Aggressive Maltese Male

Question
We have a maltese male and he is just about 16 months old. In the past 6 months he has been getting very aggressive. When we try to take him out in the morning, he growls and bites when we pick him up out of bed to go outside. He will quit a few seconds laster as we walk down the hall to go out...but then when we bring him back inside, he starts doing the same thing = the growling and nipping as if he is defending his turf or whatever. Anytime when we touch or hug other members of the family, he will go berserk and yelp and growl = as if he is being excluded ? Any ideas on this and how we can get him to not be so aggressive ?

Thanks.

Answer
Hey. happy new year!
yeah  it sounds like he is becoming a little possesive.
My maltese does the same when we show affection to other people in the house or if we argue he gets really frustrated and barks.!
an option could be neutering as he may be frustrated and be causing lots of pent up anger.
Many people comment that their dog is much calmer and more affectionate after neutering.
Although i did not want to go to this option at the moment so the other option is to control the behaviour before it becomes full on aggression. each time he does negative behaviour make it have a negative consequence ie place him in his basket say no and make him stay until he stops the behaviour and let him out after five minuites or so.