Aggression With People

by Rachel H.
(Saint Clair Shores, Michigan)

Jobin the Mini Aussie

I have a 1 1/2 year old Mini Australian Shepard who is aggressive towards everyone except me, my fiancé, his mom, and my parents. When it is just the above people listed my dog is a fun, friendly, sweet, loving, relaxed dog, but as soon as he sees or even hears a "stranger" he starts growling and barking. Even my brother, who my dog has been around multiple times, he is aggressive towards.

We have had him since he was 8 weeks old, did two rounds of puppy training, gone to doggy day care for a few months (until his aggression towards the workers was too risky to leave him there), and he has never been abused.

He is great with other dogs, and is even better with people when another dog is around. As long as the people don't focus on our dog. We have tried to do the right thing with him when people come over by having him put on a leash, having the guests come in and sit down, slowly bringing our dog over to sniff them and having them give him treats.

This process takes about 20 mins for our dog to sit and stop growling, but as soon as the person moves or gets up our dog is back to growling and barking. He has nipped three of our friends during these periods of aggression and I don't want there to be any more (or anything worse) to come.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do to help our dog? Has anyone else had this kind of issue with their Aussie?

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