Hi,

I have a Bassett Hound 1yr old dog which is normally greta but he does one really annoying thing.  He steals things like toys, pens, paper etc and when you ask him to let them go he is starting to get aggressive and recently actual snapped.  What shall i be doing to stop this.

Cheers

James

Teach him to drop and then reward him, if it is possible give the treasure back if not try and distract with something else. It is best to teach the 'drop it' with a toy or something that does not matter, that way you can treat the drop and then return it to the dog. After a while sometimes keep the object but still reward.

Another technique is to keep something really good (like his fav toy or a stuffed Kong) handy so that when he gets something you don't want him to have - you call him, show him the treat, and ask him for a sit, then offer the treat - he's being rewarded for the 'sit' not taking the treat ;)  Maybe you also need to train the humans not to leave stuff like that lying around, and also make sure he has plenty of access to suitable chews - like Nylabones and Raggers, as some breeds go through a second teething stage at 12 months as the teeth settle into the jaw.