Is this normal Yorkie behavior?

[Yorkadelphia]

Hello, new user here!

My husband and I just welcomed our new 12 week old Yorkie Oliver three weeks ago. The first couple of days we had him, he was relatively calm. He would bark like a mad man if we stepped out of the room, but we spent a lot of quality time with him, and he has become very affectionate with us. He has gotten to the point where he is OK to be left alone (we have a dog walker come in daily while we are at work), but we are starting to get a little concerned about his behavior.

It all started with his shots, which he got last week. He ferociously bit the vet when he got the shots and he kind of attacked the tech who clipped his nails. The vet warned me that Ollie has a bit of "Napolean complex." The bad behavior continued when we took him to a puppy socialization class. Although he was the smallest puppy there, he was kind of a bully. Most of the time he was playing nice and the other puppies were wagging their tails, but sometimes he was too much with the nipping and barking, and he drove them away.

I took him to the groomer for the first time today and they had to muzzle him because he was nipping at them so much. We are trying to teach him bite inhibition and rewarding calm and obedient behavior. This forum has been great for tips. Should I be worried about him, or has anyone else in my shoes seen their Yorkie act this way as a puppy?

I really appreciate the feedback!!

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Yorkadelphia

Hello, new user here!

My husband and I just welcomed our new 12 week old Yorkie Oliver three weeks ago. The first couple of days we had him, he was relatively calm. He would bark like a mad man if we stepped out of the room, but we spent a lot of quality time with him, and he has become very affectionate with us. He has gotten to the point where he is OK to be left alone (we have a dog walker come in daily while we are at work), but we are starting to get a little concerned about his behavior.

It all started with his shots, which he got last week. He ferociously bit the vet when he got the shots and he kind of attacked the tech who clipped his nails. The vet warned me that Ollie has a bit of "Napolean complex." The bad behavior continued when we took him to a puppy socialization class. Although he was the smallest puppy there, he was kind of a bully. Most of the time he was playing nice and the other puppies were wagging their tails, but sometimes he was too much with the nipping and barking, and he drove them away.

I took him to the groomer for the first time today and they had to muzzle him because he was nipping at them so much. We are trying to teach him bite inhibition and rewarding calm and obedient behavior. This forum has been great for tips. Should I be worried about him, or has anyone else in my shoes seen their Yorkie act this way as a puppy?

I really appreciate the feedback!!

If you do a search on here for "biting problems or aggression issues", you will see you are far from the only person, who has had these problems. You'll also see books/training tools referred to with those threads.

But to answer your question is this "normal" Yorkie behaviour, actually not. Even for a 12 wk old puppy that if I've read your post correctly you got at 9wks old.
I'm glad to hear you are attending puppy socialization classes. You need to (if not already) have spoken with the trainer there, so they can help you with your training questions.

There are very good resources at the library or on-line for positive training techniques. One program is Nothing in Life is free. There are many others.

You do need to patient and consistent with discipline, it will take some time to correct this bad behaviour.

The other axiom is that a "tired dog is a good dog", make sure your puppy gets plenty of excercise; outside or inside; short play sessions, coupled with basic obedience training, sit, stay, come, commands etc.

[Lindzorz]

No, you are not alone. Nilla loves people, but she play bites a lot. She just turned 6 months, and I can tell it's not as much biting, but she still does it. You're probably going to be going through the teething stage for a while, so make sure you have a lot of chew toys around for him!

[megansmomma]

No this is not normal behavior for a 12 week old puppy. It is recommended that Yorkies stay with their mother and litter mates until at least 12 weeks of ago. You brought Oliver home at least three weeks early which could be causing the issues that you are experiencing. You really need to get these issues under control or things will continue to escalate Having a trainer is a great start and as Gemy suggested you should speak to your trainer about the specific issues that Oliver is displaying.

He's not too young to start training to work for his food. Some of the things that you are saying might suggest that he might begin to display guiding which is very hard to break. Be sure you can handle his food while he's eating and that he will give up toys without guiding them.

I'm speaking from my own experience with one of mine~Pebbles. She is a rehome and came to me at 5 months old. Little did I know she was already guiding her food and had bit the former owner over her food. She left her mom way too early and to this day has many issues that we are still trying to correct at 5 years old

[FlDebra]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

No this is not normal behavior for a 12 week old puppy. It is recommended that Yorkies stay with their mother and litter mates until at least 12 weeks of ago. You brought Oliver home at least three weeks early which could be causing the issues that you are experiencing. You really need to get these issues under control or things will continue to escalate Having a trainer is a great start and as Gemy suggested you should speak to your trainer about the specific issues that Oliver is displaying. ....

This was my first thought too! Too many times people think there is nothing wrong with taking puppies home early. I saw a thread here not long ago where some were suggesting those of us encouraging never taking a pup away from mom & siblings before 12 weeks of age were silly and overly-protective! Sure they can eat and play but when they are taken away too early, they are NOT confident. Lacking confidence, they are afraid and will strike out with biting problems SO often, it is not worth the risk to the puppy's personality!

You can train out of this behavior but it will take LOTS of patience, consistency and may well require a professional. I am not picking on the OP as so many of us did not know before we got our first yorkie. It is really the responsibility of the breeders to STOP selling them so young! They need to STOP being so greedy and keep those puppies with mom & siblings for a FULL 12 weeks and longer if needed, so they are fully socialized and ready to join a new family without winding up with personality issues.

[107barney]

I have two dogs now age 11 who are wonderfully social and well trained. I got them at 8 weeks old from a petstore. Training of dogs can be done and training a 12 week old puppy is easy. Puppy classes are wonderful -- it is where puppies learn the social skills beyond the gentle corrections of their mother and litter mates. When my youngest dog was attending puppy classes, my adult dogs came weekly to help socialize the group. Obedience training isn't about teaching a few cute tricks - although that can be fun also -- it's really about giving your dog the mental exercise and socialization that will shape him for life. A dog obtained at 12 weeks of age may come with some of those issues a little more sorted (depending on the breeder and his/her efforts) but without further training and consistency even that dog can unravel. Behavior issues are best nipped in the bud - and positive reinforcements are very powerful - so that you do not have a problem adult dog.

Good Luck!

[LittleLolasMom]

in your pups defense, all of these instances are very new, stressful and not easy for a puppy. a vet, a groomer for the first time, a class with new dogs. my pup is not a biter, but i tell ya she was scared as helk of the vet and was not happy gettign shots, and she also did not like the buzzer at the groomers.

the question is, is she play biting or breaking skin/hurting someone. pups need to be with their moms to learn bite inhibition, and perhaps if the biting is more than just a teething nibble, then she may need more help with learnign the inhibition.

[Yorkadelphia]

Thanks so much for all of the replies! This week, Ollie has done great. He has not bit at me, and when he has I think it was because he was confused because my hand was on his toy. We have a ton of toys around for him to play with, and we try to rotate them out. Walks have gotten longer now that he has gotten used to the leash and stopped trying to eat everything in site. We have taught him to come and sit and turn with good success. We tried using the treats and the clicker for reinforcement. He learned so quickly! The dog walker says he has been much better with other dogs on walks. He has made a few friends in the neighborhood (the Shizu down the street,ect) I have high hopes for him, and I really appreciate all the advice I ave had on the forums. Keep all the good info coming! Next battle: barking, yikes...

[Teresa Ford]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

No this is not normal behavior for a 12 week old puppy. It is recommended that Yorkies stay with their mother and litter mates until at least 12 weeks of ago. You brought Oliver home at least three weeks early which could be causing the issues that you are experiencing. You really need to get these issues under control or things will continue to escalate Having a trainer is a great start and as Gemy suggested you should speak to your trainer about the specific issues that Oliver is displaying.

He's not too young to start training to work for his food. Some of the things that you are saying might suggest that he might begin to display guiding which is very hard to break. Be sure you can handle his food while he's eating and that he will give up toys without guiding them.

I'm speaking from my own experience with one of mine~Pebbles. She is a rehome and came to me at 5 months old. Little did I know she was already guiding her food and had bit the former owner over her food. She left her mom way too early and to this day has many issues that we are still trying to correct at 5 years old

this is good advice