A Bad day

Sunday was a Very Bad, but hopefully informative day...

I had Woozle out on a long line in the front yard yesterday afternoon, tied to the porch. I was watching the kids play and we were going to go on a short road trip later. I was standing next to him and he jumped up and bit me on the arm, apparently for no particular reason except frustration at being tied.  I don't think any cars/dogs were passing or anything like that. There was no way it was going to break the skin, but it definitely wasn't a playful mouthing. I immediately escorted him back to his crate. Once there, while I was trying to put him inside, he turned and put a small hole in one of my fingers (yes, it bled). I didn't react to that, but forced him in and he charged the door snarling at me.

I had been planning on taking him in the car, but in view of events, we went on the road trip without him.  I took him out 3 more times in the evening (after a banishment of several hours) for potty breaks and dinner (on a scent pad instead of his bowl). His reaction wasn't as extreme, but he did growl and lunge at the door the first two times. This has nothing to do with the bark collar; he hasn't worn the thing at all, in the crate or out, for the last 2-3 days. His barking hasn't been outrageously bad and I've totally forgotten about it. Maybe it never had anything to do with the collar at all.

All I can think of is A. hormones (he's still awfully young, but at 6 months, I'm willing to consider it). I am NOT a natural leader/alpha personality and often don't even notice a lot of probably really crappy behaviors. B. I've been giving him too much freedom around the house. I've been busy and haven't been able to exercise him enough this last week, so I've been giving him more time running loose in the house. He is mostly house trained and doesn't normally destroy stuff immediately, so I have time to take them away. Of course this leads to C. Not enough stimulation. Probably all 3 really... I guess it's NILIF from here on out...

Daisy is a slightly pushy and very forward dog, but with some structure, she has really relaxed over the course of this last year or so and now she's mostly just a joy to have around. I have zero experience with something like this.