Why does my Basenji/Chihuahua puppy growl and snap at everyone but me when he is trying to sleep next to me?

Allowing your pet to "protect" you is causing the growling problem and if you continue to let him do this it will escalate into an actual bite.When someone come close to you, immediately put the puppy on the floor. Wait a bit and then let the other member of the family pick the dog up. Whenever he makes any attempt to protect you, get away from him so he can't.By doing this you will help with his separation anxiety also, but here is an article to help you work on that problemhttp://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/separation-anxiety-in-dogs.html

He's being possessive and it shouldn't be tolerated. Every time he does it, you should immediately and quickly place him on the floor and ignore for several minutes. If it persists, he should not be allowed to lie next to you, period. Also, no one should be waking him out of a sleep by picking him up. It can be startling, and can end with someone being bitten. if he needs to be moved for some important reason, he should be woken first verbally, and allowed to look around and get his bearings before someone tries to pick him up. Otherwise, if it isn't necessary to move him, let sleeping dogs lie. It's a common expression for a reason. As far as his being clingy and showing some separation anxiety, you need to teach him that it's OK to be away from you. Start by getting some attractive toys and chew items he can play with on his own. Kong toys stuffed with a mix of kibble and canned food and then frozen can work well for this. Give him the toy, and leave. Hopefully he will still be focused on his toy, and not so concerned aout you. If he makes a fuss, absolutely do not return to him until he is quiet. You need to teach him that crying gets him nothing, and if he is quiet and well-mannered, he gets rewarded with your presence. Also, try teaching him to be settled away from you even when you are in the room. You would do that by teaching a "go to and settle". Get something like a bath mat or kitchen rug, and make it his "calm place". Teach him to "go to mat", by giving the command, and leading him onto mat, then praising and giving treats. Repeat until he goes to the mat on his own when the command is given. Slowly increase the distance you send him to his mat from. Once he has the "go to" mastered, add a "down/stay" on the mat. Reward first for laying down, then for laying down and staying with you near, then staying with you moving around the room or on the far side of the room. Give extra rewards and praise for relaxing fully on the mat and seeming unconcerned with your movements. Use the command when he's acting clingy, and periodically throughout the day. Make sure you also use a release command when you want to release him from the stay. If he breaks the stay before released, calmly place him back on the mat, and reward once there. You can give something to chew on while on the mat as well to help occupy him. Also, remember never to give attention when it is demanded. Give him attention when YOU want to and when he is relaxed, not when he whines or paws or otherwise solicits it.

could be that dog see you as his property and is defending his property against intruders.One man used to describe his wife's dog as a contraceptive! Well ,her Pomeranian used to get in between them in the bed and wouldn't allow him near her. They went for years without having sexual relations. You need to call in an expert in animal behaviour as soon as you possibly can. As I remember the dog about which I have told you became so extreme in it's behaviour that it simply could not be trained to function among humans. It had to be euthanased.

We have recently adopted a male Basenji/Chihuahua puppy, he is approximately 3-4 months old. When he is napping or even just lying next to me, and another member of our family tries to pick him up he growls and nips at them, is this normal and how can we stop him from this behavior? He has become very attached to me, cries when I leave his sight and he cannot get to me, we are trying to break that as well. lol

No it isn't normal and it will turn out to be a BIG problem if you don't get it under control. You need to get him used to being handled by other people. To some extent, intentionally or not, you are somehow encouraging him with the idea that he is only supposed to be with you. Make sure he is handled and has lots of positive experiences with lots of different people- not just you. Give him treats when he is socializing with strangers (as long as he is being friendly!)At some point if you don't break him of his overly strong attachment to you it is going to backfire. If he needs to be kenneled for some reason, hospitalized, you go away (such as on vacation) and need to leave him behind- if he is so attached to you that he never wants to leave your side he is going to be distraught and suffer- and that's not fair to him. If he gets TOO attached to you he will get upset whenever you leave the house- and then dogs can sometimes become destructive as an outlet for their stress- which is also not fair to him.