Defensive Behavior in Cairn Mix

Question
My husband and I adopted a little female 2-3 year old, 7 lb. cairn mix from a rescue.  When we first met her and when she was in our home, she did not bark once, she was very friendly (licking faces, rolling over for belly rubs).  We had 3 people over and she was fine with them.  The very next day, my mom and dad came over and she barked and growled at them like crazy.  She focused more on my dad and did not calm down til they left although we tried to have them give her treats, toys, etc.  Now, a week later, she barks and growls at our neighbors when we're out in the yard, she barks at anyone who comes in our house (even people that she met before and was fine with).  We take her to parks and to coffee and she does not bark at strangers then.  It seems like she is defending her territory (and especially me) to us but we have no experience with terriers and could use some advice.  She is so loving and wonderful with us it is sad that she doesn't enjoy others.  How can we reassure her when visitors come over?

Answer
Lindsey

Yup - terriers are a different kind of critter from other dogs!  and I think you're probably right about her doing what is often referred to as resource guarding - with "her people" being the resource that needs to be protected.

This may take some planning to do the work to get her headed in the right direction.

I would recommend coordinating with someone who can help that they will come at a certain time.  You will make sure she is hungry then - if you feed 2x a day, skip the meal prior.

Then take tiny tiny bits of cheese, or the very highest value treat ... cheese is often an excellent choice, and I'm talking about cutting up 2/3 or 3/4 cups of pieces that are 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser.

When the person is approaching the door, start feeding her tiny bits one at a time but with not much time in between. You are wanting to keep her attention on you in a GOOD way and rewarding her for not freaking out. As a trainer friend says - be shameless with the treats !

Tell them to just open the door and stand there - and you will keep feeding away.... if she still is paying attention to you, have them quietly step insoide the door, but don;t shut it....

The very SECOND she stops taking the treats and turns to have a fit, have that person just ignore her, close the door and leave.  Do not yell or even say anything to her... anything you do will be reinforcing her having a fit in some way... treat her like furniture when she's being an idiot.

If you can't even get the door open the first time, back the process up and start with you feeding her outside and just try to get her to let the person walk past about 10 ft away...

The point is to magnify and make pleasurable the time that she is spending with you without having a fit.... and just flat our ignoring her when she does it... if you have a crate, consider just crating her for 10 minutes every time she does it during the period that you are also working on the positive side.. the crate is just a "time out" and not a punishment.

and a very basic thing that is super easy to train is "Look at Me".  It is done simply with a tiny wonderful treat in your hand when you point at your eye.  When she looks at your eye, she gets the treat. won;t be long and she'll have that one down pat. It is an excellent way to teach her to refocus on you when something else is distracting her....

Good luck !

-Beth