Biting Chihuhua

Question
  Hello and Thank You...I have an approx 3-5 yr old female Chihuahua...(the vet says I'm close on guessing the age). We had her fixed 3 yrs ago..She was mistreated and given to me since she bit their young child. That was 4 yrs ago..She has been the perfect addition some barking no biggie..
  She has never bit any of us and I have witnessed 2 of the 3 times now that she has been aggressive with my 21 yr old son (all in this past week) whom she loves like a boy friend. Meaning she treated him differently than the rest of us. Like the younger son is her playmate, Dad feeds her oldest is what I call her love. lol..
 When these two instances happened she was sitting on the chair with me on her pillow like everyday. Son comes home from work and goes to pet and kiss her hello like we all do when we walk in and she took a stance of where she clamped her jaw tight, got low to the ground and did such a stare as if her eye balls were going to pop out. The first time I could not break her from this stare even with a loud noise so I made him leave the room.
  I've seen her do this before if she had food and we didn't know it.. There was no food involved. Today same thing happened he went to kiss her and she tensed up and did the stare and growl. He went to touch my hand and she mouthed him but didn't really bite...
   Today especially she was very clingy. She never comes into bathroom but was sitting on my feet when I did my hair.  When I sat on chair she sat on my lap and stared into my eyes like she was so in love it was odd. She does that alot. Most of the day she is touching me either by sitting on my feet, leaning on me or on my lap.
  When she did her bad behavior I made her get out of the chair which I have never done. That is her perch. I made her get on the floor and let son sit there for a bit. We let him get up and her sit down again and when she did it again I put her on the floor again and said no and all that. I did this until I saw a behavior I was happy with with ended with her licking him...   
  My question is what could possibly be going on ?.. I don't work and I never leave only for Doctor appointments.. She's probably been left alone 5 times in 4 yrs. Is she turning bad or just attached ?..
  It's breaking all of our hearts since she just fits in so much with us and our life style. Have I done something wrong to warrant this by giving her too much attention perhaps ?. Any info would be great...Thank You...Diana

Answer
Any sudden change in behavior requires an immediate evaluation by a good veterinarian.  That's your first step.  The dog is behaving in a manner that may indicate illness or pain (being 'clingy', following you places she doesn't usually); however, these behaviors can also be a confusion regarding her rank created by you when you began doing what you SHOULD be doing: getting her off the furniture and intervening during her aggressive behavior.

If the veterinarian gives her a clean bill of health (and this requires full physical evaluation, urine analysis, stool analysis and comprehensive blood chemistry), your dog's behavior is then apparently rank related.  She has been promoted: she's greeted first by EVERYONE (a sign of high rank in the dog's mind); she's perpetually touching you and initiating contact (a sign of a high ranking member); she's on the furniture and apparently beginning to guard her spot (a sign of high rank), she's apparently food aggressive or trophies objects (as you describe she did once with food involved), another sign of high rank (if it isn't defensive due to inappropriate management by owners, which I doubt you're guilty of doing.)  The approach you took by removing her from the chair and telling your son to sit in her spot was CORRECT; asking your son to leave the room is what most likely fueled the escalation of the dog's next behavior (as described.)  If a dog is THINKING aggressively toward a human, what the human does next strongly influences the next aggressive posture of the dog: dog growls, person moves back, dog has learned that growling works, next time dog may growl and possibly move forward with initial bite.)  Aggression escalates slowly in most dogs: a grumble, a growl, a snap of the teeth with no puncture (maybe a bruise), a bite with small puncture, a bite with deeper puncture and tears, etc., and this happens over time (in most dogs.)  So your dog is at the very threshold.  At her age (3 to 5) she's obtained full adult maturity and you are heavily promoting her by treating her like a child.  Dogs do NOT fall in "love" or have "boyfriends", people do.  Your dog may perceive your 21 year old son as lower ranking because he treats her (as do you all apparently) like the QUEEN of the house!  And she's not such a benign leader lol.

Don't panic.  Don't be broken hearted.  This is an extremely common problem in the small breed population because people fawn over their little dogs in a way they wouldn't do with a Great Dane or a German Shepherd; this frame of mind your little Queen has CAN be changed.

Learn about positive reinforcement training; go to ClickerTraining.com or read Dr. Ian Dunbar's "How To Teach a New Dog Old Tricks" and also his "Dog Behavior: An Ownder's Guide to a Happy, Healthy Pet": THESE ARE ESSENTIAL reading materials for you, available inexpensively on Amazon, and I suggest you buy them asap.  Now, once you have a good understanding of how to train your Queen, begin by teaching her to "sit" (use another word, this one has most likely been polluted because she ignores it). After she offers a 100% successful response to your command for "sit" THE FIRST TIME you ask for it (do NOT repeat commands), she's ready for the next step: NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE (NILIF).  This means she must work for EVERYTHING: all food, going in/out, being petted (YES!), EVERYTHING.  This will quickly (within two weeks) demote her psychologically.  Keep her on NILIF for at least two months; you may see signs of depression, she may become even more clingy, she may attempt to make demands of your attention, MAKE HER WORK FOR IT.  A few days after beginning NILIF, remove her from the furniture; put a harness on her with a very lightweight nylon leash and remove her every time she gets up onto the furniture,,,EVERY time.  (Oh yes I can hear what you're thinking right now but if you want to save this dog from becoming a monster, you have to do this.)  Do NOT greet her first (you or anyone in your household or any visitors); greet one another, then ask the dog to "sit" and greet her, keeping the greeting short but sweet.  If, at any time during this regimen, she begins to attempt an aggressive response, use the leash to remove her from the room, put a closed door between you and the dog for ten seconds, allow her back into the room and IGNORE HER for a few minutes.  Some real Queens do at first escalate in aggression out of confusion at their abrupt demotion in rank.  

I don't usually give advice regarding an actively aggressive dog, but in this case it's to help this dog, who is beginning to fail.  Keep the dog on NILIF and off the furniture, maintain not greeting her first, ask visitors to ignore her totally, and do this for at least three months.  When you're ready to go backward in the regimen, drop the NILIF and keep everything else in place for another six months.  Treat the dog LIKE a dog; she'll be so much calmer, you'll all be so much happier, and life can go back to normal!  

If you feel you can't do this without assistance, find a certified applied animal behaviorist at the following site, but be sure no one attempts to provoke an aggressive response in order to diagnose it; it's fairly clear what you're dog is demonstrating:
http://www.iaabc.org/

Don't hesitate to repost with any further questions.


Your heart does NOT need to be broken; this dog can