Dr. Cliff Redford

All right, so let's get to the important stuff here.

So this isn't true reactivity.

True reactivity is generally based out of fear and insecurity.

He is not fearful, nor is he insecure.

He is dominant over you.

And people don't like to hear that.

They don't like to think that their dog is sort of becoming the alpha, and that's not really a legit term.

But...

The reality is you started this off talking about how intelligent he is.

Very.

And he's intelligent enough to realize that he can train you and dictate.

So you had also said he likes to be cuddled.

He likes to jump up on the couch and get on my lap.

He likes to get me to rub his belly.

Well, in all those situations, he has told you what to do and you've followed.

And then as soon as you...

do something that he didn't tell you to do, he has the one sort of way of stopping you, and that's becoming violent and snapping at you.

So this is something that, you know, this is going to take some work because he also has the possessive issues.

I would say take all of his toys away.

Make sure he understands commands like sit.