I wouldn't recommend the water spray tactic. Using an aversive will just make him more reactive and unhappy.

Have a look at the resource guarding sticky for lots of hints and tips.

Perhaps attach a house line ( a light lead with the handle cut off). If you want to move him then either call him to you with an excited happy voice and with lots of treats or if that doesn't work pick up the end of the house line and gently use it it to encourage him to move with rewards when he does.

Work on training an "off" and "on" to items using positive reinforcement (and clicker training if you prefer).

Don't force him off by grabbing his collar or pushing him as that will cause him to be defensive.

Re taking stuff off him teach him to trade it for a higher value (to him) item. Teach him a game where you swap something he has for something better. Eg swap a less favourite toy for a favourite toy then give him the less favourite toy too. Practice swapping or exchanging items of really low value for high value to start with so he understand the trade game. That way when he has something he shouldn't he will be happy to swap with a treat it item which has a higher value to him than the object he has.

Have a look at kikopup on YouTube and positively.com for lots of training tips. Going to a trainer who practices positive reinforcement training (not obsolete dominance and being the boss and aversion techniques as they have been discredited and will make your dog worse).

Also snapping and growling are way up on the ladder of aggression. Despite its name the ladder of aggression actually describes the body language by which the dog shows its unhappy about something. Before that are lots of other more subtle signs. Often when the dog thinks the humans are ignoring these it won't bother giving these anymore and will go straight to the bite or snap. It's always best to respect your dogs communication at the more subtle signs that way he won't escalate to a a bite because that's his only option left.

 

I wouldn't recommend the water spray tactic. Using an aversive will just make him more reactive and unhappy.

Have a look at the resource guarding sticky for lots of hints and tips.

Perhaps attach a house line ( a light lead with the handle cut off). If you want to move him then either call him to you with an excited happy voice and with lots of treats or if that doesn't work pick up the end of the house line and gently use it it to encourage him to move with rewards when he does.

Work on training an "off" and "on" to items using positive reinforcement (and clicker training if you prefer).

Don't force him off by grabbing his collar or pushing him as that will cause him to be defensive.

Re taking stuff off him teach him to trade it for a higher value (to him) item. Teach him a game where you swap something he has for something better. Eg swap a less favourite toy for a favourite toy then give him the less favourite toy too. Practice swapping or exchanging items of really low value for high value to start with so he understand the trade game. That way when he has something he shouldn't he will be happy to swap with a treat it item which has a higher value to him than the object he has.

Have a look at kikopup on YouTube and positively.com for lots of training tips. Going to a trainer who practices positive reinforcement training (not obsolete dominance and being the boss and aversion techniques as they have been discredited and will make your dog worse).

Also snapping and growling are way up on the ladder of aggression. Despite its name the ladder of aggression actually describes the body language by which the dog shows its unhappy about something. Before that are lots of other more subtle signs. Often when the dog thinks the humans are ignoring these it won't bother giving these anymore and will go straight to the bite or snap. It's always best to respect your dogs communication at the more subtle signs that way he won't escalate to a a bite because that's his only option left.

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What would be the best course of action if he's showing one of the lower symptoms on the ladder?

 

https://positively.com/dog-behavior/aggression/resource-guarding/

Re your pups getting over aggressive in play if you think it's escalating beyond reasonable play just give both dogs time out during play to calm down. If you manage their play then the one that's getting to over the top will slowly learn that their behaviour stops play.

Dogs will show calming behaviour when playing. This acts as a time out signal to themselves and the other dog to stop things for a little or to calm themselves and the other dog down. Some dogs don't listen to these calming signals meaning that fun play can become the opposite. If you see one dog showing signs that he is no longer happy then step in and do what the dogs should be doing which is to take a bit if a break, let calmness resume and then let the overwhelmed dog chose if he wants to reengage in play. If so then fine but keep introducing the calming breaks toll they both start self regulating.

Look up calming signals in dogs. There is lots of stuff on line but if you want a DVD/book resource look up Turid Rugaas amongst others.

 

We've been told that spraying a water bottle in his face would be a good tool to use in order to snap him out of these behaviour traits,

Just to reiterate the excellent advice given by Kittih above - please do not use the water spray. It's aversive, it's threatening and it will exacerbate the behaviour. Your dog doesn't need to 'snap out of the behaviour' he needs to be trained that he doesn't need to resource guard. This is is done through calm reward based training and swapping the items he has taken for food.

And if you haven't been bitten yet it's not because you are agile - a dog is faster and more agile than us and if they intend to bite, they will. Your dog is still warning you (he really doesn't want to go any higher up the ladder) that he is not comfortable at your approach( by air-snapping.) Listen to him and start some training.

J

 

He was waiting for his food this morning and when my girlfriend came downstairs he seemed happy with the fuss, but then he got into his snappy mood. We're having a behaviour expert near us who has great reviews come over tomorrow to have a look at them.

 

Snapping just like all the lower behaviours on the ladder mean your dog is unhappy about something. If you notice them occurring then you should stop doing whatever you were doing when they occur. When your dog snapped again after the fuss what exactly were you doing. Some dogs dislike being leaned over as it is intimidating to yhem, receiving lots of attention as it can overwhelm them and many dogs dislike cuddles and kisses as they are to invasive of personal space. Small dogs, especially if they are being picked up or held have no ability to move away in these circumstances so their only option to say keep away is to snap. If that works and gets you to back off then they wil use it again.

The way to deal with this is to respect your dogs personal space. Don't start a petting sessison with your dog or try and touch him without being asked by the dog for it. This would include the dog coming to you and climbing into your lap, pushing into your hands for a stroke, something like that. Even then just give some gentle pets on the shoulders and don't lean over the dog. Pets to the head are intimidating and unpleasant to many dogs. The shoulders are less so. After a few strokes then stop. If your dog indicates they want some more then give them a few more then stop. Let the dog chose. After a few repeats if the dog has asked for them then stop entirely and do something fun like some rewards based training or a bit of hands off play eg a tuggy game etc.

If your dog is resting or eating leave him be. If you need him to move from an area encourage him to you with treats or if needed attach a light house line to him (handle cut off) so you can gently encourage him away from an item.

The idea is to make your dog understand you respect his space and it is his choice how and when he interacts.

Pay close attention to the more subtle behavioural cues. If you see them then what was happening at the time ? Was your voice raised ? Leaning over him ? Touching him in a particular place ? Taking something away ?

Once you know what he feels uncomfortable with you can stop doing them.

Re the behaviourist ? Are they accredited ?Do they advocate force and aversive free solutions and not talk about being the boss and dominance ?

 

Thank you. They are yes, they don't recommend aversive (water bottle etc) at all. She reccommended classes too.

 

Hmm if the change has been recent then I would recommend a visit to the vet. Dogs can be very stoic. Like many animals they rarely show outward signs of pain or illness until they are really bad. I n the wild this keeps them safe from being dinner to some predator.

If your dog is snappy then it could be a sign he is in pain or unwell. I would get the vet to give him a thorough check in the first instance.

 

Thanks kittih. I think we are going to arrange an appointment.

 

Please let us know how it goes. Hoping it is nothing serious.

 

Thank you. Louie and Barney are our first dogs together so as you can imagine we'll do whatever it takes to make sure everything is okay.

 

Any updates here?

 

Great suggestions kittih! Yeah I would recommend that you visit the vet first to avoid some unnecessary actions. Any updates would be appreciated.