Please only serious answerers....?

Question

Our rot/lab mix has got us VERY upset and concerned. She has always, is, a great dog. She has always been very gentle and loving to our kids and all of the other dogs and whenever allowed under 100% supervision the other pets. Her best friend has always been our rabbit. Of course we NEVER left the two unsupervised. She receives routine grooming. Only the best of food. Daily training, attention, brushing and love. We have always given her a daily vitamin. She is completly caught up on immunizations and she gets regular vet checks. She has a 100% clean bill of health from vet. Something has changed with her though. She is getting very aggressive. She broke out of my teenage sons hands today, off of her leash and killed our baby duck. The babies were nowhere near her. She ran a half an acre to get to them. She is also becoming VERY aggresive with the other dogs. We have 8 dogs total. They all receive the same attention and so on. She was our first pup though.

The dogs she was once best of friends with she is now starting fights with. We have always felt strongly about keeping all of the other pets away from the dogs just to be on the safe side but we are worried sick to even have her within sight distance of anybody else now. Her behavior as far as we can pin point started changing when we brought in our American Bull Dog. Our ABD was a rescue from a fighting past but has always been very submissive to our rot "Faith". Hence my screen name. We always treat Faith as the Alpha. She eats first. Gets more attention. Gets her treats first and so on. We respect the order of dogs and her being the alpha. Our St. Bernard has attempted on many of occasions to be her friend and all she does is attack him. Our Lab mix who was our second dog is terrified of her now and she use to be Faiths baby. We will not give up on her but does anybody know what is going on or can you give us an idea? We can no longer let her run free in the yard without a fight.

She has also started growling at the kids and nipped at them a couple of times. It never seems as though she wants to hurt them but still I can no longer allow my younger kids to be around her for fear of their safety. What do we do?

Faith is 14 months old. Her behavior started when she was 12 months of age. Almost to the date of her first birthday.

She is a female and has been fixed. She was our first rescue from the pound at the age of 16 weeks. They had not gotten her fixed yet so as soon as the vet gave us the ok we got her fixed. We also had started her shots over from the beginnning at that time considering the vets concern that she had been at the pound and had yet to be fixed. So in short we know for a fact that she has had all shots and is current and has been fixed because our vet had done it. BTW all of the answerers below so far....... THANK YOU!!! Excellent advice!! I have already checked out the web site links and have done some thorough investigating into what has been said. Thank you

To PitBull below... I have checked out Caesar Milan's web site and WOW!! I have already established one of our biggest problems. Thank you for referring us to him!! To all other answerers thank you again for the GREAT advice!! I have already spent a day looking into alot of the advice and cannot thank you enough for your insight. It will be IMPOSSIBLE to pick a best answerer. A couple of things I would like to add though is that although I appreciate the concern to the answerer below I would never give up on our pup. Secondly I do not like it when people try to classify all rots into evil dogs. To another answerer below. But I do appreciate all advice and thank everybody. PitBull again we thank you.

Answer 1

You did not say how old this dog is. It's not unusual, especially for guarding or hunting breeds, for their natural instincts to "kick in" when they reach a certain age, usually around the age of one year to 18 months for larger dogs. It's also at this age that many dogs will begin to try and assert their dominance over other dogs, and eventually, over human household members. Dominant behavior and killing small animals is NOT the same and is NOT related, even though it might show up at the same time. Killing the baby duck is an example of prey drive, which is very high in both Rotts and Labs. Firm and consistent obedience training and calm dominance over the dog will at least help with, if not totally eliminate, both issues. In male dogs, dominance issues can often be alleviated by neutering as their testosterone levels drop, but this is not the case with females. I'd suggest buying Caesar Milan's book on training dog owners and rehabilitating dogs; his techniques really DO work, and they are especially useful for someone with a large, powerful working/hunting dog.

Answer 2

I am so very sorry about the baby duck. Your rot/lab has a problem and is crying out to you the only way she knows how. Imagine if you were stranded on a planet of bears, how would you communicate?

As one wise person here has already suggested, I would first take her to the vet for a thorough checkup, maybe even have a dental cleaning done so they can inspect her mouth while under anesthesia - unless her clean bill of health from the vet was very recent.

If no physical problem is found, you might contact an animal communicator. I have used two in the past. I can vouch for both and send you their contact info if you email me privately. You need insight into what the problem is because your dog is doing an extreme job of 'acting out,' I am sure you want it resolved before another heartache occurs.

You sound like a very caring and responsible person. May I suggest that until you get the problem resolved that someone stronger than your teenager walk her (an adult)? Or perhaps take her to somewhere that is fenced and safe so that she can play and run?

Please let us know how things go. This is a perplexing problem.

Answer 3

Rots are naturally aggressive dogs despite what some people on here may say. Our neigh boor had a pure rotty pup that was so sweet and kind to everyone she met. She would run up to people and give them the rotty smile (scary though if you didn't know her) A couple years later my cousins were over with their dogs. They had a golden retriever and another husky cross. One day Darma (the rotty) came over to our side and attacked roxy (the retriever) just out of the blue. They had always gotten along before that. Roxy required some stiches and it was really upsetting to everyone. Although in some cases I do believe it is the people who train the animal who are responsible for the outcome however tom and bell (darmas owners) were VERY firm with them and everytime she got yelled at (she never got hit) she would just stand there very submissive with her head close to the ground. I think that seeing an obedience trainer could be worth looking into but rottys have more of an agressive side (same as pittbulls and some other breeds of dogs) and sometimes they just cannot be trained out of it, which is why they are banned in some places in the united states. Perhaps she needs a home with no young children and to be the only pet. Or you could just buy her a muzzle but its only the quick fix...your not dealing with the actual problem you are just eliminating the fights.

Answer 4

I agree with several of the answers, but especially with PitBullLady's answer. I believe that, because you're treating Faith like Alpha dog, she is just acting the part that you have bestowed upon her. By virtue of the fact that you feed her first and treat her with more attention, you have told her she has the right to take charge. And that she is doing. I think you need to even back out the pack and make all the dogs equal and make YOU the Alpha dog. That is done, as PitBullLady suggested, by reading Cesar Milan's book. He is a natural genius at correcting dogs' behaviors. Just remember, this corrective behavior will not happen overnight. It is going to take a lot of long, drawn-out time and patience and diligence and routine. When I first started training a completely out of control rescue Akita, I found a great trainer who had the gift like Cesar Milan. This dog had to have three private lessons a day, repeating the same thing over, and over, and over, and over again. Then, after 4 months of this same routine, she was finally allowed into group sessions of once a week in addition to the three private sessions a day. This went on for another 4 months. Retraining is not easy, but it's worth it. By the time our training was done, that Akita was an angel. Good luck!

Answer 5

Hon, my friend had a husky who was the best also, never would hurt a fly. They have a 3 year old and they noticed that the husky was getting agressive and she was catching squirrels and agressively shredding them apart and she was even becoming aggressive with the other dog over food. They had to give her up because they were worried that she would start acting that way with the baby.

I know it may be a hard decision, but you may have to find a home with no other pets and no kids where she can get all the attention, just for the sake and safety of you children and other pets.

I know you have tried your best in raising this dog. I believe that the "dangerous breeds" such as rots are trained to become the "danger" that they become, they are not born like that, and it upsets me that they are banning all these breeds because of some ignorant *** people. But, if the dog had never been trained to "attack" or be agressive, you may be in the beginning of a rough time with him/her. I feel bad for the situation. My husband had rots growing up and he never had anything like this, and it could be this dog's genetics. good luck

Answer 6

This is unusual for a dog to become aggressive all at once??
I would be very careful not to let this dog alone with your other dogs unsupervised.
Dogs usually will do this when there is something wrong with them. They feel bad, they hurt some where? Had a bad experience? Since you have had this dog since a puppy you should know this dog inside out.
What seems different other than the aggressive behavior??
Has the dog had any new situations to deal with??
Could the dog have arthritis this could cause the dog to be not herself?
Could the dog be in pain and you just do not know about it??
Is this dog the oldest? She could be getting where she just does not want to tolerate other animals getting the attention she once had all by herself?
Just a few thoughts!

Answer 7

Good grief this is very unusual and upsetting - sudden behavioural changes are unusual, particularly from dogs who were previously best friends with a bunny!

Is the dog spayed? I'm guessing yes as you have 8, but thought I'd check as it's worth getting done if not.

Did you discuss these problems with the vet? They're usually happy to advise on behavioural problems, and should certainly be able to give you the number of a reputable behaviourist who can actually help, as opposed to some of the quacks out there.

I would definitely seek the assistance of a behaviourist, since this doesn't seem to be a behaviour of obvious origin. Go with a recommendation so you know what you're getting. Even if it is 'simple' jealousy (unusual to suddenly arise) you're best getting professional advice on how to correct it. I think it'd be worth the money.

Good luck, hope you get to the bottom of this

Chalice

ADDITION: Ah - info that will be of use to a behaviourist is starting to come out! So you know about pack orders and alpha males etc - from what I understand about this tho, it's YOU who need to establish yourself as the alpha dog - you're part of the pack and need the others to behave as YOU say. If you have an alpha dog already, it's going to be hard for you to usurp this position.

Answer 8

Although you mentioned she was your first of the 8 dogs, you didn't mention how old she was, or if she was spayed or not. If not, that may be part of the problem. Dogs are pack animals, and as such, being the first dog, she is the alpha female. As the other dogs mature, she will show her place in the hierarchy, usually with more aggressive behaviour toward them, and do things she normally wouldn't have done in the past. This is very common behaviour as dogs get older, and try to show their authority, and will probably only get worse. You may have to take her to a dog behaviourist, or obedience classes to find out how you can handle the situation before it gets out of hand. Good luck.

Answer 9

It is advisable that at the onset of any sign of aggression, all possible medical causes are ruled out. BEFORE you consult a trainer.

If an injury, disease or genetic congenital defect, is deemed the cause of the dog's mood swings or aggression, then no training will be effective until the problem has been resolved or controlled.

There are many conditions that can cause unusual or aggressive behavior in dogs. Anything from problems with teeth and eyesight to joint pain.

If the temperament problem is genetic in nature, then the likelihood that the animal can be completely cured of the aggression is minimal. The treatment would then concentrate on the "management" of the behavior rather than an absolute cure.
http://www.k9aggression.com/Aggression-Treatment/medical_issues.html

Answer 10

The first thing I'd check is thyroid function (especially given the predilection for Rotties for hypothyroidism). Dr. Jean Dodds is involved in a study right now linking underactive thyroid with aggressive behavior in dogs and whenever anyone mentions "aggression" and "Rottie" in the same sentence, that's the first thing that comes to my mind. Are there any other symptoms, such as hair loss, weight gain, etc.? All it takes is a simple blood test to rule it out - and if all it is, is a hormone deficiency, two pills a day and you'll have your old sweet girl back again.

Good luck!