why does my 3 yrs old lab growls and bites?

Question

My 3 year old lab growls and snaps at every one in the house. He doesn't like to begiving any commands and when he urinates in the house and we have him smell it and put him outside he starts growling and shaking. Today my son went to give a bath and he bit him on the arm.

Answer 1

It sounds to me like your dog has some serious mental issues. A dog that growls and snaps at his own family is one thing, but a dog that bites is another. Biters that bite unprovoked are dangerous and should be handled with extreme caution. In many cases, putting them to sleep is the kindest option. Dogs that react aggressively only towards certain triggers can be managed but dogs that display random, unprovoked aggression should only be kept in the most extreme of circumstances -- they are a huge liability.

You should seek professional help ASAP.

Answer 2

Sounds like a case of dominance aggression. Your dog thinks he's the pack-leader and he's putting you in your place everytime you overstep the line, such as giving him commands and bathing him.

First of all, I'd take him to the vet to determine that there's nothing physically wrong with him. If he gets the all clear, I'd start training him and I would stronly advise that you get in a professional dog trainer/behaviourist to take a look at your dog and give you some safe, useful tools on how to handle him. You need to take control now, before the situation escalates.

Below are some advice for when dealing with a dominant aggresive dog:

Since your dog is already such an established alpha for his pack (you and your family), I would not challenge him physically, he's a big dog and he could seriously hurt you. Instead start to work on the following.

- No more food in the food bowl. Your dog must earn his food, either by searching for it after you hid it or by performing tasks for you (sit, stay, speak...whatever). If you're short on time, you can give him his food in the bowl, but not before he's earned it by performing a trick or something similar.

- You eat first, the dog eats last.

- You go out the door first, the dog goes last.

- When a member of the family comes home, he/she will greet the dog last.

- Beds, couches, chairs are all off limit for the dog. You can put a house leash on him to gently pull him down while luring him with a treat. The dog must go down every single time you tell him to, but don't use force, trick him.

- Put away his toys, treats and chew toys. You decide when he may play with them.

- You decide when he goes out, when he plays, when he gets cuddles. Do not cuddle him just because he demands it or looks cute.

- Talk to the dog in a firm controlled voice, control your body language and keep it calm.

- Does the dog have his own room or own space? That has to stop, he can have his bed as his space, but nothing else.

- Train your dog and teach him new tricks. This will increase his sense of you being a team and his respect for you.

- Don't make him smell his own scent markings, it's pointless and he will not make the connection between his spraying and your subsequent punishment if it comes more than 2 seconds after the actual act. Instead clean up the spots thoroughly to remove all smell. The marking of territory should go away once he knows his place.

- Don't let him fixate you (stare stiffly at you when you're not doing what he wants you to do), instead walk away and ignore him.

Answer 3

this behavior didn't accrue over night. either there is something wrong health wise with the dog, or you seriously need some obedience training. you say the lab is 3 yrs old but how long have you had the dog. labs normally don't have behavior problems like this. The dog is showing dominance over you, the owner, and you cannot allow that. You should get a dog crate, and try to crate train the dog. start from scratch. the dog stays crated just like a puppy unless there is supervision. if the dog acts out, back in the crate. if the dog doesn't want to live in the crate hopefully it will learn what behavior gets him locked up.

Answer 4

Doris, Please tell us more. How long has he been doing this? If you've disciplined him by shoving his nose in his own urine since puppyhood, he's probably tired of that and has learned to attack before being attacked. Tell us what issues you have with the dog and how you approach dealing with the problem behaviors. Right now the dog controls you but there are ways to make the relationship better so that all of you are happy. Tell us more.

Answer 5

This is nothing to play with. You should immediately take him in for obedience training. This is NOT OK behavior, and if he continues to bite, you run a huge risk that he will seriously injure someone.

Every dog will bite when provoked, and dogs naturally nip and bite as part of their pack behavior, trying to put themselves in the hierarchy. Your dog may simply be trying to assert himself as the "alpha" in your "pack." But you cannot let him do that - YOU have to be HIS alpha, unless you want major problems. And it's important that every dog owner impress on his or her dog that biting is NEVER OK, even in play.

Don't try to do this yourself. You need a professional trainer to teach the dog - and you - to establish the proper hierarchy in your household.

Also, I strongly urge you to be sure that you have a good secure fence around your back yard, too high for the dog to jump, and that you put him in the back yard and warn guests to stay away from him when they visit. After training, he will probably be safe, but if he were ever to bite a guest, you could end up being sued.

Answer 6

Unfortunately some breeds of dogs are unruly and their temperament is unstable this sounds unusual for labs. At three years of age you may want to consider getting him fixed this will cut down on his aggression. Ask a vet what they think. I had a Boviea that was very aggressive until I had him neutered. It calmed him down for a while but I eventually had to put him down due to his aggressive nature. There was nothing else I could do.

Answer 7

Your dog thinks that the whole family (your family) is its pack and that it is the alpha male or leader of the pack. You will have to retrain its behavior to make him believe that you are the leader and not him. You will have to truly believe this because they can tell when you're just putting on the show of being the boss but will capitulate once he starts growling.

Answer 8

he may think hes the leader of the pack yall are his pack thats what they do to keep the pack in controll so 1 of 2 things happen yall spoil the dog and let him get away with everything up to this point or he was abused at one point and is protecting him self but it sounds like hes leading yall as the leader of the pack because labs are good dogs and not known to turn on there family

Answer 9

Don't worry. He's just not used to being in your house. Give him time to get used to you. He's just shy that's all.

Answer 10

Maybe you don't give him love or may you have to take it to a vet