Sudden aggression in miniature schnauzer

[Rouxmandi]

Hi there,

I got a miniature schnauzer from a Kusa registered breeder, and met the mother and father of the schnauzer too.
Max is now 5.5 months old and when I took him for his 4th grooming session at the same groomer today he acted extremely aggressively towards the groomer.
It was so bad that I had to hold Max and reassure him he was being a good pup while the groomer tried to shave him.

He has always shown aggression toward other dogs when we take him for walks and even to strangers, but I never thought anything of it and hoped he would just get over it. But after today he scared me for he aggressively tried to bite the groomer several times when he brought the clippers near his face.

The groomer was however able to do the trimming with scissors and the rest of his body with the clippers, but as soon as you get near his face he would charge him.

He is still however extremely kind and loving towards my family members, but follows me around EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME!

I was holding and cuddling him tonight, kissing his face and ears, hugging him, and loving him, but as I tried to put him down he started growling, which he had never done before, and by the third attempt I gathered my guts and just put him down softly and now he is sleeping by my feet!

Should I be concerned about his behavior or will it subside later on after he has overcome this bad grooming experience today?

FYI, I will be grooming him myself going forward from now on. and he will be neutered on the 1st of Feb

[Dawnspell]

I would say his bad grooming experience isn't from today its from the previous grooms. Hes remembered previous grooms and saying I dont want that to happen again.
I would also say that his behaviour is fear based. He's not going to get over it with time as you've already seen the grooming behaviour has got worse. The same will start to trickle through to everything like the not wanting to be put on the floor. Find a good behaviourist to help you that doesnt use aversive methods but would use positive reinforcement and co-operative care.

Grooming yourself is a good idea but take it really really slow. 6 months is very young to be neutering. The testosterone gives them confidence, which he is lacking, so neutering would remove the hormone. Heres a link on information about neutering for you to read.
https://www.beha.vet/free-neutering-ebook