Hi!
From what I have read in your text I get the feeling that your dog is boss in the house :=( You can start to change this by doing daily obedience..walking your dog that he walks by your side and not in front of you.. when it's food time teach the dog to sit and wait for permission.. when leaving the house you go first and the dog has to wait his turn.. if you use treats in training then you might get him used to strangers by using treats..the stranger has a treat and drops it on to the ground..no eye contact and no trying to stroke your dog! You can slowly build up to your dog taking treats nicely from the strangers hand and later your dog letting the person stroke him:=) This method can be used with men as well.. I think aggression to other dogs will get easier when your dog has gone down in rank but I think lessons with a professional will help you and your dog :) If you want to cut his nails then use a muzzle so he can't bite you.. nail cutting is also a way of showing a dog his/her own place in the pack :=) Hope you get more replies soon :=) Good luck!

BTW Instead of people wanting to stroke him you could explain the treat and stranger exercise and ask him/her to do that instead :=) I think at this stage it is best that people don't try to stroke your dog :)

roscoe walks very well on the leach, he is very good with obedience, sit, stay, down, and leave it. i have tried treats from strangers, he will take it and start again with the barking. he gets walked everyday 2 times and does well with it. he never walks in front of me and he does not eat til i let him he is great with the leave it command. he will lay there not looking at it for hours till i tell him ok. i wish my kids were like that when they were younger lol

I can't tell you more about your dogs that Tracey did. What I will give you is my experince with two of them.

When we moved to our new home, the second neighbor we got to know well had two min pins. We went into their home and the first thing they said is one of their did not like people. I sat down, that dog jumped in my lap. Now for our house, bigger dogs, even if I consider small, that would not be alowed.
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Clicking into about 5 years, their dogs were pretty much as you discribe, but not maybe as good with basics on training. The people set their house, we were into a second of two dogs dogs then, and got a dog door and such. For them it was how our house was set up, not who the boss was.

Theres were still agressive, not with wife and I. They did not do leash well, but I can't talk to much about that since I let my, what I consider small, run the leash.

Since we were good friends I took my bigger dog, 30lbs down to their place to socialize with their dog. Thiers did as you mention yours does, but their was a difference this time. When it ran at mine, then mine ran at theirs. The min pin wet itself and ran back to thier door.

Click on a couple of more years and we were all out, and they had the min pins out and a new dog came by. The owner said their dog didn't know dogs. Perfect, she stopped, dog was about 20lbs, and min pins and that dog learned rear sniffing, while people were talking.

Click on about another year and I was begging off leash with my dogs. I asked the ower of min pins why she did not come over. She told me cause you are training your dogs. I told her I couldn't train my dogs unless she came over. Eventually the mins came over and my dogs and hers are fast friends.

Now click on another 6 months and those dogs have lots of good dog freinds. Max, a Westie, one of mines best friend. A couple of poms that walk often. Overall the owner have not changed. only ones that won't stick to our dog rules in our house but dogs have understood that. Now the dogs have not met the big dogs mine know, 60 or more pounds, yet, I hope, but they are socialized despite what their humans are doing.

So for this response, dogs to want to be social. Even with humans who are not pack leaders, it can be done, maybe with help. Now that my dogs are doing off leash most everywhere, the people more into thinking it is not how we did our house or such, but rules that our dogs have to abide by. Their dogs are having fun, new experiences and becoming dogs, not pampered inside ones. Theirs are still not good, they jump on people, but most don't care.

Overall, small dogs go bad because people let them. Have an 85 lbs dog and let it jump on people and you know the differience on training a dog. I currently have dogs at 17 lbs and 30 lbs and let them do some things I would have never let past dogs do. That is my mistake, not the dogs. I am trying to make up for that now.

Good luck to you, and remember, if you see a dog in your neiborhood that seems to be well trained, there is nothing wrong on talking the the person who ownes is. Most people, ME especially, like people saying your dogs are good, can you might help me with mine.