I can't possibly quote all the things I want to b/c that would make my post even longer than yours,lol, but here are a few little opinions:

I don't see this dog as dominant as much as insecure. Yes, for sure, some of the things he does are dominant, but if you look at the whole picture, it's like he's decided the best defense is a good offense...he's acting out of insecurity. I still don't think he's "all there" b/c of how contradictory you say he is...you again mentioned that you took him to puppy classes "after he received his shots" indicating that he was vaccinated young...like 3 mos? Around the time he started having aggression issues?

There may be no connection whatsoever, but IMO, this dog isn't classically dominant, nor a classical fear-biter. My gut is that there's a reason other than pure genetics for this behavior. Of course it's hard to judge a dog you haven't met, and I may be misinterpreting your descriptions. I would be willing to try anything at this point; I don't think a dog who startles so easily and wakes up angry is a happy dog (no offense to you at all; this is not your fault), and I would want to know what was behind it. I would probably assume some type of vaccinosis, as well, and treat for it homeopathically. Be careful, of course, but I don't think it will hurt as long as you follow the guidelines. His behavior is too quirky, IMHO to be simple genetics, as MOST dogs who have terrible nerves are not the happy dog you describe w/family and friends (as well as strange children) the rest of the time.

I am probably wrong...but I would have to examine all angles if he were mine. Try to remember when he first acted odd, and how old he was, and what had occurred just prior to that. My guess is he was combo-vaccinated w/a 5 in 1, plus rabies...?

According to my records it looks like Garm was born May 2, 2006. He started his cycle of shots on 6/19/06, but they didn't give him his rabies shot until 8/21/06, so he was about 3 months old at that point. It is true that he probably didn't show most of the fear related issues until after the vaccines. That is really fishy. But some things he has definitely had since he was 10 weeks old. I mentioned his bath time fears in another thread quite a while ago, so you might look up that post to get an idea about how crazy he gets in the tub. I mentioned then that I thought someone (probably a child, since I was told that he was played with by children) had tried to drown him in a tub because of the way he acted like we were trying to kill him when we tried to give him a bath.

 Quote: jenni williams

I would be willing to try anything at this point; I don't think a dog who startles so easily and wakes up angry is a happy dog (no offense to you at all; this is not your fault), and I would want to know what was behind it.

This has bothered me too. He does seem so happy most of the time. He is also very good with people most of the time. Most people who meet our dogs ultimately like Garm better than Vidar because he is more charming and they are always surprised when I tell them about his problems. My mom, who comes over frequently enough and has her own dog at home was always telling me that she didn't believe the things I said about Garm and she didn't think I should make him wear that awful pinch collar. When she sees him he is always very happy and playful, not the nervous biter I describe. Then one day she got to see this behavior come out of the blue when we were sitting having dinner at the table. Garm was being pushy with her, trying to put his nose in her plate. I told him "off! Leave it." and I grabbed his leash to pull him beside me and away from her. He growled at me for it and started to take this alpha stance like he was saying, "how dare you tell me what to do!" so I told him to lay down and that's when we had a stand off and the more I tried to get him to lay down the more ferocious he would get snarling at me and snapping at the leash. My mom just couldn't believe what a different dog he turned into when you tried to get him to do something he didn't like. Likewise, this has been the case with any friends who he's gotten to know. They will at first think he is such a friendly dog and then get a horrible shock the first time he acts up around them. I know I was very frightened the first time he did it to me when he was pretty young. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong and have failed him in some way, but according to all my books and the advice of friends, the vet and trainers I have been doing everything right and Garm is just an odd case. Vidar certainly has turned out wonderfully and Garm and Vidar are not my first dogs. I have had two others before and both of those dogs were great dogs with no problems. One of them died from hip displasia (a male GSD) and the other died from old age (a male toy poodle). Garm is just an anomaly.

Well, I'm sure he has had some issues since day one, but I do think it's possible that environmental factors including vaccines have exacerbated the situation. You start grasping at straws when nothing obvious makes sense...

I would think he'd be very hard to rehome, and it would be in his best interest to stay with someone who really understands him-you. I am afraid that he'd be put down in an instant the first time he acted out w/someone else. I would separate him from the baby for sure, but I don't think he sounds like the type of dog to make a concentrated effort to harm a child, so separation might be just fine. Of course, I don't know the dog.

OMG! I was reading about the clinical case with Niki, the female GSD and that sounds so much like my Garm that it made me feel sick inside. I'm going to keep reading more into it, but that is just too close of a parallel. That case brought up all sorts of odd behaviors that Garm has had that I didn't think to mention in my long post and it talks about each one of the behaviors that I did think to mention as well. I kind of wish I'd read it before I posted anything at all. I think you might be right about the vaccination thing and I don't think it's so much of a "long shot". This seems right on the money. I went through the list of symptoms and Garm has almost every one of them! I'm going to print out that list and take it to my vet next week (I rescheduled the vet visit for next Wed.) and see what the vet says. I'm also going to try some of these homeopathic remedies. Maybe my vet can prescribe some to me.

Vaccines make dogs fear biters? That's total bs. Juliana, take the time you have now to find a good home for the dog, it'd probably be in his best interest, good luck,
AL

Well, Al, I don't really know if the vaccine thing is bs, or not. I had never heard of it before, but it is worth asking my vet about, nonetheless. I showed the information to my husband and he was skeptical too. He is a mathematician by profession and he claims that the statistics they are using in the study are horribly skewed and he won't believe it until he sees some better math. Regardless of whether or not vaccines could be the cause, I am definitely starting to think that Garm needs some medication for his anxiety and I am also starting to doubt if he is really a dominant dog. I'm wondering if treating his behavior as dominance hasn't made the fear biting worse. If we can figure out what the best method of getting him over these hurdles could be with the help of our trainer, maybe we can beat this problem and have him at least be an acceptable pet for another home. I agree that he should be re-homed in a place without children and we will definately start looking for one through the rescue organizations and through family and friends. If any of you out there know of a person who is good with difficult dogs and might want to take a shot at it with Garm, let me know. I live in California and I will travel quite a distance to find Garm the home situation he needs. I'm going to make sure that his new owners won't put him down and if they plan to get rid of him he should come back to us. I would rather have him kenneled in the backyard with us all his life than to hear that he's been put down because he had a panic attack.

On another note: another forum user who works for a Catahoula rescue agency (thanks Angela Burrell!) mentioned to me that I could be wrong about Garm's breed and I shouldn't assume he has any Rottweiler in him. I had always thought that he was from a mixed father litter because he didn't look like his Border Collie mom, his siblings (all very clearly had Catahoula markings)or the Catahoula that they claimed was the father. But apparently he has the markings of a Catahoula after all of the black and tan brindled variety and this solid color pattern can be born from parents who have merle coats. I hadn't seen pictures of that variety before, so I didn't know. And although most Catahoulas are between 65-75 lbs. I discovered that there is a line that can get as big as 90-110 lbs! This might account for his large size and coloring, but I won't really know without a DNA test. I'm thinking of having one done so that his new owners will know exactly what they are dealing with. Plus, I'm just curious!

 Quote: Al Curbow

Vaccines make dogs fear biters? That's total bs. AL

No Al, it's not BS. The rabies vaccine is known to change a dog's temperament, not always, but it's not unusual. Fear based aggression is one of the more common 'side effects'.

It's called a rabies miasm.... as you probably know one of the symptoms of rabies is unexplained aggression.... the vaccine will sometimes produce fear aggression in dogs (probably more than is reported)

A regular allopathic vet is not ever going to tell you this information, and many of them probably don't even know about it.

Hmmm..that is interesting. I didn't know that. So does everyone here vaccinate their dogs for rabies? I know it's the law and such, but just curious. My dog's tags are up in March.

I vaccinated all of mine for Rabies last summer and had one pup almost die and an adult Chi developed tremors. I have a couple other dogs that seem to be on edge more than they used to be, but I can't prove that is related to the Rabies.
I would be very reluctant to do it again.
I would certainly give homeopathic remedies after the shot.

 Quote: Alex Corral

Hmmm..that is interesting. I didn't know that. So does everyone here vaccinate their dogs for rabies? I know it's the law and such, but just curious. My dog's tags are up in March.

I think there have been a few threads in the last few months regarding weighing the risks vs. breaking the law... everyone needs to examine the particulars of their situation and what they're comfortable with.

I personally am quite nervous about re-vaccinating - for anything at this point. I already passed up a reminder for Lepto (which I think has the highest probability of side effects) and I'm seriously considering NOT re-vaccinating next year when Oscar's initial 3-year rabies vax will be up (he'll be 3 this March). I would do a titer on top of that, but the last one we did cost over $200!

I personally don't necessarily have a problem skirting the law in terms of legal consequences (I don't have a dog that's likely to bite anyone, and he's never out of my control), but I do know I won't be able to go to many training classes or things like CGC tests without the vax certificate... which would be a bummer.

But Alex, I'm pretty sure quite a few members here don't vax for rabies, even though it's the law...

~Natalya

*Perhaps this should be a new thread, so as not to completely hijack the initial post?