suddenly mean?

[Guest]

My Cairin Kramer is 10 months old and has recently started to become a biter. If he gets reprimanded and you touch him at all anymore he snarls and snaps. Bearing his teeth. Often lately if you approach him he sort of crouches down like he thinks he's going to get in trouble. Honestly, he's always had behavior issues. He's very dominant, hyper and doesn't listen very well. But he's never been mean and angry like this. It's sort of scary. Any ideas on how to remedy this?

[Guest]

I have an 11-year-old Cairn which I've only had for two years. I love her so much and she has brought me so much joy and laughter. I hate to admit it, but she acts really mean and snarls and bites at me if I try to put her outside, and it cracks me up because she's just trying to psyche me out so I'll leave her alone. I'm sure alot of people and trainers would be horrified that I let her get away with it, but I know it's just part of her aggressive nature. Also, she acts vicious if you touch her when she's eating; there again, I think it's just the aggressive nature of the breed. But I wouldn't trade her for any other breed. She communicates with me by her different barks and growls. She growls when I kiss her and hug her, probably because all her life she wasn't shown a lot of physical affection, but she never bites me and I know she won't unless I try to take food from her. Until I got Taffy two years ago, I didn't even know what a Cairn Terrier was. There are probably a lot of people that wouldn't like an aggressive, but sweet dog like Taffy. I'm hooked on Cairn Terriers because their personalities are so cute, and I just try to be patient when she doesn't mind. She knows tricks and will do anything when a treat is involved.

Anyway I'm sure a trainer could help people with younger dogs, but since I've just accepted Taffy the way she is at 11 years old and get a kick out of her stubborness, I'll just keep laughing and appreciating her companionship. She's my baby.