A dog that growls at and/or bites its owner does so for some reason, even if the
behavior appears to be "unreasonable" to the owner. If your dog displays
aggressive behavior towards you, for the safety and welfare of you, your family
and your dog, it's important to find out why as quickly as possible.
Call your vet right away and schedule an appointment for a complete medical
examination. Talk with your vet about testing your dogs hormonal balance,
neurophysiologic functions and allergies. The test results may reveal the
underlying cause. This has been especially helpful in dogs that have mood
swings.
When growling or biting has erupted as a consequence of scolding or punishment
for behavior such as chewing, jumping, general unruliness, or overprotection of
food, these problems must be dealt with swiftly and firmly to correct the
aggression it is initiating.
As the dogs owner, you must understand that your dog growls or bites at you as a
result of defensive feelings. Even the dog that growls when ordered off the
couch is reacting defensively, as it feels its dominance status has been
threatened.
If scolding and punishment provoke aggression, your dog is reacting to a
perceived threat to its physical safety. In either of these situations, your
own threatening behavior may be producing negative results.
If the results of a medical examination show no signs of a medical condition
that would be causing this behavior, you will have to examine your
own behavior closely to determine what you are doing to make your dog feel
threatened.
If you can't hire the services of a professional, I highly recommend you pick up
a copy of Secrets Of A Professional Dog Trainer by Adam Katz for indepth
instructions on dog behavior training. This ebook is available on my blog.
http://dog-behavior-training.blogspot.com/
