My lab Alfie is 1.5 years old and neutered. He has been out of the habit of biting and jumping for quite a while now, but today for some reason, I sat on the floor, and was petting him, when he jumped on me and bit my hair and arms. There was no growling, but his bites were quite strong. I am not sure what caused this. Exactly 5 minutes later, he got the zoomies and attacked my helper, biting her arms strongly, and growling at her. I am at a loss, and not sure what to do. He has calmed down now, but both of those events were quite distressing. Any suggestions? - Reva
Hi @Reva I suspect the first bout of agression was your dog playing with you, albeit poorly. What did you do after he was fighting your hair? With respect to the helper, I suspect the helper tried to stop him. But one should not expect to get through to him during the roomies--he was too aroused to listen. Just re-direct him outside where he can run it off.
@Reva this doesn't sound like 'aggression', just extreme and over-excited play. Sometimes dogs get very hyper and crazy and it's a very happy state although whoever's on the receiving end of it might not appreciate it! Growling and play biting are all part of the repertoire of play behaviours in dogs.... A dog doing zoomies and a dog being aggressive (truly aggressive), are at opposite ends of the behavioural spectrum and it would be pretty unlikely to see these behaviours next to each other. It is much more likely your dog was just over excited and a bit bonkers for a few seconds...
