In my opinion, it is RARELY the dog's fault for biting. Here are the reasons why 1) Aggravating, abusing, cornering, or otherwise leaving a dog no choice but to bite 2) Approaching a strange dog 3) Owner's fault for not training it not to bite (not in OPs case obviously, but many people don't properly train their dogs) 4) Owner's fault for not properly restraining a dog that is currently in training, or is a known biter 5) Handler's fault for not understanding and respecting a dog's body language and adjusting their approach accordingly IMHO, it is partly the friend's fault in this case because Bailey "was in training for not biting" and had access to people. Even if the people were stupid kids with no business poking their hands through the fence, a known biter cannot have any access to people at all. Period. And that is the responsibility of the person in charge of the dog at the time. Now if Bailey was not a "known biter" then the friend is somewhat off the hook, as long as provisions are made immediately to not let that type of thing happen again. Unfortunately they chose to kill the dog instead of make other reasonable accomodations while training. Perhaps these friends were not in a position to properly care for and train Bailey. Which is a very unfortunate situation for your family. The parents of the children in this case also share some of the responsibility because kids ages 4 and 5, as you mentioned, have no business poking their hands through a fence. 4 and 5 year olds can be made to understand how to ask someone if it is OK to pet a dog, how to approach a dog (ONLY with an adult in control of the dog), and not to do things that will make a dog angry. Hopefully since the parents of the children were not capable of imparting this knowledge to them, at least perhaps the kids "learned the hard way" that aggavating dogs can hurt.

Prairielove: If you read my update to the situation this year, you will understand that I did take proactive action to keep this person from blowing his leaves into my yard by stacking logs about 3 feet high and 100 feet long along the one border of my property. And this person did still manage to blow his leaves into our yard. Even though he knew that we did not appreciate it. This neighbor is obviously unbalanced in that he has held a grudge about this fence for 7 years. I mean, how weird is that in the first place? I mean, it is our property, I can do whatever to it that I want under jurisdiction of the county I live in and no one else has anything to say about it. It is a nice looking fence. DH has done the "talking" in the past and it ends up that the neighbor ignores it. When we finally get fed up and confront him in a stern manner, it ends up with the person getting all "you are the bad guys" and ends in a shouting match. Or we get lying, or cocky replies. And this person continues to sneak around to access our property, to blow leaves into our yard, etc. You cannot have a "relationship" with a neighbor that is crazy. We just want this person to leave our property alone - totally - 100%. That is all... if I have to call in authorities to get that accomplished so be it. However, I really think that telling your animal to bark at someone on purpose is totally uncalled for. I mean, what is next, telling the dog to attack on command? I had no intention of calling the authorities back about the barking dog I just wanted to know if it is considered harassment which I think it is. So I am noting it in my log. Although to note, that the dog was out for about 4 hours yesterday afternoon and he likely barked for about 2 of those hours... he is a coonhound and that is what they do. And I am willing to accept some barking, all dogs bark, I own a dachsie I know, but to train the dog to bark on command at a specific person is just uncalled for. I am now looking at places to get cheap shrubbery until I can afford to put in a 6 foot fence. And I just bought some no trespassing signs. And I am going to get an ultrasonic bark control for when we are out in the yard to see if that works. Thanks all. I'll let you know how this situation unfolds!

Great advice everyone I will try some of your techniques...maybe all ....I'm hesitant about putting anything in the house for her to walk over...she is very skittish at times and wont go near something if shes afraid. I don't want her to be fearful in the house at all and she remembers. (the curtain touched her butt one night when she was sleeping and she still hasn't forgiven it). So I may use that as a last resort and maybe not at all...but only because the olympics are only for charity so I don't really care if shes any good and I won't risk traumatizing her for them. Cynthia..thanks for the advice..my yelling at her consist of telling her "No" and "Drop it"...usually because she has something she shouldn't in her mouth. (lots of plants around and I dont want her to ever put the wrong one in her mouth so she's not allowed to eat any). I am very aware that she is fearful so we try to only use positive reinforcement with her. (plenty of good girls and kisses and lots of treats)I only mentioned yelling and hitting because I have no idea why she is fearful so I was explaining that as far as I know we aren't the cause. Oh and I mentioned the collar because when I look at dog shows they seem to have the regular collars on them and they just look uncomfortable when they are running around and the collar is pulled far up. She hates the regular collar and likes nothing on her neck. Oh so back to the point...I mentioned collars because I thought that some trainers use collars in training to pull the dog to do what they want. And I would never want training to become something she hates. Also We gots toots when she was 11 months....she grew up in a showdog house. Shes used to lots of dogs around. We have also been walking her and shes never seemed to have a problem with other dogs...no fear...she goes right up them to play. The worse we think will happen at the games is she will be too excited to play in the olympics but then we still contributed to a good cause so its win win....we're doing it for her anyway so she can meet some friends...and whether she plays the games or not I'm sure she'll have fun. And if shes too scared we can always leave...or we'll have her crate there for her....although she hasn't used it in weeks. Again guys thanks for all of the advice. I'll let you know how it goes.

Kudos to you for adopting a dog. Many small breed dogs have been coddled and treated like little dolls and not like dogs, first thing to do as the above poster suggested is to leash walk your dog daily. Chi's can walk 5 miles without issue as long as the terrain is not too rough. Basic training can be done without a trainer, unwanted behavior should be dealt with by keeping your dog on a leash when it is around people, and reprimanding your dog, a tsk, shht, or firm NO Leave it, should be taught when your dog tries to go after someone, give a short sharp pull and immediate let go on the leash when your dog first alerts to someone, this is when you should put your dog into a sit stay position and maintain that position. Practice this when you are not around people. Feed yourself before feeding the dog, no extra treats or people food for the Chihuahua, make certain you go out the door before the dogs do...etc. You dont need to be too firm with your dog, to teach your dog to sit, get a small piece of dog food, and show it to your dog, likft the treat up and over her head towards the back of her body, she should follow the training treat with her head and then say SIT (friendly voice) when she does, congratulate her with a piece of treat and congratulate her with alot of praise. To teach stay, put the treat in your hand about a foot or so away from her and tell her leave it, in a firm voice. Praise her as soon as she obeys. mae the times between putting the treat down and her getting it longer and longer. Soon you can apply sit stay to anytime. Good luck.