dog aggression

[babybop6379]

I have posted previoulsly regarding our 9mth old jack x chihuaha and his diet, thank you for your answers they were very good!!!, we have now realised a much worse problem as the dog has been aggressive on more than one occassion and its getting worrying as he is doing it to everyone ( snapping, snarling, and he bit my friend yesterday after he snapped at her year old daughter!!!!) obviously i am very worried about this behaviour!. He seems fine on most occasions just has these little moments when you tell him to do something he doesnt want to do or take something off of him when he gets this look in his eyes and you know hes going to be aggressive, he doesnt act like a scorned dog would i.e tail down, ears down and so on he just sits there with this look about him like "what have i done"
Ive had advice from my trainer friend but he hasnt been around to see him being aggressive. I need advice as to what to do next he has been housetrained and he is open for training but has these traits!!!! I have all the patience in the world to train it out of him but I fear that it will not be eliminated completely by doing this. Any advice would be gratefully received with thanks celia x

[Jemisa]

He's jealous, in his mind he's topdog and feels threatened when this status is being taken from him.
Proffesional training may help, but I do say may help loosely.

jem

[craft1948]

Good luck....the most aggressive dog I ever had was a chihuahua....

[RATTER15]

He is pack leader, you are follower, it should be the other way around, he is your protector. you need serious help on this before you end up having him put to sleep.

A dog psychologist would help I'm sure, you need to stop him from being over protective. you must take charge of every situation not the dog!

You need more help than you can get in five minutes on here I'm afraid.

[Ankou]

sounds like he is settting out his positionin the pecking order.
i had a jack russel years ago, lovely most of the time, but when she nipped or got vicious ... jeepers. in the end she got into a fight with a larger dog and lost her life.

sometimes it is the nature of the dog itself and its environment (feeling threatened) so if this is happening on occasions where you can see wht the 'threat' might have been then this could be down to training. if its the 'nature' of the dog, then you might want to speak to a vet or a specialist in either breed.

it is right to recognise and try to overcome it now.

[icemaiden]

Have you thought about getting him checked by a vet. Could he be in some discomfort or pain? Just a thought.

I have a terrier that used to be so depressed, he didn't act like a puppy should. He didn't play or run around, very grumpy. So I took him to the vets and eventually after trying to convince the vet that he didn't seem happy, they investigated and found that he was born without a hip and socket joint so his joint was rubbing bone on bone and causing him a lot of pain. We had him operated on and now he is a different dog. So much more happier.

BUT he can still be snappy, but ONLY to strangers who insist on approaching him in a silly voice and proceed to lear over him. Poor thing is scared half to death so he snaps at them. Can't blame him on that one. He has never done it to us, my family or my friends. Not even the vet!

WE also changed his diet and now he has no food or treats with added colours or preservatives. You have to look at the packages very closely as some claim to be natural but in fact are not! We have noticed the difference in him so much. He is more calm and laid back now.

I'm not sure what the answer is but please don't give up on him.

Good luck,

[babybop6379]

hiya all thanks for your answers we are no way gonna give up on him as he is a lovely little dog other than these isolated incidents, ive enlisted the help of my friend who is a dog trainer and we are going to be working closely together with him to try to find a solution, hes not in pain ice maiden as he is a happy little dog other than when we are trying to do or get him to do something, I appreciate that there are many different solutions to this and that its not going to be resolved overnight so time and plenty of patience and he will hopefully get better xxxx

[andy-hughes]

It does sound like a 'herarchy' issue.

He needs to be moved down the pack order - first and foremost by you, and then to accept that your guests are above him as well.

It will take some time, but obviously you have the patience and time to get him there.

[babybop6379]

hey all just an update :) we started some hardcore routine with him last week and we have cut all the treating him like a baby (my daughter was to blame for that!!!) he now has a cage set up in the kitchen and he isnt allowed to jump on us at all he has his 3 small walks and a long run during the day. We make sure that we are also using a weighted/electric collar on him (its not even used with the current on we was just getting him used to it and it is a just in case thing) it seems to have given him a purpose. We always go first before him on everything and he also gets put to bed strictly at 10:30 after his night walk. :) even after these few changes his demeanour is so calm and he seems a different dog!!! we havnt been around other children yet but after doing his routine and regular training i hope all will be ok, thanks everyone for your advice and im sure you will spot other comments on here from me regarding this!!! lol take care xx

[lankeela]

Well done for sticking with the routine, just hope some others who come on here will learn from your post - we all love our dogs but they are dogs after all and need routine and discipline, or else they make their and your life a misery. Crate training is a must but some people think its cruel - provided you don't treat it as a punishment but as part of their everyday routine then it can work wonders. Mine have crates all over the house, left open, and they go in whenever they need a break from the others, or if they just need a quiet nap. Dogs need to know their place in the 'pack' and will respect the pack leader much more if they know their place.

[icemaiden]

Thats great news babybop. May it continue!

[babybop6379]

thanks all we all have taken the advice and we are using it. The crate is doing wonders its not being used as a punishment at all and he goes in no fuss now :0) we had a great day yesterday his old owner came over and i managed to calm him down and with some help given to her he was sitting by her feet in no time and loving some strokes then off to bed!!!! last night a couple of friends came over he sat waited for them to come in, went over gave them a sniff ( not jumping on them!!!) and then they said hello and off he went to his bed!!!! couldn't of asked for more. Im thinking of getting him into some sort of agility and was looking for one in the essex area if anyone knows of a good one let me know please, he still needs a lot of outdoor training but like i said before i am really enjoying him now and relish teaching him new stuff hes such a clever little one!!!! thanks again :o) xxx

[babybop6379]

and lankeela i would like to say a personal thank you, As always your advice is spot on and your encouragement is great!!!