Yorkshier Terrier - Questions

poreilly101

Hi

I've a 18 month old Yorkshire Terrier called Suzie, she is just a little gem and has a great personality ...

I have just one or two little questions,

At the end of the day she sometimes gets very excited and playful (Bed time usually). She has a tendency to use her mouth when playing a little too much during this time. It's not that she's biting but just playing with her mouth. How can I stop her from doing this as it's not a nice habit for the dog to have?

She went into get spayed 3 weeks ago, everything went very well. From she came back home,she has discovered the art of barking. Before she wouldn't open her mouth but now she barks even when excited. Did the vet teach her how to bark?

Looking forward to any response

P

AvaKinder

Hey I have a little male Yorkie, same age as yours.
Now, unfortunately I don't have any advice for you!
My little guy does the biting things too, all the time. Been sitting out in the garden this week, and he keeps chewing my feet!
I've tried pulling them away, giving him a light tap with the paper, distracting him etc, but the guy loves it. It never really hurts, but it's something he does constantly, pulling off my socks, pouncing at my feet.

So it's not too unusual for a yorkie i guess.

oh plus mines always been a barker!
when he barks in the house he gets put right outside again.

If your pup hasn't been around other dogs barking much, then she may have started because of hearing other dogs n the vets.

liah

I find this post so strange...

I've had 7 dogs in the past, since I was born really, and they all played with their mouths-- this ranges from a tiny Maltese to multiple big German Shepherds, a gigantic Burmese Mountain Dog and a couple medium-large mutts.

It's actually strange to me that you want to stop this as I found one of the greatest joys in life is playing physically with a dog (big fan of shepherd wrestling here), and the way they play is using their mouths, I've never seen it as a bad habit at all! It actually genuinely never occurred to me before that people would consider this bad.

My dogs were always genuine sweethearts and would never hurt a fly, it's not like them play-biting ever led to any real biting or anything, if that's the worry/logic behind it?

How utterly odd.

Anyway, as for the barking, it's a small dog thing. Not to say big dogs don't get into barking habits, one of my sheps currently back home has a major barking issue but it's entirely encouraged to my mother who refuses to do anything but indirectly praise her for it (she thinks she barks because she's nervous, so she comforts her, in essence praising her because she's barking.. vicious cycle that drives me nuts). My Maltese was a yippy little bugger and unfortunately, no matter what we did he just wouldn't shut up. We just ignored him entirely when he barked. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't.

I doubt the vet taught her to bark. She probably just heard other dogs barking in the clinic, found her voice, and has used it ever since.

AvaKinder

I dont have a problem with the biting per se, although it can be a nuisance. just trying to reassure the OP that her dog wasn't unusual.

However the play biting has caused issue with my two young cousins who are now afraid of my dog, as he's so excitable and snappy. Their presence winds him up, which winds them up and means he hasn't gotten used to children at all.

His biting could hurt quite a bit when we first had him but now that he's regulated it its fine.... except when im trying to lie out in the sun!