[NICKEEZ]

Hello, This is my first time on this site and I hoping to get some advise. We have a two year old male Lhasa Apso named Mickey. We bought Mickey from a breeder when he was 3 months and he was fixed when he was 10 months old. He has always been a well behaved dog with an excellent temperament especially around children. He is completely house trained and has never had any health problems at all. This past weekend however, my 2 year old nephew was visiting. My nephew is afraid of all dogs and was very timid around Mickey. After spending the entire day avoiding the dog, my nephew was starting to warm up to Mickey and decided he wanted to pet Mickey. We were sitting on the couch, with Mickey on my lap. My nephew was gently petting Mickey from the side. All of a sudden, Mickey growled and bit my nephew on the check. I grabbed Mickey and tossed him in the backyard, after yelling NO quite loudly. My nephew was terrified and luckily, was left with a tiny scratch on his face. I felt so bad for what Mickey did. He has never shown any signs of aggression before and my husband and I are quite concern he might do it again. We don't have any children of our own but will be starting a family in the near future. I don't want this be a repeat occurence, especially with a new born baby. My husband and I are both very disappointed with Mickey's behavior. Any advise as to what we should do would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Nicole