biting 10 year old poodle

Question
We have this 10 year old miniature poodle.  I made the mistake of letting him sleep with my husband and myself from day one. This poodle never gave us a problem.  Now he will growl, try to bite and will bite if we let him when he is in bed with us.  He is fine till my husband comes to bed.  We are not young people, we are in our late 70's. The poodle will sleep well till he hears my husband come in.  Then he growls, jumps and tries to bite both of us.  I had to put a mussel on him so he would not get to us before I get him off the bed.  I end up sleeping on the couch so that we can get some sleep.  We took him to the Vet and he is ok health wise.  I have tried putting him into a room and he barked all night.  We bought a bigger crate and he barked and tore at the door.  He only weighs 7.8 pounds but he sure can put the hurting on us.  I don't have the heart to put him to "sleep".  He has been part of us for all these years. He is find with my husband during the day. It seems when the sun goes down the anger comes out.  I am so worried and concerned and need help so badly.  Any help would be appreciated!  Thank you.

Answer
Hello Dee,
It sounds to me like your dog is in the mindset that he is the boss and that you are his loyal subject.  He is being possessive of you and getting on to your husband for invading his space.  

You are going to have to be the one who corrects him for doing this and put him in his place.  Until he understands that you are the boss and the bed is yours not his, he shouldn't be allowed to get on the bed.  When he jumps up, you should make him get off the bed using the leash if need be and placing him on the floor, telling him "OFF!".  If you still want him in bed with you, you need to give him a command that lets him know that he CAN come up (such as "UP" or "BED")  
When you do go to bed and the dog is in the bed with you, and you know your husband is coming to bed, put the muzzle on him and you can also put his leash on him.  When your husband gets into bed and he growls, tell him NO! in a firm voice and lay him down on his side.  Hold his head down and make him lay there until you feel him relax.  He will have the muzzle on, so he can't bite you.  You HAVE to make him understand that biting you won't affect you.  You can also use thick gloves so he can't bite through.  Once he realizes that you are his boss and that he isn't going to be allowed to growl at your husband, he will stop growling and start respecting you and your husband.  

A couple things you can do to further help him learn that he can't always come up on the bed is to teach him to sleep on a dog bed in a corner of the room.  
You start by laying a towel (or mat, rug or dog bed) on the floor and teaching him to go and lay it.  You do this by first telling him "Go To Your Mat", and having him lay down on the towel.  Show him a treat and have him lay down on the towel, then give him the treat.  Once he will lay down on the towel for the treat, you can move a step or two from the towel and see if he will take the couple steps then lay on the towel.  When he will do that, then you can start moving farther and farther away, and also building up the time that he stays on the towel.  You eventually want him to go on his own to the towel without you going with him, laying down and staying there.  

You can also do the Dog Exam with him, which will help estabolish that you are his boss  (because your head is over his), that he needs to trust that you won't let anything hurt him and that you are able to touch him all over his body anytime you want. (because you want him to learn that if you touch a part of his body, like his feet, that those are your feet until you give them back to him).  Plus it is something that he should come to like once he expirences it a time or two.  
You start by getting him in your lap on his back with his head towards your stomach.  First get him to relax (his feet will stop being straight in the air and will start to bend), by rubbing his ears or belly.  When he has relaxed some, praise him and let him up.  For the next few times just do a general check over his hair and skin while you are petting him.  Once he is comfortable with that, you can start the exam part.  Start with his head and check in his ears, eyes and mouth.  Look at his teeth and check the top of his head.  Next move to his feet.  Check in between the toes and at the toenails.  Tap on the nails and gently spread the toes.  This also helps with grooming and nail clipping.  
You can finally move to the back end, looking at the pelvic area and the back legs.  
If you think you might need the muzzle for this, use it until you feel that he is ok.

EVEN IF YOU ARE NERVOUS ABOUT BEING BITTEN, YOU CAN'T SHOW IT OR YOUR DOG WILL KNOW IT.  HE HAS TO THINK THAT YOU AREN'T SCARED OF HIM OR HE CAN HOLD THAT OVER YOU AND GET HIS WAY!!  If you don't think you can do this on your own, you will need to consult a professional that can come to your home and work with you one-on-one.  
Once you determine to your dog that YOU are his boss, your husband will need to do the same things, so that your dog knows that he too is the boss over him.

This won't be something that happens overnight and will take diligence on all three of your parts, but if you want peace returned to your home you need to stick with it or get someone who can help you with this.  Take your time with him and be sure to praise him when he does something you approve of.  With work, he will be the old dog that he always was.  

I hope this helps you some and if you need further assistance or have other questions/comments/concerns, please feel free to write me again.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim