only child syndrome

Question
I have an 11 month old yorkie/maltese mix who I spend a lot of time with, exercising and whatnot. I've put her through two puppy obedience courses and she is a very smart, very well behaved dog.  HOWEVER, in the last month she has been "acting" out.  When I'm on a computer or not giving her "enough" attention, she barks incessantly at me and growls (although not aggressively, just to make noise). I exercise her daily and am baffled by this new behavior.  Is this something that is attributed to her age or am I doing something wrong??  Help?

Answer
Hi, Kris,

What you're describing is fairly typical in a certain kind of relationship that can develop between small dogs and (sorry to say) some female owners. I call it the "cuteness factor."
Essentially what happens is that the dog is so cute, especially as a puppy, that the owner gives the dog far too much attention, particularly of a physical nature. This happens so often that I think the following should be stitched on a pillow and be made available to all owners of small breeds:

        DOGS NEED MORE PLAY TIME THAN CUDDLE TIME.

You say you exercise her daily, but are you giving her any really hard, vigorous playful exercise? The kind where she gets to use up a lot of her predatory energy? Dogs are hunters at heart. So if she's not getting enough of an opportunity to kill her toys, she's going to have too much energy in her system to feel relaxed when you're at the computer, etc.
The other parts of the equation are going to be tougher:

- No Sleeping on the Bed (she should sleep in a crate or her own bed)
- No Getting Up on the Furniture
- Very Little Holding Her in Your Lap
- Absolutely NO ATTENTION When She Demands It

One of the quickest and easiest ways to change this social dynamic is the following routine:

She barks for attention.
You ignore her completely--not even any eye contact.
She barks louder.
You keep ignoring her.
She growls, paws at your leg, etc.
You keep ignoring her.
Finally, she gives up and goes to get one of her toys.
You praise her softly. If this makes her give up the toy, redirect her back to it.

The good part of all this is that a dog's system is designed to get rid of tension and stress through biting. We often short-circuit that natural process by giving them too much physical affection, which also reduces tension and stress, but does so the way a drug would, in an unnatural fashion. So when she barks for attention try to remember that she's looking for a "fix" from you, when what she really needs is to bite a toy.

I hope this helps!
LCK