be honest I think this is just
how it is with this breed. They are very protective and you just need
to be aware of their problem and always be on guard.
Like people no two Yorkies are the same. It dosen't help either that
he's a teapot. More to restrain he's strong.
I was dissapointed about this as well and was upset but he's healthy,
loving to family and other dogs he knows. He's wonderful with my two
small granddaughters and loves them dearly.
I guess we can't have everything. I continue to talk him through strange
people, dogs and places hopefull that he will relax somewhere down the road.
Good luck.

It is true that we can't have it all... and beside that issue, he's the perfect dog for me. But I think it is the fact that I love him so much that I wish he could be perfect in every way, like it happens with skin kids. But sometimes we have to understand that things are the way they are. Maybe other YT are fine with the social side of their yorkies but they are struggling with other things that are not issue with my yorkie.
I’m going to talk to a trainer just to make sure I’m not doing thing that are not helping. If he gets better, that’s would be great, but if he doesn’t, he’s still my baby, and I will love him forever and ever like he is. Because this is actually not affecting me directly, but something that I would “prefer” if it would be different. Like when you have a kid and you wish he would do better at math and you can improve it with a tutor, but he’ll never be a mathematician :)

My Taya (my spaniel/rotweiller mutt) is the same way. She is the sweetest little dog in the whole world with people she knows and loves. Very loving and cuddly. However, the minute she sees a stranger she freaks out- barking, growling peeing/pooping...EVERYTHING. She was a stray shelter dog so I think she may have been abused. She's actually a little less agressive and more just shy when we're out in public than when we have people over at home. She's now had several incidents that have resulted in us having to muzzel her when people are over. It's very sad that she's like this but I love her just the same. When she was a puppy I tried to socialize her- I lived in an apartment and would take her out to play with other puppies and their owners who also walked their dogs in the same areas. I used to take her to petsmart all the time- she seemed to get worse. She goes with me to siblings houses- and she's eventually gotten used to that and acts normal there, however, when I take her to the park or for walks away from home she gets very upset and freaked out still. I do not think this behavior means that I did a bad job with her or that she's a bad dog. I seriously think it was a result of her circumstance before she came to me but even if it's just a mental issue that she has...I love her and I've tried to socialize her as much as possible (for almost 4 years now) and since that seems to only make her more upset...the best option is to keep her at home where she is a happy, safe, and content dog.

Wow that was long. Anyway I was just sharing my experience to show you that it's not necessarily your fault- a lot of that behavior has to do with the temperament of the dog. Yorkies tend to be territorial and agressive in general (my puppy, Roo, thinks she's the boss of my other two 35 and 55 lb dogs!)- I'm sure you love your pup and you've been a great mom! Good luck with training!

Ellie does not bark as much as she used to.I used to tell her to be quite,But now I ignore her and give her praise when she is good.I figured that when I told her off she thought I was joining in.She still has her moments at barking ,normally when we first start out on our walk.I am now stuck with her growling at anybody and any other dog.I did try letting her say Hello to smaller dogs but she was frightened of them.I must admit you do feel rather stupid with this tiny little dog who thinks they are something else.

I keep telling him, Mom doesn't need your protection, Mom will protect you! But he still thinks he's a bulldog.
When he was barking to people at the beach, about 3 of them told him, Oh! "Killer"! and I think he quite liked it, but I didn't!!!!

We were at the beach once when we only had JPop. He barked like a crazy dog at this woman walking by and I was embarrased and telling him to be quiet, etc. This woman said, honey, he's a terrier, he's gonna bark. That's the way God made him. I do believe she was right! I've go 3 more now and they pretty well all do the same thing. Just chalk it up to another one of those Yorkie things.:D

There was a lady at the beach who said she had a yorkie at home but didn't bring him along to the hotel because she barks at night with a high pitch bark. Well, I must say I don't have problems with that, Bengi sleeps like an angel every single night. Also, his barking is more like a bigger dog bark, low pitched. People always say he has a "big bark for a small fellow". At least it doesn't kill my eardrums! :)

My puppy socialization trainer has a list a mile long (3 pages) of things we are supposed to expose our puppies to. We had a Mem Day party, and a night fire in the fire pit -- boy did he go absolutely berserk at the fire. I doubt if fire was on the list, he was totally out of control. He about broke up the party with his shrill barking. Some of our friends are convinced we have a yapper. I think it's just a long process to get them used to as many things as possible. Worth the trouble.

Benji
 

Of course YOU can help him. You didn't do anything wrong, you just didn't know what more to do. A good trainer can certainly help you with this. I would be concerned if he was biting people and family members. That doesn't seem to be the case. He just needs to learn that barking at people and other dogs isn't acceptable. I'm not going to try to tell you how to correct it, the trainer will. Hang in there........you're already on the right track - knowing that you want to change it and you will!! Just remember, sometimes you have to use tough love. Good luck and let us know what you do next. Call that trainer today!

Both of my babies bark at everyone and everything when we are on walks:( quite annoying. Haylee stops if i say no, but killer just goes mad. haha i guess his name fits him well. anyways last night i was walking up our stairs at our complex (elevators been out for 4 days:thumbdown ) and when i came to our floor this big guy opened the door and i had both babies. they went crazy, barking and running at him. scared the poor guy lol. i felt embarresed, but nothing i could really do but say sorry and pick them up ( they stop once i have them in my arms) ive never really been able to do anything to stop them besides that hahah. oh well.

A good trainer will help. Since he obviously has fear issues you need to find a positive reinforcement (clicker or "cookie") trainer. You need to help build his confidence around people and dogs by helping to trust that YOU are in control of the environment. Also, RUN to the store and buy a Gentle Leader. You can also try D.A.P. spray and an anxiety wrap. I have found that when Loki starts barking at the dogs next door when they are outside I can put the Gentle Leader on and he will quiet down immediately.

You need to work on some controlled interactions with other dogs. Go out to a busy area and sit back - like 10 feet - off of the road/sidewalk. When you spot a person or dog start feeding him something REALLY good, like fresh chicken. When the person gets far enough away, stop. Cue him to look at YOU, not the person/dog, for a treat. Loki has a "watch me" command and I basically dangle the food in front of his nose when a big dog comes near. Amazingly, he's fine at daycare and around dogs he knows well.

Most importantly, you need to accept that 99% of this is going to be management. He simply isn't a dog that likes everyone when you are out. He's probably a doll at home in his comfort zone, but when you go out you have to understand he is nervous. Of course he is cute but people ASK to pet dogs for a reason, so that you can say "no, he's very protective of me" or "he's not in a good mood" People won't think he's a bad dog - they will think you are a good owner! Most of the time when kids ask to pet Loki, and I don't know the kids or if they will grab his face or whatever, I put him in a sit and ask him to wave or roll over or do a trick for them - from a short distance. I say, "No, but he can do a trick for you, do you want to see?" and of course they do. Then Loki waves to them and they giggle and move on. That's management :)

I think its just the yorkie breed, so don't feel bad. It seems like gettting a trainer might help.

wow, that's good advice, thank so much. I've read something about controling their attention, and I'll give it a try, I really need to work on the "watch me" thing, he used to do it, but not anymore, now I can call him a 1000 times, but if there is something that calls his attention he wont listen. I'm gonna work on this. Thanks!

oh, I forgot to ask, Erin mentioned using a gentle leader, is it a collar? where can I get it?

It's a headcollar. It's like a collar with a strap that goes around their muzzle but it's NOT a muzzle. Loki can still eat, drink and play fetch with it on. It looks kind of like horse halter and also the pressure on the muzzle is somehow comforting for dogs. It does take some getting used to - he pawed at it a little until I gave him some really good treats. Put it on and go right out for a walk. It comes with a DVD that explains it all. Generally you see them on big dogs because they are used to control pulling. I've always used the Premier Gentle Leader Easy Walk harness, which is a no-pull harness, but the headcollar is better for control.

Premier makes it: Premier

I'm going to carry them on my website since Premier is my very favorite company, but it's not up and running yet and I don't want you to wait. They do carry them at Petsmart but they don't have the greatest selection. You can buy them online too. You best bet might be a local trainer or smaller independent store. They are sized by weight. Loki is 12 pounds and the small fits him well. Sammy is almost 6 pounds and would need a petite (but she has the opposite problem, she just runs away!)