Dog help QUICK! Will it outgrow aggressiveness?

[pat fan]

We got a dog fromt he pound (5 months old) and we've had him 2 months now and DH told me last night he's bringing him to the pound tonight to return him! He HATES anyone other than our immediate family.We've tried crating him when other people come over,squirting him when he barks/growls, letting everyone who comes over feed him treats and nothing works. He isn't too fond of DH either, as he's not home very much. He'll be fine one minute, then go into a spaz attach for no reason.Jumping,growling,snapping. Should we just return him?

 

[preshi]

Is he just doing this with men? Cold be whoever his former "owner" was was neglectful or abusive and the dog would probably need extensive training and tons of patience and love to overcome it.

I hope something works out for you.

 

[pat fan]

Not just men, he hates my DSIL and DMIL & DFIL too.Hates my DF,nicest guy around,loves my nephew(6) hates my niece(5).

 

[Crankyshank]

The poor pup was probably abused and needs his new family to be patient, firm, and shower him with love.

You need to get him to an obedience trainer. there are several very good ones in MA and RI. Tufts has an especially good one. There is also the RI dog guy- I believe he also handles MA. Or ask your vet to refer you to one.

 

[MosMom]

Our oldest dog was a "pound puppy" and has a problem with men. He is also terribly afraid of strangers. He doesn't try to attack them, he just pees on the floor and runs around them barking.

We are pretty sure he was abused before we took him home. Are you in a financial situation to have a trainer come to your home and work with him? Call the humane society, they may be able to recommend someone at a low cost. They will work with you to try to prevent the dog from coming back.

It has taken a LOT of trust training and love but McGee has turned out to be a good dog. He still gets afraid so we put him outside or upstairs in our bedroom when we know someone is coming and he does fine.

My biggest suggestion is to get him some training. I think it could turn your situation around completely. We have a great dog who deserved to be in a good home. You have made a difference in a dogs life so try not to give up on him if you can help it.

 

[pat fan]

I suggested obedience classes for my DH to take him to, but he works nights and didn't sound like he wanted to make the effort to try and work it into his schedule.I don't think me taking the dog would be what's needed.He needs my DH to take him and I think he's just not interested in putting the effort out. The worst is my DS(11)is heart broken (of course I had to tell him,not DH)and my other DS(14) is in WDW on a school trip and will come home to no dog!It just pisses me off because we only got this dog because DH wanted it!

 

[Crankyshank]

Petsmart has day, night, and weekend training classes.

all dogs need to be put through some sort of obedience training IMHO and if you're not willing to put in the extra time and effort to train the pup and allow him to adjust to a new situation, then you are better off finding another home for him.
I am a firm believer in committing to a pet for life, but it sounds to me that if your husband is not willing to invest any time in this dog, then the situation is going to get worse for everyone involved.

Please don't bring him back to a kill shelter, though, because most likely despite his age, he will be put down. and I'm sorry to sound harsh, but this is really why you need to do research about what you're getting into before you bring a pet home. because now you're disappointing the kids, and probably making the pup more unstable (being shuffled from home to home is traumatic for animals).

 

[Kallison]

Think long and hard, that will be a tough thing for your kids to forgive and forget. Pets aren't disposable, it doesn't sound like you have tried all your options.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

He needs my DH to take him and I think he's just not interested in putting the effort out.

no I don't agree with that. Both obediance classes I went through with dogs did entire sections on learning to socialize. I would think that at < 1yr old, the dog is probably still quite trainable.

He'll be fine one minute, then go into a spaz attach for no reason.

no, you may not see the reason. But in Doggie language there is probably a very good reason. You just need to figure out what it is. It is alot like raising a toddler. You have to be consistent and firm.

btw, I personally would never recommend spraying a dog who is in a barking protection mode with water. You basically have a puppy who is feeling threatened and yapping, getting hyper, and trying to help protect his pack -- and your escalating it by introducing more negative stimuli into the mix.

put him on a leash, make him sit down at your side....when he gets up, push his butt back down again and say ______ quiet.
Then after you get him to sit for 3 or 4 seconds reward him with a treat. Then work on stretching that out for longer periods.

A good obediance class can show you how to turn him into a great dog.

 

[C.Ann]

We once got a dog from a neighbor's friend that could no longer keep her (or at least that's what we were told).. A beautiful animal - part Irish Setter, part Collie.. The dog was fantastic with us and our kids, but hated everyone else..

We tried everything humanly possible - as well as professional training.. The second trainer eventually had to tell us it was hopeless - she was like a jealous woman and no matter how much love and attention we showered on her it would not change her aggressiveness towards other people.. In the beginning she bit my nephew - simply because he walked past my DD.. After the training she bit my neighbor's son when he waved and said hello while passing our driveway.. She snapped her chain and went after him with a vengeance, causing a VERY severe bite on his upper thigh..

At that point it became clear that she was a danger to others so we had to have her put to sleep - even the humane society would not keep her for adoption because she was so aggressive..

I often wonder what happened to her in her previous home to make her that way, but the bottom line was she couldn't/wouldn't be retrained and was a serious danger to adults and children alike..

I hope you have better luck with your pup..

 

[suzannen]

Maybe I missed it, but is he a mixed breed or a certain type of breed? I ask this because some breeds are known to be more aggressive and it may be in their nature (we found this out the hard way with a friend's Akita that had to be put down).

My BIL got a male cocker spaniel puppy to go along with his female spaniel. Where the female had been extremely docile, the male from 4 months until 1 year, he was VERY aggressive with jumping, snarling and biting. They did use a trainer a few times, but eventually the dog simply outgrew his aggressive ways and now is such a sweet dog, we can't believe it's the same dog.

Good luck!

 

[Bojangles]

How sad. If you return your pet to the animal shelter, it will probably be put to sleep. Why don't YOU take him to Petsmart or somewhere for training?

 

[KarenC]

When we lived in a condo we had neighbors who had a beautiful little three year old girl. Their friends had a dog who had problems with strangers. One day, when they were visiting those friends the dog attacked the little girls face without any provocation--she was walking up to the house from the sidewalk in front of it. She had mutiple wounds on her face and was going to have to have all kinds of plastic surgery, and the doctors still weren't sure she wouldn't be severely scared.

We have a dog who is just like a family member, so I do feel sad for whatever your poor dog went through to make him the way he is. But you'll feel terrible if the dog hurts someone you care about. I hate to say it but I think your husband is doing the right thing. So sorry for your kids.

 

[Jynohn]

I have to say I agree with the above poster. If you didn't have children, I would say you should do everything possible to try to work things out, but if this dog cannot be trusted around your kids, then the ONLY responsible thing is to find him another home.

If this is a purebred dog, you can contact a breed rescue group that will help evaluate him and place him (if possible) in a new home. But I do Great Dane rescue, and I have to tell you that as much as it hurts us to do it, if a dog is too aggressive we will recommend that he be put down. There are too many dogs with great temperaments that need homes as it is, and an aggressive dog is a tragedy and/or lawsuit waiting to happen.

Your dog is still young, so if you do decide to keep him he may still be trainable, but I would NEVER leave him alone unsupervised with your children. If you do decide to keep him, the first step, if you haven't done so already, is to have him neutered. This can help with some of the aggressive tendencies. You may want to look up on the internet "doggy bootcamp" it will give you some tips on how to deal with an alpha dog, which it sounds like yours may be.

Things I can remember off the top of my head are never play tug of war with your dog, as it makes him feel like he's "competing" with you, and never let him sit on your furniture, sleep on beds, etc. Doing so only makes him feel as though he's "equal" to you and your kids. He needs to know his place in the pack.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your decision!

 

[Christine]

I think the dog is still quite young and can be socialized if you take the time.

We adoped our dog from the shelter and also purchased a dog from a "pet store". Both of the dogs had *issues* when they came home that ended up getting worked out.

The shelter dog came home and had that horrible submissive urination problem. I thought "how will I deal with this??" We went to obedience training and we learned a LOT about how dogs perceive things. After our dog had been with us for several months, she became secure in her enviroment and submissive urination stopped.

Our next dog we bought from a puppy palace and she had been there approximately 3 months. When we got her home she showed a lot of aggression toward the other dog and toward my kids. Fortunately she only weighed 5 lbs so I wasn't too concerned. But after living with us for many months and dog obedience she mellowed out.

Also, most animal training centers (not the local pet store chains) will offer specialized training classes for dogs that have problems. One I remember specifically was for dogs that had social problems and aggression problems. It was some kind of "touch" class that got the dogs used to various people and taught the dog to get rid of its anxiety and aggressive tendencies. Again, this has to be done early. Please look into this. It wasn't that expensive and your husband wouldn't be required to do it.

I really hate to see an animal get carted back and forth to the pound. The dog we adopted from the pound was 6 months old and we got her on her third trip back. In all of the cases, the owners returned her because they did not realize how rambunctious puppies can be. With each trip back she became more and more unstable. Please try to work with this dog.

 

[KristiKelly]

I would first contact a trainer, we took our dog to PetSmart for 1 class and hated it. It was to chaotic. If your dog is not very sociable, PetSmart would probably not be a good choice. Class is held in a ring about 8 X 8, in the center of the store and in our case with 4 other dogs, if your dog is AT ALL aggressive with other dogs this would not be a good situation. We just completed an 8 week course at a local gym with a trainer that has been a breeder & trainer for 45+ years, there were 6-7 other dogs and we were able to spread out in the gym. This was held through the Parks & Recreations Department in our town for $60. Annabelle had her graduation on Tuesday and got 2nd place - sorry a little brag there . If I were you, I would call aroung to different vets for trainers, local humane society & try your Parks & Rec. (I don't know if that's done in all area or just here). Best of Luck in whatever decision you make.

 

[pat fan]

Thank you all for your advice.I did convince DH to get Charlie(the dog)evaluated by the doggie "shrink",for lack of a better word.he is recommended by the local shelter as the best in the business and he said he will flat out tell us if he feels Charlie is not fixable.This is the last shot for Charlie with us,and if he's not fixable,he's going back to the shelter (a no-kill shelter,BTW).Also, this way if things don't work out my older DS will have a chance to say goodbye.I'm very torn about having to give a shelter dog back,but at the same time I can't risk my family & friends getting injured.

BTW, Charlie is a mix, and it wasn't disclosed until after we brought him home that he's part Pit bull .

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btw, I personally would never recommend spraying a dog who is in a barking protection mode with water.
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This method was instructed to us by the shelter.Their idea,not mine and it didn't seem to work so I stopped doing it.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I applaud you for taking the initiative to try and do something for the sake of the dog and your DS.

I've onlynheard of spraying a cat with water when it jumps on furniture...have NEVER heard of it for a dog. Training a dog is a much more intricate and ultimately rewarding experience than simply pulling out a spray bottle. I can't believe the advice some shelters give.

I hope it works out. I have 2 dogs and I can't imagine giving them up for the world.

 

[DisneyJules]

We had a malamute puppy who was agressive from the start, it definitely does not get better, it got much worse and we ended up returning her. I'd just be worried of this dog seriously injuring someone.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Good luck with the dog. If you decide to keep him, get him neutered ASAP. That's something that will help to calm him down.