Aggresive, Growling and Biting =(

[joo6758]

Hi there. My yorkie is 4 months and his name is Dexter. He has been getting increasingly more aggresive lately. He tries to chew on everything and when I go to tell him to stop and try to pick him up he will freak out. He will toss and turn and bite. The other day I managed to chase him around the house (he probably thought I was playing) and when I finally got to him and picked him up he took a nice chunk out of my lip. I was bleeding and it was very painful. I'm not sure what to do about his aggressive behavior. I was thinking about getting a muzzle, but I think he is too young for it. Can somebody give me some advice?!

[Kaley]

I'm having the same problem with Belle. Not as bad...but I'm sure if I don't do something about it the problem will increase.
She snapped at me when I tried to pick her up yesterday.

[JoeyP]

OK ... thank goodness he's fairly young
and it sounds like he doesn't know his boundaries more than anything else
He's mouthy and needs to know that Mom isn't something to bite

This is what you can do
Play with him and if he bites
..... AWAY goes the hands and the toys with a quick.... EH!

and when he's playing good
Tell him what a good boy he is
also growling and barking need to be watched too
because they are also signs of aggression

[Ladymom]

Good for you for recognizing this serious behavior while he is so young. It will only get worse if you don't handle it now.

What he is doing is called "resource guarding". You have to take control of the resources. The Nothing in Life is Free program is excellent. Here are a few links. You can Google for more:

Nothing in Life is Free

Nothing in Life is Free Gaining control of your dog humanely

[joo6758]

Thank you so much for all of your help. I will try and hope that this bad behavior doesn't continue =)

[megansmomma]

My suggestion would be to keep his leash on him. When they try to run away it is much easier to catch them. There is also a book called "Let the Dog Decide". It has many excellent tips on stopping behaviors like this and the premise is that you allow them to think they are making the decisions but actually you are really in control.

[Moses]

You need to nip this behavior why they are young. Watch Caesar. He acutally had a show on the other day dealing with a small yorkie. Let him know that behavior is not tolerated. These dogs learn quickly. When my boy was young I kept him in a PEN. I didn't let him run free, and he was only allowed to chew on his toys. When he was out of his PEN I monitored him at all times. It is so easy for them to swallow somethign they shouldn't and this could make them very sick. Now that he is 3 he has full roam of the house even why I am not home. He doesn't touch anything but his toys.

[JoeyP]

LOL ... hope doesn't really enter into it at all

It's all you ....