I have a one year old Lhasa Apso male. Recenty he has turned really mean and tries to bite. Any Suggestions ?

Answer 1

you can try to praise him if he doesn't bite if that doesn't work take him to a professional trainer

Answer 2

1. Is he neutered? if not this may be the reason his personality has changed.

2. New members of the household? Have any children been teasing him? Have you gotten a new pet recently? Has someone the dog loves left? New baby? Have you recarpeted or bought new furniture and banned the dog from it? Changes to routine? working more away from home? have you left the dog at a kennel recently?

3. Does your dog have a bad tooth? has it been stepped on accidentally or on purpose? kicked? yelled at? mistreated?

4. Is your dog an indoor only dog? If not, have other people had access to your dog while he's outside that may have mistreated your dog?

5. Do you or members of your household tease your little fella with food or try to get him riled up? Teasing, while it may be fun for humans is generally NOT fun for the dog. The smaller the dog when it comes to teasing - generally the less tolerant of teasing they are. (our golden retriever takes via "monster fingers" we wag our fingers by our ears and grown -- teasing very well - but my mother's poodle? with the same tease goes insane.)

6. Is is possible your dog has swallowed a pin, or has a half undigested chewie stuck somewhere in his mouth or throat?

7. Best bet is a vet to make sure nothing is physically wrong -- if everything checks out -- something is going wrong at home.

Good luck with your little man there. They are wonderful dogs. If you can't find any explanation, try to gentle him back down at home, keep your home quiet and peaceful if at all possible, approach your dog slowly with reassuring words, try to not react to his snappiness - and as a last resort - contact the breeder you bought him from and ask about the personality traits of these specific dogs (don't tell them you have one of their dogs at first) get them to explain possible reasons for certain changes and then ask is it ever hereditary???? have they ever had a dog like this in their kennel??? kind of sneaky - - but you certainly would not get the information you need by calling them up and telling them about the sudden personality changes one of their dogs is having -- they will be defensive - of course. You won't be trying to blame them for anything anyway - - but the breeder generally knows the dogs best - unless you accidentally got your dog from a back yard breeder who has no scruples. Hopefully that was not the case -- and this is why it is so important that breed dogs are bought on site, and that the breeder is not into mass production.

Good luck again, hopefully this is something easily resolved.

Answer 3

I am editing my answer. My original answer is below, but I just read the answer from 'badbackcracker' and wanted to point out that it is an EXCELLENT response, better and more complete than mine. Please consider all the things he (she?) said in their response. And here is my original answer to your question:

I am not a dog expert, but I do know a bit about dogs. When a dog turns from gentle to mean, there is a reason. Something has changed. Here are a few things to consider:

MOST IMPORTANT: Maybe he is in pain and/or discomfort from some cause you can't see. Take him to a vet and have the vet evaluate him and his behavior. Maybe he has an illness or internal injury that is causing him to be more sensitive to fear or irritation, and that is what is making him mean.

Maybe he is frightened. Has he been hurt lately, maybe something fell on him, or scared him? Perhaps when he was home alone, or in the yard. Think about what might have happened to him and do your best to understand and gently guide him back to good behavior. This may, but not necessarily, require obedience training. If you do consider obedience training, consider using a dedicated, professional trainer, as opposed to one that works for a store-front operation such as PetSmart. The training they get from the pet-store chain is limited, and the quality of trainers varies. But even the best are not as good as a professional trainer. If you can't afford a pro, then by all means take him to a training class at one of the chain stores.

Do NOT listen to anyone who says to punish him or have him put down. He is a good little boy, just trying to protect himself from something he can't understand.

Best of luck, and take good care of that little guy. He's counting on you!

Answer 4

dogs are like children at a young age they try to find ways means and ways of been on top im been the boss u have to use command like stop or leave or no and do this in a good strong voice as soon as he tryes to bite and keep doing you have to be very stricked if u let it do what it want it will just get worse its like if u had a child that punched u in the mouth every time he or she spoke to u u wold put a stop to it or they will start hitting u harder same thing with your dog BUT DO NOT BEAT IT just be very commanding ask any dog trainer they will tell u same

Answer 5

Normally puppies learn how much and how hard they can bite while playing with other puppies. When they bite to hard, the other puppy will make a sound and leave. What you can do, when your dog bites, is to make a little screem and just leave, giving the dog no attention. If he just tries to bite, just leave him and don`t talk to him or look at him for some time.

Answer 6

Has he experienced trauma of any kind.. Think back a few weeks or months. Our yorkie was traumatized by a kid for a couple of weeks and ever since he will attack and bite any kid in site!

Answer 7

Neuter him if he isn't already, It takes about 4 weeks for the testosterone to get out of his system.

Answer 8

Dog obedience classes. Your dog thinks he is the pack leader. Dog obedience clases will help you establish yourself as the pack leader

Answer 9

Please take him to a professional or your vet and have him evaluated. This is very serious, and you must be responsible to find out the root of the problem.

Answer 10

Just get a newspaper and slam it against something.It usually works because it makes dogs obey for some reason.