Expert: TLR - 4/9/2007

Question
Hi There,

I have a male bichon that is 11 months old.  He is very protective over me.  He is a little ankle bitter.  When people  or other animals come near me he tries to attack them.  Then i hold him back and he sits there and growls.  Also he is ok around women but when a male is in the room he keeps an eye on them.  If they make the slightest move, he attacks their ankles.  I have had him around many other animals and people, so i think i socialized him well.  i dont know what the problem is.  He never seems to be able to sit still unless he is tired and wants to sleep.  Some say its becasue he has not gotten fixed yet, but i dont know.  PLease help!!  I cannot bring him anywhere!!

Answer
Believe it or not, this is something that could have happened when your Bichon was just a puppy. A puppy that is removed from his mother and siblings before the age of 7 weeks missed the early vital signs of not biting...so he ends up "mouthy" and nippy, as well as resistant to being handled or even corrected. This can also make the dog aggressive toward other dogs.
Some breeders remove their puppies from their mom at 6 weeks, which can be too early and cause this aggressiveness.

Also, his attitude towards people can come from his parents. If your puppy's parents and grandparents were good-natured toward people and other dogs, there is a good chance they passed down those genes to their puppies. But, if even just one parent or grandparent was aggressive towards people, those genes could have been passed down as well.

As far as your puppy being afraid of males, this could have come from his early environment. If the puppy was frightened or hurt by a person or another dog when he was young, he may end up aggressive and fearful. Early imprinting can be very difficult to change :(

Just as in people, adolescence in dogs can be an awkward time of change and upheaval. A young dog's attitude toward the world may change from week to week...even from day to day. He may become skittish, spooky, or suspicious. This is especially common between 8 and 18 months old.

All you can do is continue to socialize your dog and correct any signs of aggression. Make sure to take your dog to parks, playgrounds, along bike paths, pet supply stores, etc. Make sure to point out people and dogs...say things like "look poochie, people...good people!!" or "look poochie...doggy...good doggy!"
When other people and dogs are around, smile and laugh alot. Pull out his favorite toy and play with your dog...wrestle with him...get him to chase the toy...speak cheerfully.
When sitting in a crowd of people, reward confident behavior with food and play.

Your dog draws conclusions from YOUR mood...if you're happy and confident, your puppy will more readily conclude that people and other dogs are nothing to worry about. If you're tense, he will be too.

I hope this helps...if you have any other questions, feel free to ask :-)

TLR