How to 'people' train dogs?

Question

My dogs are really sweet but they turn into beasts if someone is around. Millie 8, is a Jack-Russel Terrier and her bark is really frightening, and she will bite, well its more of a nip, but she has broken skin. Max 3, a Chihuahua mix, is more of a follower, if we lock Millie up when we have guests he does fine. But he is the alpha around the house. They go ballistic if someone walks by out on the street, when the post man comes, even when the neighbors are in their yards. Another thing if we take her out in public she acts really skittish and shy. She will hide behind our legs and shys away from other dogs. So it's really not that shes a bad dog, she just has...issues. My best friend lived her for a month and a half, and she still barks at her when she comes over. The only person she doesn't bark at is my grandmother, I'm not sure why.

So my question is how can we train her to be able to be around people? We really hate always having to lock her up.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

So let me get this straight, you have an 8 year old dog and a 3 year old dog and you are just now concerned about their behavior? It isn't too late, sign them up for a beginner dog training class!

I put up with misbehaving dogs for years, until I became a dog trainer. Now my dog is very well behaved. She will come when I call her, sit, stay, and stop barking when I tell her to. I know she is safe in our human world and she behaves nicely too! I look back on all those years of putting up with misbehaviors from my dogs and think, "how did I survive?" Now my life is so much calmer, I enjoy my dogs and others do too.....

Answer 2

Territorial aggression, the dog doesn't want anyone on "her" territory. That is why she is fine/shy with people outside the house. The first step in controlling your dog is becoming the pack leader. The dog needs to know it's YOUR house not her's! She needs to learn it's not ok to be aggressive towards strangers in your house! The dog doesn't see you as a strong pack leader. If you don't know how to be a pack leader, I recommend reading some books on it or talk to some trainers. Ceser Milian has some good books on this, don't just watch his dumb little shows.

The next step is to do some serious dog obedience. The dog needs to listen to you above anyone else! This means going through a learning phase, where you teach the dog. A correction phase, where you correct the dog for not listening. Then a distraction phase, or the proofing. Important commands would be "come" and "down".

It looks to me the dog doesn't have very strong nerves either. The dog is a classified fear aggressive dog. The first thing you must understand is fear aggression can never be completely fixed. You need to teach the dog to listen to you under any condition period. I recommend looking into getting this dvd on basic dog obedience in which it teaches the dog to mind you at all times! I notice most training videos/trainers only show the learning phase. This one shows each phase!

http://leerburg.com/302.htm

Answer 3

This sounds like a result of not socializing your pets at an early age. Make them associate people with something good. Start by making them sit and stay while you open the door to admit guests. Tel your guests to avoid eye contact with the dogs, and to completely ignore them, but chunk a treat to the dogs as long as they are calm. If the dogs begin to get anxious and start being aggressive, move quickly and remove them from the room. Let them know that is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. If they are good, and behave, they can stay and have treats. If they bark and try to bite, they are deprived of your company and attention, and are removed from your presence with no hesitation. If you still have questions, feel free to ask me