[Willie88]

I have a two year old aussie, recently within the last 8 months he has been getting aggressive in the morning when my wife leaves for work. My wife will be getting ready in the bathroom, which is connected to our bedroom. Our aussie will be lying in bed with me, as soon as my wife comes back into our bedroom or leaves through the other door our dog jumps out of bed growling and runs after her. He will bite usually just hard enough to leave a red mark. He only does it when both of us are home. He has done the same thing to me when I am getting ready to leave for work and my wife is sitting on the couch. It seems to only be a problem when one of us is getting ready to leave, the rest of the day he is a perfect dog.
Originally we thought he was getting startled, but this morning he was awake just laying in bed watching the door waiting for her to come through. It occurs primarily in the morning when walking into the bedroom but has occasionally happened in the afternoon when I leave for work.
It is a quick rapid attack and ends as soon as you hollar at him. Afterwards he acts as though he doesn't realize what he did, almost embarrassed. Any ideas as to why he does this and how to stop this action. Like I said 99% of the time he is a perfect dog, not aggressive towards people or other animals.

 

[Lillith]

I don't know if I would call that aggression. It kind of sounds like, "Oh, hey, you're leaving, let me see if I can get you to play with me!" Dogs do growl in play, too. When he jumps on you and you holler, he is getting a reaction from you. That's what he wants. Sometimes any reaction, negative or positive, is rewarding to the dog. I would completely ignore him and continue on with what you are doing. Or, you can try giving him frozen stuffed Kong before you leave. That should distract him enough to keep him from jumping on you.

 

[+BlueMerle]

I had a lab shepard mix who would do this in the morning when we were gathering up to leave for school. It was always worse if I got up late and didn't spend any time with him before leaving. Try playing fetch for a bit before you guys take off in the morning, drain the energy and then like Lillith said develop a rewarding routine where he can look forward to you getting lost for the day.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

It sounds like herding behavior. A member of the "flock" is leaving and the Aussie will have none of it.

JMO.