Hello, I highly recommend working with a trainer who specializes in behavior issues like aggression in person for this issue. Look for a trainer who works with a team of trainers, so that there are multiple people to practice the training around who are "strangers" to pup and know how to interact safely with aggressive dogs. It sounds like, in addition to possessiveness over your husband, Buddy may also be a resource guarder of food too. Possessiveness looks like protectiveness but is a bit different in that with protectiveness pup perceives a threat they are fearful or distrustful of and take it upon themselves to remove the threat to protect the person. With possessiveness pup views the person as something they own and react aggressively if someone tries to get near to that person or interact with that person in a way they don't like, much like guarding a bone. Possessiveness is thus also a trust and respect issue toward the person they are possessive of so in addition to building trust with strangers, respect needs to be gently and carefully built with the owners too through obedience command practice and a lot of structure in the home so pup isn't trying to exert control over that person and who can interact with them. Without seeing pup in person, I cannot guarantee that that's what's happening though. A lot of body language needs to be observed in different situations to tell for sure. This process typically involves things like gently building pup's overall respect, trust, and listening with you to that pup doesn't think they own you and so that their behavior is easier to manage and so that they feel more secure and can defer to your leadership when in situations that make them uncomfortable. It also tends to involve gradually desensitizing pup to people, one at a time, with safety measures like a back tie leash or basket muzzle in place (introduced gradually ahead of time using treats so it's not just associated with the training and stressful), starting with people being further away at first, and working on pup's obedience with you around the people in the background to help pup remain calm and not get overly aroused and fixated on the other person. This can sometimes also involve interrupting pup's aroused state, but that should only be done under the guidance of the trainer and with proper safety measures in place, because with any aggression there is always the risk of the dog redirecting their aggression to whoever is closest when stressed. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

April 10, 2023

Hello, Two dogs will often feed off of each other, and another dog is also a pretty big distraction. Once dog will typically be the instigator and the other dog will often take cues from that one. I would work with them separately first, until both are good separately. See if you can determine who is the bigger instigator, and make sure you are really making progress with that dog alone, before combining. Once they are trained separately, its going to feel like starting over when you first put them together again. Go back to your basics that you did with each separately with them together, and work them back up together now. They need to learn self control while around the other dog too. In your training, direct more of the training at the instigator if you can't work with both equally. This will be far easier if you have two people training when you first start with them together again. When they are doing well together, you do want them to progress to being able to respond to just you. Plan ahead for safety and the ability to reward and interrupt. Things like back tie leashes so you can be hands free and move about, working level remote collar training when appropriate, and soft treats like freeze dried meat treats, can help you move between dogs more easily. Set up your training sessions intentionally, rather than just waiting for a stranger to arrive for repairs or a visit. Hiring a training group with multiple trainers on staff can help with them. It can provide numerous people who know how to work with your dog, to come to your home and pretend to be a stranger, with controlled situations and safety measures, so you can repeat the training over and over to make progress, control distance and level of interaction, and avoid things that might make the training worse, like someone getting angry, acting really afraid, or approaching the dogs before they are ready. Desensitizing to a basket muzzle is also a good idea, so that you can use that later if needed to train. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

March 1, 2023