My dog put me in hospital

Oh, Linda,

What a horrible thing to have happen! I hope your hand is OK now.

Who is "EVERYONE"?

Have you taken your dog to the vet to make sure he is healthy and physically sound? Is it possible he has some physical problem that is aggravated that 1 time out of 10 that he attacks?

If you have already done this, I have some other suggestions, but seeing the vet is number one.

Please let us know how you are doing,
kjd

Linda,

I'm no vet, but can a blood test show that a dog has a mal-aligned spine or hip displasia? Has your vet x-rayed?

kjd

Linda,

This does not sound good at all!

There are two things you must keep in mind:

#1 [B]This is not your fault![/B]
You didn't make him into the dog he is.

#2 At what point will you be able to say "Enough is enough" and put him down?
You indicate you are the carer of your husband. What would you do if the dog attacked your husband? If he attacked a neighborhood child? If he slashed your face? Since you just asked about the dog, I am assuming the aggression has gotten worse over the years.

It is important for you to know the answer to that second question. My sister-in-law finally had to euthanize a dog she'd raised from a pup. It had always had a bad temperament, but when it deliberately bit her (though no blood was drawn), that was the point for her. She was in tears for weeks, but she knew she had done the right thing.

"Deliberate" is a word you have to define. I was deliberately bitten, and very badly, by a Great Dane. But the Dane, unknown to me, had been taken from an abusive situation. She thought I was about to strike and defended herself. I wouldn't even tell the people in the emergency room what kind of dog it was until they told me dogs can bite trainers and vets. It is assumed they do things that might cause good dogs to bite them so those bites don't count! (I was the assistant trainer in that class.)

Unfortunately, from what you say, your dog is deliberately biting you. The worst part is, you don't know when he will do it and when he'll let you have the object. This sounds to me like a bad temperament steadily getting worse.

Perhaps you can find someone like Cesar Milan, who insists he has never met a dog he cannot help.

Someone else on the forum may be able to give you some good suggestions. The only thing I can add to this is, if the dogs aren't neutered, neuter them.

I'm sorry I cannot give you an answer, Linda. Please keep #1 in mind and consider #2.

kjd

Sorry to hear about your problems, I've been in your exact situation. After one of my dogs got progressively worse (he had always been mildly aggressive) as he got older. He savaged my husband for no reason whatsoever. Our vet told us based on our dog's history and our description of the attack that it was probably senility setting in. There is treatment for it but the only way to know the meds aren't working is if he bites again. With a then 1 1/2 year old son I wasn't able to take the chance of another attack.

Sounds like you've tried everything, including a behaviorist. It's hard to make the choice to euthanize but sometimes, when you've tried everything else, you may have to. Best of luck with your pup. I'll be thinking of you! Let us know how you all are doing.

Hi Max hollynoah
Thanks for your reply
Yes my dog does only get aggressive when he is guarding something, the rest of the time he is very loving, he just wants to be made a fuss of, he sits's with me and love's to be told he is a good boy, he will do things like give me his paw and will go into down when i tell him so that I will tell him he is a good boy.
I blame myself for not training him properly so I am trying to do some alpha training with him hopefully this will make a difference.
I will not have him put to sleep until I have tryed everything I can, we don't have any children around so at least I dont have that worry, surely there must be something that will work.
Linda

Linda,

I truly hope Max is right and that you can solve your problem. It does sound as if there might be light at the end of your tunnel!

One suggestion: keep a journal of what you are doing and how well it works. If you end up where you want to be, take this journal to the experts and suggest they try that the next time someone comes to them with your problem. (Don't worry, they have seen this problem before and they will see it again.) That way, you may save the life of more than your own dog.

BTW, is it possible to know the name of your dog? It seems so cold to just call him "your dog" or "the dog."

Good luck -- I will be following your journey,
kjd

Hi Linda,

I found out that you had this problem with Cisco for quite a long time. I read your past posts again and I realized that I replied to you in Feb, March and July in 2009. Cisco's problem seems to be always the same issue - resource guarding aggression.

Have you done any of the trainings or corrections that were suggested by people including myself since Feb? If you have, have you noticed any changes in Cisco's behaviors?

You really need to be determined and consistant if you want to correct Cisco's aggression. It will take a lot of time since he was allowed to act like that for 4 years! That is a long time! It might take a good year or two to fix it and you and your husband (and any other people who interact with Cisco) need to make a commitment, otherwise he might be euthanized once he bites and draws blood of someone outside of your family, just like I wrote in my previous post.

Please take this really seriously. If you need more structured training programs the moderators of this forum will give you some but for now please revisit your past posts and our replies and let us know what you have done and how Cisco has changed. I really want to help you but it has to be YOU who needs to make the change in Cisco's behavior. Good luck

Hi, Linda,

I am not really too surprised the behavioralist blamed your problem on fear aggression. I suspect this is a popular diagnosis, since most people do not see fear as a cause of aggression.

[B]MaxNoahHolly is the one who has given you the best advice in this thread.[/B] I think you should follow what this person has told you.

From your previous posts, Cisco has become consistently more aggressive as 2009 wore on. The only successes you have had are temporary -- lots of exercise and trading treats.

[U]Lots of exercise:[/U] you have a springer and he is going to need lots of exercise. As one poster suggested, hire a teenager to walk him. But you walk him at least once a day.

[U]Trading treats:[/U] this is only a method for teaching a dog the "drop it" and "leave it" commands! It is not supposed to be a ploy for getting something back. By bribing Cisco, you were successful for a time, but, like any thief, once he knows you value it, he is upping the ante. Re-read what Max told you earlier in this thread and remove all the objects of contention. Max has some excellent instructions in the thread "Aggression with Bone" you might want to implement. Also re-visit Becks "protocol for possessive behavior" she sent you back in February. You are teaching "drop it" and "leave it" with items Cisco doesn't really care about.

[U]Rules:[/U] MaggiesMom suggested you come up with a list of rules you and your husband would enforce with the dogs. Do it! If you've ever watched the Victoria Stillwell or Cesar Milan shows, you will have noticed that all members of the household have to be consistent in the rules.

Linda, note the progression of your own posts: from minor worries, to being referred to specialists to being told euthanasia is the only answer. [B][I]If you don't do something, the authorities will euthanize Cisco [/I][/B]because he has bitten someone.

There is nothing new in my post. I have only summarized what advice others have given you. It is great advice. But it requires determination and consistency on your part. And part of that consistency is not stopping as soon as you feel you have a system to trick Cisco. It means continuing until he is rock solid in "leave it" and "drop it."

If your going to the hospital isn't scary enough; if the threat of a judge ordering Cisco destroyed isn't reason enough, let me give you another scenario: Cisco picks up an object (a box of rat poison, for example) that will kill him if he continues to keep it. This is going to be vitally important to you. Right now, Cisco would never give it back to you. Do you want to frantically throw treats as he gnaws on the poison -- watch him die in front of your eyes?

Please put these suggestions that have been given you into practice. Then let us know how Cisco is progressing.

kjd

Hi Maxhollynoah
Thankyou for your help, I really appreciate it & take it VERY seriously. I know I must do this training or lose cisco.
I am doing obedience training with Cisco now, Sit, stay, down etc. My problem teaching drop it and then giving him a treat is as soon as he see's I have a treat in my hand when he has something is that he attack's me as soon as he see's the treat, is there any other way to teach it.
The past 2 days I have been feeding Cisco straight after we have eaten, It is usually when I am eating or on the phone he steals things. Both yesterday and today he found something to take while we were eating, I completly ignored him and he kept trying to get my attention by whining, then when i fed him he left the item away from his bowl so I was able to pick up the object without him seeing me. Is this ok or am I still tricking him, I want to get this right.
Also should I bring in all all the alpha training rules at once or add more slowly.

Thankyou again for taking the time to help me.
Linda

Hi Linda,

It has been only 10 days but I am wondering how things are going with you and Cisco. Do you see any sign of changes in his behavior?

Are you trying to keep things away from his reach?

Let us know if there is anything we can help you with.

Take care.