My Bichon Frise shows aggression to children. I am taking him to obedience classes at Pet Smart. This is not helping. What can I do?

Question

I know you probably don't hear a lot about these dogs, but here goes:

    I purchased him from a private breeder (mother very sweet, siblings all looked fine-clean home, etc - husband and wife stays home with dogs. We brought him home and everything was fine. He would play bite was the only major thing I noticed in like the first month. About a month after we got him, some relatives came to stay for 6 weeks temporarily with us. They have 2 children, ages 2 and a half and 6. Both of the children were afraid of Bailey and used to scream away from him. They by no means ever hurt the dog. My son is 4 years old. I admit that he occasionally would pull dog's tail, play rough, etc. I am presently working with him on this. My worry started when my son bent down next to dog with his face near dogs behind. Bailey turned around and bit him over eye, leaving like a bite mark that luckily went away in a few days. This is when the worry began. It seems like every time my son goes go even pet Bailey he growls and nips at him. I keep them on CONSTANT supervision at all times. We are currently in obedience classes at Pet Smart, and Bailey is learning a lot. I admit that he is very intelligent, and his breed is not known for being temperamental. A visit to the groomer almost had me in tears. She told me that Bailey was worse than before, and that someday I might have to put him to sleep!!! She upset me so much I don't think I'll go back. Bailey was also just neutered, along with having hot spot shaven. He had to stay at pet hospital for 2 days, and he was very irritable for about 4 days. He is better now. He has licked hair off one paw that they put anesthetic in. The vet says this is obsessive/compulsive thing. (is this genetic?). By breeder has told me that I can bring Bailey back if it doesn't work out and she will give me $ back, which I think is nice. I even called then to express my concerns. He told me that none of their other pups ever had aggression problems, and breed is not known for this. I am trying to decide whether or not to take Bailey back. I spent $600 on him, and I want a puppy with good temperament. If we caused this, then so be it, but if not, then I want what I paid for if you know what I mean.

    My main question here is do you think Bailey's problems were inherited by his parents, or did environmental factors cause this? I am meeting with animal behaviorist on Thursday, and she will evaluate Bailey with my son. Also, if we train Bailey to behave, will he stay like that, or will he revert back at some point? Help me, I need to make this decision. Thanks!

    Dana

Accepted Answer

I have a very good German friend who comes to this country to give Schutzhund seminars. When he has very direct things to say he starts by saying “I am not here to bring honey to your face.” That applies to this email. You asked and I will tell you what I think. You may not like the answer but I am right. You caused part of this and genetics caused part of it.

Why would you allow these other kids near your dog? That makes no sense. You should have been using a dog crate and keeping the dog in it when you saw the STUPID reaction from the strange kids. Even people have bad genetics.
Pet Smart is not known for good obedience classes, They promote gentle leaders and halite’s. This is STUPID, STUPID, STUPID training for a dog like yours. Actually it is stupid for any dog. They are not interested in training dogs they are interested in appealing to the PATSY dog owners out there that don’t have a clue how to train a dog and cringe at the sight of a prong collar (which 80% of the dogs need to be trained with).
You have allowed this dog to become a dominant dog. I have no idea if you can fix it. Probably not- simply because of what you have done so far with this dog. It all comes down to wanting to fix it. READ WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN on dominance – the articles and Q&A section.
I would assume you are using a crate. If not – shame on you. That’s a huge mistake. Read my article on preventing dog bites in kids.

If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. I think if you read the testimonials on that tape you will see that my customers feel the same way. Get this tape and a prong collar and train this dog. Make changes in the way you treat and house him. What’s a dog behaviorist? I never heard of a school for this. My experience with people who call themselves by that name are self appointed or subscribe to such goofy ideas that they are not worth a nickel. One in 20 has common sense and experience to back up their ideas. One thing about the dog business. EVERYONE has an opinion on your problem – but the fact is very very few people have any experience to back up their opinions.