Daschund misbehaving

Question
My daughter's baby is her 1 1/2 yr old miniature daschund.  She is very loving and very much a pain in the backside when she doesn't mind.  She is agressive when has something that she doesn't want you to take away from her but that has been the only time she's agressive until now.  She  has started biting my daughter's husband whenever he goes to kiss or hug my daughter.  We thought it was just being possessive over her but then she bit my daughter when she gave my daughter-in-law (whom the dog is crazy about) a hug goodbye the other day.  She is living in Enid OK and there are no dog/owner training there.  Could you please give her some advice on what to try and how important it is to follow the advice to the letter.  I knnow it will break her heart if she has to get rid of the dog but if they can't control her agressive behavior, I don't know what else they can do.  Thank you very much!!

Answer
Carol, thanks for contacting AllExperts to get help for your daughter and her dog.  There is a trainer in Oklahoma City that I can recommend, Sandy Case at Positively Canine - www.positivelycanine.com.  She really needs to get in-person professional help with this serious issue.

The dog needs to learn self control, patience and some manners.  That's accomplished through some obedience training and behavior modification work.

Here's what I can recommend to get started with:

A "work to earn program" - all good things that happen for the dog must be earned.  Please visit this website for details on how to implement this:  http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

Confinement for the dog when visitors are present.

The dog needs to learn to respond to various cues (commands):  sit, down, stay, go settle

No physical punishment!  Aggression begets aggression, so don't set the dog up to fail and have to try and correct her afterwards.  It's very likely to make the situation worse.

Unfortunately, I'm seeing many doxies and minis (especially) with aggression issues.  Even though the dog is small, they can still inflict damage.  If your daughter and son-in-law are ever thinking about having children, they won't be able to keep this dog without some serious behavioral work.  

I'm sorry I can't give any more advice at this point.  A biting dog is too serious an issue to be dealt with via the internet.  I hope you can take something away from my comments above.  Good luck!