Yorkshire Terrier Aggression Problems

If you have a Yorkie there can not be a bigger problem than if the Yorkie has any aggression problems. Such issues can be a sign of a number of problems. If you purchased your Yorkie when they were older than one year old, maybe they have been poorly trained received poor training or treated in a bad way. If the Yorkie didn't have the proper training they may don't know yet who is the alpha leader in the household, so they try to demonstrate their dominance over people and dogs. If the terrier is bored or has excess energy they may have developed anxiety or fear issues that need to be assuaged by strong, alpha leadership. This is a hard one to provide specific advice on, because all Yorkshire terriers are different and each aggressive tendency needs to be handled with special care and specific actions according to the dog and their issues.

In some cases the best thing you can do is to hire a professional dog trainer, who can manage the problem for you.

For general issues, however, here are some tips to get you started.To start with, you need to determine what is causing your terrier's aggressive behavior. You need to focus you attention on the Yorkie and try to recognize the pattern and realize what provokes aggression in your Yorkie. The most common types of Yorkie aggression are aggression against other dogs, aggression towards people, and food related aggression. If you believe that your Yorkie aggression relates to any of those dog aggression categories, try to avoid to put the Yorkie in those situations.

If your Yorkie is aggressive with other dogs don't take them dog parks or other places where there are a lot of dogs until you take care of the aggression problem. The same strategy can be applied with food if your Yorkie has food aggression or with people if the Yorkie is aggressive toward people. Even though these terriers are very small, some aggressive Yorkshire terriers could be somewhat dangerous, so be careful. The training strategy to reduce aggression in your Yorkie will mainly include praise and treats to reward the non-aggressive behavior. One of the best way to do that is to have the Yorkie on a leash and not letting them to approach other dogs or people. When taking a walk with your Yorkie periodically give them dog treats and praises if they behave calmly and, if there is a source of aggression near by, move closer to it very slowly. Eventually your Yorkie will learn to associate what used to be the source of aggression with a dog treat, so they will rather get excited when they see it instead of becoming aggressive. However, you should remember is what not going to work in this situation is any form of punishment or negative reinforcement. Any form of punishment usually escalates aggression building it stronger and stronger. With your punishment you could cause your Yorkie to bite you or jump on you. You should make it a rule that you never punish your Yorkie for their aggressive behaviors including growling, since it will just make the situation worse. Realize that, for example, growling is just a sign of some sort of discomfort, and punishing it can really motivate aggression. Usually growling is nothing more than aggression could come unless you remove the Yorkie from the discomfort situation, so just do it. Now let's analyze a little bit some specific forms of Yorkie aggression. Food aggression is common and here is what you can do.

First of all, never punish the Yorkie for food related aggression (just like for any other types of aggression). Instead, is that you must to make them learn to think in a different way. You can begin by establishing a strict feeding schedule. Just feed your Yorkie two or three times a day with equal amount of food. When you become their ultimate source of food they don't have any food that they consider is "theirs", so there is no food to protect anymore. Also you can feed your Yorkie in a separate room, so they don't have that feeling of ownership of the space that they need to protect. Also, when you feed the Yorkie make sure that there is no other dogs around, so they don't have food conflicts. Aggression toward other dogs is the other form of aggression in terriers that is very common.

If your Yorkie is not the only dog that you have you can resolve potential aggression between them if you walk them together on a leash, so they can get to know each other. However, if your two dogs fight with each other and express aggression all the time that may be a sign that it is unclear who is the leader, so they try to establish their leadership. When this happens, you need to step up and take the alpha leadership position. Once you demonstrate your clear alpha leadership, often the dogs stop showing aggression toward each other refusing to fight anymore. Remember that aggression in your Yorkie and other dogs is not acceptable, so you need to demonstrate them that you, as the alpha leader, don't want them to be aggressive anymore. Absolutely never pet your Yorkie or reinforce in any other way if they snap at someone. It will only make the behavior stronger. Never punish them for aggression as well, as it can make the situation worse where their aggression becomes unstoppable. Do not react to your Yorkie aggression directly. Make sure to be consistent in your alpha leadership. Obedience training is another good step that you can take to handle your Yorkie aggression issues. Also there are options that support you in controlling your Yorkie when you train them.

For example, you can see a vet to see if the Yorkie you own doesn't have any serious medical problems that provoke the aggression. Also, get some restrictive leashes if necessary, so you can take your Yorkie in public. Don't make a big deal when another dog approach. If it's not a big deal for you it will not be a big deal for your Yorkie if they think you're the alpha leader. Your Yorkie may feel that anxiety energy and it could provoke their aggression. Remember, it all begins with that strong alpha leadership of yours. If your Yorkie feels that you are the alpha leader and provide them with the leadership their aggression level will automatically go down and it will be much easier to deal with.


If you want to learn how to train a Yorkie go to how to train a Yorkie. If you want to learn how to potty train a Yorkie puppy go to how to potty train a Yorkie puppy.

---

Orignal From: Yorkshire Terrier Aggression Problems