Jealousy

Dogs often appear possessive of their owners. They may latch onto one person in a household, growling at the other humans. It's quite common for small, fluffy dogs, like Pomeranians, to decide they belong to the woman of the household, and growl at her partner. One way to tackle this is for all rewards to come from the partner - including walks, as well as meals and titbits. The woman can leash the dog, and then pass the leash on. This can work fast, because the only way the dog gets what he wants is by being nice to the partner. Not all men want to be seen out with small, fluffy dogs, but walking with the man of the house can make a big difference in bonding. The man not only becomes a source of pleasure, he also becomes the person who protects the dog in the big wide world outside.

There is often rivalry between dogs if one dog is especially favoured by the owner above the others, perhaps because it's small and cuddly. Too much attention paid to one dog can turn it into an obnoxious brat that says 'you can't touch me 'cos mummy (or daddy) will tell you off'. The same dog can learn to behave nicely if humans make sure they distribute rewards, including cuddles, fairly among all the dogs.

Dogs may sometimes attack 'strange' dogs they see with their owner. This may even happen if they see a strange dog with another friendly human they have come to regard as 'theirs', for example, if this friend has a new dog. That is why it's safer to introduce a new dog with someone else holding the new dog's lead, and to do this outside, with both dogs on the lead at first. Then walk them together for a while to help them to get to know each other, before taking them indoors. The initial reaction is often nothing to do with with personality of the new dog, just that it seems like a usurper, so the dogs can quickly get on well, even after badly managed introductions.

Some pushy dogs that especially value human company may try to monopolise the owner, or even someone providing day care who is looking after more than one dog, threatening any other dog that approaches the owner or carer. Obedience training helps, because you can more easily put the pushy dog into down stay while you pay attention to another dog. It also helps to make cuddles conditional on the pushy dog doing something for you first - showing that you aren't a pushover.