BTW Steve sat and fed him treats, in such a manner that his mind had to move forward and accept, that not all men are bad people. He was approaching and taking treats, but catious, at first, he wanted to rip Steve a new one.

I would remind you that his size and cuteness shouldn't let you forget that he needs absolute pack structure, consistency, and no leeway. ;-)

The new pack strucure video and the basic obedience video are perfect models for this dog. I'd read the dominant-aggressive articles on Leerburg too.

The dog deserves exactly the same security that he will get from knowing his place in the pack that a big dog does.

If you'd like links to the videos and articles that might be your best first steps, just let me know.

Dogs like this are a challenge, but are a huge satisfaction to "normalize."

I hope that you never forget that he cannot be left alone with your children or even allowed to be close to the child's face or head when you are right there.

Is he maybe a Border Terrier mix?

Borders and JRTs are, IMHO, the craziest of the terriers. My granddogs are Borders, and I'm very familiar with their need for absolute handler-control. I'm not talking about corrections: I mean that there can be no slacking on the part of the handler..... no letting him get away with unwanted behavior just because it's one small thing, you're tired, he looks guilty and sorry ...... ;-)

Every neurotic behavior my oldest retired granddog ever exhibited, from puppyhood to now (almost 11) was helped by going straight to basic obedience again. It was really lucky that the craziest one was my daughter's first one, because he made the next one seem easy. ;-)

It's not that I think training is breed-specific -- it's not. It's just that some breeds can be so much "more" than others. I think it was Bob Scott who referred to JRTs and Borders as "mini-Mals," and that's a great description.

Does he have a set routine everyday?
Having a steady set routine for an extended period of time will help know exactly what is coming next and what to expect and will most likely help cut down on some anxiety over all the chaos in his short little life thus far.

Type it up and have a chart you can hang up and check off if need be to help get it established.
Im a chart and list junkie though, we have potty charts, meal charts,medicine charts if someone has been sick, and homework and chore charts. It drives my husband nuts

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

Does he have a set routine everyday?
Having a steady set routine for an extended period of time will help know exactly what is coming next and what to expect and will most likely help cut down on some anxiety

GREAT suggestion. Crazy lil dogs like this (or any neurotic-type dog) sure do benefit from pretty rigid routine, IME. Consistency, motivational training throughout the day, lots of structured exercise..... good stuff.

Denise, I would not be so sure he was abused. A lot of dogs that people think have been abused really have not. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 20 such dogs, 3 of which are owned by family members who've had them since 8 weeks of age.

Just because a dog is hand shy, doesn't like men, strangers, or is aggressive.... that does not mean the dog was ever abused. Likewise if a dog flinches when you make like you are going to slap them, that is also not a way to tell for 100% certain that a dog has been hit. It is a good way to get bit, though.

A dog becoming defensive, if I get you correctly.. he gets aggressive? Defensive posturing or aggression can be misinterpreted, it is often a dominant dog attempting to correct a human.

If you have been coming in and out of the room you are not truly ignoring him. If he can see you, you will continue to whine. He thinks that whining brings you back into the room, and he knows that when you are in the room you are capable of opening the crate and letting him out. If you have ever let him out of the crate while whining you have reinforced his whining. He must not be able to see you and try to be quiet when coming back into the room. As I recommended before, putting his crate in a closet, if it will fit, is ideal.

Don't feel sorry for this dog. Aggression to strangers or new people is not acceptable. I recommend a DD collar for this dog and you need to read up all of the information here on how to deal with a Dominant aggressive dog, and get the DVD.

Clicker training and regular OB won't fix this alone. Becoming more aggressive from corrections is a HUGE RED FLAG!! If you need to, get a muzzle for this dog along with the DD collar. Becoming aggressive from being corrected, with a dog like you are describing, is because he is directly fighting back. Your correction is a challenge to his authority, him becoming aggressive is him rising to that challenge.

I wish I could work with him, I've dealt with way too many little dogs (I consider a little dog to be one 30 pounds or less) that confront life with aggression. It isn't cute, it isn't acceptable, it isn't justifiable in any way. I understand the wanting to be his friend and show him love, but loving him won't help him. Bonding is very important with a new dog but a dog like this needs structure first, love last.

We have one of those that you would think had been abused, or mistreated or neglected or something.

We have had him since birth, and he was gently handled and around me and my husband from literally the minute he was born.

He has never been hit, or screamed at, or threatened in any way.

But he is a great big ninny, he whines at everything, is afraid of all sorts of random stuff, is easily stressed and will totally shut down if anyone but me even looks at him somewhat crossly.
My husband was yelling at a Cubs game not too long ago and poor Loki went straight on his back and peed all over his belly.

He loves people and isnt dog aggresive, he will however defend himself with another dog as i learned a few weeks ago when my neighbors dog ran out of the house and attacked him.

But I shudder to think what would happen to him if he was lost to us and then shuttled around to 6 different homes, probably with people who didnt understand what his problem was when he wouldnt walk by a bottle of windex on the floor (or something similar)
God forbid someone use a prong collar too roughly or a choke collar on him, or yell or spank, he would totally shut down on me, but would likely respong with defensive aggression on someone he didnt trust.

How quickly would his soft timid nature turn into defensive snapping, snarling and aggressive posturing.
Sadly at his size he would be put down quickly.

Hello,
We also have a JRT mix. I too would recommend the Dominant Dog Collar. They are excellent.
Our dog started out very dominant and bitey. She was never abused a day in her life. We definitely had to establish pack order first before the love and spoiling.
The DD collar technique worked wonderfully. Nothing else seemed to communicate our pack leadership. We are not into physical discipline, which JRT,s object to anyway. They are well known to respond in like manner... force met with equal force. You hurt me, I'll hurt you. It's in their breed. That is why they are such good ratters. They don't back down even with an agressive rodent. Force is not the issue. Pack order is. Our little girl (Precious) is very happy and well adjusted now that she knows who the leader is. She can relax and receive all of our love and spoiling.
We also have a friend who went through the same dominant/fear issues only 10x worse. They thought they were going to have to put their dog Bailey down. They hired 3 seperate professional trainers who failed at helping them resolve his issues. Keep in mind they had him since puppyhood and he had not been abused at all. The last trainer suggested using a DD collar. For some time this did not even work. They almost gave up. As a last and final resort the trainer actually had them engage the collar until he urinated himself, totally giving up. I would never recommend something this extreem. However, the dog was going to be put down. It took three times of him urinating himsel. Now, incredibly, he is one of the sweetest dogs ever. Before he wouldn't receive their affection. Now he receives it and is just a love.
I hesitate to even share this story, but it goes to show how stubborn JRT/JRT mixes can be and that there is hope for even what may seem like the worst tempered of (small especially) dogs.

Denise,

If he cries too much, I advise you to ignore his whining and buy ear plugs!

Wink wink, your problem is going to be solved and he is going to learn that his whining is not going to get him anywhere with you.

 Quote: Jennifer Marshal

Denise, I would not be so sure he was abused. A lot of dogs that people think have been abused really have not. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 20 such dogs, 3 of which are owned by family members who've had them since 8 weeks of age.

Oh yeah, you are so right! When a dog behaves like that, a person would be thinking oh this dog has been abused. It is not always true. The dog is behaving like this because his people are letting him get things away easy. When he reacts with aggression, he knows it makes people stay awa so he can boss them around.