Hi Bif, Two months ago our family adopted a 9 month old male beagle from a family who had 4 children. He was given very little structure during his first 9 months, being tied outside, jumping on the legs of many of the visitors, and often tied up in the house sometimes being isolated in a room where being simply walked through. He is very headstrong, to say the least, but has been improving as he and I have been attending obedience training. He loves to mouth things and on occasion has tried to bite my husband and recently bitten my son on the fingers as my son (age 9) was waiting for the dog to "give" a precious superball that he had caught. The dog has shown aggression a rare occasions to me and my daughter (age 6), but has not bitten us. We are more involved in his training, however. He definately has moments of aggression when he is trying to keep food objects or things he has stolen. Often these outbursts come as a surprise to us. Otherwise. he has a sweet personality.

When I mentioned aggression in general to the training, I was advised to keep the dog on an "indoor" leash (one that he knows is not used for walks) while he is inside that usually just drags behind him. This method has been helpful in allowing us to control him better, but we can not trust him completely. I realize he is still aclamating to his new home and is in the adolescent stage which makes training more challenging and crucial for his success, but I can not put anyone at risk of getting bitten. To gain our position as 'top dogs", we are all trying to give him obedience commands to shift the authority back to us, particularly when he acts aggressive. He also has been altered, which has reduced the "leg" thing tremendously. Still, with the recent biting incident, I am afraid that his display of dominance is so ingrained that he will always feel dominant with certain members of the family or visitors with whom he thinks he can challenge. My husband wants to give him away now, while I am hoping there are some alternatives since he (the dog) has made great progress since he has lived with us. We now need more effective, consistent tools to change this unacceptable behavior, but it must happen soon and quickly. Please advise on how we can prevent this behavior, and how to effectively let him know he can not act this way. Thank you for your help. - Annonymous

The lack of "structure" as a pup is hard to overcome. I congratulate your willingness to work on it. It just takes time at 9 months old. Most problems can be fixed. He needs consistent training to change the pattern of dominance and possession aggression. Try rewarding him (bribery!) when he drops the object (precious superball, etc.) so he's not losing a toy - he's trading it for a treat! When he's proven good with that, wean him off treats using praise instead - it may be a while! You want him to think "If I give it up, I'll be getting INSTANT reward!" and have the kids help review the obedience homework so he gets used to taking their commands, too. The indoor leash is VERY helpful. It may be a while before you can completely trust him. If you are all patient it will go much quicker! Good Luck! Keep me informed.

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