I just adopted a dog ("Bubba")from a no-kill shelter, where he has lived for most of his life. He lived outside, in a chain link kennel about 10 by 10 ft - there were a *lot* of other dogs and cats, and he got along with all of them, but he hasn't been around a lot of people so he was a little shy when I met him. When he was 4 monthes old, his owners had to give him up because he was getting too big. He's now 1 1/2 yrs old and 80 lbs - his mother was a yellow lab and we think his father must have been a catahoula cur. He's a bit larger than I was looking for, but he's sweet and actually very calm and laid back most of the time (I live in an apartment), and he's still playful when I want him to be.

He's become very attached to me of course in the last 4 days since I took him home with me, and actually isn't displaying bad separation anxiety when I leave the apartment - he wants to go with me, but hasn't torn anything up, or pee'd or pooped anywhere while I was gone - it's almost like he's been housetrained.

He's met a lot of people at my apartment complex and my parents as well, and actually spent all day outdoors with me and my parents on the first full day I had him (Saturday). He's been fine with all of them, until yesterday, he started growling at my dad for no apparent reason. I've seen him growl and bark at other people, but he always stops whenever they get up close (then he wags his tail and pulls his ears back). Why would he suddenly be so overly protective of me? We had to keep him outside in my parent's back yard all day yesterday, but I was with him 90% of the time - I was working on my truck. Of course, whenever I went inside, he would howl and bark to get inside (it happened a lot yesterday). I've heard the way to handle that is just to ignore it, and eventually he will stop. My parents have an older american eskimo (male) and he's still scared of the new larger dog, so we've been keeping Bubba outside most of the time when we're at my parent's house. It got so bad last night that Bubba was jumping up on the back door and barking (aggressively) at my mother through the window in the back door! Of course, my parents are both starting to get scared of him now (they're in their 70's).

What can I do to stop this behavior? He also tried to attack another dog at my apartment complex today (I had him on a leash) for no apparent reason. The other dog was a smaller shepherd mix and was acting a little shy - maybe he sensed it? I really need to get his growling and aggressive barking under control, especially at my parents! Thanks very much for any advice or input at all...

Im assuming that he, given where he came from is neutered? If not, that would be a starting point.

I would encourage you to consider going to obedience classes, starting at the basics, this is going to help with initial training, and also some re socialization in an environment that might be a bit more forgiving if he does get a bit grumpy at the other dogs (a good obedince school/ trainier will help you to correct this behaviour not criticize you for it)

We had a girl with a dog that was a rescue animal at obedience school last year, and her dog also showed signs of aggression towards other ppl and other dogs, our trainer made us aware of this and actually trained the whole class around this dear dog and as time went by she got used to all of us ppl and all of our dogs, it wasnt the ultimate result, but she learned at least some manners and tolerance.

Sorry I cant give you more than that, i have not experienced first hand what you are going through, so i can only present you with examples of others that I know that have gone through similar situations.

good luck, and keep posting on your progress, hopefully somone with more experience than me in this instance might pick up your questions and give a deeper insite.

Thanks for your quick reply. I'm actually going to see a dog behavior expert today to see about the possibility of training him (and myself) out of the bad behavior. The rescue organization is willing to pay for it ($350!), so I can't complain, but it may take a while, and where I live there are people and other dogs everywhere, so I'm not sure if I'm willing to go through with it - he has tried to attack a couple of people since my first post, one time in front of my apartment manager! One or two more times with people in my apartment complex and they'll kick me or him out. The behaviorist says he's just trying to scare people off, because now that he has bonded with me he doesn't want anyone else to get between us (he's not actually trying to hurt anyone, just scare them off). Thanks again for the advice