[cassius]

I was getting my dog from my second floor 'cause he somehow jumped over the dog door on the stairs. He had went to my bro's bed and laid on there after taking a leak in my room. I tried to pick him up to take him downstairs, he started growling. I picked him up again and he bit me. He's a schnauzer and about 20 lbs, my hands now bleeding a bit. I didn't hit him or anything I just left him there 'cause my brother thought I'd hit the dog if I took him downstairs. But I would never hit my dog no matter what & my brother's a ****ing idiot/bad owner. I think that by doing this my brother's making the dog worse? 'Cause by leaving the dog there imo he's teaching it that biting me is OK and has no repercussions. This isn't the first time he's acted aggressive 'cause he bit at me once a few months ago

 

[Clegane]

You shouldn't have tried picking him up a second time after he growled. He was telling you to back off and he followed up on his warning. It sounds like he's resource guarding your brother's bed. Go read the resource guarding stickies in the training section and consider hiring a behaviorist if he continues/escalates his aggression towards you.

 

[kelly528]

I would do what you did. Just walk away and leave them alone. A dog that is ready to bite clearly needs their space.

Teaching a dog that biting 'isn't okay' is akin to teaching a human never to put their hands on someone, even in self defence. It isn't the fairest thing to expect of a creature that is 1/5 the size of everyone living around them. I mean, he gave you fair warning: he growled at you, and you ignored it and did what you were going to do anyways. Apparently, it wasn't an empty threat that he made.

Rather than tackling the symptom of the problem (the biting), its more effective to look at the cause and work on that. What made him so uncomfortable that he bit you? How can that be changed? Is it something that he can get more comfortable with through at-home training (i.e. being picked up) or is there perhaps an underlying medical or mental problem? These are the sort of things you need to be asking.

 

[lucklein]

If indeed you did take him away, and or "punished" him in some way for biting you, he wouldn't have understood what you were doing anyway. By the time he had warned you and then bit, he was not in an emotional state to learn anything you might have thought you were teaching him. I agree with @kelly528

 

[GiantBreedMom]

To add on, that being said, you need to figure out if your dog is doing it out of fear or dominance issues. A dog behavioralist can help you if the problem persists.

 

[Grabby]

@GiantBreedMom- The dominance and alpha theory has been thoroughly debunked. It makes no difference what breed we're talking about. If you're interested in reading more about it, look in the training and behavior sticky section.

 

[GiantBreedMom]

Really? So dogs aren't pack animals that have social order? News to me.

 

[Grabby]

Really? So dogs aren't pack animals that have social order? News to me.

yes, that's correct. It's news that should be spreading farther and farther. I hope you're willing to do some science based research on the subject. I too used to buy into the pack leader/dominance theory. Nothing so hard to let go of as firmly held beliefs. I'd be happy to provide some reading if you're interested.

 

[revolutionrocknroll]

Well I'd say they do have a social order within their own groups of familiar dogs, but it's very fluid and not rigid with aggressive "alpha" animals at the top. And humans aren't part of it. They KNOW humans aren't dogs. Our relationship with dogs tends to be more like parents or teachers- they have the cognitive abilities of a toddler and need our help to learn how to behave in a human oriented world.

 

[daisylynn]

Really? So dogs aren't pack animals that have social order? News to me.

We have several stickies about this. But lets roll (hypothetically) with the idea that dogs do have a dominant/submissive social order. The issue with us trying to mimic it is that they know we aren't dogs. As hard as we possibly try, we still as humans can not mimic the exact body language. We have no tails. We don't have the right scent glands. We do NOT smell like a dog does. So there for, when we try to mimic the "dominance" theory (assuming it exists) we do not come off as dominant, we come off as unpredictable and frightening.

What to do after a dog bite:

*Leave the dog alone. Let him deescalate and calm down. He's probably upset and will probably bite again if you try to touch him right after.

*If the dog broke the skin, wash it out immediately. You can get nasty infections from animal bites. If it doesn't stop bleeding, go to the ER.

Your dog growled and you picked it up anyway. That's why he bit you. It sounds like he was guarding your brother's bed. If he gets up there again, I would suggest luring him off instead. Pick a favorite toy, snack or person to get him to move on his own. Then maybe close the door so that he doesn't have the option to guard the bed.

Best of luck.