Still looking for specific suggestions for taming my little aggressor!

[Squiter]

Well...here I am again! Pleading to the masses for any suggestions that you may have to help with my little aggressive baby.

To recap a little from my post last week - our family has Sophie our now 11-month old female. She is unaltered at this time; however that will change after the first of the year, as she will be going in for her spay. After reading several of the articles mentioned here on YT we decided to wait until she was closer to a year old to get her spayed, but don't worry it will happen and soon.

After asking opinions as to whether to add an additional female or male puppy to our family we went with the majority opinion and added a male, Sampson, who is now ten weeks old. He will be neutered when he is old enough.

Sampson has been home for a week and what a rough and tumble week it has been!

In trying to get Sophie and Sampson acquainted we have tried to keep them together as much as possible and have been monitoring them at all times but it just turns into us repeatedly pulling him off of Sophie.

Sampson this cute little ball of fluff will growl, lunge, jump, and fling himself, whatever it takes, onto Sophie. He will grab onto her muzzle, back, tail, you name it and start biting and growling. Poor Sophie will yelp, run, and try to buck him off to no avail. He hangs on for dear life therefore requiring us to pry him off.

Sophie does know that if she can get away from him that she can jump up onto the sofa or chair and then he can not reach her. Sampson then begins to try to jump up on the sofa to get her and then bites the edge of the sofa and then just hangs on the sofa growling.

In addition, he also does not like us to hold him either. When we try to hold and pet him he may be fine for a minute or two and then he tries to jump into our face to bite. He has gotten a hold of my daughter’s cheek and my ear a couple of times.

Needless to say we do not let him get away with this behavior. We have been picking him up, making eye contact, and telling him NO in a very stern voice. When he continues this behavior we put him in his crate and ignore him. Later, we will take him out and try again…same behavior…repeat process.

Do you all still think that this is still just normal puppy behavior or is something else? Do you think that the fact that Sophie is unaltered at this time has something to do with it?

I can add that before we brought him home we did see him interact with the breeder’s male dog on two different days. He in no way treated this male the way that he is our Sophie. He would only follow and try to play nicely with her dog. I saw absolutely no aggression at that time.

So lay it on me. What do think is going on with this little guy? Are there specific things that I can try in an effort to calm him toward Sophie? He is as cute as he can be…why can’t he just get along!

Thanks again,
Jana

[livingdustmops]

Sorry but he is just being a terrier puppy. He has a ton of energy and wants to play with your female. When she has had enough she will tell him. At this stage of the game you need to get balls and toys for him to play with and you need to play with him. I would not let him get close to anyone's face because at this age he will bite...this is what he does with his brothers/sisters and mom.

I do not consider this aggression just rough puppy play (boys will be boys). I am not sure of his age but exercise is important.

[yorkiejunkie]

It is not because your female is unaltered (he is too young to make that distinction)
When the pup grabs your girl, are you saying she doesn't try to stop him?
It does have to do with his energy level, and her not telling him to stop.
When she runs from him... he wins... so to speak in the dominance game.
You can tug his neck hair gently(a little jerk) and say no, when he is misbehaving with her. And if he plays too rough with the people, a firm "NO" like you are doing, and set him on the floor. (IGNORE, for several minutes).
Fo rthe energy he has, play with him, throw a toy, NO TUG OF WAR!!! Go for a walk, even around the house. Absolutely no rough housing, or dog noises at him, until he learns to respect the people, and learns his place in the family.

I am sure you can do it! Be ULTRA CONSISTENT!!! Set him down, and turn your back for every mis placed nip! His growling may be just noise, but show that you won't have it, if you don't want it.

[Ladymom]

You brought Sampson home at only nine weeks old, right? One of the reasons Yorkies should stay with their mom and littermates until 12 weeks old is that they learn very valuable lessons in socialization. Sampson missed three weeks of lessons on puppy manners, including how to play nicely and gently with others. His mother wouldn't have put up with his antics and would have reprimanded him.

Poor Sophie. For now, you must make sure she has her own space and alone time so she does not have to put up with this bad mannered (but 100% normal) puppy.

Since he doesn't have his littermates to play with, make sure you play with him a lot. Get him some age appropriate toys. You will probably have issues with bite inhibition since he was taken from his mom too soon, so you will have to work on that with him. If he gets too rough, do what his mom would do, ignore him. Give him a time out. He will learn that all the fun stops if he bites and plays too rough.

Relax. He isn't aggressive. He's just being a puppy.

[JeanieK]

At his age, I would just keep doing what you are doing. it is too bad that Sophie does not just let him have it just one time.

He may have been separated from his mother before he was taught how to play nice.

At 10 weeks I would not even call it aggression, it is just rough play...

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by Ladymom

You brought Sampson home at only nine weeks old, right? One of the reasons Yorkies should stay with their mom and littermates until 12 weeks old is that they learn very valuable lessons in socialization. Sampson missed three weeks of lessons on puppy manners, including how to play nicely and gently with others. His mother wouldn't have put up with his antics and would have reprimanded him.

Poor Sophie. For now, you must make sure she has her own space and alone time so she does not have to put up with this bad mannered (but 100% normal) puppy.

Since he doesn't have his littermates to play with, make sure you play with him a lot. Get him some age appropriate toys. You will probably have issues with bite inhibition since he was taken from his mom too soon, so you will have to work on that with him. If he gets too rough, do what his mom would do, ignore him. Give him a time out. He will learn that all the fun stops if he bites and plays too rough.

Relax. He isn't aggressive. He's just being a puppy.

I agree. I watch my mothers playing with their babies teaching them what is nice and what is not.

Question, does he play rough with you too? You might want to encourage play with him so when he getrs rough, you can teach him what his mother should have.

[Squiter]

Thanks to those who have replied thus far.

Just to add a little more information...

For some reason this breeder removes the baby from the mother at age eight weeks. I know now that this is not good but he was not going to be with his mother is he stayed at the breeder so we brought him home. Sophie came from the same breeder and she did wonderful.

When Sampson latches on to Sophie she does try to stop him in a way. She yelps, I guess at him, and tries to buck him off of her but he just won't let go. Therefore, she runs away with him in tow.

I might also want to mention that Sampson was a singleton puppy. Therefore, he had no litter mates, just him.

We do play with Sampson a lot. I am home all day so he gets plenty of exercise and play time both alone and with Sophie. He does have balls, chew toys, stuffed sqeaker animals. He really has everything he should need.

Sophie does have her own special place so that she can get some peace. We also make sure that she has her own alone time with us too as not to totally upset her world.

[JeanieK]

Originally Posted by Squiter

Thanks to those who have replied thus far.

Just to add a little more information...

For some reason this breeder removes the baby from the mother at age eight weeks. I know now that this is not good but he was not going to be with his mother is he stayed at the breeder so we brought him home. Sophie came from the same breeder and she did wonderful.

When Sampson latches on to Sophie she does try to stop him in a way. She yelps, I guess at him, and tries to buck him off of her but he just won't let go. Therefore, she runs away with him in tow.

I might also want to mention that Sampson was a singleton puppy. Therefore, he had no litter mates, just him.

We do play with Sampson a lot. I am home all day so he gets plenty of exercise and play time both alone and with Sophie. He does have balls, chew toys, stuffed sqeaker animals. He really has everything he should need.

Sophie does have her own special place so that she can get some peace. We also make sure that she has her own alone time with us too as not to totally upset her world.

Well that explains a lot. You are just going to have to get down on the floor and play with him, and when he getrs rough, correct him.

If you know someone with young dogs you might arrange some play dates. Other dogs will teach him what is nice and what is not.

He will probably outgrow a lot of it.

[livingdustmops]

Okay ...ship him off to me...my gang will teach him...

Ah so the breeder caused the first problem by removing him at 8 weeks and he did not have brothers or sisters to teach him...Lordy..Lordy..this is one little boy that has always gotten his way...

I am surprised Sophie has taken him down yet...do you think you are stepping in to soon? Seriously my 3# little girl would nail his butt in a New York second...and teach him not to mess around.

[puppymom]

It sounds like they just have different personalities, and also I think the puppy will settle down some with age. Was Sophie playful like that when she was a puppy? She may just be a more laid back personality. My puppy, who is a female, drove my daughter's s**tsu crazy everytime they were together. She would chase her, hang onto her tail, all that stuff you said your puppy is doing. But my "grand-dog" would jump on the bed out of reach when she had enough. Maybe you could encourage Sophie to do that, sit on the couch or bed and call her into your lap when the play gets too rough.

As for the puppy, everything I have read said not to put a dog into its crate as punishment because you want the crate to be their special place that they want to retreat to for quiet time or to sleep. Maybe it's Ok if you put his toys in there and when he goes into the crate, praise him for going in?

[OwnedByJezebel]

I'm going through something very similar, so I understand what you are having to deal with. Like the others, I don't consider it to be aggression, just a high-energy puppy.

My older dog, a very laid-back non-aggressive submissive Maltese, has trouble putting the puppy in her place, but she does eventually do it when she has had enough. We watch the two very closely, and then let the Maltese rest on the couch so that the pup can't get to her. It has gotten better, but we still have a ways to go.

Just imagine what a Yorkie pup does when she sees a tail with long hair wagging back and forth ... that's just something begging to be attacked in her eyes. She never saw a tail moving around like that when she was with her Momma and liter mates.