Help with aggressive behavior

[Barefootcajun]

My husband and I have a schnauzer named Nola, who will be 16 months old on Tuesday. She is a very smart, wonderful little girl, whom we adore. She is our first terrier, having had Bichons previously, and can be quite possessive, particularly of me, and gets very aggressively. For instance, Nola was on my lap the other day and my husband came toward me to pick up a glass that was on my tray table. Without warning, Nola lunged at him snarling and I ended up getting bitten in the process of keeping her from biting him. We kennel trained her starting when we got her at seven weeks but, at her first birthday, decided it was time to give her more freedom and allowed her to start sleeping with us. Our dogs have always slept with us once they were old enough and we never had any problems. But my husband is disabled and doesn't sleep well at night. As a result, he is up and down several times each night. Sometimes, when he comes back to bed during the night, she becomes aggressive and lunges, snarling and biting. It doesn't happen every night and I can't figure out what sets her off. We have tried everything and I am at wit's end. We have tried having him give her a toy when he gets into the bed to make it a fun experience but she still snaps on occasion. He is now afraid to sleep in the bed if she is in it.

Nola adores my husband and is with him much more than she is with me due to him being disabled. She has become aggressive with me in the past as part of her protecting him, such as when I go to his side of the bed to say goodbye when I leave for work at 5 am. She will begin to growl but when I put my hand on her and tell her to stop, she backs down.

We just don't know what to do. Making her sleep in her kennel again at night will keep her from being aggressive in the bed, but that won't solve the problem. She has once gone off on a stranger in public when I was holding her and the person approached and began petting her. She is never aggressive when she is on the ground.

My husband can no longer work and we are having to rely solely on my 911 dispatcher's salary, so we can't afford to put her in a training program at this time. We adore Nola and she truly is a good dog but we have to get a grip on this aggression. Can you help point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

[JudyN]

I'm not an expert, and others may be along with more advice, but I would suggest you don't carry her or have her on your lap when others are around. Imagine she's a giant schnauzer - which I'm assuming she isn't! This may sound as if you're avoiding the problem, but this is often by far the best solution - she doesn't feel happy/safe in certain situations, so if you can avoid the situations the problem is solved and she can relax.

You could work on, say, your husband take one step towards you when she's on your lap, throw her a treat, and then walk away. When she appears to anticipate his approach happily, he could move closer before throwing the treat, aiming eventually to go right up to her and hand her the treat as he takes your glass or whatever. But never push it - you need her to be completely happy and relaxed.

My dog used to have odd 'bedroom' aggression but in his case he would try to stop me getting out of bed by threatening me. I wonder if at night they think their 'pack' should all stay safely together and not move till morning. And beds - both ours and theirs - can be very special places for dogs and many object to being approached or disturbed when on them. I would stop her sleeping on your bed, but give her a bed next to yours. The ideal situation would be with your husband on the side nearer the door and her on the far side of the bed so he doesn't have to go past her when he is up in the night. If necessary, you could have her in a crate next to the bed.

[Barefootcajun]

Thank you so much for the advice. Nola is back to sleeping in her kennel at night and it is breaking my heart. She seems none the worse over it. There have been no other episodes. But I do hope that I can find a method to actually halt the behavior so that she can sleep with us again eventually.

[JudyN]

I know, I would love to be able to curl up with my dog on the sofa or in bed, but it's not going to work. Sure, it'll be great if one day Nola can share the bed with you but if it doesn't happen - well, you have to do what's best for her.