IMO...you should of done something right then.
Bring the dog back in the environment and be ready to response.
There is no sense in having a dog that you don't trust around kids.
Be sure that there isn't any health issues. Just saying.
I hope it works out for you.

 

I do not agree with this one bit. What happens if he isnt quick enough and she goes for the face? I for one will not own a dog that shows aggression towards kids. However I do agree to check and see if there are any health issues that caused this since she has never showed it toward them in the first place, and sounds like she has been around them since they were babies.

 

Well she was punished maybe inappropriately, but she new she had screwed up and the issue was addressed. She had never shown food aggression ever before either. My kids enjoy helping take care of her and feed her often. My 6 year old considers her his dog and they spend the most time together then most of us on any given day. Im just at a lose and don't know what to do now.

 

She new she was in the wrong and went and hide.

What makes you make this statement ? What was the sequence of events from the snap to the get away ?

 

I heard the growl and came to see what was going on. Though someone might have been walking up to the house. Seen what was happened and yelled at her. She ran for my bedroom and hide behind my wife that was in our bathroom getting around. My 2 year old is a victem of a dog bite from a neighbors dog so I take this serious.

 

Who the hell said anything about a test? Why the hell would I subject my kids to such nonsense.
When I say control, I mean dog on lead and I am in that dog's face literally. If the dog so much as think and I will tell, then they will know big time what they did.

 

These things just don't pop up, guessing there have been slight idications that you have missed.. No help here we don't have kids but you need to put your foot down and rule the roost from now on, we have 2 intact males and 1 female that live, sleep and eat in the house together 24/7 and there is no fighting, growling, posturing, not allowed period, even when someone knocks on the door..

 

Todd that is possible, but the only aggresiveness I have seen would be toward the mentioned BF of a family memeber. Im not going to lie up until now I have enjoyed the Posturing, barking at the door because with my current job and being in the Nationa Guard im away a ton. I felt more secure with a door barker and my family being home alone unprotected by me.

 

So you yelled and she ran to hide ? If that is the case. IMO she was avoiding what was coming with/after the vocal correction. That does not mean she knew she was in the wrong.
Your thinking about it like a person and NOT like a dog if that is the case.

 

Strongly recommend hypothyroid test. Even borderline low thyroid can cause aggression and other temperament issues. Dr. Jean Dodds of Hemopet is the place to have your vet send a blood sample. They have a more comprehensive test than most regular vets.

 

Yes I yelled made my boy jump as well. Scared them both. Spure of the moment reaction, wasn't sure if it was going to continue or if thats all that was going to happen, but yelling seemed legit when entering the living room.

 

That would be the natural reaction, and mine ! Usually HEY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IMO you addressed the situation, maybe not instant timing but some times even a crudely timed correction will give them something to think on (little bit of human thought process there) Myself I would not have taken it further. GREAT CARE must be taken when using any form of Aggression ( or perceived aggression by the Dog) when addressing aggressive behavior on the dogs part. What they relate is aggression or the warning of (growling) leads to aggression on them - soon no warning on their part.

 

I have had labs for the last 27 years with her being the only true field bred one and have never seen anything like this and often preach that Labs are the best family dogs to own. Same with this one for the last 4 years.

 

Gerald,

In all honestly, you should of mention this in your initial thread you made. If what you say is true and I am not doubting that, then I believe you have a good understanding of dogs, and also having this dog for 4 years as part of your pack. Just saying.

 

BJGatley my old lab is 12 going on 13 a nuetrued male that is going deaf and blind and has a hard time getting going anymore. He was born in 2002 stayed with my parents when Iraq kicked off and has stayed with them since. After them taking care of him for a 18 months they grew pretty attached. That being said spends the night some lol, but he still never shows any kind of aggression and he is an old man. Placeing her in another home isn't an option right now. This has been a converstation at my house since this happened. Like I said she has basically been my 6 year old dog since he was 2. They do everything together.

 

I usually don't offer too much training advise, but, here goes. I think you have a potential serious situation developing . Have you considered that when you put the "dog away" after the dogs barks and shows aggressive tendencies you are make the dog aggressive. The dog feels her boldness and she might believe the behavior is what you want. In other words she "wins" , she has been encouraged to bark at the door, possibly praised for doing it or encouraged. The possessiveness comes with the behavior, ie; food, personal space, individuals. A 9 year old in the dogs head is a little adult, not a small child. I know plenty of horror stories of Labs biting for many reasons and severely injuring children, adults, (one field champion Lab at a field trial severely bit his owner handler, his handler went into shock) .

Having said all the above some of the most dangerous dogs are dogs that aren't taught to bite , vrs police service dogs ,military ,sentry and various security dogs that are taught to bite , hold appendages, etc. A untrained dog that is aggressive will bite the face, leash climb going for the face, multiple bite the body, causing severe trauma . Most "trained bite dogs" are trained with a prey drive by agitation and then rewarded by a bite..then further trained to bite and release on command. In a perverted sort of way your gal has been conditioned not by agitation , but, by encouragement of barking at doors or acting aggressive and then "put away". It won't get better unless something is done now. She is already 5 years old and obviously the behavior has existed for awhile.. I suggest rather then put the dog away, hopefully she has been obedience trained, put on a lead, and severely reprimanded for the behavior when it appears. She might have to be "set up" with someone knocking on the door and leash corrections used, with voice.
As a former private company security dog trainer , police/military sentry dog trainer and general problem solving with aggressive dogs is my opinion. My scars are numerous and mostly due to my carelessness and except for one incident with a young security dog, my bites were all committed by "untrained" dogs that were not taught to bite, including many retrievers. PM me if your interested in more. After reading my post I had assumed health issues had been ruled out as others pointed out, if not and before behavior is considered have a blood panel done.

 

Any personality change could be health related, it is best to rule that out.


Dogs do not feel guilt. They are incapable of it. They can emotionally manipulate you, but feel bad for something they did is not possible.

 

Can you explain this some more?

 

I agree with "emmylan", have thyroid levels tested. Had a little sweetheart female that developed thyroid problems and it was 'Jeykl & Hyde', and when she was ready to come into season, it was MAJOR PMS! Then the vet discovered the thyroid problem.

 

Gerald,
My first field bred dog started showing some aggressive tendencies when we first took him through an obedience course. The instructor directed us to a 'field trainer' who supposedly dealt with training 'tough' dogs. This was a disaster, in two months of training with this guy, he got the dog field trained to a JH level, but as I found out later, he also exuberated his aggressiveness. I found out how dangerous he was on the day after we had him neutered. I was cleaning his cut and he took my hand. I grabbed his lower jaw and decided to fight him down and pin him into being submissive, I think Walters talked about dominating a young dog??. He finally quit and looked away from me, but as I lifted my hand, he grabbed me again....later as the doctor stitched my hand, I clearly understood that I did not know much about dealing with aggressive dogs.

I then took him to a behaviorist, and he amazingly was able to evoke an aggressive response immediately, by touching him on his chest hair when he was setting. He told us a lot about different types of aggression, and how some can be dealt with some not. He considered our dog to be dangerous and advised us to keep him away from kids or other animals. Which is what we did. I used him for duck hunting and my wife and I had no problems with him, as we understood what not to do. Although he did grab my hand one other time 4 years later, as I was not paying attention and started scratching his chest when he was sitting next to me. More stiches same hand, different spot! He got a cancer at 5 years and we had him put down.....If we were not living alone as our kids are all grown up, I would have put him down right away. We kept him in the house except for hunting and training which we did alone.

These problems are difficult and can escalate without warning. They may be health related as others have mentioned. If not, I recommend you not wait to see how it goes, but find a good behaviorist, they can help you learn more about what you are dealing with.

Good Luck

 

Off topic but if I am training and my dog is at heel and I lean down and give him a scratch on the chest to praise for a good behavior, I am actually dominating him? Is it better to give him a scratch on the head or back?

OP - I was talking with someone the other day about aggressive dogs. Nobody has mentioned this, and I hope for it doesn't come to this for you. But if you decide you can't have the dog and give it away, even if you disclose to the new owner the aggression behavior, you will be liable for that dog's actions until the day it dies.

 

I wouldn't advise getting "in the dog's face".

Dogs fight with their faces.
And they do a pretty good job.

 

Thanks for all the advise. I think I needed somewhere to vent mainly. Like I said this is the first l have had do something like this and she is the first one I have allowed to be in the house 90% of the time as a part of the family. So we as a family have taking it a little hard.

 

Wow I didnt know that. We have talked it over as a family and are going to keep her for now. She just is going to be prisoned in a kennel when not training or airing and can sleep in a crate in the house at night and during bad weather. The kids still want to play with her so that will now be limited and supervised. She will just no longer be free range around the house and around the kids.

 

Wow I didnt know that. We have talked it over as a family and are going to keep her for now. She just is going to be prisoned in a kennel when not training or airing and can sleep in a crate in the house at night and during bad weather. The kids still want to play with her so that will now be limited and supervised. She will just no longer be free range around the house and around the kids.

Good for you.
Your gut tells you so, but being imprisoned is reserved for humans that commit crimes to other humans.
We are talking about an animal here. They don't have the same rights as we do. Just saying.

 

Sorry man im an Officer at a Federal Prision. Must be my state of mind!

 

All good.

 

I would have to disagree and I believe dogs feel shame and guilt

Can you explain why you "believe " this,, It would also help to know the depth of your experience working with aggression issues.
Thanks
Pete

PS I deleted my former post on henlee's comment because I miss read it and gave an inappropriate comment so my comment on that post was not applicable,,,,so much for my reading skills ha!

 

I don't have any experience in dealing with aggression simply for the reason that I won't tolerate it. If a dog under my ownership ever showed true aggressive tendencies, it would be gone. About dogs feeling guilt, please, make me a believer as to why they can't and/or don't. Educate me.

 

It sounds like there needs to be more obedience in the house. Dogs should not be allowed to beg, especially take food from a humans plate/table/counter etc. Aggression towards any human should not be tolerated regardless of how much they are disliked. Barking to alert that there is someone there is OK as long as you can control it and get it stopped. I think this pup and family need to go into obedience boot camp.
deb

 

There are several related posts on this topic in a previous RTF thread. I'd prefer not to repeat mine.

Flash Aggression (link)

 

Not much to add as to what to do to help with the aggression. However, I am a Certified Child Life Specialist at a children's hospital in Iowa and I can tell you first hand how traumatizing dog bites can be to the whole family. Not only are the parents typically at a loss for how it could have happened but the child often feels guilt about the fact that the dog will have to be put down on top of their obvious trauma from the bite itself.

please think very long and hard about what you will do and how you will allow your children to interact with the dog. It might be hard on them now to give the dog up. But, it will be immensely more difficult if the dog ends up actually biting one of your kids.

 

Just an update vet check came back good with nothing out of the ordinary. She did come in last Friday so this would have been about 5 days or so after the inccident. Maybe a hormonal thing I don't know. Nothing has came up since and I have messed with her food bowl while she was eating and ate food while setting next to her.

 

YOU CANNOT TEACH YOUR DOG TO RESPECT SOMEONE ELSE. That lesson has to come from the person being disrespected ... the child ... which is not practical in this case.

What you are now doing (with the food bowl, etc.) is good with a puppy where you are teaching what behaviors are generally acceptable and what is not. But this is not a puppy. You're problem is probably not that the dog doesn't know proper behavior IN REGARDS TO YOU. He probably learned as a puppy that YOU are in charge and it has been shaped and reinforced along the way and as a result, he respects YOU.

What he didn't learn is that it also applies to the LITTLE people. He perceives the child as being beneath him in the family order. He never learned otherwise, and this mindset has become a part of his personality.

I'm not saying it's impossible to alter, but at this point, it's a risk I would be afraid to take. It's likely a tragedy would occur first.

JMO

JS