Shihtsu

I don't think I would give him a treat (as Flexiblefriend suggested) unless he gave up the ball. If he gets a treat just after he has growled at someone about the ball, he will associate the treat with the growling and do it again. He hasn't learnt that it is good to let go.

Showing clearly that you are not going to play that game if he acts like that would be better. You having an extra ball or more to play with, and ignoring the one he is being possessive about would mean he wanted the other one(s) If he enjoys the game he will want to play again, and he could get a treat if he gives up "his" one, thus learning that it is worth surrendering it.

Sounds like the wife had good reason to want to get rid of him. There are friendly enthusiastic dogs that get put down for want of a home. Ask the previous owner to take it back, then find a friendly one and train it from the beginning. I doubt if the wife will take it back though.
I agree with lesley4357. This is a 6 year old dog, not a youngster.
If you do keep it, you have to keep it away from children and be careful when taking it out.

Maybe get in touch with a dog behaviourist. What had been learned can be unlearned. I have a rescued Westie who bit me twice when I tried to put a collar and lead on her. She was frightened in an other new environment Lots of patience love and care has changed her so much. She is now a Therapy dog who goes into schools and nursing homes as therapy for pupils and staff. Please do not give up on your dog. It has not had a good start in life and deserves better.

Incidentally I should have said my dog was 6 years old when I got her. She had been kept as a breeding dog. There are no bad dogs just bad owners most of the time..

In order to get the treat, it will have to let go of the ball! Before long, the growl won't be there, the treat is expected so the ball dropped before you even show the treat. It is not rewarding the growl. If the dog considers a ball to be a high value object, there is absolutely no difference. The only lesson to be learned...by the human, is what the dog will consider worth giving up the bird in hand!

The dog didn't actually bite. If it had wanted to it would have connected. It was a fear or warning response. Dogs are faster than us. It was an air snap. We got 2 rescued dogs in Spain. Bobby (age 11) only had one eye, he'd been shot and has teeth missing and other damage.

He was 3 months old when we got him. He has always disputed me being a boss person but I am . He accepts the male boss more easily. He's a pointer/beagle cross and used to take off on a scent but that improved after neutering at 2 yrs old. Being stubborn and a bit of a git never improved, but we love him anyway. He is very friendly though and easy-going and would never snap.

But he doesn't give the ball back easily. He leaves it on the ground until I am nearly there and then runs off with it. But would lay it at grandson's feet and sometimes at the feet of strangers!

3 lots of barking in 12 weeks is not so bad for a dog who has lost his main person. Bobby doesn't bark at people but as he only has one eye and few teeth now he barks aggressively at other dogs he doesn't know. He goes over to say he is tough. He's ok with ones he knows and knows most in the park. I explain to new owners and scold him.

Your response after the first post sounded like a dog person with some experience. I am sure he will settle down.

I think the first question you have to ask yourself is do you want to keep the dog? If the answer is no, then explain to the previous owner it hasn't worked out. If she doesn't want him back, take him to Dogs Trust and don't read on.

If you want to keep him, then I would advise a behaviourist. Not a trainer. If you ring your vet they should have the number of a behaviourist.

Without seeing him it's difficult to 'diagnose' the problem. But it may well be fear aggression. So in the meantime, keep children away from him and allow him to settle in. People tend to humanise dogs. For example, 'He is not allowed on the bed and I tell him so'. If you think about it from the dog's point of view, where he has probably been allowed to do this for 6 years, he's totally confused. If you stand facing him, possibly hands on hips and sternly reprimanding him, then to a dog, you are 'blocking' him and looking like a threat for his 'safe' place. He doesn't know, how can he, and he doesn't trust you yet and in his mind you are being confrontational. Carry some treats about your person and if he jumps up there, turn your back, move slightly to the side, don't block his route, point to the floor, say 'off' in a no nonsense voice. If he jumps off immediately toss him a treat. If he doesn't, toss a treat across the room and say 'good boy' when he gets down. It may take some patience. Don't grab him and don't 'block' him. Dogs follow gestures far more than voice commands because it's what they use amongst themselves. It's a miracle they can figure out what us humans want them to do if you think about our gestures and windmill arms when we're trying to get them to do something. Again, if he has picked something up that he considers high value, then trying to get it off him isn't wise. It's his, it was on the floor, why should he give it to a total stranger. He has probably not been trained as a puppy to surrender his 'stuff' as the consequences are good. A tasty reward. This will take some training and can't be explained well without demonstrating what to do. But he must learn to give it up and there will be a good reason to do so. A nicer toy or treat. Dogs learn by repetition and learned behaviour, not because they 'just should know'. If you want to keep the little chap, keep your grandchild safe. From his point of view right now, he's been plucked out of his home, lost his owner, taken to a strange place full of strange people who tell him off and want to take things away from him.

As someone said previously, he didn't make contact even though he could have. He was just giving out a warning. He is probably not used to children either. You must not, under any circumstances, give him an opportunity to bite. Good luck with him.

Elegran I said offer a treat not give a treat. Tbh I would show the treat to the dog and then once I had his attention I would toss the treat to the dog. My hands and certainly those of any grand children wouldn't be going anywhere near him until I was confident he'd learnt a few commands.

He's resource guarding, he was on the bed and wanted to stay there, was told to get off and voiced his objections.
He found a ball, high value resource to most dogs, balls mean fun, he didn't want to give it up and when the GC tried to take it he voiced his objections.
Neither of those things involved fear or aggression he just wanted to stay on the bed and play with the ball both things are easy to deal with, just be consistent. If he's not allowed on the bed, never allow him on it and give him a very comfy alternative. Give him his own ball and only allow him to play with that ball. One of my dogs has the Persil wash ball which is soft latex, can be played with indoors without risk of breakages and is easy to identify as his ball.

If he ever growls at a child again, I suggest you growl very fiercely at him. I know from experience that growling or hissing at cats works because that is what their mother did, and I imagine growling at a dog and baring your teeth will remind him of how he was brought up.

Like Iamb I would only let the children near the dog when you are there to supervise and forbid the children to go anywhere near the dog's bed, so he has a safe place.

Likewise teach them never to go near a dog that has a bone or is eating its dinner.

Thank you all of you for your comments& advice..I have written down lots of them and going to try..I didn't like Gizmo for the first couple of weeks,think he didn't like me also..but now when I come home he is so happy, I have grown really fond of him,do want to keep him,he can't go back to his owner as someone suggested..he died,he lived in Pontefract Yorkshire..the ex wife lives a few miles from me but she can't have a dog..she had stayed friends with her ex and she went up to sort the funeral out..(long story short) I was asked to have him and I agreed to give it a go as was never keen on little dogs
Anyway..his good points:- he walks well on the lead,slows down when the children are holding him,he's clean in the house,he's loving,.. initially he was definitely grieving...he was moping,carrying his lead round and sniffing it/lying on it,so I threw it bought a new one,think he could smell his owner on it..I am going to put effort into training him,he is a quick learner,have put a dog bed in the spare room for a quiet place for him away from the children when I feel he needs to be..in 12wks. (and the children are here an awful lot) this has been the only incident..and yes.twice with me..but I think he's been through a lot...and am so going to give him the best chance possible...again...thank you all so much for taking the time to reply and offer advice

A very sensible strategy farview.

Hope everything goes well. You'll be so rewarded for your perseverance.

Thank you both...he will be worth the work...and I will work with him...

Well done for giving the little guy a chance, I'm sure he'll reward you a thousand times over.

Hope so Flexible friend...lot of hard work first I think...and then the rewards ☺

Urmstongran Fri 12-Oct-18 10:42:33
Get rid. My parents had a Westie. Cute to look at but a growler. Lived with his behaviour for years. Till he bit me badly on my face when I crouched down to fuss him when I was 21y. Whilst I was getting stitches my parents took him to the vet and by the time I was back he had been put down. I was so relieved. Be warned.

Why on earth would you crouch down to a dog that you knew for yrs had growled !!! this dog was telling you he/she was not comfortable/scared ,

That is sad, his grieving. We had a second rescued dog too. When out walking Bobby in the fields the walker had been taking food for a wild dog who'd had a litter of 9 two days before. One was pushed out in the cold and he thought the pup wouldn't make it so brought her home. She just fitted on your hand. We bottle-fed her every 2 hours, day and night. She grew into a German Shepherd cross and was a loving and loyal dog. Bobby, 6 months old when she arrived, let her play with his toys, sleep in his bed and have his food when she got onto solids. She barked a lot at strangers but when she knew people welcomed them with squeaking and jumping and excitement. When she was grown she began to try and defend Bobby in the park too.

She died in January 2017 of cancer and Bobby whined for her for 2 days. We have been very sad too. Bobby took ages to cheer up. Dogs do mourn. I am glad your Shitzu now loves you and you him. I hope you will settle together and enjoy years of companionship.

Have always had shih tzus and currently have a male three month old puppy. They are very intelligent and easily trained. First one we had was a rescue dog who had been beaten by her previous owner and so was quite nervous, but I trained her and she was so lovely I could leave her with my very small granddaughter and know they were safe together. Lovely, loyal breed. My suggestion would be to find a local training class, if you look on the Kennel Club website, they will have a list of classes near you, and if there aren't any, ask your vet. We've taken our new baby to classes and he just loves to learn, and the amount of advice the trainers can offer is limitless. I wish you joy with your new addition to the family. It may be that family members need training on how to be with the dog. No offence intended here but when we went for the first class the trainers said their main aim was to train the owners so they could train the dogs!!!

There are no such things as bad dogs.only "bad" owners. Putting down a dog should be the very very last resort.if ever I.M.I.O

Just an update...have adhered to some of the advice offered..up to now...no more aggressive behaviour shown...am considering dog training classes..meet up also with dog walkers most days..he's so good with other dogs...he's really grown on me,on all of us
..so whatever it takes...he's forever ours
Thank you all

thanks farview, great news.

Great news.

Good news farview, we've had a shih tzu, they are clever little things, I'm sure he'll learn what's expected of him easily.
Lovely photo of Bobby and your girl vickya, your sad story brought tears to my eyes. I have also had a rescue German Shepherd cross, she was one of the best dogs I ever had, luckily she lived to a ripe old age.

ShihTzus can be unbelievably stubborn and strong willed (I have 3!!!!) but also the most loyal and loving companions. Your little chap must be feeling utterly bewildered, and - yes- bereaved after the loss of his lifelong master. Give him time to settle and get over his grief but also do remain The Boss! He will reward you over and over with his love once he realises he's safe and with you for keeps.

BTW there is a fabulous Facebook group for Tzus and their humans, called Oh Shih Tzu.... do join up for loads of helpful advice, support, fun and fantastic friendships.