I took in a rescued dog, who was a mess, two years ago. He had been kept in a cat carrier all the time, except when let out to pee and to eat, twice a day. He had no social skills, or training, or veterinary care. When I took him, he was one year old. He is a small poodle/terrier cross.

He did very well adapting to training at home, and has never had an accident. He is now very healthy, eats well, no problems, until the past three months or so.

All of a sudden, he has started nipping at anybody who he thinks is going near his food dish. My husband feeds him every morning, and the little guy has begun to nip and bark at him too. I can go to his dish, stick my hand in it, shake the bowl, and even get down on all fours and pretend to eat his food, and he does nothing. But anybody else he will not tolerate.

He is also barking out of control. I have tried a barking collar, and that does not work. In desperation, I purchased a small fabric muzzle that I put on him when I know people are coming to the house, and he is not uncomfortable with it on. Once he is used to people being there, I can take it off and he is fine.

Any ideas on how to understand and correct the food issue, and/or the barking issue, is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Jake, I highly recommend that you buy Cesar Milans book. I would love to go through all the steps with you but it's a lot to cover here.

Basically to me, it sounds like you're having issues with dominance. Neither you or your husband are the dominant ones in the house as far as your dog is concerned. It could be because you babyed him a bit when you first got him, understandable, he was abused, it's human nature to nurture, it's not dog nature.

By doing this you have established yourselves as the submissives, and even though most dogs are not dominant they do need a pack leader, and will take on that role if no one else does.

You need to re-establish dominance.

Really, Cesar Milan is the way to go.

Wow, that makes a lot of sense.

I baby him to death. Interesting to think that because neither of us are dominant, he takes on that role.

Who said dogs were dumb!

Thank you for the lead with Cesar Milans work, I've found the website, and will check his books at my local book dealer.

Much appreciated, I didn't have a clue what to do, now I have a good start.

Glad I could help. Cesar is amazing, I love his technique, it's done wonders for my dogs, I have three.

He's also got some great clips on YouTube and of course his show, you'd have to look up when it's on in your area "The Dog whisperer".

Let us know how it goes. :)

I wanted to thank you again for the tip on Cesar Milan. I happened to tune into his show on National Geographic, and watched him with a dog that charged other dogs and was impossible on a leash.

He really tuned into that dogs behaviour, I couldn't believe it. Once he pointed out what the dog was doing, you could see what the humans were missing. So, they get this dog all straightened out, and it was like a different dog.

Part of the technique was getting in between the dog, and the object causing the upset for the dog. Well, I tried that today. A friend came over for coffee, and she stepped in the house, and Jake did his usual social armpit behaviour, barking and jumping on her.

So, I got in between him, and her, and he backed off and stopped barking!! As, soon as I moved away he went back at her again, and I did the same thing again, and he backed right off.

Wow, to think this dog's bad behaviour can actually be changed. Can't wait to get the book.

Thanks again, very valuable advice there.