Question

Hi. I have a question about our 2 year old boxer. First of all we got him when he was a puppy and we lived with my parents who have 4 dogs of there own. We moved into our own place when he was around 1 year old.

He is not a very hyper dog but he was starting to get aggresive with strangers especially at my parents house. When he was around the other dogs he would bark at people and jump up at them too. At our house he did not jump but would act leary and maybe growl a little at strangers. We got him neutered this past December. We have a 4 year old son who plays great with him and the dog has amazing patience with our son even when he's rough. But he snapped at a friend once when she was in his face petting him and just recently bit my 5year old neice, I actually think he was snapping at her, but again, she was in his face after just walking in the door. He didn't break any skin it just scratched and bruised a bit but it was more than enough to scare me. I do not want him biting anyone. Is there anything I can do ? After reading your website I was thinking maybe we didn't socialize him enough but can I fix that now? Please help, any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Penelope's Tips

Any kind of biting is unacceptable, obviously. He has snapped at two people already, and I hope you gave him "WHAT FOR" when it happened. I mean a "Collar Grab", in your face, "Growly NO" when he did it. Your attitude needs to be one of, "Don't you DARE do that to anyone" Be indignent, angry and MEAN IT. A little drama goes a long way with dogs.

Barking when strangers come to the door is OK, because he's warning you that someone is on your property. Growling is unnecessary and defensive, and not a good thing to allow dogs to do, period. Again, correct him for Growling the way I indicated earlier, with a sharp NO followed by QUIET, and praise for stopping. You want to thank him for giving you a warning - one or two barks - and then, when you tell him to "be quiet" he should stop barking and settle down. You can find out how to teach the quiet command on my website.

Both times that he snapped, you indicated that someone was in his face. Some dogs do not anyone "In their face" and take it as an outright challenge. Yours may be one of those types of dog. Obviously he needs to be severely corrected for that kind of behavior, should it happen again. ALSO, you will need to manage him a little better. You will need to make sure that everyone knows that he doesn't like someone getting in his face.

It is best if, when strangers come to your house, they do not greet your dog and try to pet him. Let the dog approach them and sniff them. If he seem friendly and wants affection, they should calmly pet him and nothing more. If he doesn't want to be petted he will probably go away and lie down somewhere. With children, never let them rush up to greet your dog. Again, let the dog come to them and sniff them. When petting the dog, make sure the children don't get in his face. It would also be good to teach your young son to not get in his face. Teach him how to pet the dog nicely and just kind of stear him away from the dogs face. Just show him the right way to play with the dog. Knowing how to approach a dog correctly will be important, especially when meeting strange dogs.

Getting your dog into an obedience class would probably be a good idea, because it will help you learn how to discipline your dog as well as socialize him with other dogs and people.

Penelope