Sweet lil guy turns into Cujo (long)

[Marlene 14,113]

We have owned Boxers for about 30 years. Some we brought home as puppies, some as adults. One was a hospice situation where we knew Bo was a young dog but had serious heart disease that was only going to get worse. But we kept him warm, well fed, loved and always shared our ice cream for 8 months.

I think I know a lot about Boxer behavior, temperament, illnesses and injuries. Feeding and exercise as well as never laughing at a naughty Boxer.......it just encourages them :-)

Last year, a Boxer rescue friend saw a plea on Craig's list. A young family of 5 (3 teenagers) had come from Oklahoma to Oregon for a job for the Dad. It fell through and in about 6 weeks they found themselves broke and homeless. They had a female Boxer and a female Shih Tzu - Bella.

They were accepted into a Christian family shelter but could not bring the dogs. The Mom tried for 2 weeks to make it work with having the dogs in their car. The shelter was insisting they had to stay inside at night and they could not visit the dogs as well as that the dogs were a "nuisance" in the parking lot.

Instead of dumping them in a shelter, she asked for help on Craig's list. My friend contacted her and said she could care for the Boxer and she'd look for help with the Shih Tzu. She posted on our rescue list, I saw it, talked to my husband and in a couple of days Bella was in our home.

Bella was perfectly potty trained, LOVED playing chase with our Boxer, had no tummy issues with her new diet of home-cooking, LOVED her daily walks on the beach and around the neighborhood and was warm and friendly with everyone she met.

We had her for about 3 months and seriously thought of running off with her. LOL - we loved her and she fit right in to our family like she'd been there forever. We returned her to her family, the Boxer went back too. That was our first experience with a toy breed and we were hooked.

Some time after that we had new neighbors with a Lhasa Apso and a Shih Tzu. They worked full time, were having work done on their place and I soon became "Grandma across the street" and took care of them during the day for a couple of months until the construction was completed. We found them to be just like Bella, funny, playful, happy and easy.

That's when I told my husband I wanted to foster for a year or so BEFORE we brought home our own ankle-biter. He agreed but said he wanted a Bella!

As I said in my introduction Shorty G was my first task for a toy rescue - I was just going to transport him but he ended up staying.

Sooooo, we really know very little about the breed except for the 3 that were in our home.

Fast forward to 2-3 days after Shorty G settled in and made himself at home. He started snapping at people who want to touch him......and he's SO CUTE everyone wants to touch him.

My vet says it's because he's guarding "me".

After owning Boxers all these years with people mistaking them for Pit Bulls - we have worked overtime to make sure our dogs are friendly. That isn't hard as Boxers are obnoxiously friendly - they never met a stranger and want to meet EVERYONE in their line of sight.

If a Boxer acted like Shorty, snapping, growling, lunging - someone would call the cops.

So my first question is:

Is this common in the breed?

BTW - when taken from me by a vet or groomer they have had no problem handling him.....but "I'M" not there.

If I can get someone to come in, ignore him, throw treats on the floor, sit down, feed some treats by hand - he will soon be in their lap. If you play ball with him he's your friend for life. He's addicted to mini tennis balls.

However, we have a quiet life, not much company and trying to enlist dog savy people to come in and help me socialize Shorty G, the gangster, isn't that easy to do.

He is so cute, sweet, funny and lovable - we want him to share that with others.

Advice? Questions? Remarks?

This is Bella - the "homess Shih Tzu" we homed for 3 months.

[Shihtzumummy2 4,675]

My wee boys used to nip people's ankles initially. They stopped once teething was over, I always scolded them, eventually they learned to curb their enthusiasm. I think it's a small dog trait, don't quote me, but from my experience with small dogs all of mine nipped when very young. As for protecting you, my boys don't see many people on a daily basis, we live rural, the racket they make when the mail lady arrives, would wake the dead! However one of my little boys runs away rather than greet any new person, his brother is much more brave, he goes to any one for a pat. They don't like anyone to touch their heads , I always instruct people not to pat them on the head, they just don' like it. I show people how to great my boys, then everyone is happy. We also tell people to ignore Bob, my shy boy, I explain that he does not like to be forced to be friendly until HE is ready.

[Summerangel 18,997]

I'm sorry, I don't have any advice to share. I've only had my two for 4 months now. ( wow, that's gone quick, 4 months!!)

I can understand why you fell in love with Bella, she's gorgeous

[Missysmom 24,975]

Wow Bella is beautiful no wonder you fell in love with her!

Missy doesn't snap at people that come in the house but she does bark endlessly at them and won't go near them either, she too is a rescue. It's so hard to know what they've been through in their past and what memories they are dealing with.

I go with the advice to let her approach them when she's ready. I just tell people she's a rescue and luckily so far everyone understands and doesn't try to push her.

Interestingly enough she doesn't do this when we are out, just in our home. When we take her shopping to the doggie store she generally willingly approaches people. We too live in the country and don't have many visitors so we are trying to socialize her more by taking her out to the doggie stores, at least we know there will be dog friendly people there.

[Sophie's Haven 17,464]

IMO being that he was removed from the home of a horder he did not have a lot of human contact other than his owner. With my 6 rescues when strangers come into the house I ask them to ignore them and allow them to come to you and if they show they want to interact then please feel free to pet. My Missy goes and hides under the bed until they leave, Bailey will bark from a distance until I pick him up but he will not allow anyone to touch him at all......it is trust issues. Winnie the same way she does not warm up to people now Lucy and Allie will jump in your pocket if they were big enough. Lexie has to give you about 15 min. then if she likes you, you are all hers. That is one thing that I have noticed with my guys they can sense when people are not dog lovers or have issues with animals. I respect their space.......Bailey for a good year when he would come in contact with the vet or the groomer he would poop he was so nervous.....we had a relative stay at the house for a couple of days and Bailey stayed away from him but after he left he had the dry heaves due to his nerves.......but he is so much better now......I do not force people on him.....I let him make that choice. I have not experienced my guys showing an ugly side with snapping but being rescues if they were to feel threaten I don't know..............Bella is adorable......it would have been hard to give her up.......but Shorty G will come around just give him time.........

[Pawz4me 6,802]

You say that he snaps at people who want to touch him.

The vet says he's guarding you.

So clarify this for us -- Does he snap at people only when you're close? Or does he do it if you're a good distance away from him?

Also, is he on the floor when he snaps or on furniture? Does it occur when people are bending over him, reaching down?

W/o waiting for those answers, I would recommend you start implementing Nothing In Life Is Free if you're not already doing it. It's a great program all around - helps teach a dog his place in the home and family while at the same time building confidence (a good kind of confidence, not the "I'm the boss" kind). A lot of aggression issues are caused by fear. So the theory goes that the more confident a dog is, the less likely he is to resort to aggressive responses.

FWIW, I think you're doing exactly the right thing by having people ignore him, toss treats, etc. But yes -- it's hard to make progress when you don't consistently have people stopping by.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Pawz4me

[Luna 8,676]

Pawz4me is absolutely correct. NLIF will make a huge difference!

[babnaw 1,391]

No advice as it sounds like you are doing everything right so far. He might need some more time to settle in too and get comfortable with everything.

[Vicki 8,173]

I've never had one of my five ever tried to snap or bite anyone. They all are leary of strangers and bark constantly when someone comes into my home. They won't stop either until around 15 minutes has past. I do ask anyone that comes over to just ignore them until they settle down. Eventually most of them do settle down and will approach the stranger and sniff them to determine if said person is okay. If they feel the person loves animals and has any treats, then most of them is all over them.

NLIF does work wonders. Check it out!

Vicki

[PipsMom 34,988]

Pawz4me

I am in love with your new signature picture. Amazing eyes just draw me into his heart.

[Luna 8,676]

The only one of ours we have ever had an issue with is Katy...our rescue. Normally she loves everyone and is very submissive, but every so often she will suddenly snap at someone for no apparent reason. She can actually be sitting on someone's lap being petted and she will just lose it. She hasn't ever actually bitten anyone yet, but that is mostly because I watch her very closely and when I see her start to get "that look" in her eye I say, "Katy, NO!" and tell them to stop petting her. I would not trust her with anyone if I wasn't there to supervise. My trainer friend has puzzled over the behavior for several years and can't come up with a solution.

[VanSwssAlmd 3,211]

The only one of ours we have ever had an issue with is Katy...our rescue. Normally she loves everyone and is very submissive, but every so often she will suddenly snap at someone for no apparent reason. She can actually be sitting on someone's lap being petted and she will just lose it. She hasn't ever actually bitten anyone yet, but that is mostly because I watch her very closely and when I see her start to get "that look" in her eye I say, "Katy, NO!" and tell them to stop petting her. I would not trust her with anyone if I wasn't there to supervise. My trainer friend has puzzled over the behavior for several years and can't come up with a solution.

That is weird, but I know someone that used to have a cat that was JUST like that. Its like they would say "I've had enough!" with the petting, but didn't know how to express that without being nasty about it..lol.

[missy dawn 22,220]

I've never had one of my five ever tried to snap or bite anyone. They all are leary of strangers and bark constantly when someone comes into my home. They won't stop either until around 15 minutes has past. I do ask anyone that comes over to just ignore them until they settle down. Eventually most of them do settle down and will approach the stranger and sniff them to determine if said person is okay. If they feel the person loves animals and has any treats, then most of them is all over them.

NLIF does work wonders. Check it out!

Vicki

My 4 will bark too when someone comes to the door.minnie and Maisey being dachshunds are loud and drown out the 2 chihuahuas.it will last about 2 minutes, then its over.

sheila-shih tzu dreamer