Aggressive/Possessive Attacking

ORIGINAL: jaye
im not sure i agree with that.  it might be true for people but dogs understand agression, thats how they work things out. 

When a dog is confronted by an aggressive animal he will do one of three things.

1.  Try to appease the aggressive dog with calming signals;
2.  Try to escape the situation;  or
3.  Get aggressive right back.

If YOU confront an already aggressive dog with aggression there is a very high probability that he will get aggressive right back at you.  A dog who already has an issue with aggression has already shown that he is unlikely to take options one or two.  In fact, by alpha rolling him and physically restraining him you are completely removing option two from the equation -- he simply can not get away from you even if he wanted to which means he is even more likely to bite.  Ultimately, even if you win the war that doesn't mean you won't lose a few battles to get there.  Which means, by aggressively showing your dog that you are the boss you might eventually make your point clear to him ... but it is very likely that before he gets that point you will be bitten.  And some dogs will never get that message.  There are some dogs that when confronted with the choice of fight or flight will always choose fight.  And by continuing to fight with them you are only setting yourself -- and them -- up for failure.

This dog isn't showing aggression for aggressions sake, IMO.  This is a dog that believes he is alpha.  He owns everything in the house in his mind.  A behaviorist needs to be consulted and the entire human household needs to listen to the behaviorist.  This dog needs to have boundaries set and enforced in such a way that it understands those boundaries.  Regaining alpha status is of utmost importance.  And if the behaviorist tells you to alpha roll, watch carefully and do it.  But remember folks, in the dog world, the alpha doesn't roll the submissives...the submissives roll themselves.  

I've for one have seen someone alpha roll a dog before and lets just say that person had go to the hospital. Alpha rolling a dog that is showing aggression (has bitten the owner) to the alpha (the owner) isn't going to help one bit of alpha rolling that dog. That dog need start from square one in obedience training.

Xerxes,

You're exactly right.  That's why I took him to the classes because he thinks he's the alpha.  My brother and his ex-girlfriend never trained him or showed him who's alpha, so the dog decided he wanted to be.  The story the whole family thought was that the dog was owned by the girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend) and she's didn't have the funds and couldn't take care of him, so my brother decided to have the dog live at our house.  So the whole family was under the impression that it wasn't our dog and we didn't have a place to discipline him.  Then we find out that my brother was the one who actually bought the dog for the ex-girlfriend.  So the dog actually belonged to my brother, only my brother was really never home to discipline the him.  Our family has never had a dog before so none of us knew what to do. 

We learned that the ex-girlfriend was educating my brother on how to handle the dog and to smack it on the nose.  Needless to say, the dog really gave her arm a big knot on it.  None of us approved of the ex hitting the dog and it was really causing a rift in the immedate house hold.  My brother listened to the ex and believed her that the best way to let the dog know he did bad was smack him, and the rest of us believed other wise.  We finally had a family meeting and said no more hitting the dog.  It was stressing all of us out.  That happened when he was about a 1 year old.  So that might have something to do with him deciding he wants to be the alpha.

My brother signed the dog over to me in January since he was moving out and that's when I started the classes.  So it's going to be a long road, but we can do it. 

I say that I might try the roll, but I don't know.  I'd probably chicken out.  Right now the leash seems to work.  And slowly, hopefully, I'll start becoming the alpha.

ORIGINAL: jaye
im not sure i agree with that.  it might be true for people but dogs understand agression, thats how they work things out. 

Dogs are not just aggressive, but at times they do "understand" aggression. I do fear that most people do not fully grasp the consequeseses. I had a sporatically agressive spaniel. She would randomly provoke fights, over possessions, with my other dogs. My lab responded to aggression with aggression and once provoked killed her. It was the most horrid day of my life.

You are underestimating a dogs ability to problem solve. If we presnt them with alternate options they adapt, and most of the time our bond with them grows stronger.

I had an alpha problem with my lone male dog. While he was never aggressive, I used non-threatening means to communicate my alpha role. If he was sitting somewhere, I would make him move and take his seat. (even if I did not want to sit there.) I walked through doors before him, I ate something before I fed him. It took 1 day of this and his behavior is completely different. He listens to me, heis respectful. I was able to communicate in a manner he understood without resorting to aggression and I feel closer to him.

Oh boy what a mess these posts are except for a few. I  sure hope Mic or Anne see this before op gets hurt or this dog more confused.
Firstly, I commend the OP for trying so hard and I am sorry that your first dog experience is not a happy one, please try to find a behaviorist that uses postive  reenforcement training, I fear this dog may have been hurt by his first owners, and needs a more experience  owner to help him out.

Sorry to hear about your aggressive dog. I have 3 dogs and they get aggressive over their toys and sometimes their snacks. We brought our first dog Cole who is a Pitt/Lab mix to training. He understands sit, stay, down etc. But the one command that works great is "Leave it" If I need to take a bone or something from him that he got off the counter, and itts have bug jaws, I will tell him to leave it and he knows that he is not allowed to touch it. Then I am able to get what I want with out getting bitten. He however never bit us on purpose before but it has also worked with our other dogs. My Jack Russell mix will take something and run. So this has also worked with him. I know it won't solve the aggression but it may help you clean the water with out getting bit.
     If you want to try it you simply put a peice of a training snack on the ground far away from him and tell him to sit. He will continue to look at the treat and go for it but you tell him to leave it and when he looks at you you give him a treat out of your hand. You continue this for about 10 times and then stop. Do it about 2times a day. When he can look at the treat and not stand up to get it try putting it a little closer and repeat the command leave it. Soon you should be able to have the treat so close to him that it is a lick away and he shouldn't touch it.
   However if you find your self getting bit stop the training. I think regardless you should probably see a behaviorist.
Did you have him from birth or was he adopted?
Have a great day!!
AW 

My trainer is a certified behavorist who does uses positive reenforcement and the dog is not as bad as debv53 fears.  If you're thinking that the "pop" of the leash is a negative reenforcement, then you haven't seen exactly what it is.  And if you think the trainer is all about alpha rolling, she's not.  She doesn't teach that, but only sugguested it as a last resort.  Any my first experience with having a dog is not a bad one.  I love this dog to death and ovbiously unconditionally with him biting me.

My dog is well mannered and a perfect angel until he finds something new and doesn't want you to have it.  He has never acted aggressive or attacked anything in front of other people.  It's the dominace/alpha thing with the people in the household.  I even told my behavorist/trainer about him being smacked by the ex and she said that the dog thinks he the alpha.  The ex didn't hit the dog in a way that would physically harm him or break something...it was a smack on the nose.  I don't approve of hitting and the smacking happened when he would attack her.  (He has a thing with paper towels.  She tried to wipe his mouth with a paper towel and he didn't want her to and made it know with growls.  She then continued and told him no and he went after the towel and that's when the smacking on the nose happened.  She was also right near his food and water bowls.)  He has a few habits that are odd to me, but I doubt he was ever hit as a puppy.  The only smacking I've seen her do was when the dog started living with my family. 

I don't know why I didn't think of my trainer before I even registered for this forum.  I should've.  I gave her a call after my first post and she gave me some tips.  She only suggested the alpha roll if nothing else works.  She doesn't use any hitting or rolling as training, but she sugguested it if it would help.  My brother has laid the dog on his back before when he's attacking.  The dog never bit him while in the possition.  Unfortunately, my brother doesn't live here any more.  I just don't know if I could do it.

It's the alpha thing.  Before  I took him to classes, he was living in my house for about a year and able to roam free and do anything he wants.  So it's no wonder he thinks he's the alpha.  He doesn't have any other problem except this one.  He's been around a 2 year old and he acted very fatherly and loving to the kid.  He takes groomings very well from what I hear.  He has never bit anyone except the people in this house who he thinks is lower in the pack and considered the house/floor his because it has been all along until I took him to classes.  The dog considers me his friend first since I was.  Now I am becoming the leader and he's slowly catching on.  The dog lets me do almost anything to him.  I play with him (since no one else has the time to).  I turn him upside down, throw him up in the air...pick him up any time I want.  He's very friendly and loves people.  His little butt wiggles so fast when he sees someone new that it's hard to keep up with him.  He's a great dog with one little problem that we're going to snuff out.

My brother and his ex  bought the dog from a breeder the ex found in a newspaper.  I tried to get all the info I could about the breeders but they couldn't give me much.  I have the last name of the breeders and they're most likely registered in the Kennel Club like my dog is now.

Awalker102,
 
What you're sugguesting is something I've already done in the classes and it works good.  That was one of the training excersies.  The dog is good with long sits and will usually sit until I say the command.  I use turkey as a higher reward when training him.  He's also done good with long sits while his toys are out and only goes to them when I say the command. 

I don't traditionally agree with owners alpha rolling dogs.  Occasionally, I will recommend it. 
 
If your trainer is well educated this may be the appropriate advice. 
 
If I may ask...through what organization was your trainer certified?

It sounds as though this dog is "guardy" and someone has continued to "test" him and ended up bitten.
Please consult with a behaviorist.  If you don't know any, I'm sure Mic can hook you up if you live in the US. 
Books you should read, so you won't rely on the advice of the people who tell you to get aggressive (which often leads to the dog getting worse) with your dog right off the bat:
The Culture Clash - Jean Donaldson
Mine! A Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs - Jean Donaldson
Aggression in Dogs - Brenda Aloff
And, oh by the way, the Dog Whisperer is being sued for animal cruelty...

ORIGINAL: RB

He doesn't have any other problem except this one. 

Biting you for picking up things off your own floor, attacking you for opening your own door, biting you for any reason he deems necessary, that's a BIG problem.

He's been around a 2 year old and he acted very fatherly and loving to the kid.

I would NOT recommend having him around any children unless you feel like being responsible for that child bitten and possibly have a law suit on your hands. This dog has no problem whatsoever biting people and if the child does something that the dog sees as "unacceptable" there's a very good chance that he would bite them. It would be grossly irresponsible to even take that chance.

I turn him upside down, throw him up in the air...

I really wouldn't recommend doing that, not something that I could see any dog actually enjoying. He may tolerate it, but shouldn't have to.

As far as the dog thinking he's alpha, by reading your posts you're still allowing him to be the alpha. A dog that has bitten and is dominant possessive should not even be allowed in your bedroom, ever; he should not be allowed to sleep at the food of your bed. He needs to sleep in another room, and I wouldn't leave him with the run of the house when you go to sleep either, I would confine him to a small space so that he doesn't think it's all his domain.

With him thinking that everything in your home and on the floor belongs to him, I would keep him tethered to you on a leash or in an ex-pen or babygated section when you can't watch him. That way his access to things is restricted and under your control. He shouldn't have the opportunity to guard the door from you when the UPS guy comes. You've accomodated the dog and let him have control by waiting until the UPS guy leaves, and doing whatever else he wanted. It is YOUR house, not his. I would restrict his access by using the leash, babygates, etc so that he couldn't get over to the door and I would go answer it.

Also, as far as you leading/carrying him upstairs when he barks for you do do it. DON'T do it, ever. He doesn't get to make any demands.
 
He shouldn't have any furniture access, ever. And like I said before, but just to reiterate because it's important, he should not be allowed in your bedroom AT ALL. That is your "den", allowing him in there and especially letting him sleep in there with you, gives him equal status. I would go as far as to put a babygate at the doorway so that he never has the chance to even wander in there.

I would really recommend having a behaviorist come out to your house and working with you one on one. You've gotten some good information, but are only implementing some of the things that you need to. The dog is still controlling you in a big way. He's the type of dog that even if you're doing 90% of things right, is going to take advantage of any chink in the armor. Making sure that you are the alpha and not him is something you'll have to carefully manage for his entire life.

i think thats all very good advice Luv

I think the NILIF methods works great, please look into that. 
 
I've found that training for commands and teaching who is the pack leader are really two different things.  For example, classes will teach all the basics like sit, stay, etc.  But, it's them knowing what they need to do to get what they want from you that teaches them their place.  For example, if Willow started towards something that fell that she wanted, she would hesitate, look to me, and then either leave it or get it after doing something I asked like "sit".   She wouldn't just "help herself".  Another example, your dog barks when he wants to be picked up.  Willow used to stare at me if she wanted attention and if that didn't work she would start growling at me.  Well, when she did that she got absolutely nothing.  I told her to sit or whatever else I felt like and then I left the room and closed the door behind me, leaving her alone.  Don't forget, isolation works well, dogs are used to being together. 
 
I've also found that as I made her work for everything and focus and not be all over the place mentally, she mostly stopped the problems on her own.  She naturally figured out, hey, I can't growl at my mom.  As they figure out the heirarchy things fall into place naturally. 
 
So, personally, I'd stop worrying about what he gets from the floor.  As much as possible keep everything out of reach.  If a bit of food falls, let that go for now.  Willow is still a little ify with really, really good stuff that falls and I usually pick not to fight that battle. 
 
Since he's been to classes and knows the commands he can start doing NILIF right away.  He should be "working", doing a command, that is, for everything he wants.  He should be completely out of your bedroom as others have said.  I've had period Willow regressed and went back to no bedroom privledges.  No furniture, nothing that makes him think he's your equal.  He should always be lower than you, if your on a chair, he's on the floor. 
 
If you want to walk by him while on the floor, he should get up.  You shouldn't step over him. 
 
Forget carrying him thru a doorway, he should be waiting until you go thru and following you. 
 
It takes a lot of work, but well worth it, trust me.
 
Added in--If company comes, he should be in another room.  He's too unpredictable to have around anyone, especially right now. 

And, the great thing about NILIF is that it can be used strictly for now and once he's under control, it can be loosened up a little.  For instance, Willow is now allowed in the bedroom, when we are in there.  Never alone.  Although, LOL, one day I forgot to close the door and DH comes home and she's sound asleep in our bed! 

But, if we have times when she seems like she's getting a little big for her britches, not listening the first time or pulling on leash or whatever. . .we go back to it more strictly.  During these times sometimes I even gate her into certain rooms when we leave so she doesn't have free roam.  It kind of lets her know, hey this isn't my kingdom. 

Anyway, enough, I've just had so much experience with this.  She had never lived in a house before and had many temperment issues.  I almost gave her up TWICE the first few months.