Rescued Dog

Question
Hello,
Thank you for helping me out here.  I just rescued a 3 or 4 year old
Chihuahua mix from the local humane society.  For just being neutered he
seems to be doing extremely well.  But this morning he jumped on the bed
and was curled up around the middle of the bed and i went to pick him up
and he growled and nipped at me.  I'm not sure what to do or how to stop this
kind of behavior.  He got my finger , it didn't hurt but that doesn't matter
cause I think it's never all right for a dog to do that even if it's small and
pretty much harmless.  I'm hoping he's just acting like that cause he's sore
from the surgery.  Thank you.  

Answer
I do all I can to encourage adoption.  Unfortunately rescued dogs often come with baggage from their past life.  Retraining one at that age will be slow, but can be done.  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. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

At that age, you may even have to use a private trainer.