Dog attacks me when I Ieave the house?

[MsWater]

This morning (And a few times before) I was about the leave the house for school, nobody else was home and went to pet him and he snapped at me. I lost my temper and yelled at him and told him to go outside, he did and I had already missed my bus, so I stayed a little longer and left him outside for about an hour before I was able to calm down enough to let him in and I let him in and left. He tired to be happy and playful when I let him in, but I didn't play along and he skulked away.. I really don't know what to do. It's not the first time and if it happens again I worry what will happen.. What do I do?

[JudyN]

It sounds like he's really stressed by you leaving the house, and yelling at him, shutting him outside for so long, and then ignoring him will only add to his distress and make him more likely to be upset when you leave him in future

Please give as much information as you can about your home, his background, and his behaviour, for example:

- who else lives with you, & the routines of everyone in the house
- how old the dog is, how old he was when you got him, what breed, what you know of his previous life, is he neutered and if so at what age
- what his daily routine is - walks (how often, how long, on- or off-lead), play, training, rest, how long he's left alone for each day (do you know what he does while on his own?)
- what is his behaviour like generally? Has he ever snapped, growled, shown fear, etc., in any other circumstances? Please give as full a picture as possible - the slightest little quirk might help.
- what is he fed?

[MsWater]

It sounds like he's really stressed by you leaving the house, and yelling at him, shutting him outside for so long, and then ignoring him will only add to his distress and make him more likely to be upset when you leave him in future

Please give as much information as you can about your home, his background, and his behaviour, for example:

- who else lives with you, & the routines of everyone in the house
- how old the dog is, how old he was when you got him, what breed, what you know of his previous life, is he neutered and if so at what age
- what his daily routine is - walks (how often, how long, on- or off-lead), play, training, rest, how long he's left alone for each day (do you know what he does while on his own?)
- what is his behaviour like generally? Has he ever snapped, growled, shown fear, etc., in any other circumstances? Please give as full a picture as possible - the slightest little quirk might help.
- what is he fed?

I know it didn't help any, but if I had left him in the house one of us would have lost our temper. It wasn't all to warm, and there was water and he just ate. So it wasn't to bad.

My mum and dad live with me, and sometimes my sisters over with her twins, my dad is a trucked, so he's home for a few days at a time, then my mum will be home most of the day but works occasionally.

He's about a year and 6 months. We got him when he was a pup. He isn't nurtured, it's expensive and my parents don't want to pay for it (No matter how much I push them to)

I'll feed him first thing in the morning (Anywhere from 6:30am on a school night and around 8 on non-school day) and then when I get home (Usually at around 3) and I'll take him for about 45 minutes (Lately, usually about 1 hour or more, but I've not had time with the end of the semester and everything) and then I'll feeD him again and we'll play and whatever, I'll do my thing, he'll do his thing then at around 8 or 9 I'll walk him again for the same amount of time. Then again we might play for a bit then or he'll go straight to sleep. He could be left alone from 7:30AM-3PM at least, if my mums working and my dad's not home. I don't know what he does really, he usually has a toy that he only gets when he's alone that rolls around and makes noise. He usually sleeps in my bed,but I've been weaning him off lately, and he usually sleeps on the floor now.

He's generally not to bad, a little excitable sometime, but easy to calm down. He has before only once where he kept running outside when I was trying to get out and talk to the pizza guy, so I had to pull him back in by his collar (I don't like doing it, but the pizza guy was scared of him) and then he kept running back out so I had to keep doing and then he snapped and stopped trying to get out. And once again when I was about to leave. He is a big dog and when he's excitable it he gets a little much, but no "Quirks" really.

[JudyN]

I know it didn't help any, but if I had left him in the house one of us would have lost our temper. It wasn't all to warm, and there was water and he just ate. So it wasn't to bad.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad But if he doesn't like to be parted from you, it could be quite stressful for him to be shut out. Possibly not - he may be quite happy on his own in the garden. My clingy hound would have been howling to come in after about 5 minutes

The thing to remember is that a dog isn't 'bad' when he behaves in this way - he's in a situation he's not at all happy with, and for some dogs, using a level of aggression to try to control the situation is just what makes sense. You wouldn't feel angry with a lion for biting someone, and although dogs are a far cry from lions, a dog who bites is really just as guilt-free. I hope that makes sense... That's not to say that you're never going to be angry with your dog, you'd have to be an absolute saint not to be peed off with him at times! But it does get easier.

He's about a year and 6 months. We got him when he was a pup. He isn't nurtured, it's expensive and my parents don't want to pay for it (No matter how much I push them to)

He's still a teenager, so he's going to be a bit 'full on' at times. Not neutering him is fine - the only real reason for neutering would be to prevent unwanted litters. You do need to do everything you can to prevent him finding and mating with a female dog on heat, but there are a number of people on this board who manage their unneutered males without any problem.

I'm going to work on the assumption that he has separation anxiety, and simply doesn't want you to leave him - does this seem to fit his behaviour? Is he better if your mum is there when you leave the house? What if just he and your mum are in the house and she goes out - is he OK then, or does he seem anxious? It would be worth recording him (ideally video, but audio could be helpful too) so you know if he's pacing around, whining, etc. while you're out.

I think there's a lot you can do to help with this. First, is there any way you could give him a walk before you leave for school? This would mean he's more likely to be settled and relaxed when you leave the house. (Note that ideally he wouldn't be walked within an hour of eating, which makes it more awkward.) Then, when you do leave him, make sure he has something to distract him, such as a frozen kong, a chew, a treat ball. Or if your mum tends to be in at that time, she could distract him with a bit of training.

There's more info about separation anxiety here: https://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=20143 Have a read-through, and do ask if anything's not clear or doesn't seem to fit your situation. But if he does seem to be OK once he's on his own, then probably all you need to do is manage the time when you leave.

[Dibbythedog]

This morning (And a few times before) I was about the leave the house for school, nobody else was home and went to pet him and he snapped at me.

If petting him before you leave the house is the trigger that makes him snap then perhaps you could just say goodbye to him instead of petting him.