My 2 yr old Yorkie, Izzy, and 1 yr old Yorkie, Belle, have been great playmates since Belle was brought into the house.  We have owned them since they were 12 weeks old.  Izzy is the dominant one but Belle can hold her own.  This past week my daughter dropped off her 2 yr old Yorkie, Wicket, for us to babysit.  Since then I have noticed Belle's behavior change drastically.  It has slowly gotten worse and at this point, she backs away from us when we try to pick her up and when we do get her, she yelps like we are torturing her.  I've talked to my vet and he thinks it's probably because of Wicket and she should get over it when Wicket leaves.  He might be a little correct on that but still Belle cries when we even get close to her.  And she will cry when the other dogs act like they are going to play.  She cowers in the corner all the time now.  When we pick her up, she just shakes and wimpers.  I'm thinking there is something wrong internally because she crys when we hold her a certain way.  When I call her, she comes right away but then as she nears me she stays away.  It's like she wants to come to me but then won't.  I've never dealt with a dog (I've always had dogs) that has mental problems so I don't know if this is normal reaction or not.  I'm hoping it clears up when Wicket leaves (in one day!) but my vet said she might be slow at coming around to us again.  Can anyone give me some encouragement about this mental thing - does this sound normal - do you think it might be something else since she cries when we pick her up?  Thank you for advice! 

Thats strange isn't it sounds like something as happened to her like a bad experience, maybe it's not mental but physical. i can't see it being the male dog as she is directing it at uses.

All 3 of them are female.  I was just playing with them and normally Belle will join in and play tug of war with the toy and chase it but I throw it towards her now and she just backs off and shakes.  I guess I'll just have to see what happens with her when the visiting Yorkie leaves tomorrow.  You mentioned a bad experience...in our presence, nothing bad has ever happened to these dogs.  They are treated like queens, but maybe something happened while we were gone.  They are by themselves for 2-3 hours each day. 

Thank you for replying.  I've enjoyed so much reading everyone's comments on different topics.  This is the first time I've ever posted anything.  Ok - just now I'm observing Izzy eating from her bowl and Belle is just standing there a few inches from her whining.   This is so crazy - I just want to get in her face and ask "What's wrong NOW?"  I've never tolerated whiney children so this is a bit much for me.  Oh well - this too will pass.

There are medical problems which can cause  a dog to show apprehension/fear and out of character behaviour, but as the problem conincided with the appearance of Wicket, it's more likely to be something related to that.

Perhaps Belle is scared of playing with the others now, possibly she has been hurt in a scrap between them? When you say she can hold her own, do they have scraps or is it more subtle than that?

It could be that the  dynamics have changed and she is afraid of showing any kind of "forward" behaviour in the presence of Wicket. If it continues, I would go back to the vet.

Lindsay
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Belle and Izzy have growled at each other over a toy but nothing agressive.  Since Wicket has been here, Belle has been almost invisible.  I should give Belle a few days or week after Wicket leaves to get back to normal and then I'll take her to the vet.  I still think it's unusual that she cries when we try to pick her up. 

Thank you for your comments!  Where are you from - if I'm allowed to ask that?  It appears that quite a few people on this forum are from somewhere in England by the way you converse.  I so enjoy reading this forum.

I'm from Dorset (at the moment) :)

Yes, the crying when you try to pick her up does seem strange, not sure what to make of that.

Lindsay
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Update on Belle's so-called mental problem.  After one week without Wicket, Belle was still crying when we would come near her so I called my Vet again.  He said we can try some pain reliever to see if that helps.  30 minutes after her first dose she started playing around with Izzy like normal.  She's been on the pain reliever for a week now and hasn't cried once.  Now we will take her off the medicine and see if she goes back to the crying thing.  Then we'll know there is more wrong than just mental.  I'm so happy about this.  Hopefully it will be easy to fix.  I certainly was worried about how to fix the mental thing. 

Thanks for the update; that's interesting, hope she's going to be OK :)

Lindsay
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