Aggression Q&As

Hello Mr. Frawley, I read through your questions and answers on fear aggression but still had some questions; I hope you do not mind that I am e-mailing you. You are doubtless busy, but I would appreciate a reply if you have the time. My family purchased a Kuvasz puppy, our first, about four months ago, and she is now six months old. This female, named Sapphire, seems to be very territorial inside the house and in our backyard, which is somewhat normal for the breed, except ...

Ed, My family just recently got a 1 1/2 year old Sharpie/Retriever. He knows me very well because I'm home all day and we are constantly together, but now he is very protective with me. He will not let me out of his sight and is always keeping guard of the house. Now he tends to bark at my father who also lives with me but is gone most of the day, he doesn't like it when dad comes near me and always stands between us. He has never tried to bite or charge, if he thinks that dad is g...

I found some useful information on your site re fear biters. Our Aussi is 8 years old and has always been fearful of loud noises, thunder storms etc., she is also very territorial of her house and car. That said if a person with a dog comes to visit she is very accepting, if they come without a dog she barks, and will try to nip ankles and on several occasions when people have tried to calm her she has nipped an arm. Lately she has been going under our bed and won't come out even for treats a...

Dear Ed, One month ago my husband and I adopted a spayed female 13 year old husky/shepard mix named Cassie. We adopted her from a rescue society who pulled her from a high kill shelter. In her foster home where she was for 5 days, she co-existed with 2 other dogs and 2 young children. She has been cleared by our Vet of any physical problems other than cataracts and some arthritis. After 2 weeks of being with us she clearly bonded and now is showing signs of fear aggression. ...

I have a three year old male doberman that is a fear biter. Not only that but he has always exhibited crazy behaviors. I love him to death but he is making life difficult. First of all he cries all the time and if he isn't he's barking. He hasn't been properly socialized. I thought that it meant that I didn't socialize him but from reading the different messages on your site I realize that the people we bought him from didn't socialize him. We have always had the crying prob...

Dear Ed, We got a 4 year old Great Dane/Boxer cross a year ago from a lady who rescued him from the SPCA. She and her 7 year old son had him for about two weeks. She claims the Dane attacked her dog, but we feel it wasn't an attack but probably just some barking, etc. As a result, she felt she had to give up the Dane. We took the Dane from her last year. The first two weeks we had him, he was around two small children in our home, without incident. Since then we have noticed...

Dear Sir, Last year we had to put our beloved German Shepherd female down. She was 11 and had cancer. I bought her when she was a 9 week old puppy and trained her myself. She always came when I called and the only 2 problems I was never able to correct, due to lack of knowledge on my part and her personality, were to "go" where I wanted her to go and separation anxiety. Right after we put her to sleep, I bought another female German Shepherd. My first was American this one w...

Hi. I am not sure if this is the right format to ask you a question, but...it is all I see on your web site. If you might be able to help, please read on. If not, could you pass this on to the correct person (if there is such a person). My husband and I have read quite a bit of your information about aggressive dogs, and we are faced with a dilemma with our own dog. Boomerang, a neutered two-year old Australian Shepherd, appears to be "territorial" but also exhibits a few of...

Hi I came across your web site while looking for information on prong collars. I actually have a question for you, if you have the time to answer it sometime it would be greatly appreciated. I will give you a little overview on her first and I do apologize if I ramble I am at work and writing this between calls so I keep losing my train of thought. I have a 5 month old american pit bull terrier named Loki. Sweetest dog and VERY obedient. I got her when she was 3 months old. The breeder ...

Hi Ed, First, I want to thank you for having such a wonderful site. I have read it frequently and learned a great deal. It is the first place I go when I have a question. I just read your section on Q&A on Fear Biters, and either I missed it or it did not address the situation I have. I have an 11-month old AKC male Rottweiler named Roark. We got Roark from my brother 2.5 months ago, just before my brother committed suicide. While I know that Roark was never mistreated, he d...

I have a 3 year old neutered male boxer that was bought at a pet store and given to me as a gift. I received him at 8 weeks old to find the next day at the vet that he had a respiratory infection and would need to be hospitalized immediately. I knew then I should have taken him back to the pet store but knew they would destroy him. Well, they paid the vet bills and everything was fine. He has always been skiddish and never been struck. As he gets older the following problem get wor...

I have two dogs. My first is the younger of the two, she is a Rout/Beagle mix who was trained as a pup to work with handicapped children. She is well trained but sometimes refuses to go outside because she escaped once and the pound picked her up and had her for a week. My second dog just turned 4 and is a GSD. He is papered and was neutered. He is leash and house broken but does not respond to commands like sit, stay, and come. Is he to old for obedience training? He is very well behaved...

I was reviewing the Q&A section on your web site regarding fear biting. My questions were not really answered. Here's the situation. We have a 1 year old Lab Shepard mix. We are not sure if she has other breeds in her. We also have 4 children. 3 weeks ago, she growled and nipped at our youngest, who is 2, unprovoked. She was boarded at the vet over the weekend, and they were unable to give her a bath or give her a heart worm test. Every time they approached her to put a leash on her, she ...

We utilize a muzzle and choke collar in training. She is dominate aggressive and used to be a fear biter however that is changing with socialization and the prudent use of a muzzle. The dog has been checked by a vet and the vet found no reason for this behavior. she was adopted from a shelter with very little background known. We have had to string her up twice. The problem of dominance shows basically when she is determined not do something that is asked of her even though she is fully c...

Hello, I am writing this out of desperation!!..I have been reviewing your web site and other Q & A's about dog's with behavioral problems, and I am finding that we are now in the same boat with many other dog owners!!!..We own a spayed female German Shepard since she was 8 weeks old (she will be 2 this year)...First mistake was I got her from a backyard breeder and I was clueless what I was doing...I just wanted a German Shepard and I found the cheapest one in an ad in the paper..(...

Dear Mr. Frawley: I am writing to say I felt great comfort finding your site with your wisdom about dogs. Yesterday, I took our new puppy (18 days with us) to my vet and had him put down. He was a pit bull mix and approximately 4 months old. When we adopted him from the shelter he was a shy, fearful pup who let me carry him into the car. He had been dumped on a highway at about 2 1/2 months and spent the next at this local kill shelter. I was advised to that training him was...

Hello- I have a five year old Dalmatian very alpha male who has bitten people, including my kids in circumstances when he is frightened or is "guarding" me. He is not a bad dog or a mean dog. He may not even realize that it is my son when he bites. It seems to be an automatic response. For example, he was lying in a curled up position, next to my chair, the wall and the desk, no room to move, and asleep. My son came up to him and reached down to get his collar to take him upstairs....

Hi, I have a male, deaf dalmatian that's seven years old. My boyfriend and I got him when he was a puppy - not knowing that he was deaf when we got him. This dalmatian has always lived with two other male dogs in the house. My boyfriend and I broke up a year ago, and he has had the dog. The dog is perfectly fine with either of us (other than some incessant whining). However, he is fearfully aggressive with kids and men. He is also extremely aggressive towards other dogs when he's e...

Hello, I read your web site and found the information very helpful. I did, however, want to place my situation before you. If you would be kind enough to respond it would be appreciated. My background with animals is fairly strong. I have worked for the Humane Society as well as with veterinarian, I have taken dog behavior courses through college and strongly believe in dog obedience classes, socialization from an early age and firm correction (very sharp words and correctio...

Mr. Frawley, We have adopted our son's puppy that I believe is about 6-7 months old, his name is Ozzie. We are not sure what kind of dog he is. We know that he is part chocolate Lab and the other half looks like it might be a Daschund (spelling?) or a "wiener dog." Anyway, he has been an excellent puppy. We have him house trained and we have all fallen in love with him. We also have a Newfoundland female that is about 10 years old. Just this past week, we had Ozzie out for a walk w...