Im sorry i should of added im not experienced but thought i would give my opinion. and thats all it is, my opinion. Sorry. no offence intended.

Im just thinking of his family first

 Quote: Sarah Snape

Im sorry i should of added im not experienced but thought i would give my opinion. and thats all it is, my opinion. Sorry. no offence intended.

Im just thinking of his family first

Anyone can give their opinion.

On a serious thread like this one, it's good if folks posting from a position of no experience say so in the post.

Thanks, Sarah!

I have two big dogs and one its way to being a big boy all living with my almost 7 yr old son. We actively work on establishing him as above them in the pack and due the respect that position entails. IT is an ongoing training issue on a daily basis.
We have had some minor issues such as innapropriate play on both ends, and he has been knocked down from tails (Nico's is a deadly weapon!)or rear ends when the dogs have been riled up and grazed by a tooth while play wrestling with Loki.
Our current pup gave him a nip on the face during play at about 12 weeks and it was corrected as a pack structure issue.

You say your dog has shown some aggression and dominance with you and your wife about food and possibly about other issues.
This is a major warning sign in my opinion.

You said he gave you a good bite on your hand, did it require medical attention?

Does he have basic obedience training? plenty of exercise? do you use a crate as well as practicing other pack structure exercises such as always going through doorways first, NILIF?

He needs an immediate evaluation from a proffessional behaviorist as well as a medical work-up. In the meantime Do not let him near your daughter If he is not under your total control.

It has always been my policy that no member of my family will live in fear or be uncomfortable around one of my dogs. That any sign of outward aggression toward a family member other than myself (depending on the situation) will result in either rehoming or being PTS depending on the severity of the problem and the dogs chance of being successfully rehomed.

And I will tell you honestly, politically correctedness, aside that if one of my dogs had my Son cornered while about to attack or on the ground about to go for the head or neck they would no longer live here.

Mike, I checked this thread out earlier today; just got back from the dog exercise/work. Been thinking about it and your problem, trying to craft some ideas and points into a coherent form that could be understood............so here it is, the straight poop.
What Mike Schoonbrood said.

Not sure anybody could say it better.
Randy

Mike, maybe I'm placing too much significance on it and maybe it doesnt mean what I'm reading into it but this dog took a 14 year old girl down to the ground. Not just a warning nip or bite and then he was in enough of a rage that he bit the adult. Now he's lunging at the daughter. I don't think it's worth putting your family through. Take him to the vet to find out if there's anything physicaly wrong then Kennel him 24/7 until you find the right home.

Well I've been monitoring this thread all day and I've read through the e-books and want to thank all of you the input you've given me. I could see that everyone here cares and has passion about this subject and dogs in general.

I thought I would add some info about the dog.

I forgot to mention that we did have another dog, a collie that recently passed away. I did have to keep them separate because this dog, the Shepard wanted to fight him anytime he came near. So he did have previous aggression issues.

After reading the post on this thread and reading through the e-books including the local professional(s) I spoke with, they all asked me if anything has changed in the house.

Now I don't know if this pertinent or not but daughter sustained an injury three weeks ago to her foot, a bad burn that kept her home from school and one I've had to spend my time once daily changing the dressings out. I do remove the dog when I'm changing out the dressings and wondered if this may be a jealousy issue.

We've had other dogs in the past and have never had any kind of problems like this before. We did treat this dog differently then the others though and this is my lessons learned.

Lessons Learned:

After reading your e-books, it's obvious that we didn't do things right when the dog was young to recognize and avoid this aggression. We've never had dogs that exhibited this kind of behavior before so we didn't have the experience to recognize it and now I feel I'm to blame somewhat for the way he is now. I hope others are reading this post and taking away any lessons from it that could help in recognizing the early signs of aggression and do what’s right for both the owner and the dog.

Thanks for help

So you're going to try and work it out?

Randy

 Quote: randy allen

So you're going to try and work it out?

Randy

... with professional evals first?

Randy,

I'm not sure what I going to do yet. That's why I'm here in this forum and along with other feedback I've already received.

I will definately take into account everyone's opinion, and whast I've read including what one of the locals dog folks told me. She knows the dog well, it's been in her kennel twice while we were on vacation. She's a retired dog trainer for the LAPD.

I just want to do the right thing.

Mike

 Quote: mike alarid

After reading your e-books, it's obvious that we didn't do things right when the dog was young to recognize and avoid this aggression. We've never had dogs that exhibited this kind of behavior before so we didn't have the experience to recognize it and now I feel I'm to blame somewhat for the way he is now

Mike, it's really wonderful that you've come away with so much helpful information from this website and forum - there was some excellent advise given, and you sound more than receptive - KUDOS! Also, great that you now see how things could potentially have started off on a better track had you established better pack structure and leadership when you originally brought this dog into your home... HOWEVER, don't dwell on all the things you "coulda, shoulda" done and feel too bad about it - your dog is living fully in the present, he only knows the way his world is today, and you need to step up and deal with him in that mindset. Your dog won't "blame" you for not giving him more clear and consistent leadership up to this point, but if he's otherwise healthy, and you decide to work things out with him, chances are he WILL respond to a CHANGE in your relationship with him now, providing you do it correctly.

Get a behaviorist/trainer in there pronto (I'd have someone come to you, so they can see the dog in the home, and how you and your family interact with/around the dog) and start to bring this boy around. There is a chance that something deeper is causing the aggression, and he may never turn into a truly trustworthy pet, but if pack structure is at the heart of this issue, there are a lot of ways to at least make things better for everyone involved.

Good luck - and keep us posted!

~Natalya (by no means an expert in dog training! )