A behavior issue

Question
Dear Ms. Farricelli, you were kind enough to help me quite well about a month ago. You might recall my 3 year old Lhasa rescue with the barking & lunging at other dogs and people. I've used what you wrote me in practice, and there's been an improvement, though much more work has to be done. Might you suggest something with this issue: in the very limited papers we got on her, it did say that if she was moved from a comfortable position, she would snap and bite. That was true, particularly in the first 18 months. It's rare now - however, just this morning, when we were ready to go out - she was on my wife's lap, and my wife proceeded to lift her up to put her on the floor, so we could then go out. As she lifted her, my girl snapped and if my wife hadn't gotten her hand out of the way - she surely would have been bitten. What do you read in to this ?
Thank you again Ms. Farricelli,

Steve

Answer
Welcome back! I am happy to hear there are improvements! It will take some time to solve these issues, but if you work a lot on it and keep it up, within a couple of months you should see substantial changes! Of course, since this breed was primarily bred to alert the presence of strangers some aloofness and suspiciousness towards strangers will still remain.

As you may already know, the Lhasa Apso is not one of the sweetest breeds out there. They may look cuddly, but Michele Welton sees this the adult Lhasa Apso as ''one of the hardiest, toughest, and strongest willed of all the small breeds''. She also claims the breed to be also ''dominant and manipulative'' and notes its ''quickness to retaliate against firm corrections''. You can read more about a honest profile of this breed here:

http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/lhasaapsos.html

Now, for the biting upon being moved, it is difficult to assess why she is doing this since I am unable to see the behavior. Since she is a rescue we do not know if she may have been mishandled in the past and therefore resorted to snap and bite out of defense. Mishandling aside, many small dogs resent being handling. But this may also be an assertive behavior, in other words, her own way to say ''leave me alone!''.

Your wife should join you in, first of all, in the ''nothing in life is free'' program I suggested in my previous reply. This breed needs it. This is the best way to make the pack structure clear and prevent her from feeling superior. Here is the link for this program in case you need to refer to it again:
http://www.mobilespca.org/Uploads/Documents/Training%20Your%20Dog.pdf

So first of all, I would minimize the privilege of being on the lap of your wife, unless invited to. In other words, small dogs that jump into the laps on their own terms feel like they ''own the lap''.  Not only, being in an elevated position on the lap puts a dog in a level of 'equality'' with humans creating more assertive behaviors. Often owners perceive jumping into the lap as being loving and wanting to be close to the owners but in a breed as a the Lhasa, I truly believe she may think ''she owns the lap'' and this is why she may resist being moved away.

The snapping behavior is self-reinforcing since every time she snaps contact with her is stopped. So she quickly has learned that by snapping she is left alone right afterwards. This gives you a dynamic as to why this behavior may have gone on for so long.

So if she is auto-inviting herself,I would suggest your wife should get up the moment she is about to jump on the lap. Don't let your wife touch her in any way, she should just get up from the couch and prevent her having access to her lap. Do not give in if she starts getting pushy.  So no more lap privileges for some time, until she starts displaying some more submissive behaviors.

You can read more about this here:
www.uvhs.org/behavioral_docs/small_dog_issues_.pdf


Then only later on, (I would recommend a muzzle when doing this) if she displays more submissive behaviors, after using the ''nothing in life is free'' training program for a while, your wife can invite her up on her lap with a hand gesture or calling her. This puts your wife in a higher status since your dog is invited on the lap ''ON HER TERMS'' and not on your dog's terms. In other words, your Lhasa needs to learn that sitting in your lap is a privilege and not a right.

Now, a good way to get her off would be to avoid any contact with her to prevent any injuries to your wife. If she is sleeping, do not startle her with touch, let your wife instead say your dog's name (or make the noise with her mouth you got her used to when exposing her to other dogs), and tell her ''off'' while showing her a tasty treat and tossing it to the ground. This should get her off the lap in seconds without risking any injuries to your wife. If you are concerned about your Lhasa getting hurt by jumping off the couch, invest in a ramp and have your wife say ''off'' as she lures her with a treat off her lap and then gets up and lures her down the ramp with another treat.

I always recommend clients to set up a nice comfy place for their dogs to sleep on the floor. You can train ''go to your place'' after making the place extra inviting and luring with a Kong stuffed with treats and giving it when the dog is on it. After the dogs knows to follow the lure and go to the special designated spot you can start adding the verbal cue ''go to your place''.

I hope this helps, make safety your top priority, little dogs can sometimes have big attitudes! If you are still having problems do not hesitate to call a dog behaviorist for an appropriate assessment, and always use a muzzle for safety, my very best wishes!


Disclaimer: Please consult with a dog behaviorist if your dog is displaying aggressive behaviors. Only a dog behaviorist may see and assess behaviors and offer the most appropriate behavior modification program tailored for your dog. Use extreme caution and make safety your top priority. By reading this answer you accept this disclaimer and assume full responsibility for any of your actions.