# My dog bites me at night....



## BrianaJaylen (Nov 22, 2012)

I have an adorable 3 year old corgi- cocker spaniel mix. He's very loving and smart, he listens to a lot of thing I say. He never gets into fights at the dog park, he's never bitten my younger siblings, who are 7 and 8, and he loves everyone. 
We found him wandering the streeta when he was about 10 months old, since then we'be loved him as if we were there for his birth. But we have no idea what happened to him before those 10 months. He hates guns, my 7 year old brother pointed a toy gun and him and he just went balistic and started barking at the gun. That's not the problem, but for the last 2 months, every once in awhile, I'd go to rub his underbelly to say good night and he just attacks my hand.! It so weird, he'd never done that before and now randomly he'll just snap and bruise my hand. I end up yelling and saying NO, and raising my hand as if I were to hit him, to make him flinch. Ive never actually hit him though, so please help me understand why he lashes out when I rub his belly at night.!


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2012)

The first order of business with sudden behavioral changes is a thorough vet check. My thought is that there is some pain in the belly or something. Like us, dogs tend to get more painful and less patient in the evenings when theyre ready for bed.

Once a medical issue is ruled out, I would work on desensitizing your boy to handling. 
This is a great video primer of what Im talking about:
Handling Shyness- Clicker Dog Training - YouTube

Also look up collar grabs and work on desensitizing to those too.

HTH


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## BrianaJaylen (Nov 22, 2012)

Thank you for the reply 
Well the odd thing is, is that he LOVES it when I rub his belly throughout the day. He never wants me to stop, and he never even thinks to snap at me. The only thing I can think of is that he thinks I'm trying to steal his dog bed.?


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

I wouldn't raise your hand and make him flinch as it might make him worse. First get him checked by a vet.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2012)

BrianaJaylen said:


> Thank you for the reply
> Well the odd thing is, is that he LOVES it when I rub his belly throughout the day. He never wants me to stop, and he never even thinks to snap at me. The only thing I can think of is that he thinks I'm trying to steal his dog bed.?


It could be a resource guarding thing too. No way for me to know without seeing the dog in person though. Jean Donaldson has a great book about resource guarding and how to handle it called Mine.

Honestly though, I bet you guys would really benefit from a good manners type class and the kind of pointers you get in that sort of class. I see youre located in CA, lots of great dog-friendly trainers out there.


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## tanglewood3 (Nov 13, 2012)

Dogs can get in funny routines, bless them. 
As he likes it during the day, but not in the evning, maybe that's what it is. I'd desensitise it by having a titbit in one hand and rubbing with the other and feeding regularly, then have the titbits in the pot, but letting your hand hover over the pot etc till you can rub him for a couple of seconds, then get a titbit and so on.


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