Anxiety/Aggression

Question
We have a male Shih-Tzu, Cash, that is 8 years old now and we've had him since he was 3 weeks. My grandmother bred them and her female got toxemia and the other two pups didn't make it. So she babied this one, and she passed away while bottle feeding him. So he's extremely important to our family, and definitely my moms dog. He's an excellent little dog. Easily trained for new tricks, never bites, house broken, and loves grooming! So he's not our problem. A few weeks ago my mom was talking to a woman here in town, because she had a little female. My mom is looking to breed our male at least 1 more time, because she wants to keep part of him if anything happens. And he is and imperial, so we want a small female as well, and the one the woman had would have been perfect, but she's spayed. So she took our number anyway and called about a week ago. Her daughter has cancer and is staying with her mom, along with her children. Her Shih-Tzu, like a lot of little dogs, doesn't like children and nips at them. So now Princess is ours. And I know these dogs are loyal, but she doesn't seem to miss the woman at all, and for having this dog for 4 years, she gave her up pretty easily. So I know have a few problems to deal with. First off, I am a true cat person. I have two that I love more than anything. I had a dog a few years back that I did 4-H with. But he was a Beagle. They really aren't as hard to train as people say. Though the first time I had to go off lead with him and long downs, he kind of crawled into the next ring...but he stayed down the entire time lol I've done volunteer work at the humane society walking dogs, but I never wanted to take one home. It helped to be with them, and watch them find families after my Snoopy passed. I am not a dog person. Unfortunately, Princess decided that I'm her person now. She became extremely attached in a very short time. The second day we had her, I left for a few minutes and she ran in circles by the front door until I came back. My mom was right there so she wasn't alone. Major anxiety, and I know that's not good for them. She also goes into my room#which is off limits to any dog# and steals my clothes and hides them. I'm still looking for them >.< She has to be near me at all times. The other thing...she hates men. Which is understandable, but my mom had to hold her back when her husband got home because that dog acted like she wanted to kill him. I may not be a dog lover, but I'm still worried about her. My mom and I will be leaving soon for a week, and her husband is the only one that will be here, and he works all day. I don't like him, you could even say I hate the man, and I know Princess feels that from me anytime he gets near. He has a temper and I'm afraid of what he'll do if she does go after him when I'm not here. After I get home, I don't have long before I leave again, but that time I'm going to JobCorp, so I won't be coming back. Do you have any advise as to what to do with a dog that has that amount of anxiety when I even walk out the door for a second? We already know that when my sister visits with her children the dog will have to go to a kennel. We don't tolerate dogs when a dog is aggressive towards my nieces and nephews. She has learned to stay away from my cat, but that does cause even more anxiety for her. My cat, Tinker, is the leader of the house and does as she pleases, but she's also possessive of me and has gotten jealous towards this dog. So she'll lay right in front of me, and Princess goes back and forth trying to find away to get to me, but she's afraid of the cat. Because of 4-H, I do know basic training, and I did a lot of it with the dogs at the human society#after wearing off some of the energy from being locked up inside# but I always go with the bigger dogs. Even got a husky that was taller than me when he got on his hind legs to mind. But I'm lost with these little dogs. Is it okay to use a choke chain on a Shih-Tzu? She's extremely submissive, and when corrected she lays down and acts as though someone has beat her when she does things she's not supposed to. I can't stand when someone hits an animal. I used a click#like you do with horses to get them to go) and a light tap with my beagle. But Princess seems to have low self esteem, which is going to make this even harder. I'm not used to animals that misbehave. What would you suggest to do when it comes to a dog like this? How do I train her? And what do you do for the anxiety and aggression towards men?

Answer
Greetings, and thank you for contacting All Experts!
It seems from your post that the main issues you are seeing with your Shih-tzu is the anxiety problem and the fact she is not fond of men.

First of all, to answer your question about using a choke chain on her, I do not recommend this type of collar. First, because your breed is a breed that could potentially suffer from a condition known as collapsed trachea. Here is a link that explains this condition:
http://robinsonvet.com/documents/CollapsingTrachea.pdf

Also, I would not recommend this type of collar because it tightens on the dog's neck creating an uncomfortable sensation, coughing, gagging and pain and you want to train her using positive training methods especially since you describe her as a sensitive creature with low self-esteem. Here is a great read on why you should avoid choke chains:
http://ptfordogs.blogspot.com/2009/02/say-no-to-choke-chains.html

She would do must better on a harness, and if she has a tendency to pull, a front-attachment harness may work best and they sell these in small sizes for small breed dogs as well. Common brands that manufacture these types of harnesses are the Sensible harness by Soft Touch Concepts and the Easy Walk Harness by Premier.

You need to train her using gentle training methods, and these gentle methods are your best bet for training her and even modifying behaviors. If you have used a clicker in the past (not sure if you did), this is a great tool to raise confidence levels in insecure dogs that are a bit tentative in nature. If you use the clicker to shape behaviors such as in targeting, she may get more confident and secure. Here is a great read for you:
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/546

From your description it sounds like Princess gets anxious when she is not by your side and is left alone. Here is a great exercise with the clicker you can try with her:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVUEGrhoQis&fb_source=message
And these are great reads on the topic with tips without using a clicker:
http://www.lcph.us/separationanxiety.html
http://www3.us.elsevierhealth.com/communities/Veterinary/Overall/protocoldepartu

If you are not comfortable about leaving her with this man, don't. You claim you are not sure what would happen to her if she went after him. Any chance you could perhaps find a neighbor or a friend that would be willing to look after her? It would be unfair to leave her with a person she does not like with the fear he may even hurt her.

If she is fearful of men in general you would have to work on changing her emotional response about men. Any correction-based training methods can be deleterious as they would only confirm in her mind that "bad things happen" when there are men around further increasing her anxiety. Here is an example of how to change the emotional response in having men guests come over your home but basically you would do the same exercise on walks or when your dog meets men in general.
http://alexadry.hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Behavior-How-to-Stop-a-Dog-From-Barking-at-
In a case like yours, I would recommend reading the book "The Cautious Canine-How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears" by Patricia McConnell.

For laundry and general stealing, you may find this article helpful:
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-stop-dog-stealing-laundry-9013735.html?cat=53

Lots of material to read, but if you take some time and implement some positive training and force-free behavior modification, you may see some great results! You sound like you are an awesome trainer and bless your heart for putting hours in helping shelter dogs! I hope this helps, please take a moment to leave some feedback and feel free to ask any more questions if needed, best wishes and kind regards!
Adrienne Farricelli

Disclaimer: please consult with a behavior professional if your dog is suffering from behavioral problems. Only a professional can fully assess the situation and recommend the most appropriate treatment plan for your safety and the safety of others. By reading this answer you accept this disclaimer.