Need help fast - Aggressive Dog

[gaited horse]

I don't like to talk about this but this might help me get over it. two years ago I had a border collie heeler mix (I don't have anything angery towareds any of the breeds) who was a very dominant puppy I worked with her for months on her biting I walked her almost every day (as she was a very nippy puppy) she was starting to get better so I stopped walking her as mush as she needed and started to give her more love then rules. Then at about six months She was a 100% trained but i did'nt walk her as much as she needed and she started to be more dominant with kody (my dog that got put to sleep one month before the final straw but we will get to that part later) and she started to get more dog aggressive so I only walked a cuple times a week when she should have being walked a mile 2x a day. Well one day right befor halloween my older brother got bite by her he was in costume but you could still she his face and all the bite was not that bad just a little cut so I did a alpha roll over and told her no. about six months later same older brother was running up the stairs and she bite him again just like the last time so i gave her a swat on the butt and alpha roll over again and she was fine for a year still dog aggressive not getting walks every day but every other day with a back for ten minutes. And then the bite older brother was runing up the stairs and bite him hard and drew blood he had to goto the doctor. So the next moring my mom got me up and told me we need to talk so we went driving got breackfeast at B.K and then told me we could not keep her any more so we were going to take her to the humane socity[sp] but they would not take her because the biting so we took her to you vet and had her put down the next day. She was helping me to get over the loss of Kody who was pts because he was misarble from the pain older dogs get. and exatly the same day the next month we had to bring her in to be put to sleep.
sorry if this got long but please no one critisize me for any thing I did wrong with her. to op my advice is that for the sake of others you put Hunny to sleep.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

To be honest I would LOVE to have a dog like that...we live in the country and I'm always scared someone is going to walk in or break in. Having a dog like that would sure stop a break in! It's not a good thing that the dog is biting but at the same time you have a great watch dog! I don't think anyone will be messing with your home! I think the only thing you can do is seek out a professional dog trainer and work with the dog that way if you want him to stop that behavior.

ETA I think she is trying to protect you guys. I seen that a lot at the vets office (I worked there) when a dog come from an abusive home prior to it's current owner. They get very protective of them for some reason.

 

[snowydiamonds]

In this throw away, everything is replaced easily society, please do not put your dog to sleep!

There are things you can do to minimize her aggression and train her, you might even have her blood drawn and tested for signs of a thyroid problem because aggression is one of the over 30 symptoms of a thyroid problem in dogs.

Read thru: itsfortheanimals.com about thyroid symptoms and how to take and send blood for testing to the experts at Hemopet, do not trust your or just any veterinarian office and their laboratory to give satisfactory results on a thyroid test, either!

Use an airline crate and begin crating her when you feel she needs to feel safe and secure while others are also safe and secure. Do keep her on a leash more often, I retrain or trained rescue dogs for the past ten years by clipping on a leash to their collar and the leash to my waist or jeans belt loop. Keep eye contact, give encouragement by words and pets, directing her how to feel relaxed and to "sit" and be obedient, gently but firmly, daily.

She's a part of your family and we do not just get rid of family, we try to work things out and she just needs some working with. I live with two hypothyroid weimaraners and itsfortheanimals and Hemopet, along with twice daily soloxine for their thryoid, crating when needed has ensured our happy lives to continue with each other.

Do not give up easily or take the easy way out, she has decide you are worth putting her life on the line so do the same for her and make the effort to get her where you want her, you are in charge...right now she feels she must be in charge when you need to step in and let her know you are always in charge.

 

[cjeanean]

our dog does the same thing. He's fine when people are actually in the house, but when they come to the door it's a different story. My cousin came over and opened the door after knocking, and he went after her. He chased her down the steps and she fell on her back, he sniffed her, then walked away. It's just the concept of someone being behind that door that throws him off and puts him 100% on guard. We have to restrain him every time, my son knows that he can't open the door if Tuna is out, and I have a chain on the door that's narrow enough so that even if the door was opened Tuna would not be able to stick his head out or get out. I love the dog too much to put him down, so instead I have to accomodate him. You must be careful, and don't let your guard down. Make sure everyone knows not to open the doors, and keep your doors locked. When I come in I automatically lock the door....you might benefit to do the same. The only time the door isn't locked is if one of the family members is outside. Good luck, keep us posted!!

 

[Bleenstar]

Ok heres a way to train her to keep her that worked many times before for me. First you need to get her a muzzle and a leash. Put the muzzle and the leash on her, make sure the collar located high on the neck is right behind the ears. now you need a few friends that she doesnt know well to volunteer. The point of this training is for hunny to face her own aggression and insecurities. She finally found someone that loves her and shes trying very hard to protect them.

Ask your friends to replay the situations where hunny will act aggressive...Before hunny gets a chance to act out..yell NO and yank the leash ( yank and release action...do not yank and hold the lease tight) the yanking action will trigger her brain to stop. Also while someone is at the door, and when she jumps around like that you would want to do the same..yank the leash and dont open the door until hunny has calmed down and act submissive ( as in looking elsewhere, laying down or just have that...care free look) and THEN you reach for the door nob...if you see her ears perk up...or even slightly pay attention to what might be behind the door, yank her collar again and say NO ( you might want two people for this activity one holding the leash and the other opening the door) for the time being you may want to keep the leash on her for easy training. Have your friend walk through the door and make sure they do not act fearful of hunny but have that dominate posture. They dont even need to look at hunny, tell them to act as if shes not there. Do not stare at her the whole time, you want to be above her, in control of her. Then you want your friends to take the leash, if she acts aggressive to them, teach your friends to yank her leash and say no. make sure her muzzle is on, a good muzzle will prevent any injury that is why you need it since you may not know how to control her bites. This will make her realize that she has no place to act this way. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[eggchel]

What about that new doggy "prozac" that is being advertised? Im sorry, I dont remember what the name of it is, just that it is made to calm dogs down. Of course I have no idea if it would work for aggression, but you could ask your vet.


Good luck,

Chel

 

[kodiakchicken]

Again, thank you all so much. I have much more hope for the situation now.

Snowydiamonds, I will look up those links. I completely hear you about the "throw away society" issues and I definitely don't think of my pets in that sense. I'm just so afraid of having someone sue us or having her seriously injure someone. We are going to put signs up outside our doors telling people not to open the door and to be patient in waiting for us to answer the door while we restrain our dog. I think that will help with liability issues. When we can afford it (probably not this winter) we'll get a fence up around the yard. Even if I have to run a single strand electric tape it would work, as she's learned the hard way about electric fence from touching the one near the chicken coop.

Bleenstar, thanks and I will be pm'ing you back soon.

I like the idea of training her with a muzzle and a leash. We thought about a shock collar, but with her abusive background we were afraid that could backfire and lead to other behaviour problems.

I don't think dominance is an issue, since she is very submissive at almost all times. I think the problem is that she just goes into that "protect my family" mode and doesn't stop to think about her actions. It doesn't help that our two Boston Terriers go nuts every time the doorbell rings too, only they just want to get out and see who's there to pet them! Unfortunately, their responses get in the way of training Hunny, so it's going to have to be a group effort. (If I can actually train the Bostons to stop jumping at the door I can probably make a million selling the technique to all other Boston owners!)

I think we're safe for now, as the neighbor apologized profusely for opening the door, saying she should have known better, which is true. We are not that close to them and don't have an open door relationship. She just saw us in the kitchen and tried to walk in. She also refused to let me take her to the ER because she didn't want them to ask her about the dog. Fortunately, she's a pharmacist and had a Dr. friend who could give her the stitches. Ironically she was coming over to ask us to watch her dog over the weekend, and she still wants us to do it.

Hangin Wit My Peeps - It does add a sense of security that we have her to protect us. I know nobody could get past her to the kids if they broke in. Luckily we live in an area where it's not such an issue, but still, it does happen.

Thank you all again for the support. We shed a lot of tears tonight thinking about the worst case scenario. Frankly, my pets mean so much to me that I would rather put myself down than one of them. They are second only to my human family. It will kill off a piece of me to have to have Hunny put down in the prime of her life. She truly is a sweetheart and loves kids and people. There's never been a single sign of aggression in her toward people once they are in the home.

Thanks again.

Erin

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

Good Morning....We have a Golden Retriever....he's almost two now.....he has been very aggressive since he was ABOUT 6 months old.....towards people ....you could only pet him OR TAKE A TOY on his terms ..he comes from a great breeder...has been to puppy classes ,socialized with other dogs,passed grade one dog training.....but he has also been through two behaviourlists....One behavourist had me hanging him from a choke chain and the other told me to ignore him HM? wasnt working) and then last resort was bringing him back to the breeder...who were very concerned and working with us.....Our breeder got me hooked on Cesar Milan...the Dog Whisperer.....She put our dog into her pack of dogs for a month and he slept in her house with other dogs....we came home with a black lab female and also our dog....the lab is dominant (not aggressive)with other dogs....and very calm submissive.....I have fell in love with Cesar Milan...Our Retriever needs to have alot of excercise and I had to learn to have him walk next to me or slightly behind me....I (we) are the boss...he cannot sleep on the sofa/beds...unless asked by us....we go out the door first then the black lab and then him....Instead of yelling and hanging him from a choke chain I learned to snap his collar/leash side ways to bring his attention else where .....he is ALOT better now......I am always cautious with other people around him ...he's a happy looking beautiful retriever but ..thank God we live in the country ....just mt 2 cents....check out Cesar !!

 

[vicki2x2]

I agree with Bleenstar. You should have friends come over and knock and repeat the situation periodically until she understands what is expected of her and what is not allowed. Once she is calmly sitting and the people are in the house, have them reward her with a treat, but only is she is sitting calmly and quietly. It will take a while to get to that point, but she can do it.

Oh and trust me, if someone ever tries to break in or threaten you, she will know the difference and will still be protective.

We had a dog that was awesome with his family but not with strangers and it started very young like that. He was never abused, as he was born here. He was very socialized, we have kids and he was a show dog, so he attended classes weekly. I knew I was in trouble when at 6 months and 1 day he was in his first show. The judge came up to him and as he walked up, I could feel a low growl. The judge never heard it, but I felt it and quietly corrected him. He learned it was not allowed and behaved after that, at least when we were around. Then when he was 10 months old, my daughter had a friend spend the night. They played all night and the next day. The were playing in the back yard and came running up to the house. We have a back porch with a gate so the dogs can lay out there and not get off the porch. My kids liked to climb over the porch railing instead of going around to the gate. My daughter climbed over and then her friend. Cruise jumped up and bit her in the face. I was horrified. I know he was "protecting" his home but this was a child and she had been in our home for the past 18 hours! Fortunately he just scraped her cheek and didn't actually open the skin, but I know how these things progress. If it had been an adult, I might have tried to work more with him, but he bit a child and to me that was unforgivable. She was not a threat to him and he knew her. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but we had him put down. I held him at the vet's and apologized to him for failing him. I brought him into this world and felt responsible for him. I have never had another dog even close to that level of aggression. Sometimes I think he was just wired wrong. None of his litter mates were at all aggressive and this breed is general known for their love of children.

Anyway, that is my story. I do think there is a good chance your dog can be taught what you want and expect and because she loves and trusts you, she will obey. GOOD LUCK!!

 

[Appytaz]

Good luck with your dog! I have a boxer/husky who is aggressive towards strangers. She does not like anyone in her yard or coming up to the door. She knows if it is someone we "know" by how we talk to them, I truly feel she would bite an intruder or stranger. We know to be careful with the doors if a stranger some up. I actually get alot of security from her - it is just my mother and I at the house most of the time. We live "off the beaten path" so there is not alot of reason for strangers to come to the door. If they do, she quickly lets them know she is there and they should step back. I feel she has saved us from several potentially harmful situations. I have a younger brother who is a drug addict and before we moved to the new house we had several situations where drug dealers were showing up at the house looking for him. It is amazing how fast a black man will get off your door step when a dog stands up on the screen door - looks him and the eyes and lets out that deep growl!