Singleton Yorkie Biting

[DianneGajewski]

Just got course yesterday and am very impressed with the complete program.  I have a 5 month old yorkie that I have had for 2 1/2 months.  She was a single pup delivered c section but was socialized with other puppies (maybe not enough).  She is incredibly smart...totally potty trained...sleeps thru the night from day 1...completed petsmart puppy training with flying colors...all in all a total joy!   BUT she will not stop biting me.  When she is playing fetch she will stop and suddenly lunge for my hands.  Other times she just runs up to me and grabs at my hands.  Feet were a problem but a few shakes of a can of coins stopped that...but has no effect on hands.  It is especially bad when she is excited.  I have tried leaving the room..firm NO..bitter apple on my hands and nothing works.  Because she is only charting to 5 - 7 pounds I worry about over treating her and she seems ravenous when treats are anywhere around.  Right now she is curled up next to me on the bed and the picture of a love bug....but I know the she-devil is lying in wait.  Other than buying lots of stock in band aid companies what can I do?

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums, 
As you may already know, singleton pups may pose some extra challenges on several fronts, and some of them are problems coping with frustration and a potential lack of bite inhibition. To prevent overly nippy pups, some caring breeders will introduce singleton pups to other litters of pups in hopes the singleton pup can integrate well and learn the ABCs of bite inhibition along with other important life lessons. Of course, this may not always be feasible, but in the case of a pup missing out on being grown along other pups, another good practice is to enroll in puppy classes. 

It is great to hear that you have enrolled your pup in them and that she did so well!

It sounds like, from your description, the stopping from playing and then lunging for your hands when playing fetch might be due to over arousal. When dogs reach this aroused state, they start losing control of their jaws and they may bite harder than usual. 

I would keep the games of fetch brief for now so to not get her to that tipping point and also to prevent rehearsal of the problem behavior. You can end the game with  a last toss of the item you are using to play fetch and then offering her something to chew on to calm down. 

It also helps to train an off switch button for over-arousal. Play with her and interrupt play periodically and ask her for a sit, then reward with a tug toy. Here's the Jazz up and settle down game as an example:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/jazz-up-and-settle-down/

It would also be important to teach her more impulse control and frustration tolerance, you can find several exercises here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

She may also benefit from being taught to hand target as an alternate way to interact with hands. The moment you see her approaching your hand with the intent to bite, ask her to target your hand and reward her by tossing a kibble. Here is how to train it:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/

And here are some more bite inhibition games since it sounds like she's pretty rough with her mouth:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/

Consider as well that pups can get particularly nippy when they are cranky and in a dire need of a nap. It may therefore be worthy providing her with some quiet time. Give her a chew toy or stuffed Kong to enjoy in her crate or play pen or on a mat. Here's how to train a dog to relax on a mat:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/

If you are concerned about calories, you can stuff her a Kong with her kibble mixed with a bit of plain canned pumpkin or low calorie canned dog food or you can offer a Kong Wobbler filled with a portion of her daily ration or a fun bottle game. She'll need a small bottle for this and make sure to remove the label and caps. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/

If she loves her kibble, I would put her to work to it with a variety of brain games/training using that exclusively. Look up the treasure hunt game, muffin game, ball pit game. Being a Yorkshire terrier, she needs a good amount of exercise and mental stimulation. These dogs were used to hunt rodents in the past so they may love digging, tunnels and toys that make noise (watch out with toys containing squeakers as some dogs ingest them or parts of it). 

A flirt pole may also be a great tool to distract her when she's in biting mode. With young dogs, I carry one around my waist or over my shoulders so I can use it to redirect dogs at moment's notice from undesirable behaviors such as nipping or trying to chew or chase things around while providing them an outlet.  

The main goal in getting a pup to stop biting hands and legs is to teach them that it's boring playing with them because there are far better forms of play out there that don't involve human body parts. So try to move less as movement and our reactions to the biting attracts dogs the most (wear light gardening gloves in the initial training stages and cover your ankles by tucking your pants in your socks or wear tall boots ) and make your toys move more. Wriggle them, toss them, provide toys that release food. With their strong urge to bite and play satiated with other forms of play, soon, puppies should outgrow the habit of chasing legs/hands.

You may have to try several of the above options and see what works best. Redirection to a rewarding food-dispensing toy or game should be moderately easy at this age if these activities are made rewarding. Teaching an alternate behavior is also important because dogs cannot misbehave if they are busy targeting our hands or sitting! It may take a bit of time though to teach these alternate behaviors fluently but it is sure worth the time and effort.

By providing outlets for her energy and needs for mental stimulation, teaching her better impulse control and frustration tolerance and reinforcing appropriate behaviors, you should eventually start seeing a decrease in the biting behavior. Keep track of it so to measure whether things are getting better with time. 

Finally, once again, consider that pups tend to get worse at nipping when they are cranky and in dire need for a nap. If you notice a time where your pup is super nippy, consider enclosing her behind a baby gate, in a play pen or crate with something valuable to chew. Chances are, if you provide a quiet area, she will chew and then happen to fall asleep for a well-needed nap. 

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more other questions.

Best,

Adrienne 

 

[DianneGajewski]

Definitely a work in progress!  How do I break her from thinking that when she stops biting and gets a treat that she shouldn't just bite again...stop...and get treat?

[Adrienne]

This depends on what method you are using. Is this in reference to the any of the above techniques I have suggested? If so, which one are you currently working on? Or are actually giving her a treat every time she stops biting without asking her to perform an alternate behavior such as to target your hand or sit? 

If you are asking how to end a session, for instance, if you ask her several hand targets in a row and then want to end the session, it may help to toss a ball or several tiny treats across the room in the oppositive direction as you walk away or you can ask for a last sit or hand target and reward her with a long lasting goody such as a stuffed Kong or safe edible chew you have held handy in your pocket or treat bag so that she'll keep occupied on that as you walk away. 

Being a Yorkie, she might also be interested in playing with a flirt pole to keep her mouth occupied. With nippy pups, I keep one around my waist at all times so that I can redirect intents to bite at a moment's notice. 

[DianneGajewski]

I have been working on target and yes treating when she stops biting and touches my hand.  It is always worse when she wakes up after napping and is full of energy.  Jazz up and settle down work for a minute or two then back to biting and she does seem to be angry with me.  I am beginning to feel that I am a failure and she is just not happy with me.

[Adrienne]

Oh no, you are not a failure, it's just that these singleton pups are not the easiest to raise and you have had her for only 2 1/2 months. Puppies can be a handful on their own, and it can get exhausting as they are so full of energy. They need training and lots of mental stimulation. On top of this, she's nearing the rebellious adolescent stage. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

I think we need to do a little troubleshooting, to see what may be happening exactly. 

So if you are doing targeting, is she biting the hand you are offering to target, or is she actually targeting it, you then give her the treat/kibble to reward her, she eats it, and then she comes back to bite your hand rather than re-target it? 

With Jazz up and settle, if it's working for a minute or two I'll take that as progress as long as you are getting a little respite from what sounds like constant biting. Maybe try to keep it brief, do it just for a minute, than ask for a final sit and then toss her 4-5 kibble and leave the room as she goes get those. However, you mention she is getting angry. Can you explain more in detail what is happening exactly? Is she still choosing to bite you rather than play with the toy and then sit and earn a treat? Where is she biting you?

It sounds has a tendency to get in a hyper aroused state very easily. She would surely benefit from some impulse control and frustration tolerance exercises incorporated into her daily routines. Have you started implementing those? https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

Being a Yorkie, and therefore loving to chase, I think she may benefit from playing with a flirt pole. This is a simple toy they sell for dogs that looks a bit like a fishing pole, it has a sort of rope and attached is a toy that often squeaks. With very nippy pups, they are a life saver for me. I keep it always on me, either around my waist or over my shoulders so that I can unwrap it at a moment's notice and redirect any attempts to bite to playing with it. Pups who would attach to my pants in hopes of being tugging and get dragged around, would attach to the toy at the end of the flirt pole and play with that instead. 

Yorkies are full of energy, they are feisty and they love to dig ( the word terrier derives from the Latin word "terra" meaning dirt as they were bred to dig), so provide her with a place to dig to her heart's content and try burying some of her toys there. Keep her mind busy with brain games. Try some tug toys made with real rabbit fur. The more you can keep her busy with toys, brain games, food dispensing puzzles (Kong Wobbler Buster Cubes, Snuffle mats and Lick mats) the more she should seek interaction from these rather than through you. 

Believe it or not, when dog owners tell me "my pup is in full biting mode when...." I feel relief as noticing when a behavior tends to be worse gives us some power. We come to expect it and can therefore take steps to control it. So if she's particularly hyper after napping, be ready to take her out in the yard, maybe organize some treasure hunt games: 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/

Provide her with a place to dig. 

or offer her the bottle game:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/the-bottle-game/

I would stop feeding her from the bowl and use up her daily ration of kibble for training and brain games:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/adriennes-picks/top-5-dog-feeding-toys/

Not sure if you have any organizations near you, but she may have fun with earthdog trials. 

Thank you for providing me with more details. Based on your responses, we can do further troubleshooting. 

 

[DianneGajewski]

Again thank you for quick response!  When target she gently touches and gets treat...then starts biting again.  Hands are primary bite target....feet only when she is hyper excited.  Regarding "angry"....she will let out a whiny grow/yelp l and go for feet....hands...pants and bite really hard....it is almost or is a tantrum.  She is in play posture front down and butt up.  When I go motionless she just yelp/barks and keeps it up...I go into another room with her biting all the way till I get the door closed and leave her behind.  I do think part of it is pent up energy as we have not yet mastered harness and leash to do outdoor walking.  No fenced yard and lots of dogs walking in neighborhood.  Also she is scheduled for spaying this Tuesday.  Might that calm her down?

[Adrienne]

Thank you so kindly for these extra details, they are extra helpful. 

With a pup that does hand targets, gets the treat and then comes back to bite again, I am thinking that several things may be happening:

1) The treats are not valuable enough

2) The desire to bite hands is so strong it surpasses their desirability of treats

2) The hand target response isn't reliable enough to get several reps of it

3) The dog is too over threshold to cognitively function (in other words, the dog is in a too hyper state to think clearly enough to respond to our cues). 

Here are some possible solutions based on the above possible issues:

1) We can try to using higher value treats and see if that makes a difference (you are concerned about calories, so you may need to look low-calorie treats such as Zuke's mini naturals etc. ask a store clerk for other types). 

2) We can try using a target stick rather than our hands to train targeting. In lieu of a target stick you can use a long wooden spoon or a ruler. If he wants to bite those, you can try something metal like the end of a metal spoon (most dogs dislike chewing metal)

3) We can work more on targeting using objects until getting a very fluid response and then gradually work our way to using our hands. 

4) We need to provide more exercise, training and mental stimulation to gain a calmer mental state. 

 

The angry behavior sounds like rough, out of control play. That butt up posture is a play bow, which is a meta-signal intending that anything that follows although rough is play.  

I would suggest not going into another room with her biting all the way as this reinforces the biting. It is fun for them to tug at our clothes and body parts as we move away because of "resistance." In other words, the more we move or pull back, the more they'll want to attach and bite. Being motionless may help, but it can be quite impractical when the biting is so hard. So here are some other things that come to mind:

-Since she's is small and can only reach so much when you are walking, you may find it helpful wearing tall rubber boots like Wellington boots. Many pups grow tired of biting these as there's not much to grip. 

-Try carrying a flirt pole with you (this is toy that looks like a fishing pole with a string ending with a squeaky toy) and wiggle it as soon as she approaches you. Let her latch on it and create some resistance to encourage her to tug at it and have fun. Drag her gently around.

-Toss a ball the opposite way as you move away

-Toss a treat or kibble the opposite way as you move away.

Take baby steps when teaching her to wear her harness and collars if she tends to nip some much your hands. You can find a guide on habituating a dog to wearing a harness here:

And here is a guide on putting the leash on:

Attaching the  Leash

Start by creating positive associations with the leash. Just as with the collar, hide behind your back and then present it, feeding your puppy treats when he looks at it and sniffs it and then once he's done inspecting it, place it behind your back and no more treats.

Next, start getting your pup used to the sound of the clasp. Keep the leash behind your back, then make the snapping sound of the clasp and feed a treat. Clasp sound/treat, clasp sound/ treat, clasp sound/treat.

Next, proceed to attaching the leash, give a treat, then unclip it once your dog is done eating it. Rinse and repeat. The leash snapped to the collar should become a cue that a treat is coming!

Once your dog gets used to this, snap it on before mealtime and then unsnap it once he is done eating.

Next, have a helper snap the leash on feed a treat and then you call your dog to you with him dragging it and give a treat. Unclip the leash when he's done eating. Rinse and repeat.

Next, further raise criteria. Snap the leash on and hold it, walk a few steps ahead and call your dog to you, give treats when he reaches you. Try to avoid pulling your dog harshly on the leash considering that this will create negative associations with its use.

Teach your pup to give into the leash pressure rather than resist it. Sit on the couch and if he moves away, gently put pressure on the leash and show him a treat so that he learns to give in to the pressure. Praise and reward.

Start walking your pup on leash. If your pup lags behind or pulls in another direction, coax him to catch up and keep walking by showing a treat. The moment the leash becomes loose when he catches up, praise and reward with the treat.

More on leash training here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

I am sorry, but typically we don't expect to see much behavior changes after spaying in regards to energy levels or biting. We mostly see changes in hormone-based behaviors such as escaping the yard in search of a mate or urine marking (mostly in male dogs). She will be rather calm the day of surgery, but then it's quickly back to being hyper. Your vet will give you instructions on limiting her exercise the first week or so after spaying, so make sure to plan on quiet activities for those days. Some vets may also prescribe sedatives for very active pups. 

Keep me posted on how things go!

Best,

Adrienne 

[DianneGajewski]

Your guidance is invaluable!  We got thru surgery with no issues...except trying to keep her from thinking she was back to normal after 24 hours.  The flirt pole is a godsend and we are making great progress on hand biting.  She had 3 baby teeth😆😆pulled and we definitely notice much softer bites...except when she is over excited.  Her newest naughty behavior is licking and biting walls....I spray bitter apple or cider vinegar on the spot and she moves to another one.  Sometimes I can distract her with a lambs ear chew or kong but not always.  Do you have any positive or negative thoughts about bully sticks..that seems to be the online solution of choice.....but I am not convinced easily!

 

[DianneGajewski]

Your guidance is invaluable!  We got thru surgery with no issues...except trying to keep her from thinking she was back to normal after 24 hours.  The flirt pole is a godsend and we are making great progress on hand biting.  She had 3 baby teeth😆😆pulled and we definitely notice much softer bites...except when she is over excited.  Her newest naughty behavior is licking and biting walls....I spray bitter apple or cider vinegar on the spot and she moves to another one.  Sometimes I can distract her with a lambs ear chew or kong but not always.  Do you have any positive or negative thoughts about bully sticks..that seems to be the online solution of choice.....but I am not convinced easily!

 

[DianneGajewski]

Sorry for the duplicate post!

 

[Adrienne]

 

Glad to hear surgery went well and that you have been finding the flirt pole useful!

 

It sounds like she had some retained baby teeth extracted. Those can certainly hurt when our pups nip us as you're dealing with extra teeth (and baby teeth are needle-sharp!) on top of the regular ones. 

 

I wonder if the new behavior you mention may be linked to her teeth removal? Perhaps the soreness may cause her to lick and try chewing the walls. Did the vet send your pup home with any pain meds? Sometimes dogs may do so too if they are nauseous. If this is a new behavior, happening right after the surgeries, mention it to the vet. 

 

About the bully sticks, I think this is something you may also want to ask your vet about to play it safe. After the extractions, they may be too hard to chew on and we don't want to trigger any bleeding. As it happens with us, a blood clot needs to form and it can be quite delicate in the first days. So avoid her chewing anything sharp or hard until you hear from your vet. 

 

Best wishes for a quick recovery!

Best.

Adrienne