re: Dog Help Advice Needed- Growling and Baring Teeth

Chances are that your dog is in pain and dealing with some sort of physical ailment that you can't see. That's what happened with my lab back years ago. He started growling, showing his teeth, and eventually snapping. Turns out he had developed arthritis in his spine and he had an enlarged prostate. We got him on meds and he was back to his normal, sweet self.

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Bruh. I'd be concerned too if I was you bringing a newborn home.

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Well as I said, he has never snapped at myself or my wife. The wife has given him the ole snout popping a couple times before, but I never felt the need. I just look at him and give him a stern "Git!" and he listens right away.

I am bringing him to the vet this morning to get his bloodwork done and have him checked out. The last thing I want to do is be correcting a sick dog. But if he comes back healthy and pulls this crap again, it will be on worse than Donkey Kong. He seemed normal and submitting this morning so it could have been a one off.

First thing comes to mind is possible injury or sickness. Bring to vet.

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I grabbed this 70lb dog by the back of the neck and threw it outside. Basically just told the MFer to get the hell out, like it could understand English.

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Nothing wrong with this at all, just don't punish out of anger next time. Punish just to correct the behavior. The Monks of New Skete books talk about picking dogs up with two-hands behind their jaw line by grabbing loose skin on each side of the neck, and then lifting them off the front feet while making a calm but stern behavior correction (edit: this puts the dog in a vulnerable, beta position). I've done this with pups and adult dogs, labs, chesapeakes, german shepherds, and a staffordshire terrier. One of my shepherds and one of my chesapeakes had this behavior and I had to correct it a handful of times at most.

If interested:

New Skete Monks - I have all three books

I think this is one of those counter intuitive scenarios. Bring a treat with you when you want the dog to get up and move, once he moves reward him with the treat. Rinse and repeat.

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Tonight I needed him to get up to change his bed cover. He started growling at me. Then started baring his teeth. All Cujo like.

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First, prayers to you and your wife. I once adopted a dog that was too aggressive to stay in our family.
Second, that is not the same as your situation (though it is scary). Your dog is being territorial over his bed and possibly is giving a preemptive aggressive reaction to ward off your own aggression. You really need to immediately stop any dick-waving contests with the dog.
I think you and the dog need a reset. Start exercising the dog like crazy. Try to figure out if the dog is actually fearful. If so, greeting aggression with calm and reassurance will go a long way toward correcting the problem. Also, get the dog a physical. First, observe very closely which movements upset the dog. This way, your vet can evaluate if pain is actually an issue. Read up on dog behavior. It’s likely your dog is also doing things to exhibit possessiveness toward your wife. Make sure you two are united, so the dog doesn’t see you as an aggressor. Lastly, know this, a lot of good dogs get startled when they wake up. Don’t look at it as aggression. It’s an evolutionary self-protective behavior. If none of this works, fine an experienced dog owner who can handle the aggression you describe to them. Then hand the dog over free of charge for the good of the dog and your family.

My lab does this in the evening when she is tired and doesn’t want to get up off the couch to go outside to pee before we go to bed. She did it to me last night. I stand over her and pin her down and she stops. I’m not scared of her, she would never hurt a fly. She’s just tired and cranky in that moment. Once I let her know I’m in charge she backs down and goes out to pee.