Problem with our dog biting?

Question

We have a 3 year old pedigree Brittany spaniel. We are just in love with him, but we have a problem. He is normally a very good dog, but about a year ago my husband and my teenage daughter had a bit of an argument and it got a little loud. Our dog bit my husband in the face and it drew blood. Last week my husband and I had an argument and again it got loud and he bit my husbands hand and would not let go. He had to go the hospital to get stitches. Yesterday my husband and teenage daughter were in the yard playing ball with him and our neighbor walked over to introduce himself. Sammy went after him and bit his hand hard enough to draw blood. He went to the ER and fortunately did not need stitches. My husband is not a violent person and has never layed a hand on anyone, however he does yell from time to time. It is at the point when I am concerned he will bite me or our teen daughters. I can't bare the thought of having him put to sleep. What should we do?

Yes he was neutured 2 years ago

Answer 1

Is your dog neutered? Sometimes this will help aggression issues.

Answer 2

Your dog is in the wrong pack position. even though dogs are pets they still act as in a pack mode. by biting your husband he is asserting dominance over him. He needs to show the dog he is the alpha male by pinning the dog to the ground. When he does this he must stay there with the dog until the dog gives up the dog will relax and sigh. Very important that the dog learns this or the problem will get worse. Talk to your vet or even some classes will help with this problem. It is never to late for your dog. Goodluck!

Answer 3

You need to get a behavioral trainer in the home to see first hand what is going on and work with you to solve this problem.
Biting can be several things one aggression or it can be fear biting. Aggression may be easier to fix than fear biting. They look similar but are very different.
IF you do not have any behavioral trainers listed try contacting any of the local dogs clubs or humane society or anything like that with dogs and ask if they know anyone.
Get help it can make a huge difference

Answer 4

Your dog is trying to keep the family peace, and he considers HIMSELF alpha male. He would never have bitten your husband otherwise. This behaviour is probably not fixable. Your dog is showing aggression to all other males now. This will only escalate. You don't have much of a choice. Take action before your dog brings a huge lawsuit down on your head...after all, you have ample proof that he is aggressive (with medical records as back-up proof for the victims). Call a local dog rescue organization. They have the time and personnel with the training to curb this behaviour. See what they say.

Answer 5

damn that is hard but no wories! u can go to the vet and let him examine ur dog and se if he need any medicine to work out with his behaviour and by the way his behaviour is defensive that is all from loving ur daughter and u and husband they can't control themselves and bite hard so the vet says if he ned anything or he should go to trainer to let him act well tat wil make u and family hurt but that is the best way but vet is esential in te right moment hope that helps .

Answer 6

Your dog is just protecting. Good for your dog. But, unfortunately, the dog is biting too hard. I'm sorry other than that, I'm not sure what to suggest.

Answer 7

well, better get the problem fixed soon, my mum got attacked by the family dog yesterday, and as soon as the police found out, they had it destroyed

Answer 8

I have had many dogs and I had a dog situration sort of like yours. To make a long story short, my dog was a one person dog(me) and whenever someone "threaten"me( raised voice, about to hit...etc" my dog would come to my "rescue". I didn't train him to do that or anything, it was just some dogs are very protective of their owners and family. Who took care of the dog more, you and your daughter or your husband? If your husband had little to do with the upbringing of the spaniel then it might be that the spaniel considers you and your daughter as his "pack" and when your husband got a little too loud, he had to "protect" you.Dog behavior is complex and signals that dogs send are often subtle. The following is not intended to be a treatise on dog behavior. It is intended to alert parents to situations that could compromise child safety around dogs. Parents seeing potential danger signs in their dog's behavior are encouraged to err on the side of caution and implement dog bite prevention measures (increase supervision and use physical barriers when supervision is not possible) until it can be determined whether the dog is actually a danger to the children and if so, until the problem is resolved through consultation with the appropriate professional. Many dog bites could be prevented if parents and children were aware of the subtle communication signs that dogs send. A dog may warn that is wants to be left alone by leaving the room, showing a half moon eye yawning when the kids are bothering it for weeks, months or even years before finally getting the point that is feels it has no choice but to bite.

As children grow, the attitude of the dog may change. Behavior that the dog tolerated from a baby may no longer be tolerated once the baby starts to walk. An older dog may be less tolerant than he was when he was younger. If you have ever heard yourself say..."My dog is good with the [baby, child, kids], she lets them climb all over her, lie on her and pull her fur. She has never even growled", then you are allowing situations to occur that could easily lead to a bite situation. Dogs do not like being treated this way by children. They may tolerate it, but they don't enjoy it. No dog should be expected to tolerate. No dog should be expected to tolerate repeated rough or inconsiderate handling by children. It is possible to condition dogs to the types of things that children may do, but even a dog that is conditioned to children should not be left unsupervised with them and should have a safe place to which he can retreat from the children.Life in the wild is hard, and a pup would have to be ready to help with the work of the pack by several months of age. As the permanent teeth are being set in the jaw, the now-adolescent dog’s defense drives may be emerging. Development varies widely by breed and of course the extreme difference in dog sizes, something to keep in mind when evaluating your own dog’s behavior.

With the defense drives, you see the results of puppy experiences that created fears or suspicions. Now the dog begins to take responsibility for protection against things that have been threats in the past. A dog who was attacked as a puppy by other dogs in the park, another dog in the household, misbehaving children, or a thoughtless person over the backyard fence may now start reacting to those individuals as well as others like them.

A dog who was overstimulated by unstructured rough-housing as a puppy is now likely to think people prefer this form of interaction. The dog’s play-fighting behavior may be directed at children or men, if a child or man was the one who taught the behavior to the puppy. The result may be behavior that looks aggressive and is hard to distinguish from play. The dog may have trouble telling the difference, too.

The dog starts to be more like other dogs of the breed, with traits breeders have selectively bred that breed to have. Retrievers show interest in retrieving and in birds, herding dogs in eying and chasing things that move quickly, terriers in scrapping and looking for critters, dogs with hard-guarding instincts in guarding places and people.

Male dog behaviors begin to emerge in adolescence, although in some slow-maturing breeds you might be lulled into thinking it isn’t going to happen until suddenly the dog is 3 years old and “all male.” Behavior changes in males as they mature can include roaming (with or without escapes from a fenced yard), urine marking, fighting with other males, and stress when near a female dog in heat (such as in your household
Male and female dogs both pose a statistically higher risk of biting children if not spayed or neutered. Both sexes are spared some medical problems as well as behavior issues by the surgery. Tiny male dogs may be impossible to housetrain if not neutered. Female dogs often die from having puppies.

Breeding is no longer a natural process for dogs, because humans have interfered so much with their sexuality through selective breeding. That gives us the responsibility of making the right decision about spay and neuter for each individual dog in our care
About the same time the dog is going through the rest of this maturing process, the bones are growing so fast that some dogs will develop a condition called panosteitis. It can be quite painful and can affect a dog’s behavior toward people and other dogs and perception of the world in general.

Your veterinarian can help make the dog more comfortable and in the process reduce negative behavior effects from the condition. The veterinarian can also check for other orthopedic issues accompanying growth that require different interventions.

Dogs inherit many conditions that can cause pain, sickness and disability, and affect behavior. Occasionally a dog is almost too sweet, and you sadly learn it was because the poor dog never felt well enough to be active. Other times the dog is grouchy, reactive, or aggressive because of the problem.

Be sure to have your dog screened and be vigilant in watching for any genetic problems prevalent in the breed. Mixed breeds are not exempt from genetic diseases. The mixed-breed dog can be susceptible to any of the genetic diseases in any of the breeds that contributed to that dog’s genetic makeup.

It often takes considerable detective work to find the physical cause for a change in your dog’s behavior because the dog cannot describe symptoms. This detection starts with always suspecting a physical cause at the root of any behavior in your dog that you don’t understand, particularly if it’s a change from previous behavior.

We tend to say a problem is either “physical” or “a behavior issue.” Too often if we can’t find a physical cause, the behavior label turns into a blame game against the dog. The physical cause might remain hidden, and when it does show, we may fail to see the connection. This is a missed opportunity to improve your communication with your dog, as well as to avoid having a temporary problem turn into a permanent one.

When a change in behavior is diagnosed and treated before it becomes a habit, chances of success are usually excellent. Let’s say your dog has an ear infection and your child hurts the ear by petting it. The dog reacts and the child backs off. The next time—or the 10th time—the child approaches to pet that dog on the head, the dog may act before the child touches the head, and this could be the time you witness.

To your eye, there was no cause for the aggression. But in actuality, there was. Treating the ear infection quickly could have prevented the aggression or interrupted it before it became a habit. Sometimes along with treating the physical problem you need the right behavior modification exercises. The longer the behavior problem continued before diagnosis and treatment, the more time it will likely take to modify.

Dogs may react aggressively to protect injured knee ligaments, shoulders, luxating patellas (slipping kneecaps), hip dysplasia (one or both hips not seated properly in hip sockets) and a host of other problems you may not know the dog has. Like other animals, dogs have a survival instinct to hide their pain. Showing weakness in the wild could get them killed.
Write down any symptoms you want to bring to your veterinarian’s attention so you won’t forget to mention them. Be a detective when your dog shows a concerning change in behavior. Take the clues to your veterinarian and work together to try to figure out what’s happening. Many dogs will try to help you understand the problem. This experience between you and your dog opens the way for a new, deeper level of communication.
Here is what you can do.
TALK TO YOUR VETERINARIAN.
Get a Halti-Halter to get better control of your dog when guest come over.
Older dogs may become aggressive for several reasons. Aggression may be the result of a medical problem such as one causing pain (arthritis or dental disease), vision or hearing loss, which results in the dog being easily startled, lack of mobility so the dog can not remove himself from the irritating stimulus (e.g.; an obnoxious puppy), or diseases having direct effects on the nervous system, such as cognitive dysfunction (see below). Stresses such as moving, a new family member, or a new pet may make an older dog more irritable and more likely to be aggressive. In a multi-dog household, an older dog who was the 'dominant' dog in the past, may find his authority being challenged by younger dogs in the household.

By determining what factors may be contributing to the aggression, we may be able to eliminate or reduce those factors. Treating medical conditions which contribute to the aggression is paramount. Watch the dog for signs of stress (increased panting), and remove the dog from the stressful situation which could cause aggression. Using a 'halti' headcollar and leash may provide more control over an older dog, especially one who has decreased hearing or vision. In some cases, a basket muzzle may be needed to assure the safety of human and non-human family members. DO NOT LEAVE A MUZZLED DOG UNATTENDED. Medications can be helpful in reducing aggression that may be due to fear and anxiety. As with separation anxiety discussed above, medication alone will not solve the problem. Work with your veterinarian and an animal behaviorist to develop a plan that will work best for you and your dog.
My advise to you is not to give away or put down your dog just yet. Too many people do this when they can't figure out what is wrong when suddenly their usually well behave dog "turns" on them. If you have any more questions, please ask and if i am on i will answer. Hope this was of some help to you.

What you should do right now before making a big descision that could alter your life is talk to your veterinarian and see what he/she thinks.