My 4 year old Min Pin is very aggressive - not only with barking, but with biting. And he's not playing!! He seems to get worse with age - and certainly more aggressive. My two grown boys and a very limited number of friends are all that can enter the house. When someone comes to my house, I have to pick him up for their safety. His hackles are raised and he even "sprays" - I've since found out that he is "expressing his anal gland". How pleasant for everyone. I want him to be protective of me - I live alone - but, he has gotten ridiculous. An electrician came by the house recently and I let Prince out the front door - before I could catch him - he had bitten him. There was no blood - but it could have been. I refuse to spank him - so, that's not an option. I want him to be protective - just not so vicious. Any suggestions? Perhaps I'll become reclusive so that Prince can have all the attention! haha

It sounds to me like he is terrified. If he is emptying his anal glands then that definitely suggests a strong fear.
I wouldn't be too focused on the actual aggression, but be concerned with his fear of people.
Try and think who he is worse with, is it men? or just everyone? Is he as bad off territory? Most dogs will be worse in their own homes because they have more confidence, so he'll show it more then.

Try and avoid stressful situations, when people come round, shut him somewhere away before you let them in, perhaps give him a stuffed kong or some toys, something nice for him to do so he isn't distressed at being left.

Take it one step at a time and encourage him to make new friends. Rope some volunteers in, and get them sitting down not looking at Prince, and ask them to hold out a treat (make it a long one so that Prince can't nip fingers!) ask the volunteer not to move at all.
Start off at a distance where Prince is relaxed, look out for signs of stress such as yawning, lip licking, becoming fixated on the 'scary thing' (volunteer) when you're sure he's calm, take a step forward until he beings to look uneasy, but not scared, and reward him with titbits and his favourite game until he is relaxed, and repeat it a step at a time until you are close to the person. If ever he doesn't calm down, take it back a step and slow down.
When he is feeling confident enough to approach the stranger and take the titbit, reward him very well, with a handfull of titbits yourself and a great game and end the session there. Make sure that the person doesn't move during that otherwise Prince will be very frightened.
Repeat that and slowly increase the participation of the stranger, ask them to talk in a soothing voice, to bring out extra tasty titbits once the first one is eaten, building up (still slowly) to being able to stand up and approach Prince to give treats without the dog being even slightly phased.
It will take a long time, maybe a few weeks with the first volunteer, but when Prince is very happy with him you can introduce a new stranger and repeat the process. It wont take as long next time. You want to repeat this as many times as you possibly can, making sure the experience is always pleasant and that you never go faster than your dog can cope with.

I would strongly recommend you get assistance from a very good trainer or behaviourist (where are you based?) but you need to make sure whoever you see is kind and can deal with the fear. I would steer clear of anyone who suggests any kind of punishment for the aggression, that will make the situation much worse.

I know you want him to be protective of you, I think most friendly dogs can tell if someone is up to no good, and if you are frightened at all I'm sure he will still protect you, but it's no life for a dog to be frightened of people, the world is full of them! To be honest, he's such a small dog he probably wont be much of a deterrent, but I would think that no matter what he will still bark to alert you of visitors, even the friendliest dogs in the world do that, so by making him more accepting of strangers you wont prevent that in him.

As with any fear, it's a long road but one that's well worth taking for the benefit of your dog.

Best of luck,

Jo

Thank you so much for your advice. I never thought about him being afraid of people. It all makes perfect sense now. Thinking back to some of the episodes, the ones he was the most aggressive with were the "scariest" people - the loudest, largest, etc. He does seem to be worse with men. And, actually when we are off his territory, he's wary of others, but doesn't bark and try to bite. I've had him since he was a baby and he's been the "only child" --- not much socialization.

I shudder to think he is afraid - I'll certainly work on helping him. Your tips are invaluable. Thank you again.

(I live 10 miles from a small town in Mississippi - pretty rural eh?)