Bischon-Shitzu agression towards strangers

Question
Hi,

My wife and I own a 3 year old Bishon Shitzu, and in general he's a placid, loving dog, if a bit stubborn.

In the last year or so we've noticed him becoming more hostile towards strangers. When new people come to our house (specifically adults, he loves children) he barks, almost hysterically at them. However after a few minutes, he usually accepts their presence, stops barking and then becomes friendly.

Unfortunately this behaviour has started happening on the street. He's a very cute dog and people like to approach him. He usually barks and snarls at them (again, only adults). I warn people against this, but he's very wary of strangers.

On walks he's also very shy about taking a poop. He'll frantically spin around looking for a place to do his business, but he slightest disturbance means he won't do it.

This pooping problem and the stranger problem came to a head today, when he was pooping. He'd just finished and, as I bent down to pick it up, another guy walked behind me. My dog went for him and bit him. I suspect in this situation he was caught with his pants down, so to speak, plus I was in a vulnerable position picking up his poop as the man walked behind me, so I suspect he was defending us both.

The guy wasn't injured, but I'm worried someone might be as I've noticed this behaviour is on the increase. What steps can I take to solve this?

Answer
The pooping is not a problem but a somewhat common occurrence with dogs and is not related to his outburst of aggression.  It is more likely that his aggression is a by product of being allowed to react in this way and as he matures it will continue to escalate.  Basically it is a result of not identifying you as a leader and knowing the proper way to react in these situation.  We thrust a dog into our environment and just expect it to know exactly what to do???  You need to deal with the aggression specifically.  Se my other answers here as far as dealing with biting and aggression.  Simply adapt the procedures to your situation.  You will also want to start establishing yourself as a leader with the dog so that in situations of Fear, Anxiety, Stress, or Trauma you dog will look to you for guidance instead of reacting out of instinct. If you have any problem addressing your particular problem feel free to give me a call.  I try to refer people to my previous answers to reduce the number of time I explain the same or similar situations.  As always I would suggest you purchase my booklet "ONE, TWO, GOOD DOG!" so that you learn how to apply this protocol to your chosen training method.  Booklet web page:
http://invincibleservices.com/html/one__two_good_dog_.html
Phone contact: Dr. Hogan 509-991-0385  until 10 pm pacific time