My dog attacks me, my family, and anyone else it sees. What can I do?

Question

I am sure you are a very busy man but I am so frustrated and have no where else to turn for answers. If you could please give me a bit of advice I would greatly appreciate it because no one in my area has yet been able to help.

    Last June, my husband was given a puppy that had been handed down from owner to owner. We were not told much about her history so I took her to the vet the next day who said she was a Beagle-Pincher mix. She had many health problems when we first got her but she recovered quickly. The first night she was here I went to move her from the couch while she was napping and she tried to bite me. I just assumed she was getting to know me so she was nervous. The problem is now, she has progressively gotten worse. She only listens to my husband and she will only allow him, myself, and a neighbor whose dog she plays with regularly to pet her. Anyone else she will bite. When I take her on walks she chases everything, lunges at people, and has even tried to charge cars head-on. There are times where she will bite me hard if I am taking away her favorite toy or treat and when I have tried to punish her she has come at me. Although she is barely 20 pounds I am scared the death of her inflicting damage on a child. She absolutely hates children and is overly aggressive towards them. When my stepson comes to stay with us in the summer it is like a war zone in here because she is constantly trying to attack him. She has also tried to bite nieces, nephews, and neighborhood children but now she has progressed to biting everyone. My heart-rate shoots up every time I see someone approach because you just never know if they will try to pet her before I can warn them.

    Also, she has severe separation anxiety. Anytime we leave the house she becomes destructive and will not eat or drink till we get home. Our one neighbor brings her female Shitzu over everyday so that our dog will not be lonely but the dog still cries when we leave. She has been to obedience school which she did poorly in. The instructor told me that it is because she is such a dominant aggressive dog and there is really nothing I can do past this point. I have tries taking away toys and treats and playtime with us but nothing works. Her aggressiveness just seems to be getting worse.

    A quick note: when we first got her, she had stomach ulcers which the vet said could be from stress. She also made speculations to the fact that she could have been abused because she was malnourished and seemed to have some bruising. We have given this dog a loving home and have never raised a hand to her yet she fears the sound of my husbands voice is he even raises it a notch. I on the other hand, could yell and scream at her and she will not budge.

    I am so scared that she is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Is there hope for my dog or are we fighting a loosing battle? Is she mentally ill or just plain mean? I just need some answers. If you could please just give me any advice I would appreciate it. No one in my area can seem to help and I am tired of the conflicting advice I am receiving.

    Thank You,
 Worried in Kentucky

Accepted Answer

Sometimes dogs like this are in homes where the owners are able to accept the kind of training that is required to fix a problem like this. I get the feeling that this is not the case in which case the dog should be put to sleep. Sometimes a dog with a problem can be given to another owner who is more qualified to deal with the problem. I doubt that you would be able to find someone that would be willing to take this kind of dog. If you were willing to 100% change the way you deal with this dog you could possible save it. Here are the things that you would need to do:

Get a dog crate for the house and begin by keeping the dog in the crate at all times except when you are playing with the dog or taking it outside.
Read the article I wrote on DEALING WITH A DOMINANT DOG (also the Q&A's on this). You can find this on the article page. DO THE THINGS I SAY IN THE ARTICLE!
Properly train the dog. This dog is not trained. It does not respect you as a pack leader. If it did it would not try and bite you. If you are concerned about biting – get a muzzle and make it wear the muzzle – the wire basket muzzles we sell allow a dog to drink when they are on.
If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had a clear understanding of the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. I think if you read the testimonials on that tape you will see that my customers feel the same way.
Have the dog wear one of the dominant dog collars we sell with a drag line or leash in the house. If it acts aggressive to you – lift its front legs off the ground so you take its air away. Remain calm when you do this. DO NOT ACT MAD! There is no pain involved here but it tells the dog that you control it's life and if it displeases you, you can take its life if you want. People (like yourself) with a soft temperament have a problem with this concept. Dogs do not – they clearly understand the concept – its called being a pack leader and a higher rank within the pack.
This dog should NEVER be allowed around kids or strangers. Not ever! No one should pet it. Police officers never allow people around their dogs (or at least they should not.) A lot of times civilians fail to understand the concept that you and other members of your pack are the only ones who needs to be around a pet. I have owned dogs that bite people my entire life and I don’t have these kinds of problems because I control the environment the dog is in.
NEVER allow this dog to be around the neighbors dog again. You need to be the center of it's life and all joy comes from you and not this other dog.
When you walk the dog walk it with a PRONG COLLAR – if it looks at another dog or person and growls give a verbal "NO" and then CORRECT it very hard. If the dog acts aggressive to you, hang it. You only need to hang it by lifting its front feet off the ground an inch or two. Just take it's air away – again, there is no pain here.
I could go on and on but this is enough. If you have friends that think this is abusive I would say this, ““Everyone has an opinion on how to train your dog – just ask your mailman – the problem is that very few people have the experience to back up their opinions which results in a lot of bad information being handed out.”
When the options are to kill the dog or deal with the dogs aggression so that it becomes a safe animal for the handler - well my vote is to save the dog when it can be saved. If I have a PETA PUKE bitch about my practices – I recommend they take a dog like this into their home and try and see what they can do with their Halties and clickers.