Aggression towards strangers, and many strangers coming in a few days...

okay, how about this little ideal....the strangers are in a room.  You sit the dog just outside the doorway, on leash.. c/t just for being alive.

Then c/t for looking at a stranger. Tell people not to stare at the dog, just go about their business of sitting/chatting.

Put the dog through some obediance rounds.

And like Ron said...c/t for any calming signals.

I would do this in small increments...always putting her away to de-stress afterward.

Hopefully some other folks will jump in with some good stuff.  I have been searching the net to see if I can find you anything that will help.

Oh...and use the highest value treats of course.

No disrespect intended what so ever.  I work with folks with disabilities for a living and am a huge advocate.  I respectfully suggest that training should be a low priority in this case.  Autism is an unpredictable condition, no sense taking a risk with either person or dog.

I am not encouraging training.  Just offerring suggestions.  It her decision to make, not mine.

From her posts, she has stated that the dog will be put away when the boys are there.

Mrv, my cousin actually has Asperger's syndrome, and is usually pretty normal. But yeah, once I thought about it more, I'm not going to attempt to let Cheorkee around him. Luckily he's only here for 3 days or something, and I'm not even sure he's staying with me.

Thank you JM! I've been so busy trying to explain myself to everyone else, that I've barely realized how helpful you've been through the whole thread. []

I am with you on this.  I trust you to do what is best for your dog.  And getting him to somewhat tolerate strangers/people is what is good for him.
My position is one of support for what you are trying to do.  Not encouragement in training. From your first post, you sounded as if you had made your decision.

I get the impression that people are thinking that you are going to dump your dog in the middle of a chaotic mess and try to train him.

I am not seeing that at all.  I see you controlling circumstances on occassions where they can be controlled and taking advantage of it. It sounds as if micromanaging is something that you have done for years....and have become quite good at it.

Sweetie, I wish you the best of luck.  Just go for controlled environment with people you trust.... very small increments... and keeping the dogs stress level down.

Can you bring one person at a time into contact with Cherokee? Like lock the poor thing in your room for most of the time, then get some of your calmer and more trustworthy family members to help you out with some training in the hallway or something? While yes, it probably is best to keep her away from the chaos that is family gatherings, you could definitely take advantage of the warm bodies to do some very brief, very low-intensity desensitization practices. Have you read "The Cautious Canine"? Even if you haven't, you're probably familiar with the basic ideas. Find Cherokee's proximity threshold, treat her when she's as far away from people as she can be without freaking out, and very gradually shorten the distance (as long as she's still not freaking out).

She might be acting a little loopy anyway, just from having all the people and excitement in the house, even if she's quarrantined. So if training doesn't go well, don't despair, just try another day when things are a little more relaxed.

I found this link on clicking calming signals and also there was some good stuff on barking.  Which I am going to try on the pom.

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002b/aggression.htm

I hope everything goes great! It is very hard to have never met either of you and give advice. But, yeah anything major I've ever attempted to train, has taken a while.

I was just thinking - if you can find one, what about buying a basket muzzle and letting Cherokee off lead around the once familiar people for a few mins (assuming that they will follow directions to completely ignore her and be quiet)?

I'm not suggesting throwing her into a crowd of noisy people w/ no support, but rather a small group setting where she is allowed to go at her own pace, ending on a positive note after 2 to 5 mins at a time. I know all too well how restraint can backfire in a stressed dog and the idea of having her on-lead and haltered with a ton of people around would scare me to be honest - for my Maggie this type of restraint really made her anxious because she felt she couldn't escape if people got too close.

If you do use a leash for restraint around your family, do Cherokee a favor and keep it completely slack at all times to prevent tension from running down that leash to her! Keep sessions to only a few mins before a break and look into adding Rescue Remedy to her water (a DAP diffuser may work too, but I haven't had luck with it myself and it's pricey).

ORIGINAL: Kim_MacMillan

eley is quite right about dogs behaving better with others than with their owners. 

But I do think this quite applies to different situations. Aggression is something that might not fit that mold that well, as well the root of the aggression is a large factor. If a dog is truly aggressive to a person, and if that aggression is stemming from fear (which it seems most human-based aggression does), then giving the dog off to the fear-illiciting stimulus wouldn't be the wisest choice, for the person handling the dog, but most especially the dog itself. I would hate to make the problem much worse in such a way.

But yes, I agree that I hope the OP knows her dog well enough to know what she should and/or shouldn't do in this situation. Most people who live with known aggressive dogs are quite responsible, especially if they are conscientious in making their dog's life as good as possible.

Absolutely, and I hope my post didn't suggest that I meant otherwise.

I don't know if you have read Scaredy Dog or not.  For me it was worth the read to understand the effects of stress in a dog and how to manage it. If you haven't read it, maybe your library has it .

Here is an exerpt from the book...read the "Stress Puppy" part.

http://www.greatcompanions.info/images/CanineReactivitySamplePages.pdf

Absolutely, and I hope my post didn't suggest that I meant otherwise.

 
No not, at least not to me. I was just clarifying for those who might take it the other way and think that ALL dogs are better behaved with others than with their handlers, regardless of behaviour issues. [] 
 
Kim

That's honestly all I was asking.

 
I picked up on that and posted what I did post. I figured correctly that you were really just looking for some hints as to how to use click and treat to help the social behavior. And it sounds like you will have the chance with some of the select people you can have over. And good luck with it.