Incident where dog is aggressive towards owner..

I'm not a trainer, but, I never force a dog to go into an area that he's reluctant to go...I will work hard to desensitize to that area, but clearly something there spooks him, and by dragging him, you are ignoring whatever that concern is.

I also don't use the word NO.  It tells a dog nothing.  Instead, I tell them what I WANT them to do.

Why he growled and snapped at you I'm not sure, but some of the trainers will be along.

It honestly sounds to me like you had a very fearful boy on your hands, and your dog was defending itself. Dragging your dog anywhere is not exactly a pleasant experience for the dog, and even moreso since there is clearly something in that direction he doesn't want to interact with! It sounds like he bolted back to safety (his cage) as soon as was possible, and was startled at your behaviour. Reaching your hands into any kennel with a dog who is fearful is tricky business, because it -always- looks threatening from your body language. Dont' think of him as "mad", think of him as having been scared and anxious, and not knowing what you were going to do next!

Just a curious thought, though - has your dog ever had a seizure? Was your dog acting strangely when you got up to let him out?

Does he have any problems with his vision (night-vision problems can be specific)?

Next time you need to get him out in the dark (or daylight!), I wouldn't force him to go with you to dump the poop bag, especially if he's being resistant to it. Either let him inside first, or if there is another garbage can use that one.

Keeping in mind that I am only going on a small snippet of information here. Your best bet if you are concerned is to get yourself into the hands of a professional trainer who can work with you in person.

Knowing your dog's breed and where you got him from would be most helpful. However with out that knowledge I would say he is a very insecure dog and your handling of him is increasing that insecurity  dramatically.

So to re cap he needed to go out side and you told him no.  He continues to worry that he will mess the house until you finally take him out to relieve himself. Once out side you drag him towards an area he has shown fear of. You return him to the apartment  where he rushes to his crate for security only to have you hover over him. When he tries to leave the crate where he now feels cornered you grab his harness and hold him in a manner that is awkward for both of you. And you cap it off by putting on a muzzle for the night. Did I get the story right?

Your description of bringing him in from his walk where he was afraid of being taken in a specific direction so you dragged him along protesting. Is it poorly lit? Do the dumpsters smell? Does he startle when the lids are shut? There are hundreds of reasons for a pup to be concerned and dragging him towards these fearful things would increase that fright massively.

He returns to the house where he goes straight to his crate and you are hovering over him. in your own words holding him in an awkward fashion would only increase his insecurites.

Why are you muzzling him at night? How long have you been doing this? I know you said it was to prevent barking but it is a cruel way to treat a pup. He barks to alert. or to call to you. By taking away that ability you are stressing and frightening him greatly.

It sounds as if , instead of training him by repetition and positive reinforcement. Which allows the pup to understand what is wanted of him you are using short cut methods that simply offer him zero alternatives. In forcing him to behave in the manner you want you are taking away his understanding  of what the commands means, why it makes you happy and giving him a choice to work towards pleasing you.  Training is a delicate thing. When a dog is overwhelmed by commands rather than by the chances to choose the right option and thereby pleasing you it becomes insecure.  When tools like a muzzle come into play the dog can become fearful because he is notonly being forced ,now he can't defend himself should he need to.

You need help from a qualified trainer before he is ruined beyond repair. If you purchased him from a breeder contact them see if they can help you . If he came from a shelter contact them and ask where training classes may be held. Don't live thinking because you can force compliance he dog is giving it willingly, he isn't.  And an insecure pup is a bite waiting to happen.

JMHO after being in a large breed and training dogs for over 30 years.

 Thank you for the help. After thinking this over at night I do want to mention that I've taken him for walks in the dark before so I think it may be safe to rule out that he may be afraid of the dark.

Kim_MacMillan: I've never seen him acting in a way that he's having a seizure and he doesn't seem to have any vision problems, but I would have to double check on that with the vet.

Bonita of Bwana: Yes, you're correct for the most part. It was obvious that he did not want to go a certain direction and yes I had to drag him. I can also understand that putting my hands in his cage are threatening. I've never thought of it in that way but can definitely see why it seems that way. I've done it a few times before for other random things but never experienced any issues so that's why I was a bit startled. I do not muzzle him at night regularly but wanted to this time in case he began barking again. To be honest, I also wanted to also see if he still wanted to bite me because it bothered me quite a bit.

I wanted to ask, could it be possible that he didnt want to walk and was just being stubborn? Of course, it may be hard to pinpoint what actually is stopping him from walking but every once in awhile, in the day time, he'll stop in the middle of his walk and will not move at all. This also occurs at the dog park sometimes when we leave.

Thank you for the tips and I will definitely take everyone's advice. Any additional information would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I don't think the term "stubborn" has any value when dealing with dogs.  Why would a dog be stubborn?  There must be a reason he doesn't want to go somewhere or do something.  That doesn't mean that you should have to avoid those places or things and coddle him but the type of reactions he's showing sound like avoidance and fear, so force is not the answer, not because it might be mean but because psychologically it just doesn't work that way.  Rarely can someone just "get over" something by being forced to do it once or twice.

As for the muzzling I can understand not wanting to get bit.  I'm curious about the muzzle though because a dog can still bark (and drink, pant, sometimes even eat) with a properly fitted muzzle.  If the muzzle is actually restraining the dog's mouth shut, I would definitely not recommend using this in the future.  Those are meant to be worn for short periods, like a minute (giving a dog an injection, starting anaesthesia, etc).  A dog needs to be able to pant because they can't sweat.  A dog that is already stressed is probably more like to pant so using a muzzle that holds the mouth shut is only going to push the dog into further avoidance and fear of the situation.  Muzzling to control barking won't work because a real muzzle allows a dog to do everything but bite or chew (and actually, a dog still psychologically "bites" with a muzzle on...I do muzzle work in protection with one of my dogs and being able to work with a muzzle on is a big confidence booster for him, it really works the opposite of what most people think).  If the dog is still making contact with you with the muzzle, he's still "biting" you.

Liesje

Muzzling to control barking won't work because a real muzzle allows a dog to do everything but bite or chew

Well that's not strictly true. They actually sold a muzzle called "The Husher" a while back that DID stop barking. I know because I tried it. It basically allowed a bit of movement, enough to pant or drink. I have no idea if they still sell it or not. But it did work. I think mine got lost in one of our moves or I'd post a pic.

JHNguyen89

I wanted to ask, could it be possible that he didnt want to walk and was just being stubborn? Of course, it may be hard to pinpoint what actually is stopping him from walking but every once in awhile, in the day time, he'll stop in the middle of his walk and will not move at all. This also occurs at the dog park sometimes when we leave.

I just wanted to comment on this part.I leave the rest to the others.

I Have a 6mth old puppy and he to occationaly stops and does not wanna move, I recall all my puppies doing this at one time or another during walks. I take the time to coaxs them back into walking . Eventually they stop doing this.

At least all mine did.

Young dogs often are easily distracted on walks.  I always, ALWAYS talk to my kids when we are walking....people might think I'm nuts, but the dogs are so very tuned in to me and that's what matters.

Garbage cans/dumpsters look different in the daytime than at night.  I don't think anyone wondered if he's afraid of the dark, (altho I might have missed that), but suggested that he might be afraid of the trash area IN THE DARK.  And, as I said before, you never want to force a dog to approach something that causes him to plant his feet and refuse.

You'll get a lot of good advise here, somethings a bit bluntly, but please overlook that and keep asking questions. 

 Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to update..

He's been doing much better and hasn't had any incidents the past few days. I've been getting him more consistent with his eat/food schedule and I have not made him walk anywhere he was reluctant to go to.

BUT, one incident happened last night and it was a bit odd again. My girlfriend and I were sitting on the couch on our laptops when Oliver came between us and lied down. 5 minutes later he was still lying down but my girlfriend turned over to him and began saying his name for him to get excited and petted him on the top of his head. He then got up and tried to snap at her face. He licks us on our faces sometimes so we are used to him getting close to our face. She then gets up to get away and  he tries to lunge but I keep a firm grip on his harness. He didn't try to snap at me so I put him into his crate to sleep in which he did right away.

I'm not sure what exactly caused this? The one thing that is interesting is that all the incidents I've ever had where he gets aggressive occurs at late evening/night. I used to joke that he is just extremely grumpy when he is sleepy/night, but could this really be the case?

Get that dog off the furniture and get a professional behaviorist in.  Someone with experience interpreting dog behavior needs to personally witness whether this dog is fearful and feeling "cornered" enough to come forward, or if something else is going on (like he thinks he needs to control the actions of the humans when they piss him off.)  Most of the advice above has been on-point (Kim is awesome!), but none of us can truly interpret what's going on.  You need someone to view it first hand in the context of the events that led up to it to give you proper advice on your next steps.  Doing the wrong thing could escalate his behavior and a human could be hurt.

Why is this dog always wearing a harness, btw?  Is this a small dog - because I have the impression it is.

miranadobe

get a professional behaviorist in.  Someone with experience interpreting dog behavior needs to personally witness

Ditto!

miranadobe

Most of the advice above has been on-point (Kim is awesome!), but none of us can truly interpret what's going on.  You need someone to view it first hand in the context of the events that led up to it to give you proper advice on your next steps.  Doing the wrong thing could escalate his behavior and a human could be hurt.

and again, ditto!

I'm awesome? You think I'm awesome? Nooooo.....*head swells up*

 Just kidding. Totally. Baha.

But I second that advice, again. You need the in-person help so that you set yourselves, and your dog, up to be successful and get on track to fixing the issues that are going on. In the meantime, definitely keeping the dog off the furniture after the latest incident, and being observant of your dog until you get help will be very important.

This sounds like a case of "pack dominance" training and improper crate training to me. My advice is to ease up on trying to control him and let him have a little control, let him be a dog most of the time. If he is intimidated by you or the muzzle, this is not good.

(One) good way to get a dog to be comfortable with a muzzle is to put some treast in it and let him eat out of it a few times then call him to you and let him walk up on the muzzle as you hold it in front of your face, then quikly slip it on as if you are petting/massaging his head until you have it fastend, then immediatly go for a fast walk being careful to go where HE wants to go (on leash of course) and take of the muzzle BEFORE you start back to the house. JMO