So, we have had problems with Teddee in the past, but yesterday was the first time he lunged and got a hold of my girlfriends arm. It was very light and did not break skin and he released immediately, but I need to stop this before it escalates.

I did notice an improvement in his temperament when he was in obedience classes and agility classes. With those over though, he has once again begun to growl when he is tired and someone walks near him (the instance last night). His resource guarding of bones also has become worse.

I have been working on following the dominant dog suggestions from Ed and this board, but I think I need to do better. He is not crated, mainly because he refuses to go into his crate. I am thinking this is a must now, especially at night, any thoughts on getting him in and staying in?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated. I have noticed this has been worse since he got bit by the cat and was injured and is on pain meds and antibiotics, but even before the cat bite, his temperament was continuing to worsen.

He has chased my girlfriend into the bathroom before due to behavior like this and I am concerned we will have to do something with him if we can't get this under control.

Thank you!

What kind of action was taken when he bit her and the other incident where he chased her into the bathroom?

I don't have any experience with REAL aggressive dogs and am just curious.

I can't imagine not smokin' a dog's ass for any display of aggression towards humans. No bones, no freedom, no nothin' unless you earn it.

Good luck, man. Sounds like a tough deal. I hope you get lots of help here.

Wonder if a professional is needed THERE, hands on?

I wasn't there for the bathroom incident. I was there last night in the room, but I was tending to my other dog's cate bites (cleaning ear and putting eye ointment in, I had betadine and neosporin on my hands) when he put his teeth on her last night. By the time I got there he was in apology mode (head down) I yelled at him and put him outside the room with the door closed. I know from reading here that corrections need to come fast and she didnt correct him, so not much I could do at that point.

I did post another thread asking for dog trainers in Phoenix to possibly get professional help. There are a few people I was looking at:
Ushi Fuchs - http://www.k9u-international.com/aggression.htm
Has experience with aggressive dogs and is schutzhund trainer and decoy

Brice Cavanaugh - http://www.totaldog.com/about-us/
Former Police K9 handler who also deals with aggression issues and trains in many different areas.

Anyone heard of either of them? Like I said, I also have another post since people looking at that post may not look at this and think I am requesting advice for a trainer.

Thanks!

Oh, I just saw the other thread.

Good luck! Hopefully you can get this lined out.

Keith, alot of this was discussed in your post from last March when you started a thread about correcting for agression.....the resource guarding, growling at people & other dogs, not going into his crate etc.etc. Did you not work on the things suggested to you from that thread? It doesn't sound like it, from this post. Maybe it will help if you go back & re read alot of the information posted by knowledgable people here in that thread, rather than to ask a number of the same questions & bring up issues that were going on with your dog from a year ago. If nothing had been done to correct the problems from a year ago, it is not a surprize that it would have esculated further.

Or is this a different dog?

Anne, A lot of the stuff was put into effect, but I guess I became lax. Good point to go back and review, I will review and post further questions if they come up.

Thanks!!!

I think another issue that I am seeing that is not included in my past post is that my girlfriend feels he should not growl when she walks by him. I was working with him and understood his communication, but since she has moved in, she thinks he should be like the other two and not growl. Also, he has not lunged to the point of making contact with skin before. I will definitely work on crate training him and other ideas from the previous posts.

Thanks!

PUT him in his crate.
Any time he's out, it's on leash.
Everything is obedience with him.
Manage everything he does, period.

Keith, you did state in your other post that he had growled at your mother & GF. This dog should have been on the NILIF (nothing in life is free) program at least a year ago with his behavior, if not long before that. Now he is at the point where he needs to be managed totally & crated. No freedoms at all. Before someone gets hurt.

It is a strain to deal with a dog like this, but that is the solution, for where you are now. You need to do what Steve said. Good luck with your dog.

Your girlfriend is absolutely correct. She must see alot in you, that's for sure!!

The folks above are dead on the mark, in my opinion, Keith. I recall reading in one of Ed's e-books about a "level 10 correction" when a dog growled at a kid.

Ed has an encyclopedia of information on this site. I'd look a few of these over. There's alot more there:

http://leerburg.com/dominac2.htm
http://leerburg.com/aggresiv.htm
http://leerburg.com/dog-agg.htm

The dog CANNOT win the crate versus no crate argument. The dog CANNOT win the growling at your girlfriend argument.

The NILIF is: http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm and it is correct.

Your dog is confused, and will be for a while now. Girlfriend coming in mixed up the order. The dog thought HE decided who came into the house and who was in control. It's going to take some re-training to get him to understand otherwise.

Exercise, yes, I'd run that boy until he was pooped every day. Do it early or late when it's not too hot. Then CRATE him, and make him earn the privilege of being outside the crate through civil behavior. He needs his owner to turn in an Alpha SOB, redfine the order of the pack, and keep it that way.

Good luck!!