my gorgeous jack russell shih tzu cross breed sometimes bites!

Question
QUESTION: We have a Jack Russell Shih tzu cross. It is a one year old neutered male. His name is Alfie, everyone loves him and he is people friendly....Most of the time! I have grown up with a pure breed Jack Russell and my husband has grown up with Three Jack Russells and one Rott veiller.
Alfie always wants to play and when we tell people to leave him because he can be temperamental, they can't believe it. He seems so friendly.
When he bites, there seems no real reason for it. He can come up and want to sit right on your lap. You might stoke him and he'll growl at you! We tell him off and put him out in the garden. My husband has smacked his nose and really shouted at him in the hope that he won't carry on with this behavior. This obviously hasn't worked. He has bit my 11 year old daughter, we felt this was because she kept picking him up so we stopped this. Now he has gone to bite her friend who he went and sat with but sort of growled and snapped at her. (no actual contact, but probably because she quickly moved.)
He was in the car today as we were driving out to take him for a walk. he was getting up and down from the passenger seat to the kickwell. My husband said come on boy get down and lightly tapped the seat to gesture to the kickwell, (floor) and he bit him just breaking the skin. We were stationary and he was in the car alone with my husband.
He is very protective over his bed as well. He doesn't like you to move it and we leave him alone when he is in it as it seems to stress him. We used to have his bed by our dirty washing bin and when my husband went to put his socks in it he would really growl at him.
Since we have had him we have moved 3 times whilst we were building a new house. I thought that maybe this is why he is possessive with his bed.
We love him so much and it would break ours and our daughters hearts to let him go to another home but we are concerned that we are not being responsible if we keep him. Especially if it is just so we don't upset our children when he could end up biting them quite badly.
We have spoke to someone who has said they may want to take him on to live on their farm, They do not have young children but do have another dog. Please help us by offering some advice we are desperate.
Many thanks for your time

ANSWER: Keely -

He's being a brat and trying to assert himself so he gets his own way.  He is what we sometimes call the "terrible teens" and will be until he's about 3...

I believe you need to strip him of all privileges, and start with either leashing him to you all the time you're home or making him drag a 6 foot leash.  These techniques not only add in a measure of control, but also safety since you do not need to get real close to make him do what you want.  I also recommend a harness since it makes for a great handle when you need to do a quick snatch of a dog who is misbehaving.

I am going to add a link below for a technique called Nothing in Life is Free, but I would also ***strongly*** recommend a series or 2 of obedience classes. They not only help the dog learn how to listen to you and what is expected of him, but also helps you learn to think "doggie."

I have had 2 wise friends say things to me that relate to your circumstances:

"All dogs have teeth, and under the right circumstances, even the best dog will bite."

"Dogs do what works" (in other words, if a behavior got the results they wanted - like getting people to stop telling him what to do - the dog is much much more likely to repeat the behavior.)

A crate would also be a good idea for "time out" when he's giving you an attitude - one tiny growl, lift of the lip or as much as a "hairy eyeball" and in he goes.

Here's the link to get you started.  You need to nip this in the bud, or he will continue to bite and is likely to get bolder about it.

http://www.cairnrescue.com/docs/NILIF.pdf

Good luck with this brat !

-Beth

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

QUESTION: Since receiving your answer we have received another response saying that we should send Alfie to the Farm rather than wait for a serious bite,that may scar our children or someone elses. This would obviously result in Alfie having to been put to sleep.
We are now in such a quandary. Our children are adamant that they want to keep Alfie but then they would be, it has got to be down to us to be sensible. We have been implementing the Nothing in life is free and it is fine. Alfie can be so loving and obedient for so long anyway but then 'turn on a sixpence' as they say. We have planned to go to a training class this Sunday. We know that there can be no guarantees but do you really think that we can get him out of this? Or should we let him go.
We feel in such a quandary. You do say in your response that if we don't nip this in the bud he is likely to get bolder about it. I wonder if we can take that chance?
I can remember when he was only a few months old that he went very crazy when we told him to get off the couch. He retreated under a chair and was growling fiercely. At this time we did have a crate and we somehow got him in it and shut the door. We felt quite uneasy about going to open the door after his time out!! This actually put us off of the crate as you didn't want to approach the door of it! Or really get too near to it. 99% of the time you would never believe that he could ever be like this. We thought about getting someone in but they would probably be here for weeks or months before they ever saw any bad behavior from him. Sorry to bother you again but we would appreciate your further comments. Many thanks.

Answer
Keely -

It's no bother at all.

I am not surprised that you received another answer recommending that he be put to sleep.  Rehabilitating a dog with a bite history is a very controversial issue - and is also a very personal decision.

I do believe that with children involved, you need to make sure that your conscience is clear about whatever decision you make, and that your children and their safety ***always*** come first.

Now, you may be able to locate a breed rescue - I foster for cairn terriers here in the States and have rehabbed a couple of biters when I was living alone. Now my toddler grandsons are living with me, and I am not fostering at all.

Your dog has very strong instincts and is very willful, and your own words tell me that you are feeling overwhelmed by all this.

I know it will be tough on the kids no matter what decision you make... but perhaps they would be fine about him going to a rescue so that a concerted effort by an experienced person will be made to literally save his life.

I sure wish you all the best !  It's a terrible position to be in.

-Beth