Hi
This is my first post but Ive been a lurker for a while now and know you guys give good sound advice!

My male sharpei is 14 months old, was brought up with myself, my husband and our 4 children. We also have a boxer bitch (10 months, yet to have a season). He knows he's at the bottom of the pack, we've always made absolute sure of this, he's not allowed on furniture, stays out when we eat etc etc and has always been excellent with the children.

He's never liked other dogs when we're out and about, and will often bark and growl/whine at people, even children. He was castrated 5 weeks ago, mainly because we didn't want an accidental mating.

He's always been rather aggressive at the door, rushes up to people barking/growling/jumping up, has a sniff then calms down. He can be rather intimidating, because he adopts such a dominant posture and I now keep him out of the way when I answer the door unless it's someone he knows well.

My main concern is his behaviour around my children's friends. He's absolutely fine with the children around here he knows, but when they bring a friend home from school, he'll rush up growling and seems to display more dominant behaviour than he does towards adults. I made a real effort when he was a pup to socialise him with other children by taking him to the school regularly to be petted. (Although the other day he had a good bark and growl at my 100 year old grandmother (hardly a threat!!) who rarely visits and I couldn't let him anywhere near her)

Yesterday my children had been playing with a little girl who'd never visited before. The children came in the door, she stood at the door and before I could stop him my dog rushed out barking, knocked her over then he was on top of her sniffing/growling. This gave me a real shock because an observer would have thought he was mauling her although thank God she was completely unharmed.

He's a great guard dog because he's so territorial but this has its price because it makes him so very suspicious of everyone. He's never been a waggy tailed, loves everybody dog (obviously) but I'd mostly class him as a bit of a wimp generally and I'm 99% sure he'd never bite anyone but that 1% is worrying me!

Do you think his hormones are all over the place at the moment following his castration?? He has been fighting alot more with my boxer lately, and she's always the one to submit. Apart from his behaviour with strangers he's everything we want in a family pet, he's completely devoted to us and very affectionate. Am I expecting too much of him to be able to guard the house from intruders but accept strangers into the house at the same time? Should I wait and see if the castration mellows him a little?

Thanks for reading this, your time is much appreciated x

I would advise you get his health checked by a vet, and then ask them to refer you to a behaviourist they trust locally.  Sharpeis  can be protective and his behaviour needs to be observed before giving advice, as this behaviour could be for all sorts of reasons, which would only be apparent when watching the dog 'at home'.  You could find your bitch is due in season, maybe he's experiencing some discomfort from his castration, maybe he has another injury (which he may link with small people coming to the door).  Also, socialisation doesn't stop when the dog matures, it should be an ongoing process, maintaining the good links established as a pup.  Some children (my youngest is one of them) also have a way of looking at a dog which triggers unwanted behaviours - staring is a very natural human behaviour, but very threatening to dogs :(  Older people on the other hand, may walk differently, or even have a different smell which may be threatening to a dog who hasn't grown up with them, teenagers are very much the same - hormones :rolleyes:

Dogs who have been raised with 'rank reduction' programmes have also been known to suddenly kick over the traces as they got older and rebel totally because they don't feel they are being understood :(

I'd definitely get him checked out, but please, please try and find a shar-pei friendly vet and behaviourist as a lot of them have a bad attitude towards the breed. Please don't let anybody at all be harsh or confrontational in their approach to correcting him as it's not the way to go with any dog and particularly so with a shar-pei. Any training needs to be gentle and reward based and I'm sure he'll soon do really well once he knows what he's supposed to do.

I think by the sounds of it he's inadvertantly become a bit too protective and you need some help understanding him and why he's become like he is. You're definitely right not to let him run at the door as you're just reinforcing his undesirable behaviour. Shar-Pei are natural guard dogs and protective of their family. But they can be taught when this behaviour is appropriate. Please be extra careful with your children's friends at the moment if he's behaving like this. He could easily mistake rough play for his family being in danger and have a nip at somebody. You don't want him or yourselves getting in trouble and in the end it wouldn't be his fault.

Hi

He's never liked other dogs when we're out and about, and will often bark and growl/whine at people, even children. He was castrated 5 weeks ago, mainly because we didn't want an accidental mating.

He's always been rather aggressive at the door, rushes up to people barking/growling/jumping up, has a sniff then calms down. He can be rather intimidating, because he adopts such a dominant posture and I now keep him out of the way when I answer the door unless it's someone he knows well.

He's a great guard dog because he's so territorial but this has its price because it makes him so very suspicious of everyone.

I am afraid the words ALWAYS and NEVER indicate that this is not a sudden onset problem but one that has always been there and which has not been tackled and nipped in the bud.

I am afraid that unless you are sufficiently experienced with dogs and their behaviour the desire for both an efficient guard (I assume you mean watch dog rather than guard dog~) AND one that is totally safe with all people may be a bit beyond your grasp.

In your situation I would think that the latter is more important and a higher priority than the former and hence you need to take action before a tragedy strikes.

Please see a vet and a reputable behaviourist for some professional help.

>He's a great guard dog because he's so territorial but this has its price because it makes him so very suspicious of everyone.

With respect, why do you want a guard dog in a house which is regularly visited by your childrens' friends? Only there is a world of difference between a dog that is watchful of its house and one that is so territorial as to be a terrible accident waiting to happen.