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I have an 18 Month Miniature Short Haired Dachsund. He is very healthy and is fixed. My problem is he is very aggressive with his food. All other times he is a happy playful dog. But when he eats, you cannot be near him without him growling, and if you touch him, he snaps at you. Normally, I would not worry and just let him be, but there will be children in our future, and I do not want my child being bitten for petting my dog while he is eating. He also acts the same way when he is eating things he is not supposed to such as tissue or laundry sheets and we try to take the item away from him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

>>I have an 18 Month Miniature Short Haired Dachsund. He is very healthy and is fixed. My problem is he is very aggressive with his food. All other times he is a happy playful dog. But when he eats, you cannot be near him without him growling, and if you touch him, he snaps at you. Normally, I would not worry and just let him be, but there will be children in our future, and I do not want my child being bitten for petting my dog while he is eating. He also acts the same way when he is eating things he is not supposed to such as tissue or laundry sheets and we try to take the item away from him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.>>>>

There are training methods to work on these problems, and it sounds like you need to work with a behavior specialist in person to get started. It's important to make sure you're doing the right actions to deal with the behavior rather than actually making it worse in your efforts to correct it.

A behavior specialist in person can also assess the dog to determine if this dog is a reasonable dog to live with children. Some dogs just aren't. Ask your veterinarian to recommend someone in your area or nearest veterinary university.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com