Why is my dog acting like that? :(

[Rainbow Dash]

We've had my dog Charlie for four years. He can be a really really sweet dog. It's just sometimes he goes crazy for no reason and tries to bite people :| He doesn't do it in a playful way but in a nasty way. He has gone for me three times in the past. He has never actually hurt me because I had gotten out of the way quickly.

He even tried to bite my cousin once before (she's 5 years old :|) We were quite nervous my aunt would report him.

We now got a puppy called Miley. We've had her for about three months. He bit her yesterday :| She was bleeding. Idk why, he was licking her one minute and bit her the next. He also just bit my cat O_____O

They're both fine but both got small marks on them.

I always thought a male dog wouldn't really attack a female dog :| That's why we really got a female puppy.

[The Man And XX Master]

It doesn't sound like your dog is attacking because if you watch a dog fully attack someone/something, it's never just one little nip or bite. Sometimes when I take my dog to the dog park and they play-wrestle, one dog will get a bit pissed off and will have a go at the other one. That attacking dog will snarl and bite, usually it lasts not long at all as the owners (i.e. myself) intervene and break it up.

If your dog is NOT doing this to play (I think it may be trying to play or guard), what you can try is this: the next time you're next to your dog and it nips you hard, DON'T back down, keep your hand there. Your hand may hurt but do it anyways. If the dog tries again, DON'T back down. The point is, if your dog thinks he is dominant to you, he will expect you to back away but when you don't his ranking in the pack is challenged, and he will concede. Do this even when your dog does a hard nip to someone else.

If anything, it sounds like your dog is either very protective of someone, protective of the area it is within or wants to play/wrestle. Some dogs may also nip hard to try and herd people because it's what they're bred to do. The only other times a dog would have a nip at someone is if you command it to or if it is provoked. Your 5-year old cousin may not seem like a big threat to anyone but to a dog it's different. They have a pack mentality and the dominant dog may nip lower-ranked dogs but never the opposite unless the lower-ranked dogs are very pissed off, in which case it's a big ugly dog fight.

I'm not a professional dog handler but whenever your dog does this, watch carefully his body movements because that can usually give a reason as to why he is doing it. Some dogs may do a hard nip then move back a little and shake their head/neck to one side maybe pawing a bit with or without barking/howling, usually indicating they want to have you chase after them because it's a game. Pay attention to the details because that's where the answer is at.

Female and male dogs will play with one another and they will still nip, growl, bark, wrestle, chase, etc... one another. A large dog may play with a much smaller dog and vice-verca. The female dog usually is more submissive and may roll onto its back so as to indicate to the male that it doesn't want to wrestle. Male dogs do some humping to male and female dogs, generally the female will sit down but if the male persists, she may give him a hard nip or move away.

[MakeupIsArt]

This happened to a friend of mine's dog, as well. I got bitten, as well. I was the first of many. They took her to the vet, and she had worms in her brain. You may want to take your dog to get a checkup.