Shih Tzu training - please help as just been bitten

[DoNotDisturb]

I'm a first time poster in this section and total dog novice so bear with me but need some advice..

My sis is staying with me for a few months and has a 9 month old shih Tzu. He was really placid and fine at first. I don't think she's trained him much but recently he's becoming more of a problem. I know it's probably just a case of needing training but I guess I'm after a little advice. He's not my dog so I'm limited in what I can do but I'm a sahm so spend a lot of time with him.

The main problem is the recent barking and snapping culminating in him biting me today. He only gets to this point when he takes a liking to a guest or toy and won't leave them alone and I try and remove him or them from the situation.

Tonight it was my mil who's scared of dogs. The dog kept jumping up on her and in trying to get him off he bit me. My sis is away and once she's back I'm going to tell her he needs training but in the meantime what's the best way to deal with him?

He's just had the snip which I had hoped would help with the random falling in love with strangers and their shoes but clearly not based on tonight.

I know trying to take him away from my mil enraged him and invaded his space but she was scared so I had to. Any advice on the best way to deal with it? When he barks or jumps or does something bad I try and say no firmly and sort of point towards his face so he knows it's directed at him. Is this completely wrong? Im trying to be consistent but unsure if I'm doing the right thing.

I have 2 young kids in the house so the snapping and biting is really scaring me.

Sorry for long post and thanks in advance. Hope I haven't said anything stupid (or worse offensive)..

Bump

Two things to do here.

First is preventation if someone comes to the house have he on a lead so he cannot get too close to the visitors to "guard" them. When he is sitting quietly treat him - if possible ignore his crazy barking lunging behaviour which he will probably do to get to the other person. Equally you may find a certain distance where he is calm eg if you stand slightly away from the visitor he will be calm. That is the place to be with him.

Re guarding a toy don't take the toy away from him but offer him something better - he will begin to see that you approaching means good things not the removal of things. So if he has a toy and you approach him with some of the best food in the world (probably cheese!) just give him some cheese and walk away. Over time you will be able to swop the toy for a better toy or food.

Also try not to touch him when he is wound up. So if he is jumping up on the sofa to get to MIL, MIL should stand up, fold her arms and turn her back on him, all of you should leave the room them and leave him alone. If you want him off the sofa and he won't be tempted by a toy on the floor, tip the sofa until he falls off then give him a treat as if the whole thing was his idea.

If you want him to stop a behaviour use a word that means 'stop that or else I will stop it for you'. Best not to use the word 'no' as it's in common usage and dogs get desensitised to it. I use a made up word ' uh ah' but when I say the dogs know that they either stop what they are doing or I will come and stop them no matter what (no exception, I never say the word without being willing to follow through, as a result the word usually works very well on its own). The pointing doesn't work, just stand between him and what he is fixated with and say your no word. If he ignores you either remove him from the situation and put him in a quiet room alone for a few minutes, or if he might bite remove everyone else and leave him alone again for a few minutes. Repeat as often as necessary.

The other thing to consider is whether he is getting enough exercise. Both physical exercise (at least two, long walks with time off the lead a day) and mental exerice, e.g. training, will help calm him down.

Thanks guys for the responses. Sorry been entertaining the mil so not been able to get to the computer..

So basically I take the situation away from him rather than vice versa - good to know. The lead is a genius idea. Can't believe I didn't think of that myself last night. Feel a bit dim now.

He gets plenty of walks but never thought about mentally stimulating him so I'll maybe try small and teach him to fetch or sit or something. Also he doesn't get off the lead anymore as he runs off so I guess that's something we have to address.

It's hard since he's not my dog. My sister has him as more of a lap dog/full on companion and as she can dedicate all her time to him it works. But with two kids and a house to run I can't. So for example he can't be there for bathtime or in the playroom as I can't cope with all three of them. So he's only just getting used to being locked in the kitchen (a huge room with lots to entertain him and usually the back door open). He's fine locked up when we go out. But it irritates him to not be with us when he knows we are in the house. Can dogs get used to two adults treating them differently or is it too confusing?

So when he barks or jumps up with us should I ignore it or should I say "quiet" every time he barks and "down" every time he jumps?

Guess I need to go buy some treats

Thanks again. Think I was a bit panicked last night.

The golden rule with dogs is to IGNORE everything they do that is wrong - be a tree - that means no eye contact, no touch and no talking to them. They thrive on attention, so by removing attention, that sends a powerful message to them. If they are doing something which needs to be stopped immediately, and ignoring isn't working, then you need to distract them with something else. Ideally, you teach them an alternative behaviour, so if your dog is always jumping up at visitors, for example, then you teach them to always 'sit' for visitors and then they are rewarded (with the visitors either giving them attention, or a treat). If they are always trying to chew the dining table, you distract them with a toy that they can chew and praise/treat them like mad when they chew that instead.

The other golden rule with dogs is to reward everything they do that is right. Sometimes you have to be very quick to catch them doing the right thing (e.g. their bum might only make contact for half a second - if that's the behaviour you want then you have to be very quick to reward it). That's why a lot of people use clickers, as it is a way of very quickly marking the correct behaviour and it means 'well done, here comes a treat'. But I wouldn't expect you to get into clicker training, seeing as it's not your dog, as it's a big commitment.

Instead, it would be a good idea for you to get a bumbag and wear it around the house - fill it with tasty treats such as chopped up hamburger, bits of chicken breast and cubes of cheese. It works best if you have a mix of different types.

You will then be ready to reward the dog every time she does something right, and to encourage her to do what you want her to do by using the treats as a lure.

You will see results pretty quickly and it will be quite rewarding for you, hopefully.

Think of a dog as a computer which needs to be programmed. Treats=good, ignore=bad. It's really simple when you think of it like that and it makes it all seem a bit less daunting - you are just going to re-programme her using food.

One of the good things to try is 'capturing calmness' - I found this massively helpful with our dog and it works almost instantaneously.

You are really fantastic for taking this on - I find our dog hard enough work and she is my dog, I don't think I could have coped if someone else had 'forced' her on me.

In answer to your specific questions, if the dog jumps up, don't say or do anything - just turn away and ignore until he calms down. They pick up very quickly which behaviours get a response out of humans! Sometimes even a bad response is a result in the eyes of a dog - so the best thing you can do is give NO response.

And yes, the dog can cope with 2 adults treating it differently - he will learn that he needs to behave a certain way to get rewards (e.g food) from you and that he can behave in other ways with other people to get rewards (e.g. attention) from them. You will be amazed how quickly you can change his behaviour and it will feel good, I promise.

Have you tried a baby gate in the kitchen so he can see you when you are in the house and doesn't feel left out but not necessarily have him in the same room as well? Or you could introduce him to a crate. Properly done crates become secure and happy places for dogs to retreat to.

As above I would not talk if he does the wrong thing. He does not know the command 'down' so you would effectively be talking a foreign language to him. You'd also be likely to repeat the command, more loudly, more forcefully, etc. all of which sounds like a really good game to him, so in his mind he asked you to play with him by jumping on you and you are complying, great, he should do more jumping!