Yes, but it will take much dedication and perserverance on your part. And the whole family must cooperate; otherwise, he’ll just learn not to bite you, but it’s still okay to bite everyone else. A few questions, first:
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Is the dog intact? If so, this will be much more difficult. If he’s intact, I suggest neutering ASAP.
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Does the dog have a medical condition which could be causing this behavior? Might want to check with your vet.
I don’t know how much obedience training your dog has, but here are a few things you can try.
Teach him he is not allowed to be possessive of his food. You can do this by reinforcment; start by just standing near him when he’s eating. You might want to put a lead on him during dinner- if he tries to snap, you can give a correction. When he’s behaving well, reward him with treats, praise, petting- whatever he really likes. Now, get a really good treat, like a piece of cheese or some liver jerky. Show him you have the treat. Make him sit. Drop the treat in his bowl from several feet up. Keep doing this, getting your hand closer and closer to his bowl each time. If he snaps or growls, correct, and walk away without giving the treat. Work up to actually reaching into the bowl to deposit the treat. Teach him that your hand in his bowl is a good thing, and that he’ll be rewarded for this. Make sure all other family members do this as well. It will take a while, but it will work. Alternatively…
Ground your dog. No, really. Daschunds are pretty dominant dogs, and if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. Your dog sounds pretty possessive. You could just not do anything to trigger the behavior, which might work, or it might just reinforce the dog’s belief that he is in charge and can snap at anybody he wants. If this is the case, ground him. Use everyday obedience to teach the dog that he is not in charge, and it is not okay to ever bite people. This is very hard to do, but it works wonders- you just have to be extremely consistent and firm. First off, ignore the dog. Feed him on schedule, do any routine medical stuff, like give pills or clean ears, but that’s it- no playing, no petting, no praise, until he does something for you. This means that before he gets fed, he must sit or lie down. Before he gets petted, he must sit or lie down. He must do these things, or he does not get what he wants. You’re teaching the dog that he is not allowed to tell you what to do- you tell him what to do. Teach him that nice, non-snapping or growling dogs get petted and praised, they get played with and they get treats. Impolite dogs who growl, snap, or act pushy or possessive get ignored.
This is really hard to do, however, because you love your dog. You want to pet him and play with him. But you must be firm and consistent, and all family members must be the same, otherwise the dog just learns that perserverance in being rude pays off, and that he can sometimes get away with stuff he shouldn’t be doing. Try keeping a collar and lead on him in the house (but ONLY when you can closely supervise him! he could be injured otherwise!) to correct him when he acts up. Just a quick snap of the wrist on the lead puts pressure on the back of the neck, which in ‘dog language’ means “don’t do that!”
You can check out
www.greatpets.com
for more training info, especially on aggressive/possessive dogs, and more tips on re-training. Good luck, and keep us posted!