I have a 10 month old Dachshund and he is becoming aggressive over his treats and toys. If he has one or the other he will growl. The weird things is that he doesn't growl all the time only about 10% of the time. He never growls at me only my husband and 5 year old son. For example; today we took him on a long walk and when we got home my husband gave him a treat and laid down next to him and started petting him, then without warning, he started to growl at him. I don't want to get rid of him but I am scared he will bite my son. Please help!

He seems to be aggressive toward males - is it all males, just your immediate family members? Oddly enough I have a big dog that growls when she's approached when she has food, a toy, something else - but wags her tail the whole time and has never been the least bit aggressive. We can take things right out of her mouth.

Has something changed in your dog's "world"? Does your husband discipline her, does your son?

Has he been neutered? Is it aggression or dominance?

Does he show a tendency to attempt to be dominant in other ways such as ignoring commands when they give them?

Who does most of the feeding, grooming, working/training and playing with him? If it is you, you might try sharing the responisbilities a bit more so that he knows his place.

Make certain that no one (especially, you) is petting him or trying to 'calm' him down when he growls. The human way of trying to defuse the situation is usually seen as reinforcing that he is doing the right thing. Removing yourselves and not giving him attention tells him he made a mistake.

One thing you might have them work with him on is give and take. Don't try to remove things from his mouth, instead have him 'trade' the item for another one. It can also be a way to put him to work.

You have not properly trained your little guy. Both you and your husband need to start obedience traing to stop his dominance, it will get worse.

I agree with Ballengerb, sounds like he has food/possession aggression, which can be cured. I highly recommend obedience classes. Your son should NEVER be around ANY dog while they are eating. Dogs that have possession aggression or food aggression no longer see you as the giver of good things, they see you or anyone else as a threat, someone coming in to take their goodies. The thing with PA, is if you take his teats away as punishment, it only enforces his beliefs that you are out to get his goods.

One way to stop this is to stop feeding out of a bowl for a short period, a week usually. Let him eat out of your hand. Show him that you CAN handle his food, and you are not going to be taking it, as yummy as it smells. :p

Next is the tricky part. When you return his bowl, leave it empty. When you walk by drop a half a handful of kibble in it. Let him eat it, and wait a few minutes’ walk by again and offer some more of his dinner/breakfast. Do this until he has been fed his entire meal. He will love the idea of you walking by his bowl. I would try this routine for a week or so.

After that week, for the next feeding, fill his bowl half way. While he is eating drop a few SMALL pieces of better than kibble treats, dried liver or heart, something low in sodium and fat, as you walk by. Do this for a few more feedings, and he should be well on his way to realizing you aren't going to be stealing his food or treats. Your next regular feeding, give him his entire serving, a few times a week call him away from his dish and reward him with lots of praise and a small better than kibble treat. Always ask your dog to sit and stay before a meal, you let him know when it's okay to eat.

It is important for a dog to view you and your family as the provider of all that is good. You can do this by tightly controlling the dog's environment. Try keeping all but a couple of chew toys off the floor take the others down only when you want to play. Make sure you offer an item with a command like "Take it." When you get tired of the game (you, not the dog), tell the dog to "Drop it." Give him another item in exchange, and then pick up the first object and put it away.

The most important thing here is showing your dog you are the boss. In the wild the Alpha would eat first and take his toys and treats first and as he pleases. You need to establish yourself as alpha. Don’t let your dog be the boss of you. It’s best to now allow the dog on furniture, and always make sure your son goes in and out or up and down stairs and doorways first. Your son should always sit higher up than your dog, being on the same level as your son makes him think he is equal if not higher up in ranking than your son. It would be great if you could look into proper socializing classes for your son and dog, there is a technique into harmonizing a child and dog relationship. Your son needs to respect your dog and vice versa.