Dog suddenly snappy and aggressive

[yummybagel]

I have a 1 year and 2 months old male beagle.
It started tuesday morning. He increasingly became snappy all of sudden.
Tuesday morning, my sister was taking him out on a morning walk and I guess he smelled a cat or something because he started pulling on the harness to the point it almost slipped out. When my sister bent down to fix it, he did the aggressive growl and bit her hand. I was on my way to work, and after seeing what he's done, I immediately put him back in the house. According to my sister, he started going crazy after that. He started biting the cushions in the living room, and started barking at her and our dad whenever they tried to come close. Today, I was taking him on a walk with my sister, and I guess he smelled something that he wanted to eat in the grass, because he started pulling again. He has a history of eating lots of dead animals, poo, and other gross and dangerous things so I tried to pull him away. When my sister went near him to see what he's been sniffing, he again did the aggressive growl and tried to bite her. Then again, few hours ago, a neighbor rang the door bell, and normally we don't let him near the door when we have to open it because he darts out and doesn't come back in. So my sister (again) tried to block him and he bit her again. He is snappy and aggressive to everyone in the house today. He's never been like this. Only time that he is snappy is when he is trying to sleep after a long run and we bother him by petting him too much or when he gets too excited while playing. We do the squealing thing whenever he bites, and has been doing it since he was a puppy. I don't understand why he is so aggressive all of a sudden. Could it be a medical condition? On friday, I was off at work and my mom tried to put/force him in one of those carrier bags, and she says he completely freaked out. Could this be the reason? Lately I have been working more than usual so I myself have been frustrated with him more...So lately, I have to confess, that I have been raising my voice towards him when he got into trouble. I try to stay calm, but that is not easy especially when you have a beagle...I have only been able to train him for a short while because like I said before, I have been working late, and no one in the house but me trains him.

Any ideas on why he might be so snappy?
Is he just being an adolesent dog? Or is it because of the weather?
I feel terrible. It seems like I'm doing everything wrong as a dog owner, and things are so overwhelming.

Also, how should I handle this situation, when he is so snappy? (Getting a professional trainer is not an option for me and my family right now. Unfortunately for my family and my beagle, we really cannot afford trainers. Things are kind of tight..)
How should I tell him that biting is not ok without yelling at him? Is squealing and walking away enough even when he is deliberately biting like this?

[emmabeth]

Im guessing its hot yes?

When your sister went to sort out the harness he was excited and frustrated and he probably redirected his excitement and frustration onto her - how did she react to that?

I fyou have been more tired, more easily frustrated with him and he has had less exercise and attention given to him, then yes this could be why he is acting out and reacting badly.

You cannot tell him that biting is not ok - in his world, biting is ok if its necessary. Trying to teach him its not ok to bite is like me trying to teach you its not ok to object if someone threatens or molests you! Even if you could understand and accept it, if someone threatened you.... you would still object!

What you have to do is read him - dont confront him, find a way around the issue. If hes acting fearful and defensive when people come to the door, ask friends if they call you first and you can wait outside for them. If the door goes, try inviting him to follow you to another room. If he is really bad, leave his harness on and attach a trailing line so you can get that from a distance and you can lead him otu of the room.

For every situation there is a way round it without confronting him. Ifyou do have situations where there isnt a awy round it, reorganise stuff so he isnt ever in that situation.

Once you have a way of managing things so he doesnt get into these potentially confrontational,f earful situations where he must react (and he thinks he must, even though you know he doesnt!), then you can start to desensitize and counter condition him to the things he reacts to.

If it is too hot to walk him, then devise games and training that you can do around the house to tire out his brain and body. Check out the 'exercise the mind' thread in the health section, and also the clicker trainign thread in the articles section.

If you feel frustrated and tired out,a nd we all get that way sometimes - go away from him, do something else for a while.