Our 6 month old is getting kinda "wild", he's been on the aggressive side and has started to growl and even snapped at us when he feels like we might take away something he really wants. Besides that he's been also really territorial and barks whenever he hears or sees strangers walking by. We're taking him in to get neutered and wondered if this will make him a little less "spunky".

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A very simple solution to the pig ear is just don't give him pig ears. Why does he need one? Find something else for him to chew and practice the trading up with it. Would you keep letting your child hit you for taking away a toy. I sure wouldn't. That toy would be gone!!

Ohhhhhhhhh, Mr. Belvedere (I just love his name, love saying it outloud). I think that all depends on what he likes. In my house, I could train Ethel with ANYTHING -- all food trumps other food. Seriously, I could replace a pig's ear with a brussel sprout, and she would be delirious. Oh the other hand, Bertie Wooster is more like Mr. B., I think. For him, the only thing that trumped a chewy pig's ear or beef tendon was something disgusting and processed, like a hot dog (kosher!). Or string cheese.
Just an update, we're now 3 weeks post op (sans testicles) and Mr. B shows no signs of mellowing out. But we have progressed on the growling and snapping front. We've been "trading up" and now feed him a little bit of his dog food at a time only after he's laid down so he understands that we're the provider of food and not the ones who want to take it away. However, he's still a Bob Barker and will bark at any sights and sounds that seem odd to him. Is there a way to reduce the barking, or does that come with having a Corgi?
Spray bottle will work with the barking.
As far as trading up, use peanut butter, even just letting him lick the peanut butter kong is reward enough.
Spray bottle is a toss up honestly. Ein made it into a game. I've heard that others have used shaking a can with coins in it as well so that might be worth trying.
Have you tried putting a few drops of bitter apple into the spray bottle full of water? That's the trick my trainer told me. Don't put very much in because concentrated bitter apple is bad for his eyes, but it will get the message across quickly that it is not playing.
Our Greg was always an aggressive dog and even after he got neutered he was still on the wild side.
Fox is 11 months ago and was neutered at 5 months. Still hell on wheels......territorial, goes bananas when a doorbell on TV rings..... he runs through the house to the front door... he thinks someone has played "Ding Dong Ditch"! He is also showing "leash aggression" when taken on a hiking/bicycle trail recently, we had to abort the mission. During play, he will "cross over to the dark side" and become overly excited (with glowing eyes!), so we help to calm him down. He is a work in progress and SO much fun!
When Orion and Laika are being overly aggressive with each other or us we scruff them and flip them on their back until they've settled down and stopping whining/squealing/nipping/whatever. They no longer whine/squeal/nip when they're flipped because they know if they're doing that they don't get let go of. Granted they're a 4 month and 3 month old so they haven't reached the adolescent hell phase but its what my brother did with his aussie and it worked out really well. Orion used to have horrid temper tantrums, he was a complete monster. When he was about 2 and a half months old he was always trying to eat deer poop and we'd say "leave it" and if he didn't leave it he got scruffed and flipped and held there until he'd settle. He would be shrieking and wriggling all over the place, you would have to keep hands and fingers away from his mouth or you would have bloody fingers, and I'd just hold him there until he was calm and attempts at eating deer poop have stopped completely. I've heard of some people not approving of this method but for me it shows them I'm the alpha dog and they better not mess with me. And so far Orion has become the sweetest boy ever, he flattens his ears and wriggles his but when he meets new people and dogs and he listens well to his "leave it". He loves to lay on my chest and give lots of kisses :) and Laika is wayyyy less of a brat than when we got her but we're still working out a few kinks ;)
My brother's aussie (almost 9 months) has gotten to the point that when he knows he's done something bad and is about to be reprimanded, he'll "pin himself" by laying down and rolling over and he is definitely not usually a submissive dog. So maybe this will work for Mr. B?
I used to have horrid temper tantrums as a kid and my parents used to have to hold me so I wouldn't hurt myself or break something until I settled, same with my sister-in-law, her parents would wrap her in a blanket and hold her there till she calmed down. So I figure if it works on me it'll work on my dogs, haha.
this sounds like a great idea for me, problem is when shes getting so overly excited..( when weve been playing or i want her to settle) i can barely get to her body to lay her down, she goes for my hands and its dangerous ..lol
i especially like what you said, that your parents did it to you ... hey why not try it on the dogs? hahah
Hey guys! It was cool to see Mr. B in person a couple weeks ago-- I hope to run into you at the dog park again soon. He's a very handsome dog!

I'm glad the trading up method is working for you-- dont forget to have people outside your "pack" practice it with him too. And I would teach him "Leave it". It's different from the trading because he has to voluntarily give something up instead of just letting you take it.
Donovan learned early on that if I took something away, I would probably give something back, and so he no longer cares if I take his stuff--in the beginning, he would run off with it! (Arrg). Separately, he's learned that if I say "leave it" it's because that item belongs to me, and I'm the alpha, so he better not touch it under penalty of death. This is very useful because when he gets into trouble (spiders, snakes, spilled bleach, etc) I have a command to rescue him with.

Ultimately, trading and "leave it" reenforces your dominance, too-- which will decrease toy aggression. Win!

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