I can't take him anymore. He's too aggressive.

No suggestions, as I've never had to deal with an aggressive dog.  Just wanted you to know I feel for you and totaly understand what you said about him ever biting your niece or nephew.

redlegos

I'm sorry, but he's gone.

  Does his breeder rehome their dogs? Many good breeders have a clause where they must be the first person contacted should the owner wish to rehome the dog. If not try the breed rescue via an internet search. Last choice would be a local no kill rescue. My advice is to be honest with them about the problems you are having. He may not survive the pound as they may put him to sleep if he has any aggression issues.

redlegos

Any ideas/comments/advice would be great.

 I am assuming by this statement which proceeds the previous one about him being gone means that you are still trying to work on the problem and are perhaps saying that you are not yet ready to give him up?

 My advice is to seperate the dogs when giving treats or bones and remove them once the dog has lost interest in chewing them. I would also start teaching him that he cannot be on furniture or beds and make him sleep on his bed, less risk there in having to move him. I am not saying that being on furniture is bad, my dogs are allowed on the furniture, but if one growls when asked to move then that would be his last time on the furniture.

There is a very good book on resourse guarding, I think it is called "Mine" and maybe someone else with a better memory will come along and tell us, it has been a long week.

redlegos

However, please do not reccomend taking him to behavior classes, I simply can not afford them.

  Sometimes you can get assistance and some experience from attending the cheap classes like at Petsmart or your local community center. In most cases these are 60- 80 bucks for a six week course.

 Can you give us a little more details on what you have tried? That helps sometimes in offering suggestions.

If you're dealing with this dog who is beyond what you can control there are only two options.  Seek help or re-home/put down.  Since I don't believe re-homing is the answer 99% of the time, I'd suggest seeking help.  I know a behaviorist isn't cheap, but would you rather put him down or re-home him than give him your best effort?  It sucks that he's having these issues, but he's your dog and I hope you're able to help him.

I wish the best for you both.
 

Well, I'll give this a try for you--just another dog mom here with a chow, so that sort of says it all.  But, I'm not a professional.

First, it stuck out to me when you mentioned the family is sitting on the floor eating or on the couch.  First, I think it would be best if the family ate on the couch--not the floor--on his same level.  And, if they are eating on the couch, then he needs to be on the floor. 

If he is snapping and generally acting bratty I found the NILIF program extremely effective and helpful.  He needs to "work" for absolutely everything.  If he only knows "sit" then use that every time he gets a treat, a door opened, food, whatever.  And, honestly, I think he shouldn't be allowed on furniture at this point at least until his attitude is adjusted a bit. 

And, at this point if it were me, I'd feed and give any type of treat away from the other dogs.  And, just let him be if he's asleep--which should be in his own bed for now. 

As you work with the NILIF you will see a difference and some of the other problems like the snapping will fix themselves. 

I hope this was helpful. LOL, I've had a lot of practice.  

redlegos

Any ideas/comments/advice would be great.

DGriego gave you some good places to start.

The only experience that I have directly with a Chihuahua is with my sister's dog, Phoebe.  She spent a week with me and from day one she tried to take over and resource guard.  What she learned from moment one is that "If I growl, or snarl at the other dog while I'm on the human or near the human, the human removes himself and I'm down on the floor."  She learned the lesson after two repeats.  From that point, I could have both dogs and the cat draped all over me with no jealousy.  Guarding is not allowed in my house. 

Dogs are fed in their crates in separate rooms, and given bones or other high value things in the same manner.  Using this protocol I have eliminated resource guarding from just about every situation. 

My direct suggestion to you is to keep a short, light lead on this dog at all times.  When he becomes demonstrative and tries to guard, calmly escort him out of the room, into a safe room for a short period of isolation.  (2 - 5 minutes.)  When he is allowed back into the common area, ignore him for a few minutes.  When you are finally ready to pay attention to him, request a behavior....like  sit.  When he complies with the request throw a party, get excited, do a dance, celebrate with all kinds of glorious attention.  (Not food for this particular dog at this particular time.)  Make him realize that pack rules (which you, the human have set) are fun to follow.  Do this each and every time he offers you aggressive, guarding behaviors. 

 
Do you feed on a regular schedule? 

Do your dogs eat in their crates?

Do you free feed?

Has the dog been checked for any medical problems?

Has the dog ever been stepped on or otherwise injured while sleeping?
 

 I've been in your shoes - but with a 50 lb dog. I know why he was aggressive. Unfortunately it was out of my control. He did bite many people (mostly family members) before my mom decided to put him down. It was a learning experience for everyone at the poor dogs expense. We all feel responsible for the fate of that dog but at the time we had no other choice. Sometimes you just need to live with the decisions that you have to make and move on.

 I don't have much good advice, as I've never dealt with a truly aggressive dog.  I did however own a breed that's prone toward aggression (an airedale terrier) and though they didn't call it by a name at the time, the instructions they gave me for teaching him how to respect every other member of the family as his boss was basically NILIF.  So I concur with the other advice given that it would be a very good place to start that would cost little to nothing.  You can find good explanations of the method online by googling either NILIF or Nothing In Life Is Free.  I'd suggest the whole pack (all the dogs) be put on this at once, so that each of them receives the signal that these are the rules and you are all on the same level (2nd to humans) so there less of this resource guarding and alpha type behavior.  It sounds like chico thinks he's in charge now and NILIF can help with that until you can get some professional help.

You may also try to research if there are dog training academies nearby where they may take you on for free or at a reduced rate so that the instructors can learn, it might be an option. 

ETA:  Oops!  Good luck too! 

It is always helpful to talk to someone directly.  For certain dog behavior problems, I have called the local ASPCA and have talked to counselors.  They were helpful.  I have also had success in talking with Denver Dumb Friend Society.  And the Humane Society of America was also helpful.  I just called them.

Xerxes

Do you feed on a regular schedule?  Yes. The dogs are always fed by 4:30 or 5 at the latest. As soon as I come home from work, that's the first thing I do before I sit down.

Do your dogs eat in their crates? I don't "believe" in crates. The lady who had Chico before I did, that's all he did. He basically lived in one.

Do you free feed? No.

Has the dog been checked for any medical problems? Somewhat. Actually, we just went to the vet on Thursday and they said he looked great. As far as anger/agression problems, no. How would they check for that?

Has the dog ever been stepped on or otherwise injured while sleeping? Only kicked. It was purely by accident. (He was under covers, on the floor.)

I do not, by any means, want to give him up. I love that dog more than anything ..but I can't even trust him around anyone. I've tried putting him outside as soon as he starts growling or attacking other dogs. He's never tried to bite a human though, it's only the other dogs who he goes after. He's extremely loving, I just have no idea what gets into him. He loves meeting new people. When we go to Petco you should see all the people he "stalks". lol. Maybe I should just try some strict NILIF?

I think that's basically my only option right now. I refuse to give up on him and just get rid of him, and I can't afford $60-80. I know, it may not seem like a lot.. but to me, it is. I don't make but minimum wage.

Talk to his vet about the meds he is on and be sure to tell him that Chico is showing serious aggression that you're losing the ability to tolerate and deal with.  He may be able to change his meds if this is the cause.  Steroids and steroid like substances can really mess with a dog's personality, so it should definitely be brought up to the vet.  I was a horrible mess when I was on steroids for a back injury, they are serious stuff!  It might not even be Chico's fault.   

Sounds sort of you should not even have a dog. When I got Dijon he had so many issues he would rather attack other dogs when he saw them he would bite anybody that came around him. He was two years old when we got him from a lady that was moving away from town we found he had been around alot of abuse. He did love Tisha and got along with us well but if we acted like we were fighting he would attack, We knew we had a problem dog. We never used negative reinforment when he acted badly but he was made to stay still and bad behavior would not be tolorated. When he wanted to socialize if he acted badly he would be kept away from who he wanted to socialize with until he understood that he must be in a submisive state. At one time in the early stages we bought a muzzle for him he learned real quick what it took not to have to wear it. We have had him for a year and a half and you would not know he was the same dog. It takes alot of work love and devotion to be a dog owner it does not take much to just give up because you don't want ot deal with a problem dog. If you try hard enough you can mold your dog into the ideal dog. Dijon now goes as the IU mascot one of the IU Poodles No K9 he helps people at old folks homes when he is in the people mode he ignores all the other dogs (if any) when he is at the dog park he plays with all the other dogs.

It just takes work!!!

Dogs make the Nicest People...

Poodle Daddy

I don't know if you watch Ceasar Millan, but he had an episode, about a dog who got aggressive around food.  Since the example you posted had to do w/ food, I'm guessing this is the problem.  He stood basically between the dog and his food dish, and, well, it's hard to explain, you may need to go to his website, or on youtube and see if you can find that particular training video.  Otherwise, don't let him be around when there's food involved, and as soon as he starts this behaviour correct him immediately.  This is all I can think of right now, but if I think of anything else, I'll be sure to let you know. 

Lately, since Misty is getting older has started something similar, with a low growl when Tabitha walks past her and Misty has a bone, or something.  We correct her right away.  I even started her on giving her a raw beef bone, we would every once in a while go over to her, pet her, pester her basically, to see what her reaction would be, and she did great.  No growl, nothing.  But the second time she received a bone, she did growl, when my husband went for her bone, and we corrected her very sternly w/ a "Hey!  No growling!"  I'm sure she didn't understand the words, but she knew from the tone, that it was bad.  When my husband went for it again, she didn't growl.  It's gonna take time, and it seems at times, never ending, but always correct him, and when you have company over, just put him away from the situation, when food is involved, until he can be trusted.  Good Luck!

Actually, I do watch Ceasar. I also have 2 of his DVDs, but I've never watched them. I've read half of his book, but it didn't really get me anywhere.

The "shhh" thing, for me, doesn't work. lol.

DEFINITELY start some major NILIF. Cherokee is still aggressive, so I don't claim to be any sort of expert in changing that, but there's one thing I've definitely changed, and that's guarding stuff. She doesn't guard food or toys anymore (she's still guardy about "her" territory, but that's it, and we're working on that). NILIF helped tons (and her manners have MAJORLY improved), as did "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson.

Also, management is not that hard, and you get used to it really quick. Give him a "place" to go when his triggers are around. Cherokee's "place" my bedroom. You could use a crate, the yard, a bedroom, another room..whatever. Doorbell rings, she's put in my room. New people come over, she's in the room. My 2 y/o nephew gets a little rambunctious, she goes in my room, either of her own accord or by me putting her there.

If someone's sitting on the floor eating (though yeah, that seems a little odd..make them sit on the couch or at the table lol), put him in his place til they're done. But I do have to say, you'll really really regret it if all you ever do is manage and never address the problem. It just gets worse, and harder to work on. Better to nip it in the bud, but every situation can't always be a time to work on it, so that's where the "place" comes in handy.

Chico's pretty young, isn't he? He's not a lost cause by any means. Just work on it a little bit, and manage him the rest of the time.