My dog growls at my husband!

[rplove]

Ralphie, our year old dachshund/chihuahua mix is such a cute dog but he has a few problems I can't seem to correct. The problem is he growls, barks, and hides whenever he sees my husband. He also does this with some other people (men and women) but it is a real problem with my hubby. We have tried obedience classes and he did great (but he stills has this problem.) We have tried saying, "Stop!" He stops for a while and then goes back whenever there is movement from my husband. We have tried a can with coins in it, spray bottles, putting him on the porch, OMG----everything! He will come and sniff my husband's hand on his own, and recently he even accepted a treat from him--but this is a rarity. He just seems so afraid of him and yet my husband hasn't done anything to deserve this.

My daughters and I LOVE Ralphie and intend to keep him. We also LOVE our dad/husband and don't want him to be so fed up with the dog.

Is it hopeless? Will this ever stop? Is this just part of his "nature" and he'll always be a bit scared of certain people and do this growling thing? Are there solutions or must we just accept this situation? Help!

[tater]

I don't know if this will work for you but it worked for us. We adopted a rescue dog that was terrified of our husband. He growled, ran, and wouldn't even go near him. He only slept on the edge of the bed by me.

My husband tried to take him on a leash but the dog was too afraid to go with him. So I actually put the leash on our dog and started walking. I then handed him off to my husband. My husband began walking the dog. It only took about 2 walks (30 min each) and he no longer growled at him.


He now loves my husband and sits on his lap. He sleeps between us in bed. I guess the walk helped my husband to be a pack leader.

If your dog growles at you husband getting into bed (if your dog sleeps on the bed), remove the dog from the bed. Don't allow him to own the bed or you. Do it as many times as it takes for him to get the message.