[cigwyllt]

My friend and her husband have spent their lives surrounded by dogs of all sorts and now they have 4 children (age 9 - 19) and 4 dogs. They have medium mutt, two border terrier brothers and a Jack Russell cross rescue. The oldest mutt is castrated, the others are not.

The family moved house a month ago and most of the time my friend is at home on her own with the two boys and the dogs, the husband coming down for weekends, sometimes with the two girls.

Before they moved they were considering rehoming the JR cross. He has always been great with people, loves kids, but unpredictable with other dogs. In the house where they live now he is increasingly stressed and snappy with the oldest dog in particular. He also bullies the borders and they avoid confrontation with him wherever possible.

She has seen the vet and talked to her about his issues and although she wants to rehome him she has made an appointment for him to be neutered.

Tonight the whole family was home together and the 9 yr old was sitting on the floor playing with Barney. For no reason anyone could see he turned on him and bit him on the head, drawing blood.

I can't stress strongly enough that these kids are sensible, responsible dog loving kids. I have watched them interact with my dogs and I would trust them like I trust my own. They don't tease, they don't pester, they play.

Barney has never bitten anyone before, only fought with other dogs. I have seen his behaviour around my dogs and he is "strange" - after an introductory sniff he moved away and sat beside my friend then a few minutes later he rushed across the room and bit Bonzo - no provocation, nothing.

But while the aggression and even the bullying was only directed at dogs she was happy to keep him and look for a home for him but this has really shaken her. Aside from taking him to the vet tomorrow for a check up what can I advise her to do? Her daughter is heartbroken, not so much at parting from him but by the change in him.

Could it be that all the upheaval and the comings and goings have just pushed him over the edge? But if so how can she help him to relax and cope while she finds him a new home? And wouldn't that just make him worse?

[lange]

It sounds like it's medical since you say it's out of character. but then his never being stable with other dogs makes you think it could be behavioral. The move could have triggered it if he feels dominant & insecure over the move. I realize some people don't think dogs can be dominant over people but I do. So with that in mind this is what I would do; I would separate him. I would only allow the person who he most respects & listens to to strongly re-bond with him be in charge of his daily duties (feeding, potty, walks..) I would also tighten ship and work nilif every day. Leash him when in the house to the person. Anyone the dog doesn't completely listen to needs to step out of taking care of him & ignore him.

I would think the rigidity & routine would help re-establish the dogs role of the pecking order and create security and certainty in his life (less reason for him to be on edge) or get over stimulated with. I'd also give less affection unless the person purposely starts and shortly ends it before he want's too end it. Same with games toys, walks, ect. He may be very insecure right now so it should help him relax. And anything that excites him needs to be stopped.

I hope your friend & fam get some answers. Let us know what they find out?

[Lunareclipse]

I would make a vet visit to see if anything is physically wrong. I'd also have ex-rays to make sure there isn't a tumor in the brain.

Question: She had her dog castrated??? Castration can be dangerous.

[threenorns]

tell your friend that if the only reason she is getting him neutered is to calm him down and reduce his aggression, it's not going to work. she'll just have a neutered dog with issues.

just because nobody saw the trigger doesn't mean it wasn't there. humans, let's face it: we're gibbering apes. we SCREAM on all bandwidths.

a human parent would look at their child and say "why did you do that? i don't like that! never do that again! you're grounded for a week!"

a dog parent gets the exact same message across with a sideways flick of the eyes, a slight stiffening of the body, the merest lifting of the fur on the back, maybe a subtle flutter of the lips and if the pup is being especially obnoxious, it's a quick nip or being bowled onto its back.

your dog in question could be feeling that the entire household is in chaos and out of control - if the oldest dog (presumably up to now the dominant one) isn't going to get everybody back in line, then someone's got to do the job.

when it comes to the child, he was "playing" with the dog - was the dog aware of that? he could've been giving signals to the child that he didn't want to play but the child didn't recognize them or maybe ignored them so the dog escalated the message.

that's happened to someone else i know: she was rubbing her dog behind the ears and he kept pulling away. she would laugh and say "oh, come back here! you're not getting away that easy, you silly boy!" and keep rubbing behind his ears and ruffling the top of his head. when she grabbed both ears and pulled him to her face for "kissies" (a habit they had) he nipped her on the lower part of her cheek, drawing blood. she took him to the vet to be put down and the vet discovered the dog had a massive ear infection.

(the dog was a rough collie and she'd been told that over a certain age, they suddenly "snap" and go mental and vicious for no reason)

[CorkyMax]

quote: she took him to the vet to be put down and the vet discovered the dog had a massive ear infection.

(the dog was a rough collie and she'd been told that over a certain age, they suddenly "snap" and go mental and vicious for no reason)
Hey I hope there was a good ending to this and they didn't put the dog down?!! At least this was one vet who was on the ball!

[threenorns]

oh, sorry, lol - yeah, absolutely the vet refused to put the dog down.

well, i guess not 100% happy: she felt so guilty about the whole thing the dog ended up more spoiled than ever.

[CorkyMax]

Ha! HA! Good for the dog!! Being spoiled I mean. But that could of been such a sad thing if that vet wasn't on his toes!

[cigwyllt]

My friend still has Barney. She has spoken to all the local rescues and no one will have him because he is not good with other dogs. I am beginning to understand (although not agree with) those people who dump their dogs on the Rescue's doorstep.

Also it clearly shows the need for experienced foster carers who will take on a dog like Barney and assess him while a home is found. Wish I could do more to help :-(

[NYCpethound]

Originally Posted by cigwyllt

My friend still has Barney. She has spoken to all the local rescues and no one will have him because he is not good with other dogs thenycpack.com. I am beginning to understand (although not agree with) those people who dump their dogs on the Rescue's doorstep.

Also it clearly shows the need for experienced foster carers who will take on a dog like Barney and assess him while a home is found. Wish I could do more to help :-(

I've dealt with a fair amount of foster orgs. in the NYC tri-state area and I must say that it truly is amazing to see how many willing and loving animal-lovers there are who are very gung-ho about rehoming and training troubled dogs. The problem is that while these folks are very vivacious at the start...usually what happens is a few months down the line they'd call us back and try to 'indian give' the dog back to us.

It's kind of akin to a young person who keeps going back to jail over and over again. Oftentimes we'll see the same dogs go in and out of different shelters. it's a vicious circle, especially if they have kind of quirky or unexplainable 'situational' behavior problems like your dog. It's a shame!

[threenorns]

i still feel there's more going on than is apparent.

how did they end up with the dog? was *everybody* in the home happy and willing to take on an extra dog? if even one person is resentful that the dog is there, it's enough to poison the mix.

[cigwyllt]

She took the dog because he needed a home and they had the space and time to give him. He has bitten her twice over past week when she has broken up fights between him and another one of the pack. Last week we finally found someone who was willing/able to help.

My husband and I spent the day with her last week and it was clear that B is not comfortable in the dynamics of the family. He spent a while sitting on my lap while I fussed him and he was quite relaxed- until one of the other dogs moved and he was muscling in and grumbling at them.

She has been put in touch with someone who specialises in rehabilitating difficult terriers. I have heard of this lady before and have a lot of respect for her. She has no room for him this week but she will take him and rehome him in next week or so.

[threenorns]

oh, that's good news - unfortunately, too many ppl think the way to deal with a troubled dog is to put it down instead of finding someone who can give it the help it needs.

good thing we dont' have the same attitude toward kids, eh?