April 12, 2011
My dog's behavior has gotten worse. Because dominance training isn't working, trainers are telling me it is a medical issue. Any suggestions other than euthanasia?
Full Question:
Ed,I am the owner of a 7yr old neutered English Bulldog. I have had him since he was 8 weeks old. Tank used to be a very friendly, social dog. He loved attention from people. Over the past year his behavior has progressively gotten worse. I have talked to many trainers in the past, all of which told me that since dominance training does not work (in fact disciplining makes him more aggressive), that it is a medical issue. I am a veterinary technician, and he has always gotten the best medical treatment. Recent full panel bloodwork and x-rays revealed no abnormalities at all. He is the only dog of the household, has never been dog aggressive, however he is people aggressive. Not just strangers, but myself also. It has gotten to the point where I can not even touch him without him trying to snap. He has seriously injured me lately, a few months ago he bit through my left hand. And about a month ago he bit through my left forearm to the bone, and I recieved stitches, and have some residual nerve damage. He has also attempted to bite my girlfriend, and others when they have gone to pet him on several occasions. The last straw as I call it, started this evening. I took him to work like usual, while he was sitting on the floor, another technician came behind him, brushed up against him, and Tank turned around and snapped. When I disciplined him, he lunged at me and attempted to bite my face/neck. It was very scary to see his behavior. After leaving work, I stopped at the bank. While I was sitting in the car filing out a deposit slip, a little girl came up to his window. She started talking to him, he began growling and snapping, and lunged at the window. Thankfully it was rolled up. I am very scared that he will one day seriously injure someone other than myself, I live in an apartment complex with lots of children. I can't take him anywhere. Living with him is just horrible. I no longer feel that he is my companion. I am genuinely considering euthanasia as an option for him.
Cindy's Answer:
All I can do is guess at a situation like this. Without seeing the dog, without knowing how you truly live with an interact with the dog makes it impossible to tell you what to do.
My first gut feel is that this is a result of Vaccinosis. On many occasions I have heard examples of dogs becoming more aggressive months after vaccination. With that said - that's water over the dam and if it is Vaccinosis it's probably not fixable. Do a google search on rabies miasm.
I guess if this were my dog I would run him through a strict pack structure program (Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Dog). Life as this dog knows it would change - no going to work - no off leash (not even in the house) He would loose every minute of freedom.
After about 3 weeks of this I would start him on marker training (The Power of Training Dog with Markers).
You also need to read the free eBook on my web site title WHO PETS MY DOG. Frankly it sounds like you have been a tad out of touch with reality here. You may not like hearing this but it's a fact. You know this dog is dangerous and yet you allow others near the dog. That's irresponsible and foolish.
If the aggression continued I would use our dominant dog collar on this dog. Read how this is used on dominant dogs on my web site. Since the option of failure if killing the dog I would use to collar until he passed out. Dogs that are not crazy quickly learn to respect someone who has the potential of taking their air away. When this is done it usually needs to be done 2 or 4 times on the first day - then the dog is set up to act aggressive again on day two and day three. If the dog is still acting aggressive after 4 or 5 days the odds are it's a brain tumor. This is pretty drastic and not pretty work - but it does work on most dogs and is better than killing the dog.
Some of this work is highlighted in my DVD, Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dogs.
Regards,
Ed Frawley
My first gut feel is that this is a result of Vaccinosis. On many occasions I have heard examples of dogs becoming more aggressive months after vaccination. With that said - that's water over the dam and if it is Vaccinosis it's probably not fixable. Do a google search on rabies miasm.
I guess if this were my dog I would run him through a strict pack structure program (Establishing Pack Structure with the Family Dog). Life as this dog knows it would change - no going to work - no off leash (not even in the house) He would loose every minute of freedom.
After about 3 weeks of this I would start him on marker training (The Power of Training Dog with Markers).
You also need to read the free eBook on my web site title WHO PETS MY DOG. Frankly it sounds like you have been a tad out of touch with reality here. You may not like hearing this but it's a fact. You know this dog is dangerous and yet you allow others near the dog. That's irresponsible and foolish.
If the aggression continued I would use our dominant dog collar on this dog. Read how this is used on dominant dogs on my web site. Since the option of failure if killing the dog I would use to collar until he passed out. Dogs that are not crazy quickly learn to respect someone who has the potential of taking their air away. When this is done it usually needs to be done 2 or 4 times on the first day - then the dog is set up to act aggressive again on day two and day three. If the dog is still acting aggressive after 4 or 5 days the odds are it's a brain tumor. This is pretty drastic and not pretty work - but it does work on most dogs and is better than killing the dog.
Some of this work is highlighted in my DVD, Dealing with Dominant and Aggressive Dogs.
Regards,
Ed Frawley
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