Hi all I am new to this site so hello to everyone here.

I have a beautiful 6 month old male Yorkshire Terrier puppy who is the love of my life! He is very well behaved but just this last few weeks he has started barking at people. It started with strangers who came over to see him, then anyone he saw when out for a walk and this morning he barked at a friend of mine who he had been playing with just an hour before he only barked as he turned round and saw them and it only lasted a few barks but he has started chasing after folk if he is off the lead and standing to attention and barking non stop at them.

Why has he started this and how can I stop it? It is not aggressive sounding just persistent and he turns tail and runs if whoever he is barking at comes over to him or he hides behind my legs and gives the odd growl and bark.

Any help would be appreciated, many thanks,

Ruth

Hello and welcome.

Can I firstly ask how much socialising you did with your pup and from how young?

Secondly, do you regularly pick him up when you meet people and dogs?

These two will help me answer your question further. :)

Manda
x

It sounds to me as if your pup is a bit nervous of strangers. My dog showed the same sort of behaviour on reaching adolecence around 6 months. What is he like normally? The bark is probably just a warning that he is unsure of these people, hence why he runs away from strangers and chases them away and why he stopped barking when he recognised your friend. He is doingi t more and more as everytime he barks the people seem to stay away and so he is accidentally rewarded for his behaviour. The answer lies in doing more socialisation as you would do with a young puppy.

MY PUP HAS BEEN SOCIALISED WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND DOGS SINCE HE WAS BORN. WHEN WE MEET PEOPLE I DONT PICK HIM UP BUT I MAKE SURE THEY GET CLOSER AND CLOSER TO HIM TILL THEY PET HIM THEN I TELL HIM WHAT A GOOD BOY HE IS.

HE STARTS PUPPY SCHOOL NEXT WEEK SO HOPEFULLY THAT WILL HELP TO.