I have a jack russell chihuahua mix that i have spoiled. She is a little over a year old and is with me most of the day and night. The problem began when she had a false pregnancy about 2 months ago (she is spayed now). She will not let any of my other dogs or cats near me sometimes. She growls, snarls, and goes after them (she hasn't bitten them yet). This isn't a constant behavior but something she does several times a month or if food is present (human food, never over dog food.. we never feed our animals table food). I'm not sure what to do about it. She is honestly very important to me as she helps me with my anxiety. What can i do to curb this behavior?

Hi Sarah and welcome! What are you doing now when she exhibits this behavior? (your reaction)

If you are anxious, she is probably reacting to that. I would suggest trying to meditate to lower your own anxiety level. I find, on my walks with my reactive dog, if I am anxious or stressed, he has waaaay more reactive incidents, compared to when I am calm and relaxed.

Also, what message are you giving her for this behaviour? Are you feeling sorry for her and letting her get away with things that you otherwise wouldn't allow?

Recently we made a change in our household and let Skipper sleep on the bed with us at night. Jethro sleeps in his crate, so he isn't being left out (he sleeps best in his crate). One day Jethro came upstairs while Skipper was on the bed and went up to greet him, as he customarily does. Skipper raised his lips to show his teeth and I quickly moved him off the bed and out the room. It is up to me to manage the situation, to make sure Skipper never bares his teeth when he is up on the bed, and to make sure that Jethro doesn't get into a situation where Skipper is going to feel compelled to bare his teeth. It is my handler error whenever our two dogs get into an altercation (which is rare, but they have happened).

How are you managing your pet interactions?

right now i tell her no firmly and make her get off of the bed or sofa (where it usually happens). She sulks away like she knows she was bad. At first the vet thought it was because she was having a false pregnancy, and all the hormones were going. But its been at least 2 months since she was spayed so i think if that was the cause it would have stopped. In the past though this was never a problem with her, and i can't think of anything that has changed.

Sarah, I don't have a multi dog home and can't offer any first-hand advice, so I'm just bumping this so that others may see and respond...

I have 3 dogs in the house but I spend most of my time training with one, my SO with another and the beagle is kinda like our cat, we adopted him older and don't expect much of him except manners.

Anyway, my dog Hokie is very possessive of me. When we are sitting on the couch or I am in the kitchen he will often be right next to me. If the other two dogs come up to me he will growl or snap at them.

What I have started doing to curb this behavior is putting him in another room or his crate at the first sign he exhibits of this behavior. It has definitely helped. I am trying to teach him that he can share me, and that doesn't mean he will get any less of me, but if he doesn't share he will get none.

thanks for the advice.. i put her to crate for awhile yesterday when she started to act up...

My only concern is I don't want the crate to be a place of punishment, not sure if this will cause that. When available, I try to put him in a bathroom or something like that.

 Quote: sarah polley

right now i tell her no firmly and make her get off of the bed or sofa (where it usually happens).

I don't worry about dogs being on beds or couches. I don't think furniture can make a dog bad. As you have already realized, spoiling is the problem.

BUT, how lucky for you that you can narrow down when bad behavior will happen to 2 exact places in your environment.:smile: This gives you a tremendous head start, IMO.

Kick her off the furniture. Remove her from the room when you are eating. I know this sounds like you are avoiding problems instead of fixing them, but it really might not be.

A lot of the time you can correct a problem without lifting a finger, but by removing all the factors that lead up to the behavior. You stop the behavior before it becomes an ingrained habit.

 Quote: sarah polley

thanks for the advice.. i put her to crate for awhile yesterday when she started to act up...

If you need to use a crate for a situation like this, use it BEFORE the problem arises.

For example, you said she does it when you have food around. Put her up while you eat. Get her out when you are done.