Whats wrong with my woofer??

My Westie Mak is 2 and for whatever reason HATES men or teenage children especially if they are running,he would rather bark his head off and run at their ankles!! We are used too it now and he will only let any strange men/teenagers in the house if they have at least been here 20 times then he wont bark... Yesterday he bit both my boys and growled at my daughter who went too give him a kiss goodnight it really upset them both and me i put it down too the heat but he growled at them both today .. HELP ??

... i put it down too the heat...

Now that could be telling.....

Is he mummy's 'ickle boy, Rachy?

Sounds a bit like he's protecting you and his turf! That dog psychologist lady on channel 4 dealt with a couple of crazy little dogs (were they yorkies or something...?!) who did the same sort of thing. Is he being spoilt rotten!?

I think you could be right seen as he a mummys little baby .. I treat him as my 4th child lol

It's possible that he considers himself higher ranking in the family "pack" than the people he snaps at and his behaviour is defending what he believes is his position. Basically you need to demote him, feed him last, don't give in to his demands for attention, don't let him in the bedroom with you, that sort of thing.

Sounds to me like a westie with an attitude problem!

Rachy, I think he is seeing you as 'his bitch'. This means he actually sees himself as ranking highest in the pack, even above you.

You need to relieve him of the pressure of having to look after you, a dog who feels he must protect his owner from everything is an unhappy dog and results in an unhappy owner.

From now on, treat him as a dog. Nothing more, until he has learnt his place. To be honest, eating first probably won't make a difference as this has been ruled out as a theory due to the pack leaders feeding the weakest dogs first in order to strengthen them up and parents feeding their young before themselves.

However, the pack leader will taste all food first, so pretend to take a mouthful from his bowl, make him wait for his food, only let him have it when you say he can (if you have any questions, pm me).

If he sleeps in your room, change matters. A dog with an attitude problem shouldn't sleep in the bedroom, demote him and only when he gets over it can he move back in (although I don't recommend it at all).

If he sits on your knee, this doesn't have to stop, but if he attacks anyone who comes near you (including verbal abuse) quickly but calmly remove him from your knee/sofa and put him on the floor. This results in him being put lower everytime he shows off and he will start to realise he only gets to sit with you if he's quiet.

Make him work for everything he does. Don't give him things for nothing, even if you just want to give him some left overs, make him do a trick for it so he learns that nothing in life is free. (If you google 'nothing in life is free' you should get some interesting results).

Also, how did your children approach him? Takara barks at the door when strangers come to the house and she will still bark at some strangers from under the table when they come in. Personally it makes me feel safe knowing that she will deter unwanted people from coming in so I wouldn't see barking at strangers as a problem. However you can counteract this (again, pm me).

If your children approached him differently to normal, or if he was feeling a bit off colour and they put pressure on him, he would've snapped.

Try and suggest that they don't make direct eye contact with him when they approach him, as this is seen as a threat and tell them to offer him the back of their hand before going nearer. The back of the hand is a gentle gesture that most dogs understand and if they don't want you near they will give you prior warning to back off.

If he growls at them, tell them to back off immediately, don't put pressure on him, this is a good sign, some dogs will just snap without warning but if he is giving them warning he's saying 'look, I don't want you near me back off'.

Finally when he barks at strangers, ignore him. Don't let him greet the stranger until he is quiet but don't talk to him or acknowledge him while he's barking and ask the visitor to do the same.

I hope this helps, feel free to pm me if you want me to elaborate!

One more thing, are there any men living in your household? Did he meet many men as a pup?

Men smell different to women and act differently, if he wasn't exposed to this as a young pup when he was ready to accept different things he'll need careful socialisation with men ensuring that as many as possible of his meetings with men are positive experiences.

Otherwise it could just be that he's fighting for 'his bitch'

Least im someones bitch lol

PM'd u thanks

I'll second everything that Lotti says - but I'll also add....

Knowing now that he regards you and he as having 'a relationship', could this attack have come about due to your hormone status, coupled with your sons turning from children into men?

It probably sounds really mad, but dogs are far more sensitive to these things than we are, and when Brude was a pup, he used to become aggressive with Mr Strix (and visitors) when he regarded me as being on heat - something he always seemed to know before I did

Every now and again (since he has me to himself all day at the moment) he needs reminding he's the dog - not my 'partner', so he only gets dog food, isn't allowed on the furniture, and is required to sit on his blanket and not anywhere he chooses - just until he remembers where his place is

Brude is a hound though, and what you have is a terrier. Terriers are pre-programmed to chase (beagles are scent hounds - so they sniff everything thoroughly ). You will have great difficulty persuading him not to chase anybody running past him (and as for the barking, taking charge is what westies seem to be good at ) but stick at it, coz it can be done. I assume Lotti will be giving you hints and tips on this, so I'll leave it at that

One other thing. You mentioned that you thought the heat didn't help. Does he have a nice short haircut at the moment? And is his 'fringe' not obstructing his vision?

I'll second everything that Lotti says - but I'll also add....

 

Knowing now that he regards you and he as having 'a relationship', could this attack have come about due to your hormone status, coupled with your sons turning from children into men?

 

It probably sounds really mad, but dogs are far more sensitive to these things than we are, and when Brude was a pup, he used to become aggressive with Mr Strix (and visitors) when he regarded me as being on heat - something he always seemed to know before I did

 

Every now and again (since he has me to himself all day at the moment) he needs reminding he's the dog - not my 'partner', so he only gets dog food, isn't allowed on the furniture, and is required to sit on his blanket and not anywhere he chooses - just until he remembers where his place is

 

Brude is a hound though, and what you have is a terrier. Terriers are pre-programmed to chase (beagles are scent hounds - so they sniff everything thoroughly ). You will have great difficulty persuading him not to chase anybody running past him (and as for the barking, taking charge is what westies seem to be good at ) but stick at it, coz it can be done. I assume Lotti will be giving you hints and tips on this, so I'll leave it at that

 

 

One other thing. You mentioned that you thought the heat didn't help. Does he have a nice short haircut at the moment? And is his 'fringe' not obstructing his vision?

Cheers for that you could be right with the hormone thing plus we tried breeding him with a girlie westie so seen as he has had a taste of manhood it could coincide with with him picking me up more ... He always has his hair chopped nice his dandilion head aint long at all .. Im putting all these tips into practise .. He started peeing in protest though now he even peed on my feet last night cos i was ignoring him lol Nah mind i will get there will wear my wellies in future lol

Strix I read something that you'd have liked earlier...

The Beagle - affectionately named, 'The Nose with Paws'

He started peeing in protest though now he even peed on my feet last night cos i was ignoring him lol Nah mind i will get there will wear my wellies in future lol

Isn't he naughty!!!!! Oooooohhhhhh, that warrants excusion from the pack for 20 mins