Jenni is right. I shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion of fear aggression. My thinking was he may have been fearful of more pain associated with your wife. ie ear cleaning, medicating. Or would that be pain aggression? Argh! I should read more, and post less and let those more experienced than me post theories!

 Quote: tracy r touzjian

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. .... 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.

Tracy, I was just saying that for the owner to pigeonhole him at this stage could be dangerous. He needs to keep an open mind for ANY clues, rather than label him and move along a course that may not be right. I didn't mean to imply you were wrong.

I wish I knew someone in Cali.

 Quote: jenni williams

Tracy, I was just saying that for the owner to pigeonhole him at this stage could be dangerous. He needs to keep an open mind for ANY clues, rather than label him and move along a course that may not be right. I didn't mean to imply you were wrong.

I wish I knew someone in Cali.

Oh, I didn't take it personal at all! I totally agree with you about not labeling him. I shouldn't have said I thought he should seek professional help because no one here could "see" his dog in one breath and then say he sounds fear aggressive in another! Talk about contradicting yourself. I learn something new here every time I get on this site.

I think that he growled at me, because he just wanted to be left alone at the time. He had no problems with me later that night when he wanted to go to the bathroom. I was able to give him his medication at that time too.

I agree with you Julie in that he is a big dog and I do worry about the safety of my wife. Not that it makes a difference, but the vet said a better estimate would be 100 LB.

The only time he had any shots was as a puppy at approx. 3months. They were the first set of shots given to puppies. He had no shots after that, despite the law here saying all dogs must have rabies vaccine.

 Quote: brad smas

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.

When my dog's ear was really bad recently with both bacteria and yeast, he started getting aggressive with me when I tried to clean it. He growled, snarled, and snapped at my hands a few times. He recognizes me as his long established pack leader, too. Just regularly throughout the day he wouldn't want his neck touched on that side, let alone his ear. Doing so caused him to wince in pain and if it was one of the cats he'd bark in an aggressive "leave the heck alone!" tone.

My point being that serious ear infections cause a dog a lot of pain. You said it was about two months since his last infection/cleaning. That's more than enough time for a lot of gunk to get built up deep in the ear canal. A dog is a lot more likely to react aggressively to someone it doesn't consider its alpha. My wife tends to be a lot more lenient and inconsistent with the dogs than I am and they do treat her like it. Check out the free video at http://www.leerburg.com/308.htm to see how strong the pack drive is and just how quickly even a young dog can turn aggressive towards another pack member. I think you may well have some pack structure issues in your home that need resolving, along with the exasperating medical condition.

Aside from how your wife behaves with the dog, maybe look at what you're doing as well? Are you making sure that the dog is last out the door/gate/confined walkway every time? Does it have to wait calmly before being allowed to eat? Does it put pressure on the leash in any direction? Do you allow it choose when it obeys? Do you say "hi" to the dog before your wife when you get home from work? Dogs pick up on all of these signals and these are some of the common areas where pet owners seem to make mistakes.

Don't get me wrong, I make no claims at being a professional trainer and I've already learned a tremendous amount about what I was doing wrong, for years, in the short time I've been here. BUT, my 13 year old dog is a social-climber, which means that he's constantly testing his leadership and dominance boundaries, so I've had to stay on top of him for his entire life. It's given me a lot of experience with being a strong alpha as well as a lot of experience in being a poor alpha...I have the scar on the back of my right hand to keep as a constant reminder. The information I've gained here has intensified the bond between us as he now views me as a fair alpha and not just one that can out-power him...he's 13 but still a powerhouse. Take all of the free information you get here and run with it. It works and it works very well. You can start with clearly defining the pack structure while your dog is in treatment. It'd be best to keep away from corrections though, so you aren't putting pressure on the already sore ear canal. Do whatever you can to keep things positive.

So... what'd the vet say, Brad?

Ah, nevermind. I see he did have an ear infection. I missed that.