Our 1.5 Year Old And Aggression

[mirage]

So we adopted our boy from the shelter around 6 months ago. The shelter had said he was turned in for biting but on further investigation they couldn't get him to bite and the people who had turned him in had a long history of domestic violence and assaulting the officers who responded. He has been wonderful for almost all of the six months but the past few weeks we are noticing some more aggressive behavior. We make him sit or lie down or any other sort of combo of tricks before he gets anything from us (includes food, walks, etc) and the first time I noticed some aggression was when I was making him sit to go outside in the backyard. He jumped up on my arm, crossed his paws over it and took my hand in his mouth. He didn't bite down but it wasn't friendly. I told him "too bad" and put him in time out. 

 

Last week we were out walking and he found a nasty piece of paper towel on the ground with something on it. He started eating it so I stuck my hand in his mouth to retrieve it. He brought his teeth down on my fingers, started growling and bared his teeth at me. I yelled at him but it didn't stop until I let go of the paper. He didn't bite me enough to break the skin but was putting pressure with his teeth on my hand. I didn't know how to discipline him properly as we were 2 miles from our car so we tried to ignore him for the walk back to the car.

 

While he was baring his teeth at me I saw one of his top teeth was all broken so we had it extracted yesterday by the vet. When I went to pick him up, the vet came to meet me and told me about how they had to use a rabies stick on him to remove the catheter in his arm. He was apparently great all day until then and even with a muzzle he was being very vicious and aggressive and trying to bite them. I don't really know what to make of all this and the vet talking to me about how he could be dangerous scared me a bit. This is my first dog so any and all help/advice would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

Abram

[mydiamond]

hey Abram. First of all, you gotta understand that he used to be abused. Maybe that day when you're trying to make him sit, you unconsciously did a hand signal/body language that is similar to his previous owner's. Then he immediately thought "oh no I'm gonna get hit!" so he put on the defense mechanism. No dog bites without a reason IMO even aggressive dogs have a reason why. EDIT: or, he's just excited. Excited dogs are kinda like drunk humans. They don't really know what they're doing LOL when Diamond is super excited I try not to feed him treats from my hand. Because I know he's gonna bite hard :eek:

 

second case: the towel

not all dogs accept having their possession being taken away like that. I do understand you're just trying to do what's best for him but he doesn't know that. All he knows is he found something cool and you're trying to take it away. So he's like "NO what are you doing?? This is MINE". As you can see he didn't bite seriously next time, try to use the command "drop it" instead. Or if he doesn't know that, tell him "no" before you take it away just so he knows you're not being rude. You're just "punishing" him.

 

third case: the vet

how long have you known this vet? do you know how he/his vet techs handle the dogs? please keep in mind that this vet is a total stranger to your boy and the scent of death in vet offices tend to freak doggies out. Maybe he was just putting on his defense mechanism. After all, that's how he was brought up in the early stages of his life. "defend yourself or the human is gonna hurt you"

 

hope I helped but remember, I'm not a behaviorist. I'm just putting all these up based on my experience as a fellow rescue dog owner. If this aggressive behavior persists, contact a trainer. They'll know what to do. 

[mirage]

Thanks Diamond! I don't know the vet very well. The vet came recommended from a customer of mine who designs and builds veterinary facilities. He sees all different vets and liked this one. They are very nice and gentle (at least when I am in the room) and seem to know what they are doing. Barley definitely has a thing about his collar (not all the time but if he is worked up and you grab it he gets anxious) so I don't know if they took his collar in their hand when they were trying to work with him or what. He knows "drop it" and "leave it" when he wants to know it so with the towel whatever disgusting thing was on it made him "forget" haha. Yes I agree with you about him not biting seriously but it seems that everyone we talk to has a different definition of what a dog bite is and isn't. We graduated a "basic manners" class already and are working with a trainer to help him figure out how to meet other dogs properly. Right now he just drags us to them and lunges to say hi. She has seen some of his aggressiveness and has said he "tried to bite" when to me he was just letting her know he didn't like what she was doing but idk. Haha. Just a bit distressing is all I guess. Thanks a lot for your post though. Very helpful!

[Stranger]

Not going to be too much help I am afraid, the only thing I would say is that instead of just taking the tissue away from him telling him to drop or leave, and then rewarding him would be a better solution, as just taking something away from him would have made him think he was doing something wrong or that you was stealing it.

 

it simply sounds that he has trust issues.

 

Showing him that if he gives you something, he either gets rewarded with something else or you will return the item.

 

With regards to the vets, I not sure if its just a coincidence, but my previous dog used to go to a groomers, well I did my school placement there and saw that they were generally not nice to the dogs, hitting them if they resisted or moved etc.  

 

After that I started cutting his fur myself, he used to freeze up while I cut it, or run and hide....now he knew me, and trusted me, but hearing the clippers was all it took for him to become scared of me. Maybe your boy has had a bad experience at a vets before?

 

just to add as well, if he was coming round or still a bit tender/out of it, he is going to be more afraid

[mydiamond]

each dog is different and no one should tell you what your dog is like. YOU know best because you're his owner. Some dogs are very, very submissive they don't even mind when their owners forgot to say "no" before grabbing whatever nasty thing they found on walks. But some others, like Barley, will not hesitate to tell you "hey don't!". That doesn't make him aggressive though. 

 

EDIT: I agree with Toni positive reinforcement is almost always the way to go dogs learn faster when they're being rewarded for it

[mirage]

Thanks guys! So you both don't really think him baring his teeth was all that bad either? He is usually fine with me taking something out of his mouth (not that he tries to eat paper products all that much but when he does).  This piece definitely had something he wanted on it. I carry chicken jerky with me on walks to reward him for good behavior, haha, but he was not going to give that towel up for anything (really hope that was a food stain on it...). He seems to be a very sweet, loving dog most of the time (loves children and getting pets and attention and is very easy going) just sometimes. As I said, I have never owned a dog before so I can't tell if his behavior is normal or not. My fiance had a golden retriever growing up but I guess that dog was crazy submissive (would lie down in front of every dog she met regardless of size haha) so she doesn't know either. Just gotta wait and see I guess. 

[Stranger]

Thanks guys! So you both don't really think him baring his teeth was all that bad either? He is usually fine with me taking something out of his mouth (not that he tries to eat paper products all that much but when he does).  This piece definitely had something he wanted on it. I carry chicken jerky with me on walks to reward him for good behavior, haha, but he was not going to give that towel up for anything (really hope that was a food stain on it...). He seems to be a very sweet, loving dog most of the time (loves children and getting pets and attention and is very easy going) just sometimes. As I said, I have never owned a dog before so I can't tell if his behavior is normal or not. My fiance had a golden retriever growing up but I guess that dog was crazy submissive (would lie down in front of every dog she met regardless of size haha) so she doesn't know either. Just gotta wait and see I guess. 

 

 

yes and no, showing teeth is never a good sign, but it doesn't always mean aggression, its a defensive response, being that they are afraid , angry, or warning you. like food possession, toy possession, being backed into a corner, etc.

 

I would say that you need to be careful, but at the same time not fearful.

 

Set him up to achieve not fail.

[Elyse]

Having a look at my dog body language thread might help. Baring teeth isn't always aggression, they do it out of fear as well. 



I don't know your dog, but judging by the offences of his previous 'owners', he may have been abused. This would explain all of his defensive and possessive behaviour.

But, judging by the fact when he bit you he didn't draw blood...that tells something. He didn't even break the skin, so it could have just been a 'warning' bite telling you he didn't like what you just did or what you were going to do. 

If the current trainer you are seeing is not helping, I recommend seeing a specialized trainer who often deals with abused dogs. They will know exactly what to do in certain situations - honestly it is hard for us to give advice for an aggressive dog over the internet because we can't see the behaviour. But the current advice given is a good start - definitely teach him the 'drop it' or 'leave it' command. Use treats all the time to reinforce good behaviour. Don't set him up for failure - get him to trust you and train him in little steps. 





 

[mydiamond]

ooh you carry treats on walks? Great! Stay calm and try to trade with him. If some stuffs "costs" more than a chicken, try to bring something else that he likes more than chicken. Hot dogs? Cheese? Apple? 

 

btw I also agree that teeth-baring doesn't always mean aggression. It's part of their defense mechanism so it could be fear as well

[mirage]

Thanks a lot. Yeah, I mean these incidents are the only ones in 6 months of owning him so maybe it is nothing but it is definitely concerning none-the-less.

[Removed #5]

Let's back up a bit and look at this dog - and just in case you haven't noticed, I don't know how to do a short post!

 

You rescued an abused dog - thank you much for that, BTW! That'll increase your karma a lot!! - and now he's acting out some. 

 

I think it was Liv who said something like he's reverting to what he knows ... you did something or said something in a tone of voice that "brought it all back" so he responded like he's used to.  Regrettably, that's completely normal - not good but normal.  From what you write, I think you're on the right track with positive reinforcement for good behaviour.  Any negative reinforcement may take him right back to his old reactions. 

 

As an aside, I have a Sibe who I rescued from the city, she's been with me about a year and a half now.  She had a minor (yeh!) problem with food possession.  In fact she's bitten me - breaking the skin bites - three times now.  I don't often have the opportunity to buy bones for the dogs but did last week.  Being a knowledgeable daddy, my male got his on the porch and she got hers inside.  After about three hours worth of gnashing and gnawing, Avalanche (my male, outside) wanted in and it was getting dark, so it was time.  I keep a leash on Sasha, female Sibe, when I'm not sure just how's she's going to react and true to form when I told her I was going to take the bone she objected - but it wasn't a really serious objection and using the leash and calling her I was eventually able to get her to leave the bone and go outside with me (and promptly came back in and put the bone in the fridge). Last night, I gave her the bone and she went to town - but when I called her she looked at me and it didn't take much to entice her to leave it and come to me.  A little later I walked over and picked the bone up with no problem.  Simply saying that in time it does / can get better.  I have no idea what her history was, she was on the streets when a couple took her in temporarily and I picked he up from them.

 

You've obviously triggered some past issues with him - and he's taking a step back to what he knows.  Since you know that, it's not all bad, it just means that you have to be very aware of what you're doing and what his reaction is.  Trying to take something from him is apt to bring on another round of "That's MINE!", so since you know it might you use the opportunity to teach him trust.  Again, Liv's comment about teaching him "drop it" (swapping a high value treat for something else) is a good start - but not when he's got something he really wants.  Work with him at home, swapping a toy (maybe?) for a treat.  Get him used to the idea that you're not just being greedy.  Also you might want to work on having your hands around his mouth - it's probably not going to be comfortable for either of you at first but as the mutual confidence level builds it'll get easier.  As Elyse said "Take it in baby steps" and Toni said set him up to Achieve, not fail.