Hi everyone am in shock today as Milo now a year old took some ham off the kitchen side and as i went to take it from him and he actually bit me HELLO he is a lab it wasn't a big bite but he drew blood What do i do ?
Hi Crissie. It sounds like this is out of character for milo. The temptation may have just been too much. We often hear about labs that "resource guard" their food which is why you ought to be careful approaching dogs with bones and raw food or prized items. Does Milo have any issues about being approached when eating?
I'm sure that was a big shock, and that it also hurt. Usually a dog will growl first as a polite warning. Did he growl? It's actually better if they growl as an early warning system, rather than going straight to a bite. But if he did go straight to a bite maybe it was because he too was taken by surprise at your attempt to get the very valuable (to him) ham. As far as he was concerned the ham was his and would've been like you or finding a million bucks in the street. I'm not excusing biting, just explaining how it makes sense to a dog... In future I'd swap any food item for another food item. Make it a trade. Be upbeat about it, even if your dog has just stolen the Christmas turkey. There is also an article on getting your dog to feel comfortable having people around when food it involved - it's got good training advice that it might be worthwhile working through with Milo. I hope your poor arm is ok.
