Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone could offer me any useful information.  I have a 5 year old male shih tzu, there has been a change in his behaviour over the past year or so and I am noticing it getting worse.  He will get very protective of the house and bark and go mad if anyone walks past or comes near, if they come in and he doesnt know them or doesnt "like" them he will run up to their feet and jump back and forth at them barking.  He has snapped a couple of times and im worried that something terrible will happen if i dont try to correct this now.  He gets very excitied when he sees dogs while on walks to and has issues with men from time to time.  When he sees a dog he will cry and jump on his hind legs like he wants to go over and see them, i know if this was to happen though he would cower away from the other dogs or bark at them.  I have been trying to correct this by tugging once on his lead to the side and making an aha sound while continuing to walk past the other dog and not looking back.  If people come in to the house and he starts to bark and go forward to the person i will pick him up until he has stopped, again this is while telling him no and making the aha sound.  Once he is quite i will let him on the floor and allow him to sniff the person with them making no fuss of him at all, if he starts to at them again and barking, i iwill pick him up and go throughteh same process with him.
I have no idea what has started all of this off, nothing has changed that i can think of and as ive said im really worried that this will go too far with him.

Sorry for the long winded message but any advice would be much apreciated! :)

Sharon

hi there- I am by no means an expert as am having my own struggles with my dogs outdoors (although indoors is fine!) ... It sounds like he is trying to take over the pack leader role from you!  As far as the indoors behaviour goes I think picking him up seems like a mistake when trying to correct behaviour as it brings him next to you which may seem positive encouragement or even more clearly convey your own stress which would excite him further?  have you tried sending him firmly or putting him firmly to his bed (- or is there somewhere else he could be sent- do u have a crate?)  If my smaller dog leaps up at people I ask them to turn their back and we all ignore him and if he persists he gets sent to bed. he is allowed back when calm. On our older dog we used a spray collar that had a remote control and you could send a jet of harmless air wooshing past her nose when she barked- didn't hurt her but startled her enough to stop her barking in the car at everything that went past (the look on her face also made my OH and me LOL which we had to train ourselves to stop doing!) - not cheap but it may help here with the barking? know how u feel with the outdoors leaping around at other dogs thing- I'm struggling with that as well at the moment..!

> I have no idea what has started all of this off

You say you notice his behaviour getting worse. To me (allthough I am not that experienced) it seems as if it's simply a case of unwanted behavior that has escalated since it first started, ie. your dog has learned he can/should do this or simply is doing so because he has not been taught an alternative behaviour.

> I have been trying to correct this by tugging once on his lead to the side and making an aha sound while continuing to walk past the other dog and not looking back

Again, with my limited experience it seems as if you have taught your dog that passing others is a big deal, hence the escalation in this behaviour.
The tug to the side on the leash sounds like a CM method :( The pack leader talk sounds great from him, but sadly as you have found it doesn't work in reality the same way he ramble son about it. The tug to the side has obviously not been teeaching your dog to 'snap out' of the behaviour, it has taught him "i''m on edge too, I'm loosing my cool" so the dog them thinks it is a big deal.
I personaly like the 'pack leader' theory as long as it means that as the pack leader you remain calm, patient, fair, consistent and never lower your 'ranking' by feeling the need to get physical (no leash jerking, poking, foot taps, alpha rolls etc..) and most of all be a leader by teaching your dog exactly how you want it to behave.

It's much easier to teach dogs what we want from them if we offer them an alternative behvaiour rathen than simply trying to 'block' the unwanted behaviour.
You want your dog to remain calm around others (so getting pyhsical and jerking the leash is not teaching very much!) so set him up for sucess. keep a distance away form other dogs that your dog can remain calm at, praise him and reward him for good behaviour, gradually, over time, get closer to other dogs. If he is in his 'comfort zone' (can see a dog but is not acting crazy) and he recieves a tasty piece of cheese/game with his best toy, he will soon put 2 & 2 together and realise it's much better to be calm around other dogs (as it's rewarding).

>If people come in to the house and he starts to bark and go forward to the person i will pick him up until he has stopped, again this is while telling him no and making the aha sound.

Your dog wants to sniff the person, if he misbehaves (starts barking) then move him to a different room untill he is calm, let him back out, prasie & reward if he greets the person calmly, remove him again if he barks etc.. He will learn that if he is calm & well behaved he gets the reward of meeting the person (allready inforced by you treating & praising), if he doesn't he gets a 'time out' (not rewarding atall). Do not remove him by picking him up, lead him gently & calmly away by his collor or leash (if he hasn't got a reliable send-away to a specific room).

To sum up my waffle, your trainig seems to focus on punishment ('aha' noise or jerk on the leash). Dogs learn much better when they are rewarded for the behvaiour we want from them, so simply by changing your training to reward based should have your dog heading in the right direction.

i think picking him up is a really the wrong thing to do as he will think there's something to be worried about, you are actually giving him attention for being bad.
when someone comes to the door do not answer it until you have asked the dog to sit quietly and reward him for this, make him saty sitting while you let the person in and ask them to give no eye contact nor speak to your dog. when they are sitting down ask them to still ignore your dog even if he goes to them. only when he is relaxed and calm will he get any attention from anyone ie you could ask them to drop a treat on the floor near them but not try and touch your dog. this will give him a positive message that people do not want to try and touch him but give nice rewards for good behaviour.
if he persists in not sitting in a calm way then remove him from the room and ask him to lie in his bed. do not shout or try and reason with him just tell him 'bed'. only if he calms down will he be able to join you,any other behaviour will mean he is taken straight back out the room again. it is important while you do this that you are calm but firm and don't engage in speaking to him apart from the 'bed' word, o9ther wise he is still getting attention from you.
it may be worth putting a note on your front door saying you are training your dog so please be patient before you can answer the door. your dog must be in control before you let people in and calm, so if you rush to the door this will only make him more tense and excited.
if he will sit by you while people are there then as long as he's good you can keep his attention by gving him little treats for being calm.
reward training is really good if done properly, giving attention when a dog is stressed only makes the dog worst.
if you really want to improve things then maybe worth going back to some training classes for older dogs just to get him on the right track.
the other thing to consider is if anything has changed at home in the last few months to set him off or whether it's worth a trip to the vets incase something else is bothering him.
when your out walking don't tug the lead if he gets silly with other dogs, get him either to sit and reward him staying calm while the dog passes or turn the other way and distract him. tugging the lead will make him worst and he'll think your joining in with him.
really being calm is the key but being firm and not shouting.     

Hi, thanks for the replys. After some asking around i have decided to take charlie to a dog training class this thursday.  He has never been a confident dog and i think his behaviour is a result from this.  He seems to be acting out like he is the big I AM and a little toughie in order to cover the fact that he is uncomfortable and worried about the situation.  He has always been socialised as a younger dog and i think that i need to get back on that track with him.  Although he knows his commands very well, i think that bey being in a situation where there are plenty of people and plenty of other dogs will do him good in the end.  It will also give us a brilliant chance to bond as it will be our thing to do with out the other dog there.  I am considering going to a behaviourist specialist as well, althought eh prices are pretty hefty but in my opinion if it makes him a happier dog it is worth it.
I do praise Charlie when we are out on walks when he is behaving, he is asked to sit at every curb before crossing for example and it praised each time he does this.  When he walks past men and doesnt bother, he is again priased.  I do take on board the comments made about picking him up though, i knew it was the wrong thing to do but at the time i was at a loss on what to do.  From now on i will make sure i dont repeat it.

Thanks again for all your replies, i really appreciate it :)