Quote: Alyssa Myracle

Until the medical issues are ruled out, there is VERY little you can do with this dog. .... He could have bad nerves, he could have a bad attitude, or he could have bad pain. .... Rule out one of those, and you can develop a plan of action. ... Aggression? Never met a vet that didn't have muzzles on hand. ... Make sure your guy isn't in pain, first. Dogs are very stoic. As Betty said, by the time they actually SHOW pain, it may be excruciating ..... Once the pain issue is settled, we can begin discussing the behavioral issues (of which there ARE some, regarding his reactivity to dogs and strangers... which sounds like a nerve issue... it's not fair to begin working on that, when he might still be in pain, though.)

I agree about 1000%. One thing at a time. Trying to address one problem without ruling out the other is counterproductive (and worse).

Let us know what the vet says.

To everyone who's been dealing with chronic ear infections, I really do urge you to try the Zymox with hydrocortisone. We've had his ears checked a few times over the years, to confirm the type of infection, etc.. His bad ear is cleaner after eight days of just this than after ten days of twice a day pills and two different once a day in-ear medications.

We finally gave this a shot because he started getting really aggressive with the cleaning. It's been almost two years since I've seen my dog's over-all demeanor this happy.

 Quote: Scott Garrett

To everyone who's been dealing with chronic ear infections, I really do urge you to try the Zymox with hydrocortisone.

Chronic ear infections while on kibble. Completely cured and perfectly clean ears since the switch to raw

But if they ever come back, I will look into that, thanks for posting.

 Quote: Yuko Blum

 Quote: Scott Garrett

To everyone who's been dealing with chronic ear infections, I really do urge you to try the Zymox with hydrocortisone.

Chronic ear infections while on kibble. Completely cured and perfectly clean ears since the switch to raw

But if they ever come back, I will look into that, thanks for posting.

Put this in your 'for what it's worth' file, but after I put my dog on raw, I finally convinced my ex to put his boxer on raw (we, at one time, had shared that dog).

She had a lot of ailments and had been rescued at about six months for a terrible situation and near starvation.

She also kept ear infections and what the vet treated for ear 'mites'. Lots of vet bills.

She has not been to the vet since switching to raw.

I'm not saying this is a cure all, but I have personally witnessed what it has done to improve this dogs health and personality.

Zymox is fantastic, even without the hydrocortisone.

I third or fourth the Zymox, the work better than anything else I have tried.
I use the cortisone kind for when there is swelling and the regular for when it is not swollen.

But not without a Vet visit first!!

Edited by Jennifer Lee (03/27/2009 05:07 PM)
Edit reason: added vet visit

He has not been aggressive his ENTIRE life. He was as friendly as it gets when he was a puppy. Later on he developed aggression towards other animals (9 months old?). He would be aggressive until he was thoroughly associated with a dog. Later, he developed an aggression towards people (1yr 3months old).

In regards to the attack, my wife was bruised and scratched thoroughly in only a few seconds. I agree that he could have bit her in that time if he intended on doing so, but he was acting very violently.

He has been kept in his crate all the time since the incident, with the exception of bathroom, exercise, and eating/drinking, all of which are done on leash.

He went to the vet and they sedated him, though, it was a lot of trouble getting to that point. It would have made life much easier if they had let me administer the sedative. After giving him the injection a second time, he did go to sleep and the vet took samples of his ears. He woke up in the process though and really gave the vet a scare. The result, ears had bacteria and yeast. I was given Cephalexin and Mometamax. The vet said that the medication should take effect fairly quick and ear be cleared up in a week or less. The vet also mentioned possible mental illness in the dog. Does anyone here have insight on this?

He seemed fine after bringing him back from the vets; with the exception of being tired.

It is night now and he is growling at me through the crate when I look at him. (a brand new aggressive behavior) I have not changed my attitude towards him at all.

Side note: he did not eat today, his choice.

Brad,

Where are you located? A good trainer/behaviorist sounds in order. Someone on the board may be able to recommend one in your area. I think your dogs issues may be too much for internet advice since no one here can "see" your dog. Sounds like fear aggression to me. He is a big dog and could do some real damage if this progresses, and it sounds like it is progressing. Get an evaluation by an experienced professional. I wish you the best of luck.

15mos is not a terribly unusual age to become more aggressive. Glad you got to the bottom of the ear issue, but aside from that, disregard just about everything a vet tells you about behavior or training. They rarely know much.

How long are you looking at him before he growls? Is it just a glance, or are you staring at him? Some will do this if stared at, particularly in a crate. There have been several threads here (some just recently) about dogs being more aggressive in a crate or kennel. A territorial dog seems to sometimes really take it up a few notches when crated.

What's more disturbing than anything else is how fast he has escalated this. I know they found bacteria in his ears, but the entire scenario does not scream "medical problem" to me. Hard to tell online, of course. Nor does it scream "fear aggression." Aggression, yes, but I can't tell from an internet post why he's behaving that way, and I would be very wary labeling him at this point; you want to be careful how you go about working with this. Fear aggression seems lately to be becoming a catch-all when people are at their wits end with a dog. Don't write him off as mentally defective just yet; it's possible he's not. It's possible he's extremely dominant. It's possible there is an underlying medical issue.

When was he vaccinated, particularly for rabies? Think back and try to remember if he got worse after vaccination. Aggression and even fear can be a side effect from several vaccines, but rabies is known for it. Try to think of anything and everything preceding the onset of his intense aggression. Make a list if you can. You may be surprised what jumps out at you.

Not to sell you short on your ability to read your own dog, but it's often very hard for an owner to see why a dog is acting a certain way b/c they are too close to the situation. Things that mean something to the dog and can cause reactions often go unnoticed by the owner.

Since the aggression seems to be escalating so much (with the addition of growling at you while crated), I would be suspect of something more nefarious, health wise with this dog. If he is healthy (no brain tumors, other issues), I would think very hard about keeping this dog in your home. He sounds very unbalanced, and I worry for you and your wife. It's one thing to have a nasty 20 lb dog, but at his size, real major, permanent damage can be done.
I would get on the horn today to a behaviourist, or trainer that you trust, and get this addressed.