I had initially wrote a long background about my dog, but it didn't post so I wrote a shorter version. My dog was very friendly to everyone and other dogs in the shelter (or so we were told), and when we took him home he was great with us. Before him, I had two purebred chihuahuas that died of old age. Until the "beta" dog got very old, I used to put them upstairs when small children came over, because I didn't want any bites or other incidents. They were quite yappy and fearful towards kids especially. When the alpha dog died, the "beta" dog became very passive and stopped barking at visitors.
So, I thought this new dog would be great and social with everyone and I could have them out when people visited. Well, as soon as we had our first visitor, that theory went out the window. He was barking and growling as soon as they looked at him. I had a trainer work with him. She basically said I had to take control and show him I'm in charge- pretty much by squirting him with water when he won't obey the "quiet" command. That stopped the crazy barking, but not the growling. The vet told me that he's growling out of fear. Both our vet and our groomer were able to calm him, although he acted aggressively with them initially.
My goal is really to be able to have a dog that isn't afraid of/aggressive with my guests. Also, it would be nice if he didn't bark at people from the car window. I want to be able to take him out in public without him stressing out basically.
Thanks! |