Older dog becoming aggressive..

[kimblebee]

I don’t know much about dogs, and Google didn’t really answer my question, so I’m turning to the dis experts for opinions.

We have a shih tzu who will be 10 in December. He’s pretty chill for the most part, but still goes crazy when we open up the food container. He spends most of his time sleeping or just sitting on the couch looking outside.

He isn’t a normal dog in the fact that he doesn’t like to play, doesn’t like to run, doesn’t like toys. He’s basically a diva who needs a lot of attention.

I didn’t know him when he was a puppy but he got fixed when he was six months old and everything was normal, no complications.

In the past month or so, it seems like he’s going through a midlife crisis. He is starting to not listen and tries to have a mind of his own. If someone tells him to get on his mat (where he sits when we need him in one place to chill for a bit), it takes a few times before he wanders over. Then, after a few seconds he leaves. Before, he’d wait until he was told it was ok to move.

He listens to me the most because I’m the dominant one, but even I’m becoming ineffective.

The part that has me concerned is that he’s starting to become aggressive. He goes crazy when someone comes over who has a female dog. All the females are fixed, and aren’t puppies. He will sit by that person and stare at them and then try to...be intimate with their leg. If not that, he will try to get in their lap and starts rubbing on them and rolling all over on them.

Two nights ago, he was in my daughters room. Her boyfriend has a dog and she had recently spent time at his house. He also had spent time in her room and on her bed. Chewy got on her bed and was rubbing all over it and trying to climb all over her. She pushed him away and he started barking at her. He’s never done that before. She firmly told him no and pushed him off the bed. He growled a bit and barked again. She put him in the hallway and shut her door. He sat outside her door for a while and then came back downstairs.

I’ll start off by saying that getting rid of him isn’t an option. Not that anyone would suggest that, but even so, it’s a non starter.

I don’t think some sort of training would work because we tried it before and it just didn’t take. We did try a lot and did all the exercises at home. He just doesn’t absorb anything.

We can’t distract him with a toy because he doesn’t have any interest in them. We can’t run it out of him because he just doesn’t do that. He’s a walker and a sitter..just like me lol

He does go for walks every day. They aren’t hours long, but he does come home tired.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I don’t feel like we’re in danger or anything, but I want this behaviour to stop. I can’t have a dog that doesn’t listen..it’s too frustrating for me..a borderline dog person as it is.

Thanks for reading this far.

 

[Jennasis]

He's old. He could be experiencing canine dementia. Time to visit the vet. Behavioral changes ALWAYS necessitate a visit tobthe vet before implementing any kind of training change.

 

[Christine]

Behavioral changes in a dog usually signal an underlying health issue. Sometimes it's just due to plain old age and their bones hurt. While your dog is 10 years old, a small breed like that still has many more years to go and it's not unheard of that he could easily live to age 15-18. If your dog were a Golden Retriever, though, I'd say it was definitely age related.

I would suggest a visit to the vet. Your dog is exhibiting a little bit more than age-related crankiness and it is almost like an OCD or anxiety type response for some reason. Yes, they can give your dog a little Prozac for this.

My coworker adopted an 11 y/o beagle who had some strange behaviors that were a tad aggressive and he's had to do this to ameliorate some of it.

 

[barkley]

another vote for a visit to the vet.

some of the things you mentioned sounded similar to a family member's former 'senior' dog so i did a google search and sure enough shih tzu's are considered seniors once the hit age 10. hearing and vision loss are not uncommon and can cause behavioral issues. canine dementia was mentioned in another post and that should be looked into b/c apparently it's not uncommon within the breed with the onset around age 10 or 11 but 8 or 9 isn't unheard of.

 

[firefly_ris]

I echo previous posts, first stop is the vet to rule out anything medical that may be going on that can affect your dog's behavior. A sudden change like that could be caused by a lot of things. Best wishes for puppy.

 

[DuskKodesh]

Yep. Vet time. As an owner of a twelve year old doggo it's definitely good to take him and describe the behavior. Joint issues or pain can cause dogs to act out, as can minor seizures (Some dog seizures are so mild owners can't even tell the pup has had them), or issues like dementia. As a preventative measure it's good to eliminate those factors first, then look at if anything in your home life has changed.

 

[SteveH]

Hands down first of all get to the vet.
Second you may want to find a dog trainer that can work with you before things get worse. A good trainer can help even older dogs. Your vet may have some recommendations.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Besides the vet visit, there are things you can do to keep your dog contained to one area when other dogs, or people with dog scents on them, or basically anyone he's annoying, come over, which benefits everyone. A small gate can be enough, as we keep on hand in our house to keep the dog upstairs or in a bedroom, or a crate, as we also keep on hand though use rarely, but we did when we had the fire dept here recently so he didn't run out the door. It sounds like he used to stay on his mat and that was enough, but now it's not.

As others have said, things can happen as a dog gets older, both physically and mentally. It can be quite a puzzle to figure out sometimes. But it does sound like Chewy is having some hearing issues, at minimum. Why he is suddenly wanting to hump is a head scratcher, but he may just be feeling like he wants to "claim" his status as the lead dog in your house (and as can happen with elderly people, perhaps he's losing his "doggy filter", lol). Many dogs do this throughout their lives so I guess it's good he hasn't done it until now.

At any rate, I think it's something that's fairly easily worked with by just, as I said above, containing the dog when necessary. If you think it's going to be a long term problem you could even get a type of "pen" that has his mat in it for those times when it's needed, otherwise I'd just let him do his regular thing when no others are around.

 

[lovin'fl]

My 13 year old Cairn has been wonky for about 1.5 years or so now. I know he has hearing and vision loss. One eye is completely cloudy and blind. He is on eye drops daily for the rest of his days. He has seasonal allergies and takes apoquil. He has aches and likely arthritis and should be on pain meds but he doesn't tolerate them (gets super barfy).

About 1.5 years ago we kenneled him for about 10 days for vacay a month after he had dental work (cleaning and 9 teeth pulled) that he didn't bounce back 100% from.. When we got him home after, he had diarrhea and was up all night wanting to go out to potty. The vet treated him for some bacterial infection with antibiotics. The diarrhea went away but he still was acting weird with waking us up all through the night, walking around the house, scratching at the front door, going into the bathroom to eat tissues out of the trash can and other strange things.

He also started being very stubborn with walking. He started to direct where we walked and would (still does) plant himself on the ground if we didn't walk the way he wanted. He also would (still does) have his face in the grass and smell smell smell...every blade of grass. He'll turn in circles lifting each leg trying to get just right but then give up and walk away without peeing. We wondered if his sense of smell was going too. We would throw a treat in front of him and he would have trouble finding it. Either no smell or no sight or both. He also gets snippy if we try to pick him up or mess with him (grooming) in any way. Putting in the eye drops can be fun sometimes as he'll flail about and snip at me. If he's in my spot on bed and I tenderly shove him over, he might snip. I chalk that up to him being sore. He does hobble about quite a bit.

So he's still being weird after 1.5 years. Vet suspects dementia. We have gotten to where he will sleep at night and not get up...until 4:30-5am when he'll scratch at DH's side of bed and I bring him out to living room and we go back to sleep on sofa until about 7am. He can't get up on bed or sofa really anymore (sometimes the sofa but it takes many attempts). We put him on bed and he'll jump off about 30 mins later and sleep on floor or in his doggy bed. He gets slower and slower too. And now refuses to even go out sometimes. He's run into the curb a couple times or the door or other things from not being able to see well. That might be why he's more snippy...can't see to know what's happening. The vet also said his kidneys weren't working well. He hardly gets up to go to kitchen for a drink anymore and will go a long time without going pee. But sometimes he'll have a long long long pee. He throws up if he gets too much people food (never used to be an issue) and has diarrhea occasionally still too. I think he's not much longer for this world, sadly. But I've been saying that for over a year now.

Another new behavior is he barks at people. He has always hated other dogs and barks all nasty at any dog he sees. But he loves people and, before, he would never bark if someone walked by our house (unless they had a dog with them). Now he goes nuts over people walking by too, without a dog. It may be he can't see and just assumes they have a dog with them. He isn't completely blind though. He'll blink if we wave in his face and he can see where to go in house....he will still go upstairs. But I think he can't see great.

So OP...could be hearing loss, vision loss, joint pain/arthritis, organs failing, something in his brain, dementia...or a combo of some or all. Just my uneducated guess. It stinks watching them get old. Makes me not want to get another pet. And can be expensive too. Stinking eye drops are like $60 and lasts about 5 weeks. His allergy meds are also pricey, like $45-60 (can't remember). Not to mention all the vet appts and eye testing and senior dog bloodwork and.....

 

[Darcy03231]

Here's another vote for a trip to the vet and confining him when you have company. It could just be old age or it could be a more serious underlying health problem. My concern would be that he could bite someone if you don't keep him confined when you have friends/other family over.

 

[jsmith]

Yep to the vet. Lots of things can be going on and you need to find out so you can help him deal. We have a 14.75 year old Corgi that we inherited when my father in law passed in May. He has had to go from being an only dog to living with my two Bernese Mountain Dogs. He was always dog aggressive and its gotten worse which presents its own set of challenges. We learned that he blew an ACL at 3 and was never treated or put in a brace. That leg is frozen in the stifle and has horrible arthritis in the hip which contributes to his sterling personality. However-we got him on rymadyl for his pain and CBD ( we live in Colorado ) for anxiety and his life is a little better-he still hates the big dogs and they still ignore him, and he still has issues from a blood disorder but he is more comfortable, eats better and likes to play with my husband despite his poor eyesite.​

 

[wenrob]

Yet another vote for the vet and suspected poor hearing and eyesight. Both will make a dog cranky/aggressive.You had a thread some time back that sounded like he was having hearing issues. Did that ever resolve? As others have said there could be a little or a lot going on. Best to get him checked out.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

He's old. He could be experiencing canine dementia. Time to visit the vet. Behavioral changes ALWAYS necessitate a visit tobthe vet before implementing any kind of training change.

My dog (also a small breed) had canine dementia, and exhibited all the signs you're describing. In addition to that behavior, he began walking in circles with no purpose, and relieving himself where he wasn't supposed to go. I strongly suggest you take yours to the vet and get a proper diagnosis...it could be this or it could be some underlying physical issue that's causing the trouble.

 

[yoopermom]

At the risk of sounding repetitive, vet visit first and foremost.

Contain him, when necessary, for his safety and peace of mind. This is why I'm personally in favor of early crate training, but at least having an "area" (like his mat, but where he would have more of a "timeout" where he couldn't leave until you let him, like an ex-pen) would allow him to decompress. Don't yell at him and toss him in there, think of it more as an area where he can be safe, despite his behaviors.

I've known a few aggressive smaller dogs, and I always suggest either using a harness (that you can grab the back of, far enough away from his mouth that he can't bite you) or a very short leash (like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5WP4R...m/images/I/717VSVJtQ1L.jpg&sb-ci-a=B01N5WP4R0) that would allow you to physically control him without having to get near his collar aka give him the chance to snap/bite.

Personally, I wouldn't allow him on *any* bed or furniture until after the vet visit, since this is high value territory for any dog. When he's behaving, you can get down on the floor and pet him nicely. The minute he starts acting erratic/aggressive/etc, take him by the leash or harness and gently put him in his timeout space until he can calm down.

I hope that the vet can find medical issues to diagnose and help control. Hearing/vision/dementia are all common issues in any dog in the double digits.

Terri

 

[kimblebee]

Thanks for the advice. I’m so foreign to this that I never even considered the vet, even though it seems obvious when you guys say it.

He’s had a very good today, just spent it sleeping by my side. He’s not bad all the time, but definitely more than usual.

I really would hate it if he is having some medical issues because it would be so hard on my husband. His dog is his lifeline sometimes so to not have him is going to be awful.

 

[ronandannette]

Thanks for the advice. I’m so foreign to this that I never even considered the vet, even though it seems obvious when you guys say it.

He’s had a very good today, just spent it sleeping by my side. He’s not bad all the time, but definitely more than usual.

I really would hate it if he is having some medical issues because it would be so hard on my husband. His dog is his lifeline sometimes so to not have him is going to be awful.

All the more reason to get him looked at. Maybe not knowing seems less scary but many of the things pp's have mentioned are manageable. I hope it all turns out OK.

 

[3boymthr]

So I haven’t had a dog in many years but I would also vote vet. Not for nothing but I know a human who started doing weird things, completely random changes in behavior/personality. It turned out there was a tumor. Same thing could happen with a dog.