Agression in my pup

Question
Hi Marcus Doyle,
My husky pup dnate is 8 months old and ever since he was 4 weeks he hated being pulled out of small spaces or have things taken away from him. I got him at 8 weeks so he had the full time to socialize w/ his mom and siblings. As he has been growing we have gone through a lot to establish my alpha-ness. NOTHING is working. I always win and he still bites me/lounges at me sometimes when i have to take something from him or when i have to get him to move. For example, we have gotten better with toys he steals in the park. i am now able to take them from him without much of a fuss. Now it's the small space issue combined w/ a stolen object. he often gets under the bed where it's much harder for me to get him/the object and as i try he with in 1 second he has biten me numerous times and i'm bleeding and trying to hold him down and not "lose" or let him think he can do this. This happens sporadically but when it does it's very scary and painful emotionally and physically. I am not exageratting at all. He becomes another dog that wants to really hurt me. What really gets me confused is that he is totally obediant otherwise and docile. Wouldn't hurt a fly. I feel i'm losing my balance and don't klnow what to do. Everyone tells me something different and i don't know what to believe. For example i've been told "be aggressive back. Be more dominant" or "let him realize it on his own. He'll get over it" or "try to trick him out of the situation". I'm very confused and can't seem to follow my heart in this situation because to many contradictions run through my head. I guess i'm just wondering and hoping that maybe this time we'll get advice that will work for us. Thank you very sincerely for taking the time to read this.

Answer
Well, first, you have a dog that seems a lot like Mika - our first dog (who is 3 now).  The good news is that Mika is a well adjusted great dog.  Bad news is, it wasn't exactly easy to get there.  ;)  First, realize that taking something that the dog has won/found/earned/been given is something an "alpha" doesn't do.  Even an "alpha" actually will submit to an "omega" if the "omega" is the one who made the kill.  Weird social heirarchy, but fortunately, we don't have to always follow it, just know its there.

If your dog has something it shouldn't (for Mika it's usually a sock or underwear - go figure!), realize that you are asking for it, not demanding it.  Some dogs (Shadow, our second dog), are so submissive, it's alright.  I can reach halfway down his throat if I wanted to take something, and he would be fine.  Mika is different.  I have to trade up with her.  She has a sock, I get some cheese out of the fridge.  She leaves the sock, she gets the cheese, I get the sock.  It would be nice to just take it from her, but I can't do that - it's hers at that point.  Possession is 100% of the law in the canine world, and if your dog is taking it to small spaces, thats a protective den behavior - he's trying to protect it because he knows you are going to try to take it.

Now, of course, there's food aggression things you can do to make sure that's not a problem.  Taking the food bowl away, sticking your hand in it, etc.  If you've done those and that's not a problem, great.  If you haven't, or are seeing those problems, let me know.  Also, if the dog EVER, EVER, EVER bites without provocation or under the normal realm of obedience - there's much more that needs to be done.  However, if the dog is biting to protect itself or its "kill", you have to respect that and approach it a different way.  Only after about 3 years of trust and training have I been able to forcibly take kills from Mika - but it's difficult and much easier for the "trade-up".

Hope that helps, and if you have any questions, let me know.