My dog recently nipped two of my family members. Both times they we're play fighting however we often play fight and he's never shown aggression to it before. Both times I wasn't downstairs with them. I was wondering if the cause could be caused by two factors. First my sister just moved in with me and brought her two dogs. One is a male the other female but they are both neutered. The other is that my female dog went into heat around the same time. Neither of my dogs are neutered. I was wondering if you think either of those may be the issue.

I have an Eight year old GSD. During the week I am away at work and he is with my wife and my mom (88 years old with moderate dementia). Max has been with my mom since he was 1 year old. Within the last couple weeks, my wife has woken up in the morning to Max barking at my mom. My wife hears my mom telling Max to come eat with a raised (not yelling) voiced. Yesterday, my mom told my wife that Max snapped at her. My wife has found my mom holding his dish with food while trying to get him in the kitchen to eat when he doesn’t want to eat. My mom does not remember doing this when I speak to her. Could my mother with her dementia be inadvertently teasing our GSD? My mom has been feeding Max for the last 4 years after dad passed away and this is completely new. During the day, Max will come up to my mom to put his head in her lap to have his ear or head scratched or he will usually stay with my mom in her room after the caregiver has left for the day until my wife comes home. Any suggestions or actions we need to take immediately would be appreciated. Thank you

My dog is 8 years old. I got her from a foster home. She's mixed - half Yorkie Terrier, quarter pug, and quarter beagle (she's built like a pug without the flat face. Had a pug from age 6-21, he was my baby from day one, so I have some idea of how pugs can get). Anyway, she doesn't get along with other dogs except one (oh, I should mention I live in an apt). There's only 3 people she doesn't like and there's good reasons for it. She is otherwise considered a sweet dog who loves attention from humans. Tonight she was happy to see someone but then started growling for no apparent reason. She was happy then growling, in a second. She did this a couple of weeks ago but I thought it was probably because the person was sitting next to one of the people she doesn't like, (she's actually more scared of the person). But then it happened tonight. I was at the vet with her a week ago and said she does seem crabbier recently and the vet felt some stiffness in her back legs, so she prescribed medication. I don't think she was suddenly growing because she was in pain. When we got up from the bench to go on a walk she was giddy and jumping up and down, happy as can be. I'm Bipolar and Leia, that's her name, seems to have quickly picked up when I'm manic or depressed. When I'm manic she gets the same level of energy as me and, like me, can become unpredictable. (She's helped me a lot with my mental health). When I've been manic in the past she never growled at people so suddenly. She literally was so happy to see this person but for some reason started to growl with her tail between her legs. I'm really trying to figure out what happened that she would just switch like that. When the person left I was still sitting on the bench and noticed she was looking straight ahead at something but she might've been pouting because I scolded her. Any possible explanation? I don't think it has anything to do with her back legs because once we got up she was extremely happy and giddy, running and jumping.

Our new little baby Maltipoo is about 4.5 months old. He was being re-homed by someone and we're not sure of his exact history. He's always been a very mouthy / growly / biting and nipping puppy, but lately his aggression has escalated. We had a very rough incident at the vet, where he freaked out and wouldn't let anyone touch him. If anyone tried to pick him up he would loudly snarl and try to bite. Since that day, he will often get this way and go into "attack" mode snarling and trying to bite us if we pick him up or clean him gently with a puppy wipe. Basically anything he doesn't like, he now goes into this mode of "attack" and it's very scary. I know we need to seek professional behavioral training - but is there any other specific advise you can give? Thanks a lot!

I bought a very expensive American Akita a couple of years back from a reputable breeder. He was the runt of the litter and the last remaining; the breeder said no one wanted him and it’d been several months since his siblings found homes. The breeder named him Marley because his destructive behavior was like the dog from “Marley and Me”. I’ve had many dogs before and I’m good at training them so I arrogantly thought I could handle him. The training went well and all seemed well until a month ago. My neighbors recently took on two aggressive dogs, and Marley befriended them. My only guess is that their behavior has influenced Marley, although I know that’s selfish of me to say. Since that time he has began attempting to dig into the neighbors’ yard. He has also stopped listening to all commands. I just took him on a small road trip and it was the road trip from hell. He started snapping at me any time I reached for his collar to lead him into his kennel or into the hotel room because he refused to enter either, which is also unusual for him. He also managed to slip his collar and it took me hours driving around an unknown city to find him. When we returned home I hoped he was back to normal but he bit me last night. He has also developed explosive diarrhea, so instead of letting him out 5 times a day I’ve upped it to about 10 times a day. Last night, he decided he wasn’t going outside for his final nightly potty break. Even when I raised my voice, which usually causes his stubbornness to cease, he remained defiant. When I reached for his collar to lead him out, that’s when he bit me. I snatched my hand away in time to avoid a full bite, but one of his canines got me good and drew a fair amount of blood. I’m now in a position where I’ve read that I could be sued if I rehome an aggressive dog and he bites someone else. I just got my youngest son for the summer, and I now feel unsafe allowing Marley inside my house at all, and it’s hot outside. The mother of my children would kill me if I allowed a dog I knew was aggressive to attack our son. I’ve read that in these cases owners have the right to humanely put the dog down, but I can’t bring myself to do it. My hands seem to be tied. If he gets into the neighbors’ yard and bites them, I’ll be ruined. If I rehome him and he bites someone, I’ll be ruined. He’s also been destroying the interior of my home over the past month. It’s like I don’t even know him anymore. I don’t even know why I’m writing this as a course of action can’t be suggested without the person suggesting that course possibly becoming entangled in whatever Marley does next. It seems I’m all out of options. I’ve already spent an insane amount of money spoiling and caring for him and I don’t have money to dedicate to additional training and at this point I’m not even sure it’d do any good. I guess I’m hoping someone can tell me it’s okay to put a very large and suddenly aggressive dog down. He’s nearly 200 pounds, and an aggressive dog of that size is quite intimidating, even for me as a large man who is a combat veteran. It’s gotten to the point where when I’m dealing with him I make sure a knife is in my pocket in case he gets ahold of me. He’s been my only companion since I left the service; but as a veteran his behavior has now become detrimental to my own peace and healing. Even when he’s been inside the house over the past month, he just ominously stares at me non stopped like he can’t wait to get his paws on me. It’s a bit much for me. Marley and I are at an impasse, and I don’t know what to do. I just know it’s no longer feasible to allow him inside and I no longer feel any comfort being in his presence. I’m even nervous about feeding and watering him; I just open the back door and quickly slide his bowls out. Since he bit me he’s even been urinating on the back door, which he’s never done. He usually urinates as far away from the house as he can. It’s just all so strange and I’ve never seen this kind of behavior in any dog I’ve owned. What’s a person to do when you feel your dog may attack you for asking him to go outside?