Louie is vicious near other dogs!

[Lori-M]

Louie is 18 months old and neutered. I've had him since he was 8 weeks old but we brought him home in January when it was cold and nasty outside. I was an overprotective mommy and thought he would pick up something if I took him out around other dogs. Now that he is older, if he even sees another dog in another car he goes absolutely insane. Actually, it is like a wild animal and I am postive that if I allowed him remotely near another dog he would attack it. We would absolutely love to get Louie a playmate but I fear that he would kill it. Anyone else have this issue with their yorkie? Or with any other dog? Is it possible to break him of his horrible behavior towards other dogs? We love our little guy so much and really want another Yorkie in the home. What can I do??

I should add that he only behaves this way towards other animals but is a perfect little loving guy around people. lol

[Lilymo]

Hi Lori. One of My Staffordshire is the same. Brodie is a very anxious nervous dog and will growl and snarl at most other dogs he meets outside. However since getting him we have brought home an adult female Stafford and more recently 2 yorkie pups. Initially he was wary and still growls at the pups if they hang off his face which is fair enough I think. It just depends in how you introduce them. I never left them alone together until I was 100% sure of them. Might be better to get a female and one of lower energy than Louie. When he sees that the pup is yours he should respect that as you are his dominant. I left the pups in the crate and allowed Brodie to sniff around it first before letting them out. Then I held the pup at floor level and let him sniff around it before letting it go to explore. He followed her around for a bit sniffing her butt. When the pup gets too boisterous I step in to "protect" Brodie and still do. As long as he knows I'm in charge he won't discipline them himself. If you are the leader in your pack then your dog will accept whatever you bring in to it. Good luck. Ceaser Milan has lots of good tips too.

[DBlain]

I had that problem and I could not break Kirby of it, I tried since he was a puppy, to set up play dates, I used to stop cars in my neighborhood if I saw a small dog and called day care centers to see if they had really small dogs, but once was enough for most people. I had a lady that baby sat yorkies in a home environment and often would have up to 8 running loose in her small home, for some reason he did well there, possibly because I was not around, but after returning home he was back to his own self. Unfortunately for us it did not end well, I had just finished a walk with Kirby and my friend and her weim, Kirby had behaved pretty well, we stopped to chat and still had both dogs on a leash, all of a sudden my dog who knew hers since birth got bored (I guess) and jumped up in an instance to attack her dog, well the Weim won, and in an instant she bit into my dogs neck. Not a nice story but I tell you this because when you have a dog like that it is like having a loose cannon and you have to protect him from himself. I very rarely let me guard down but in short period of time this happened, I know if my dog did not attack first he would still be alive, or had this been a golden retriever this probably would not have happened. When we would be out for walks and he would see another dog he would turn into a monster, teeth barred, barking like crazy, I would pick him up to try to comfort him and turn his head away, but he would be shaking his head so violently that I though he would break it, he would also lash out and bite at the leash or my hand out of frustration. We would bike ride and half the time he stood up barking at squirrels, chipmunks and any dog he would see, he was only four lbs and would be so violent he could make the front of the bike unsteady. Some people thought he might have had a true mental problem. I feel for you because having a dog like that can be difficult and embarrassing.

[DBlain]

oh I forgot to add I would not get another dog unless you were successful in finding someone that could train this behavior out of him. Some people or trainers like to point fingers at the owner saying it's their fault because they don't know how to train the dog. I say that is BS I have had 5 dogs all trained and treated the same way by me, and all were different, two were nasty and could not get along with other dogs no matter what I tried, Just like Lady Gaga's song Some are "Born that Way"