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Any Yorkie owner knows that these dogs are great personalities. It’s an interesting fact that they can have a weight of fewer than 6 pounds but at the same time, they may be stubborn and really brave.

You can frequently see how Yorkies become aggressive to other dogs or even humans. You shouldn’t think that they are innocent as such behavior can lead to different fights and bites. Though they are considered to be small dogs, they can hurt small children.

How to Stop Aggressive Behavior in Your Yorkie – The Angry Yorkie

Besides, this aggressive behavior can lead to different wounds if they start being aggressive to stronger dogs. That is why any owner needs to take certain measures on calming his or her Yorkie. First of all, you need to prevent your Yorkie from developing a feeling of the boss in the house. By setting certain rules, your Yorkie will not feel so free. Some boundaries can be presented in the form of prohibition of your Yorkie on any furniture.

Aggressive Yorkie
Photo by Ramsesgs09

Or, you cannot let your Yorkie stay in the kitchen when you are cooking or eating. Any attempt to stop developing dominant aggression in your Yorkie will be beneficial for you in the future. Also, you need to develop obedience skills in your Yorkie, but every time of being obedient should be rewarded. If you cannot cope with your dog, you need to involve your Yorkie in the training of following the commands. You also need to pay attention to the situations that make your Yorkie develop fear. Aggression based on fear is the most frequent type of aggression.

You need to recreate the situation and to reward your Yorkie once it remains calm.

At the same time, you need to define the real causes of aggression in your Yorkie. This aggression can sometimes be associated with certain health problems. That is why you need to visit a vet with your Yorkie to make sure that health problems do not play a great role.

Any Yorkie owner knows that these dogs are great personalities. It’s an interesting fact that they can have a weight of fewer than 6 pounds but at the same time, they may be stubborn and really brave.

You can frequently see how Yorkies become aggressive to other dogs or even humans. You shouldn’t think that they are innocent as such behavior can lead to different fights and bites. Though they are considered to be small dogs, they can hurt small children.

Besides, this aggressive behavior can lead to different wounds if they start being aggressive to stronger dogs. That is why any owner needs to take certain measures on calming his or her Yorkie. First of all, you need to prevent your Yorkie from developing a feeling of the boss in the house. By setting certain rules, your Yorkie will not feel so free. Some boundaries can be presented in the form of prohibition of your Yorkie on any furniture.

Or, you cannot let your Yorkie stay in the kitchen when you are cooking or eating. Any attempt to stop developing dominant aggression in your Yorkie will be beneficial for you in the future.

Also, you need to develop obedience skills in your Yorkie, but every time of being obedient should be rewarded. If you cannot cope with your dog, you need to involve your Yorkie in the training of following the commands. You also need to pay attention to the situations that make your Yorkie develop fear. Aggression based on fear is the most frequent type of aggression.

Here’s another Yorkie article you’ll also enjoy: How to treat a Shy or Aggressive Yorkie

Causes of Aggressiveness in Dogs

Female Yorkie

When we see dogs bark a lot, attack other dogs, growl, or bite people, or other animals, we usually identify them as aggressive. However, when it comes to Yorkies, the reasons can be really particular. That is why owners are encouraged to train their dogs in their younger years to socialize with people and animals to monitor their aggression.

Another reason it is imperative that we train our dogs to practice socialization in their early stage is for them to learn how to relate and adjust to different situations that happen around them. When our dogs adapt to these changes, they can minimize reacting aggressively and behave towards others.

Nevertheless, despite having good socialization training, there are some instances when dogs demonstrate aggressive behavior. Changes in the environment are not always the case. Thus, the reasons really vary and these have to be identified as early as possible.

Here are some possible reasons:

  • Fear
  • Traumas
  • Anxiety
  • Stress
  • Frustration and Loneliness
  • Bad socialization
  • Health problems
  • Sexuality

Historically speaking, the early breeds of Yorkshire’s Terriers were used as hunter dogs to eat and prevent rats from mining houses. This can be a theory to be considered. But since rats can also be very aggressive, Yorkies seem to inhibit this characteristic from them. They still think they are brave dogs and sometimes stronger than them, regardless of their size.

Another thing to consider that may provoke aggression among our dogs is the owners’ attitude toward them. Being overprotective or spoiling your dogs by giving them what he wants right away also makes them more aggressive in the long run. When they don’t get what they want, they have a greater tendency to react aggressively since they know it is the only way for you to give up. Yes, this sounds familiar for dog parents who are parents to their children too.

Here’s another Yorkie article you’ll also enjoy: Yorkies in Heat: Signs, Cycles, Length & Symptoms

Yorkie Aggressive and Angry with Other Dogs

Yorkie Life Expectancy

As we mentioned earlier, aggressive Yorkies tend to behave that way because of their past. Despite being tiny, Yorkies remain curious and unpredictable. Their temperament could go to unexpected extremes, from being silent to being overactive. Knowing how to deal with them also requires training on your end. It is given that you will spend time analyzing and observing their behavior over a given period of time.

Here are some reasons why your aggressive Yorkie attacks other dogs:

Anxiety and Stress: Especially if you keep him in a kennel, your aggressive Yorkie could feel anxious, stressed, and insecure. They may feel that you are breaching his freedom since you locked him and kept him away from other dogs/people.

When you tie him down, he doesn’t get the chance to explore as part of his training. Thus, this compromises the training for him to socialize.

Sexuality: Some dog breeds feel that they are more dominant than others. Aside from being one as part of their nature, dogs tend to be more dominant when they have not undergone sterilization.

Your aggressive Yorkie may have not gone through the process of sterilization yet. He might be missing a lot of benefits from being sterilized. This includes the prevention of some non-infectious and infectious diseases. More importantly, being sterilized can make your Yorkie enjoy socializing and playing with same-sex dogs.

Fear: A fearful dog tends to develop more aggressive behavior than others. Dogs that have suffered a negative experience at some point developed this behavior to defend themselves from others. Aggressive Yorkies could either end up barking a lot or portray aggressive behavior out of fear.

If this is the case, it is not advisable that you force your aggressive Yorkie to socialize and react nicely to other dogs. They should be given enough space for interaction with very few people with whom they are really close. Thus, it is better if it is you. Little by little, you can bring and join them in their walks around parks so they can see sociable dogs. However, make sure you keep your aggressive Yorkie maintaining a safe distance from them in order to avoid any conflicts.

Poor Socialization Skills: Just like us with other humans, interaction among other dogs is a very crucial part of every dog’s life. This helps them to be more aware of their surroundings and behave accordingly. However, aggressive Yorkies have to learn the proper way of doing it with other dogs. For example, when a dog starts to growl, your Yorkie should know that playtime is over. Knowing the hierarchy in the pack also prevents aggression and conflict among them.

High Level of Reactivity: During your walks in the park, you certainly have seen dogs who are overly aggressive against other dogs while some remain calm. The former may have received less training and opportunity to interact with others. Meanwhile, the calm ones have developed the habit over time so they tend to behave well with others.

Here’s another Yorkie article you’ll also enjoy: Is Your Yorkie Licking and Chewing Their Paws? All About Dog’s Excessive Licking Habits

Yorkshire Terrier Angry and Aggressive Towards People

Yorkie Tail Docking

Aggressive Yorkies towards humans are more complicated to deal with and treat since there can be underlying reasons.  Yorkshires may not be a very strong breed as compared to others but it does not mean they cannot pose danger to us. They can do very little harm to adults. However, the children around them cannot always control their aggressive behavior. Thus, there are tendencies of Yorkies to bite or bark at them.

There are a number of reasons why Yorkshire Terriers may be aggressive towards humans.

Self-Defence: Most aggressive Yorkies had been in traumatic situations, thus the reason behind their aggressive behavior. When they receive physical scorning or maltreatment, especially from humans, dogs remember it and tend to program themselves in defense of a similar situation. That is why you should never hit your dog, especially the puppy ones. Otherwise, you’ll be left asking why your Yorkie puppy is biting you.

Protection of their Resources: You may find your Yorkie puppy biting and growling especially if you get anywhere near their toys, food, or bed. Scorning or shouting at them is not a good way to correct him since it will surely make the situation worse.

To maintain peace with your Yorkie, it is better to submit and stay away from their things. You may also try offering food directly from your hands so he can figure out that it comes from you.

Fear: Even in humans, what triggers fear is previous negative experiences. Therefore, if your dog has had negative experiences with strangers or the people in the surrounding environment, it’s likely to be aggressive. This is a long-term problem that needs a very careful approach for your dog to improve. Your main focus should be on making the dog feel more comfortable and confident around people.

This factor can be more difficult to deal with than the rest of the reasons. You need a little more patience to make your Yorkie comfortable and feel safe towards other people, or even towards you sometimes. Since your dog could have had unpleasant experiences with other people in the past, regaining their trust and confidence will take a longer time. This is a serious mission that should not be taken haphazardly.

Poor Training: Most of the dogs that have undergone training to attack or defend could show extremely aggressive behavior. Especially, inexperienced personnel spearheads the dog’s training. It could be hard to treat the negative behavior she is depicting. This may be a very unusual case with the Yorkshires, but it could still happen.

Yorkshires may have less exposure to rigid training for defense as compared to larger breeds, but they can still be involved at times. Though it is an advantage, some breeds are trained by inexperienced personnel spearheads which could make them more aggressive. The behavior dogs adapt during training could be more difficult to rectify as they age.

Redirected Attack: It’s indeed unfortunate when your Yorkie is barking toward another human or dog and then ends up biting you. In most cases, this is a spontaneous situation that could be caused by extreme anxiety. However, your Yorkie surely still loves and cares for you. Perhaps, the only reason why your aggressive Yorkie bit you was because your leg was there. Your dog saw it fit to redirect his attack. Hence, it’s important that you keep a safe distance when your dog is extremely anxious to protect yourself as well.

Here’s another Yorkie article you’ll also enjoy: How to Potty Train Your Yorkie and Teacup Yorkie

Steps to Treat Aggressiveness in Your Dog – The Dog Whisperer Yorkshire

Biewer Yorkie

To deal with aggressiveness depicted by your Yorkshire such as helping them how to stop biting, it’s always important that you first identify what causes the aggressiveness in the first place. As they say, knowing the problem solves half of the problem.

At some point, you might need to seek professional assistance from an ethologist. They are professionals in depicting animal behavior who offer proper guidelines on how to deal with your Yorkies.

You can follow these basic tips to improve your dog’s behavior.

Provide a Quiet and Stable Environment

First off, it’s important that you prepare the grounds and ensure the dog gets the ideal environment, to begin with. Dogs learn from the families they live with. Dogs see dogs do. Thus, when they grew from a relaxed and calm family, they will also grow calm and less aggressive.

Don’t Scorn Your Dog

If your dog is suffering from extreme anxiety or high-stress problems, the last thing that you should do is scorn her. Bad treatment only makes the problem get worse. Patience is still a virtue, especially to your Yorkie.

Train Your Yorkshire to Be Obedient – Yorkie Poo Behavior Problems

Yorkie Lifespan

Take training sessions of about 15 minutes every day. After some time, you will realize that your dog is adjusting accordingly.

Keep the Stress Levels to a Minimum

You can try to engage your dog in something fun like playing chase and catch games, walks, and many more. This will keep the dog focused on engaging in the play rather than stress.

Take Walks with Your Dog

Exercise is important for your dog like walking. This helps to burn off the excess energy that may at times lead to aggressiveness. Therefore, you can take early morning or late evening walks with your dog in the city. It’s a good idea to exercise with them too.

Avoid the Small Cute Dog Syndrome

Just like many other small dogs, Yorkies are very likely to experience developmental problems due to their small size. Most dog owners are likely to oversee these problems because they think somehow they are cute. Make sure to bring them to the vet more often than needed.

Be the Pack Leader

Assert the role of being the pack leader. This will ensure that your Yorkie remains submissive to you. In the end, Yorkshire will learn to be at the service of others.

Here’s another Yorkie article you’ll also enjoy: How to Stop Biting Habit in Yorkie

Conclusion – On How to Become the Cesar Millan Yorkie Training Expert

Aggressive behavior in your Yorkie can be saddening, but don’t fret. With extra patience and following the guidelines discussed above, you and your furry friend can overcome it.

Do you have any questions or concerns about your Yorkies you would like us to discuss? Let us know in the comment section below.

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