Not sure what to do - dog is snapping.

Mish_Mash

I have a 9 month old male shih tzu. He is a lovely dog and generally well behaved. I've had him from a pup and he has been well socialised and attended doggy training.

Recently he seems to have developed a possessive streak about certain items. Mainly pigs ears, treats and anything he deems 'great' at a specific moment in time. If you go anywhere near him he'll growl and will repeatedly snap.

He is absolutely fine with his food bowl.

I live alone with the dog and I don't have any problems with the above behaviour when he is at home.

However on the 2 days a week I go to work I leave him with my parents. There are 2 other dogs there both 9 months, 1 shih tzu and 1 border terrier cross. My young niece and nephew are also there.

The snapping tends to occur at my parents house when anyone goes near one of his treats. He will snap at the other dogs, adults and children.

I am not sure what we can do about the situation. I believe that the fact that there are other dogs and children around makes my dog more competitve and protective of his food. Therefore the only way to avoid aggravating the dog is to remove any treats.

My mum has also said that when he runs to the door (if the doorbell goes) he will snap at anyone who tries to move him out of the way. Again he doesn't do this when he is at home.

Do I have a problem dog or are these just problem situations that I need to manage? Every dog has it's own personality and it could just be a case of knowing what triggers a dogs behavior and managing it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

PS He hasn't been neutered yet, I am waiting till he is a year old.

Caroline_a

Firstly, you don't need to wait until he's 12 months old to be neutered - 6 months is perfectly old enough. Then you need to make sure that you stamp your authority on him, because he is trying to rule the roost! You will need to be firm with him, teach him to 'leave' and work on being able to take anything out of his jaws, and also 'drop' so that he will put down anything he picks up.

He sounds to be getting very territorial with the running to the door too. Teach him to lie down and stay whenever anyone comes to the door and not try to control the doorway. It will be hard work, and time consuming, and if you don't think you are up to doing it yourself, either join a dog training club or employ a dog trainer/behaviourist.

Good luck!

sarabe

Dogs don't do sharing so it would be best if he (and the other dogs) didn't have the high value treats when he is with your Mum.

Meanwhile if he has a pig's ear or similar at home where he isn't a problem you could invest some time in teaching him that there is no threat to his prize by not trying to take it from him but perhaps giving him a piece of sausage or liver whilst he is chewing it so that he leaves the pig's ear momentarily and it's still there when he returns to the chewing.

Give him a reason to guard it and he will.

With regard to the door problem try and persuade your Mum to not let him rush to the door. A house line would be the perfect solution. She can just pick it up and remove him to another room without a confrontation.

You are right to wait until he is mature before neutering him in my opinion.

Bubby

Caroline_a wrote: »

Firstly, you don't need to wait until he's 12 months old to be neutered - 6 months is perfectly old enough.QUOTE]

If you neuter before a dog is fully mature you can end up with an eternal puppy:eek::eek: amongst other problems. Better to wait until he is matured (check the breed club) and whilst I advocate neutering it doesn't "solve" most behavioural problems.

rathbone_2

sarabe wrote: »

Dogs don't do sharing

Don't they? I thought dogs were some of the best sharing animals ever, part of their pack life...

cyberbob

Bubby wrote: »

If you neuter before a dog is fully mature you can end up with an eternal puppy:eek::eek: amongst other problems..

That's a silly myth with no basis in science. OP go and talk to your vet about Neutering and take their advice. Yes Neutering doesn't stop all behaviour problems but it can help along with training. Sometimes neutering to late can cause more problems as behaviours such as Marking can become a habit.

Find a good trainer you can work with locally.

sarabe

rathbone wrote: »

Don't they? I thought dogs were some of the best sharing animals ever, part of their pack life...

I can assure you that as a general rule dogs don't share. They don't have the same sense of fairness that we have. All dogs are capable of guarding a valuable resource if they perceive that they may lose it.

This can range from just simply keeping hold of it and turning away from a person or dog who might want to take it to being prepared to use aggression to prevent the loss of it.

Using aggression and 'stamping your authority' on the dog will make it worse.

rathbone_2

sarabe wrote: »

I can assure you that as a general rule dogs don't share.

You're wrong, dogs do share. They bring back food to the den and share it with those that haven't hunted. The problem is more to do with the snapping not the sharing. You're right to say that some dogs can just keep hold of things and turn away. This is what you should be saying to teach though, not to give treats for dropping. And how could the other dogs give out treats?

sarabe

rathbone wrote: »

You're wrong, dogs do share. They bring back food to the den and share it with those that haven't hunted. The problem is more to do with the snapping not the sharing. You're right to say that some dogs can just keep hold of things and turn away. This is what you should be saying to teach though, not to give treats for dropping. And how could the other dogs give out treats?

They do? Okay tonight I'll give a 5lb bag of chicken carcasses to one of my dogs, tell him to take what he needs and to divvy the rest out between the other twelve.

I'll let you know what happens.

rathbone_2

@sarabe Ok, I'll persevere because I think you're almost there, even though I sense you're frustrated. The original post was about snapping not sharing. You said dogs don't share, as if to explain the snapping. The snapping is about conflict, its not about being unable to share. Dogs and wolves have well documented instances where they share - they feed their young, and they will look after sick and injured members of their pack. Sharing arises when you're fully confident in owning. This will also solve the snapping, because a dog can then confidently keep hold rather than snap.

sarabe

The OP was about a dog being possesive over pig's ears etc and snapping if anyone went near. He is resource guarding because he is afraid of losing said item either to one of the other dogs or a person.

If he was happy to share the pig's ear then I guess that he would willingly give it up.

He is okay at home because he feels safe in the knowledge that his owner is not going to take his prized possesion but at her mother's he has two other adolescent dogs who probably have taken stuff from him. Maybe people have taken things away from him. Maybe he took one of the other dogs pig's ears and someone took it back from him and told him off. Who knows? Whatever the reason he is insecure and acts accordingly when in that environment.

If the owner isn't there to supervise then it would be best if the dog didn't have items that he wants to guard for the time being until some time has been invested in sorting out the problem.