Hi. Hope this is right- I haven't posted before and am not at all computer literate.
My problem is Willie (actually, Will 'E, short for "will 'e
ever stop peeing in the house?", "obey me?",etc.). The vet thinks he's between 4-5 yrs. old and that he's a Jack Russell/pit mix. He is a muscular 19 lbs., intact and had been restrained in a small area with little exercise or attention. From reading on this site, it seems that I have done everything wrong since adopting him a couple of months ago.He was with us for about a month when he became aggressive towards my 17 yr. old daughter, seemingly out of the blue(!) and has bitten her. He is now, always,restrained or caged and no one is allowed to handle him!
From the first afternoon when I went to get him from a neighbor I took him everywhere I went and he was wonderful- I never saw any hint of aggression or any warning signs. (He doesn't do well w/cats but my cats are good at avoidance.) I consulted a behaviorist who was very pessimistic over the phone re. a good outcome. Last night's incident w/ him really has me frightened because he was aggressive towards me: I had brought him inside off his overhead line and closed him in the cage w/his eve. food. My daughter came into the room and he started his snarling/snapping. I scolded him and he continued the same w/me which he's never done- I was actually afraid. I covered his cage and left him alone. I wondered if he was sick and would have taken him to the vet but he was his usual self this AM.
HELP, please! By the way- I have a 14 and a 15yr. old and a husband. Thanks.

As I started reading, I was mentally composing what you needed to start reading, listening to, and watching.

But you're afraid of your dog. That's a deal breaker for me. (I'm gathering that you are the main handler.)

You need to get the best professional help you can find, NOW. And not just on the phone.

IME, there are no unheralded incidents such as you decribe. You have simply missed all the warnings, as well as neglecting your groundwork. You need help.

Thanks for the reply- We have always had a dog and never had anything like this: in fact,we have another dog,Harrison,who we adopted as a stray.
A behaviorist will be coming ASAP- waiting for her call.

I imagine you have had submissive dogs.

Good job that you asked for help and then listened to it. :>

Good luck.

Eileen, if he were mine, Mr. Willie would be neutered by this afternoon -- And he would be living by "alpha bootcamp" rules 24/7 for a GOOD two weeks straight (see article below)...

http://www.leerburg.com/groundwork.htm

Neutering is going to do absolutely nothing to a dog whose behavior is already established. Furthermore, it is becoming more and more apparent that altering can actually CAUSE some of the behaviors that they're supposed to prevent. Even if neutering would work, it'd take 6mos in some cases to get the testosterone out of his system. This dog needs help NOW.

What Willie needs is a serious attitude adjustment. My feeling is that the dog is feeding off of your fear of him, and essentially walking all over you. Dogs do not snap out of nowhere. You simply missed signs, as many people do. Also, he is maturing at this point. You have a teenager on your hands. It is up to you whether he becomes a productive adult...or becomes an adult at all. This is extremely serious.

Caging him constantly is probably doing nothing but causing resentment and frustration...and exacerbating the problem. Can you at least act like you're not afraid of him? I'd start by tethering him to me at all times, 24/7. He does nothing on his own. I bet you'll see a lot of things that you didn't before. Since your children aren't tiny, that helps. Is he dominant? You need to figure out what this behavior is stemming from. Without knowing the root of the issue, we're kind of at a loss as far as helping you goes. If he were mine, he'd live on a prong, no more than 5 feet from my side at all times, and would get a correction to remember if he showed any unwarranted aggression toward the kids.

The fact that he's crated makes me wonder...
I have a dog who is Cujo in a crate. Would absolutely flip out on anyone looking at him if he has food/treats/anything in his crate. Soooo...is it possible that it's general territiorial aggression/resource guarding and not focused aggression toward your kids? He still needs to have an epiphany, but you may be dealing with something other than what you think.

Since he's not big...could you safely get him out of his crate while he's doing this? I know this is risky, and you don't trust your dog like I trust mine (with good reason!), but sometimes a REAL correction at the moment he's acting aggressively is in order. Every time you back away or act afraid, he scores one point. Any extra info would be helpful...

Thanks,Candi.
Neutering will happen if the behaviorist thinks Willie can be trained- as I originally wrote, the man I talked to was pessimistic about Willie's future. As to Willie being caged all the time- he's not. The last thing is that I was afraid only that one time, it has'nt happened again (I think he might have been protective of his food that I had just put in his cage). Regardless, you're right that he needs immediate work.
Thanks,again

Candi, Hi.
I forgot to mention a couple of things. Wiliie was never aggressive towards me before the incident last Sat. night (only towards Ally) so I had no reason to be afraid- I was afraid at that time and absolutely believe he would have bitten me. I used to take him w/ me everywhere but only started crating him per this site's recommendations about 2 weeks ago. I want to have him w/ me but I suspect that the car had become part of the problem. When he bit Ally she was in the driver's seat which,until recently, is where he was used to me being (she'a new driver- could he be sensing the anxiety that a new driver provokes?). I am more than eager to keep him on his prong collar and tethered to me because this was what I had been doing. When Ally was near he wore a muzzle.
One other thing: The guy that I had first talked to nixed a theory that I have re. why Willie turned on Ally. When it is hot, we spray Harrison w/ the hose. Ally was hosing Harry down and srayed willie who didn't like it. It was right after this that Willie became aggressive towards her. The behaviorist insisted that it wasn't related. I still think that it was.
Looking forward to hearing more. Thanks

Sorry Jenni- got your post and Candi's mixed . Hope the last message helped.

Watch out for "behaviorists". Some are phenomenal, and others are positively more dangerous than the dogs they're trying to figure out. Who is he to say that shooting him w/the hose has nothing to do w/his issue w/Ally? I think it could absolutely be related. YOU know this dog. Go with your gut. He's a strong-willed dog...and she p'd him off. Not saying he's right, just that in his mind, he may be justified. If that IS the case, I would think that if he trusted her in time, you wouldn't have that problem (possibly).