jrt bella

Question
i have a 4 and a half month old jrt female and the last 2 days when i try to grab toilet paper or wrappers out of her mouth she growls at me and almost bites me, this scares me and i dont know how to stop her from doing this. and the other thing she does is dig constantly. could you give me some advice?

Answer
I have been around the net for 10 years on many forums.  I have yet to see a good answer to digging.  I was hoping the assistance dog school we have raised some puppies for had an answer.  They do, supervision.  

The biting and growing is a status issue.  Trading her for a toy or even a treat works well.  Often snatching forbidden objects is an attention getting ploy.  Be careful not to let her train you to respond when she snatches things.  Be more active and give her attention before she takes something.  Still, you need to give her leadership.  

The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat.  Top dogs shouldn't be drill sergeants, but more like old fashioned strict, but loving parents.