Hi Guys,

I'm sure this has been posted numerous times, but I really need some help
here. My dog growls whenever you give him a bone and go near him... I
realize this is their instinct, but I've been around dogs that don't
demonstrate this behaviour. It's to the point where he will growl at you if
you bring him inside and his bone is still outside, and it's really hard to
trust an animal that can turn on you that quickly.

Is there anything that my family and I can do to stop this behaviour? A
colleague of mine told me to slap the dog and take it away so that it knows
I'm the alpha-male, but wouldn't that just lead to more aggression?

ANY suggestions are welcome and will be appreciated.... I have a 9 month old
lab/collie cross, normally very docile, but starting to get much more
aggressive.

Thanks in advance.