Pomeranian x Chihuahua is very aggressive to my partner - 2009-05-25

Question

My adopted 7 year old Pomeranian x Chihuahua is very aggressive to my partner whenever he comes near me, but is affectionate towards him when I’m not there. He growls, shows his teeth and bites. We have had him for 8 months and recently a vet told me he had anger syndrome from being abused by his previous owners, the vet told me to put him down. I would never do that no matter how bad he gets! How should we react when he does this? It is mainly at night time

Answer

Sound like jealousy to me.... I think the dog is ‘molly coddled’, close to you, carried etc – and being a male dog he has accepted you as his ‘partner’ and sees you real partner as competition. Treat the dog like a dog, on the ground etc, and you will see a considerable change. This is small dog syndrome – he needs to be on the floor and BE a dog.