Lhasa Apso Forum:
Bad Behaviors

Hi I have a 3 year old Lhasa Apso and he had two bad habits I would like to rid of him. He is a biter no one can some in my house unless he isnt around. Also he guards his food and wont let any one near his bowl.(not even us) He was adorable as a puppy, but now he is starting to even turn on my family and me. I was wondering if anyone else has had these problems and if they did how they dealed with them. I have become so attached to him that I hate to give him away or put him down. HELP!!

Ive had some similar problems with biting in my lhasa, now 5 years old. He came to me at 9 mos of age after being in an abusive and neglectful home -- and he bit. A LOT. I have scars all over my hands -- he never did any REAL damage, but he bit quite often.

I have since learned that this breed tends to produce rather dominant individuals. One site I found described them as "tyrannical," and thats about right. THe main thing is to make sure they learn that they are NOT the leader of the pack, that YOU are. It took several years and a lot of very hard work with mine -- I was afraid Id have to have him put down for a while -- but now hes a loving, delightful little companion whom I love dearly. If you want some details on how I did this, feel free to e-mail me and Ill try to explain at length.

The most effective thing, though, was to take him through obedience. Once he learned that I had complete control over his behavior while he was on leash, and he didnt get hurt but only