I disagree. I don't see this dog as agreesive. I see this dog thinks he is the boss and intends to keep it. Why is that aggressive. I would say aggressive is you are walking by and for no apparent reason you get attacked. The dog had a clear cut reason we could see. No aggression. No fear biting. At least in the instance that was described. Just domninance. Easy enough to deal with especially in a young dog as this.

Amy..Based upon your description; I wouldn't label him either way. The dog needs obedience training education and limits set with a structured routine. The advice board can help you but you have to follow thru and alter your habits with him. Go back to square one and start over.

Todd,

You are very knowledgeable on dogs and now that you said what you said, I tend to agree with you moreso. He does try to be dominant and in my case he is. I never realized that the little things that i allow him to do are giving him the dominance over me. I just thought I was being a good dog owner, treating him like a family member, which he is. I forget that he is still a dog sometimes and that he doesnt think like humans do. I really like your advice Todd. Please, if you have more, feel free to send it my way! I need it!

The way I look at it, if a dog bites you, he's aggressive. Doesn't matter the reason. Biting is aggression. But that's just semantics, I suppose. I do agree with the perception that this is a dominance issue that can be rectified through proper handling.

See, I feel that if I were being cornered by a bear that was screaming at me, I would do whatever I had to do to get away, and thats exactly how my dog probably felt the other day with me yelling at him and cornering him. Same situation. I dont think he is aggressive, but I do feel that he needs some structure so he knows his place in our home. I came to this site because I was so baffled that he did that in the first place, but now i know why. I was a big part of why i was bitten. And Im not placing all the blame on myself, but it is my job as a responsible dog owner to take care of him and to teach him his place, and I havent, therefore the extreme happened and I was bit. Now I know that he is not a dog that you can do that to, and sometimes the best way to learn is thru a mistake.

A lot of it is in the way that you present facts when you post things too. In your original post, you said that he started snapping at you when you reached for his collar. Any yelling on your part was minimized in that account, and seemed as if you yelled AFTER he bit you. Just reaching for a dog's collar should not elicit a bite.

Now you're saying you were yelling at him and cornering him, and that he responded to THAT behavior with snapping....the two accounts are different, and give one a different mental image of what happened. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

This is one reason why it can be difficult to help people over the internet.

At any rate, you've gotten some valid advice, and I wish you luck with Joe! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Amy..you have just taken the first valuable step in correction of the problem which is recognizing human error and accepting responsibility. We are only human, all make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. Seeking advice is productive and implementing the advice takes work. Good Luck!

I apologize for any confusion, but this is what happened. He was sitting on the couch and I got the treat and called him. He wouldnt come. I went over to him and was petting him and tried luring him further with the treat. It wasnt working. I went to take him by the collar and he snapped at me. I tried again with the treat, it didnt work. I went again for his collar to lead him and he started snapping at me and then I started raising my voice at him. I had him by the collar and was telling him to get in his cage and he was fighting me, so I started yelling. Soon after, i was bitten.

Hello All:
Amy, you got really good advice so far. But, to me it seems you are more concerned with the dog being aggressive or being a fear biter? You did post 2 different scenario's to what happened, in any event, a dog is not a human and you can't treat it like a human. Get a good prong collar and leash and learn how to use them properly.

Keep him off all furniture and out of your bedroom at all times. Keep the collar and leash on the dog at all times. Then start with some strict OB and you and your husband have to also make that a part of his daily life.

I also find that single word commands work better than multi word commands. When it's time to put him in his crate, say "crate or kennel" etc. By the way, you said he has a cage - does that mean he has a crate, if not, crate train him immediately. Also read the Q&A's on dealing with dominate dogs section.
Train Smart,
Brandon

It seems that you are hearing a lot of information given, but are you listening. You got to get tough, You are the problem.

You still are trying to protect him like he is a family memember, gone bad. He is showing dominance behavior toward you because of the mistakes you have made. To the point that bit you.

CORRECT this using the steps mentioned, (what is he doing on your bed, if you were told don't let him on the couch?) and make him do OB, by drilling him everyday in short session.

You probably do have a good dog, and you do love him. But just like rasing a child you have to show him right and wrong behavior, or the rules of your house. You and your husband should take turn teaching him OB.

You want a spunky dog, but one that's well behaved.

It reminds of a female friend telling me how smart well trained her dog is, that he will get into the car on his own and ride. He would if you lead him into the car, but he would not get out. If you went to the side of car he was on he would move, to the other side.

A dog that is trained will get in and out on command, usually jumping enthuastic in and out on command. Not because he wants to, but because you order him to. It's call obeying, they really like this even though, it may sound mean. But its time to Get tough Private you are in the army now!!!
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