Help Stop My Dog From Snarling

LondonBridge

I have a 5 year old little 8 pound Yorkie that is the cutest thing. However, she is very territorial & nasty when on the couch and the bed, especially towards me. It's magnified when I was living with my ex-wife or had a girl over. A girl would sit on the couch first and when I'd sit down the dog goes right after me, like she ready to bite. She looks so freaking mean!

She's been like I didn't do anything at first as it seemed cute, kinda like a Mogwai turning into a Gremlin. However, when I had a girl over last week I was totally embarrassed by my dog's behavior.

I tried a technique of clapping my hands every time she snarls at me and so far it's working. Is this a good technique or should I try something else?

n1t0

Whatever you doing right now stop and go pick up a copy of the Dog Whisperer.
Rent it or dvr it on national geographic channel.

A quick rundown though is you need to establish dominance. The dog doesnt see you as the alpha male for one reason or another and is stressing out because.... well you should be. When the dog charges be firm and quick and set her ass down on the floor. Dont use her name or make silly sounds like when dealing with a baby. Just quickly establish yourself as the Big dog of the house. GO check out the Dog Whisperer though the man is magic.

Dalboz

Yeah, I have a friend whose dog would sometimes try to test the boundaries of dominance. In a similar situation once, he pretty much grabbed the dog by the neck and threw it down on the floor on its back, then held the dog at the throat and growled loudly in its face. The dog gave him a look like it was about to piss itself, and wouldn't give him problems about dominance after that.

YodaTuna

Watch the Dog Whisperer. He's like Jesus for dogs.



Basic idea from the show is, as stated, establish yourself as the "pack leader". Don't treat the dog like a human. Treat it like a dog. Whenever it starts to get uppity, you immediately have to break her attention on whatever she is focused on. The clapping is a good technique if you do it at the right time. Anything that snaps her out of it.