Maltese bitting

Question
My dog gets real excited to see me, my mom, my sister, and my dad, whenever we come in from work, school, basketball games..etc...When he is laying on someone or the couch, or the floor, he will let anyone pick him up without a problem except for my dad. He bites him so hard that he brakes skin, and he just goes crazy with barking and bitting. He only does this for my dad, later than 5 P.M....why does he do this and how can we stop it????...we yell at him and walk away but thats not working

Answer
Hi Matt,

This is a hard question to answer without more information.  How long have you had your dog?  Did you get him when he was a puppy or get him at an older age.    

It sounds like for some reason, he is afraid of your Dad.  Perhaps he reminds him of someone else, or perhaps he is afraid of his deep voice?   

The dog needs to learn to respect your Dad and except him as a member of the family.    I would suggest having your Dad do all of the feeding and walking.  (Sorry, Dad!!)

If the dog needs to count on your Dad for the necessities, he will learn to respect him.

Also when your Dad goes to pick up the dog, I would suggest that he kneel down a little bit away from the dog and call him.   With your dad leaning over top of the dog to get him, the dog is taking it as an aggressive move - especially if for some reason he is already afraid of him.

When you yell at the dog, you are most likely making the problem worse.   A firm no would be better.