Pet advice...small dog is aggressive when he has a bone or chew toy around my wife

In My Humble Opinion
1

We have a mixed chihuahua that was a rescue. We’ve had him now for about 4 years. Usually, he’s a really good dog, well behaved even around strangers (mostly). He does have some issues though, mainly due to his being born and raised in a shelter (and not a particularly good one). When we got him it was his last chance…if no one adopted him he’d have been put to sleep (he was also underfed and seemed to have been beaten a lot, and probably picked on by the other dogs). This was mainly due to his behavior at the time…he was scared all the time and would lash out at anyone who got close to him. He also has some weird food issues…he won’t eat off of a plate or bowl, especially if anyone (or another dog) is near. He just moves away and looks at the plate or bowl of food and shakes. Mainly, he’s gotten over that as well.

However, one thing I’ve been unable to break him of is his behavior when he’s got a bone or chew toy and my wife is around. He gets very protective when he’s given something like that, and will snap at or growl at even my wife if she comes near him while he’s got the thing. Mainly, he doesn’t do that with me anymore, but he still does it with her or if the kids come by to visit (we don’t let any of the grandkids near him unsupervised at all). What I generally do when he does this is to tell him no and basically take the bone or toy away (and try not to lose a digit doing it :p), then calm him down and make him sit next to me and then give him the bone back but make him chew it with me there, petting him so that he’s used to me being there and knows the bone or toy is coming from me…it’s not his. But this doesn’t seem to be working with my wife as he still seems very defensive.

Any advice on how to fix this?

2

The simplest “fix” is to avoid the situation. If the dog’s behavior is excellent except when he has a bone around certain people, just do not give him a bone when he is around those people.

3

I strongly suggest that you get a trainer to help you work through this problem.

The short version of the fix is that you need to build stronger positive associations with your wife for the dog, and then work up to doing things like taking the food bowl and returning it, taking a bone, and returning it.

First step, take the toys and problem items for now.

Second step, all good things come from your wife. You are a bystander. She feeds, walks, and gives all treats. Ditto cuddle time, if she’s around. She should carry treats, and randomly ask him to do a few simple things, like “sit” or “down”, and then praise and treat.

Third step, have her walk up and throw a few extra special goodies (like hot dog pieces) into his food, and leave. She doesn’t touch him or the food, she just walks up and gives him special goodies. This starts to build the association that people walking up to his food (and later his toys) aren’t bad.

Third step, part 2. Have her expand into a few actual training sessions per day. 10-15 minutes. Work up to “don’t touch” and “drop it”. Use the extra yummy treats for these.

Fourth step, when he’s mastered the others. Have your wife, start using the toy in the training session. Drop it, big treat, gets the toy back. He doesn’t get to keep the toy for more then a few minutes past the end of the training session.

Fifth step. He gets the toy for 15 minutes or so, after a walk and a training session (tired and mind reinforced on the commands). Wife comes by and asks for his attention. He looks at her, and she gives him a treat. She leaves. She comes back later, “drop it”, gets a treat, gets the toy back. She comes back, “drop it”, he gets and treat, and she takes the toy.

Each step may go quickly, or it may take weeks. A trainer can guide you through this better than I/we can over the Internet.

One other note - from your description, it sounds like you may be rewarding and encouraging his behavior. You sit with him, petting him and so on. He’s getting a bunch of positive attention from you for a negative behavior. Take the toy and he doesn’t get it back at that time. I would either remove him from the situation, or move to an obedience session with treats.

4

**Sunny Daze **is on point in the post above. I would add a few things.

First, start simple, with your wife giving all the yummy things. Maybe also try the “look at me and I’ll give you a treat” game without involving the toy at first. Evaluate how that is going before moving on to having your wife handle the toy in training sessions.

Secondly, if/when he misbehaves, try “shunning.” Turn your back on him pointedly and face away for a few seconds. Withdrawal of attention is a very powerful motivator for some dogs.

Thirdly, remember growling is a gift. You do not want to stop him from growling, which warns you in advance he is emotional and might act (bite). You want him to stop feeling that emotion, which is a different thing. A dog deterred from growling simply acts without giving a warning.

5

My take is that all dogs are pack animals, every pack has a strict hierarchy, to the dog you are the alpha of the pack and your wife is secondary, with the dog being lowest. So, when your wife takes the toy or food, it’s just shelter animal bullying all over again, from the dogs perspective.

Keep that in mind when interacting.

6

Animals are very good at understanding body language and signals from other animals and humans. In most cases don’t over think it. If he is doing something he isn’t supposed to do quickly correct him. Chihuahua can be snappy even if they hadn’t been abused and even if they have been properly socialized. Thank god they are small and don’t pose a big risk. Smack him with something light like a newspaper immediately and then pet and reassure him. He will only remember the nice part. You have to win every single altercation.

7

Don’t do this.

8

Another vote for Sunny Daze’s advice.

This book is generally considered one of the top resources on the subject of resource guarding, but it is a bit of a tough read.

9

Sunny Daze + Sailboat = win. I recommend following their advice.

Another point - how many times per day are you feeding him? Little dogs may need to eat three meals per day. Try dividing up his daily food, and make sure his tummy is full, especially before company comes. If he’s the type who can be trusted with a bowl of crunchy kibble out all day, then soft extra-yummy food morning and night is enough.

Always make him sit for anything he wants. He has to be sitting calmly before any petting, cuddling, walking, food, or treats will occur. And I fully agree that your wife should be the source of all good things for a while.

The same is true of company. Keep a source of small treats near the front door. As folks come in one at a time (slow the progress a bit) have him sit and receive a treat from each. That way he won’t see them as competition for food.

Keep in mind, he may be using chewing to calm himself when he’s stressed. If the advice here doesn’t work, then look earlier in the interaction - what happened before he started chewing?

Also, visitors are stressful for most chihuahuas. He may just never be a dog who can wander about when company comes. But he should certainly be comfortable with everyone who lives there.

10

The problem may be that the dog doesn’t see himself as the lowest member of the pack. He apparently sees XT as the alpha. But he might feel he’s second in the hierarchy. So when XT’s wife approaches him while he’s eating, he sees it as a challenge for his position. He’s treating her the way he would treat a lower-status dog.

11

Yeah, what they said as to training. Pup needs tough love! You gotta do those techniques everyday. I agree wife should on the happy interactions with Pup, feeding, walking, playing, giving treats. Think of it like, Pup has been thru horrific experiences, mostly. Time will tell. Be patient and practice, praction!

12

What Sunny Daze says above, especially the part where your wife is seen as the purveyor of all good things.

We trained Leet the Wonder Dog[sup]TM[/sup] not to be food-aggressive by teaching him to say grace before meals. But everybody in the family did it - pour out the nummy dog food, then Leet sits and bows his head devoutly while we says “Bless us oh Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty thru Christ our Lord. Amen”. “Amen” is the signal to devour the numminess as if he hadn’t eaten in a week.

Regards,
Shodan

13

I have worked with dogs most of my life, I don’t spend weeks trying to correct minor problems. Imposing your will on a dog is something they understand and respect, it does not confuse them. Lots of ways you can address a problem but the important thing is they have to know what you won’t tolerate, don’t worry about their past history because whatever you think you know about it is probably wrong anyway. He has a new relationship with you and that’s all that counts. Dogs don’t hold grudges if they know you are the alpha.

14

Appreciate all the good advice. I’m definitely going to try to make some changes.

One question that was asked as to the number of feedings, we only feed the dogs once a day, usually at night. Since our little dog has such issues, I generally hand feed him, though I’ve been trying to get him to eat off a plate or bowl with some success. I didn’t know they needed to be fed 3 times a day, so maybe I’ll see if we can work that in.

It’s funny, because the dog this OP is about generally does follow my wife around when she is home, and sits near her at night when she is watching TV. He also sleeps with us (i.e. in our room, generally on a pallet we have for him at the foot of the bed). So, he really does interact with her quite a bit. And he almost never snaps at her (which is why this was so unusual for him). But my wife isn’t into tough love when this particular dog is concerned, so I think what might be happening is that maybe he does seem himself as the number two dog of our little pack (my daughters dog, who is female, doesn’t seem to have any of these issues, though she has others, also being a rescue).

Thanks for the advice everyone…really appreciate it. It was pretty upsetting to my wife…she was heartbroken that he snapped at her, especially how over the top it was, though I tried to explain to her about how dogs see things in terms of the pack. She doesn’t have a lot of dog experience, and the story of this pup really moved her, which is why he’s so special to her (me too, to be honest). But I can’t have him acting like he did, which is why I’ve tried to change his behavior towards guests.

15

You have to remember dogs have different social cues than humans do. Your wife might be doing something that in dog psychology is a sign of submission.

For example, if she’s walking across the room and the dog is in her path, she probably walks around the dog or steps over him. To a dog, that’s a sign of submission. The higher-status dog gets to stay where it is and the lower-status dogs have to change their movements to go around it. When you’re walking somewhere and the dog is in your path, you should gently nudge him out of the way and continue walking in the same direction.

There are other things like letting a dog go into a room first or letting the dog eat before you eat that signal to the dog that you are acknowledging he has higher status than you do.

Keep in mind dogs don’t have a problem with being low status in the pack. As long as their needs are being met (and the life of a household pet is an easy one) they don’t care if they’re at the bottom of the status pole. A low status dog won’t try to challenge humans to move itself up. But dogs want the pack to be stable; they expect everyone in the pack to know their place and behave appropriately.

16

Don’t hit your dogs to train them.

I believe you said that this is a chihuahua. We have one now that we rescued this summer. I have noticed that he is a lot quicker to growl and even give a warning lunge than any big dog I’ve had. I believe that one reason for this is their size. Everyone treats them like a toy. Want the dog to move, you pick it up and move it. They’re easy to step on, or sit on. Small dogs are reinforced pretty quickly to growl and even bite in order to set boundaries. This doesn’t mean you should let the behavior continue, but it’s something to bear in mind. It doesn’t mean that he doesn’t like either one of you. Your wife should not worry about that. Just be patient, reinforce positive behaviors in a positive way, and remember to respect his personal space as if he were a bigger dog.