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Ive had my maltese since he was about 6-7 weeks old and now he is about 2 years old. He and I got a long great until he started to hate me..? I mean I took care of him a lot when he was a pup, he would even come to me during the winter when he wanted to sleep on my lap or what not. But ever since he became the age of one or so, he has started to hate me. Its very odd, he absolutely loves my dad, my mom his ok with, and he loves my sisters as well. When ever I come near him he starts growling and quickly tries to find a way to hide or runaway from me asap. He doesn't respond to me when I tell him to come most of the times. The only time he will be nice is when no one is home but I am or is of course when I have food.

Well if anyone could help me out I'd appreciate it.

thanks for reading.

Unfortunately, it sounds like your dog associates you with a very negative experience. From your signature, I'm guessing you are a man (I may be wrong). I know many small dogs that for soem reason or other are more timid around men. It could be the larger build than a woman's. It could be the deeper voice. It's hard to say exactly what it is, but some dogs just have biases.

If this were my dog, I'd probably start a positive reinforcement training program with the dog. A fun class like agility may also help. I'd also take advantage of the fact that if you have food the pup will be near you. I'd ask the dog to "sit" and then feed the pup. The training makes dogs more confident and the food just makes the association better.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles