stud dog behavior

Question
QUESTION: I breed Chihuahuas' in my home, (I only have 4). My 3 yr old male stud whines and cries excessively even when the girls are not in heat.He barks at my son every time he walks into a room.And screams and cries if I go out just to get the mail. Is there anything on the market safe to use for small breeds that has a calming effect for him.I do not want to sedate him with a prescription from the vet. But he needs to "chill out".

ANSWER: This dog is extremely anxious.  There's more to this behavior than his being a stud dog, but this is not a dog you should be BREEDING.  He doesn't need sedation, he needs behavior modification and positive reinforcement training and he needs to be neutered.

I suggest you do some homework regarding dog behavior (and its INHERITABILITY).  You can start with "Genetics: An Introduction for Dog Breeders" by Jackie Isabell.  Regarding the reduction of stress in dogs without medication, try "For The Love of a Dog" by Patricia McConnell, Ph.D.

I can't determine why your dog barks at your son from the few words you typed regarding his behavior.  If you'd like me to address this problem, please provide more in depth information, including when the dog first exhibited this behavior, what you and your son do when the dog barks at him, and whether the dog exhibits this behavior toward men in general.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My son moved back home last June.The behavior started immediatly.I assumed it was because he was unfamiliar with him so we used treats.Every time Zach came upstairs and saw the dog he gave him a treat.Associate something good with Zach.We did this for several weeks with no change.Now I have to stand in front of the dog and block his focas and tell him NO!He's now decided he has to bark at everyone who comes up to the living room.Which then gets all the dogs barking.

Answer
when you offer a dog a reward, you have to know what the dog is associating with the reward.  In this case, your dog appears to have been rewarded for his fear (this may have begun as a simple startle response to someone he wasn't expecting.)  He has generalized this fear based behavior (conditioned response acquired in an instant and then set into place by reward) to everyone who enters the living room at this point.  Put him on very lightweight nylon leash (with body harness, not a neck collar.)  Set him up a few times if you can find people to cooperate; do this with one person after another, in succession over the course of a half hour to an hour, or do it consistently whenever anyone enters the room.  Person enters living room, dog begins his barking, pick up his leash immediately (NO eye contact, do not speak to him), lead him out of the room and wait until he's calm, then re-enter the room with him.  Repeat until he remains calm; this may take quite a while the first few times.  Meanwhile, train an alternative behavior using positive reinforcement.  You can use a clicker (ClickerTraining.com) or a play object: (http://www.dogplay.com/Activities/obedience

This should take a couple of weeks (to get a strong conditioned response) during which time the dog has had some counter conditioning (as suggested above), then ask the dog for the trained behavior ONLY when someone enters the living room and be sure the reward is sufficient to make him want to work for it.  You may have to continue removing the dog for a while if the acquired response he has is very persistent.