Sudden aggression towards guest

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LapuLapu
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Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by LapuLapu »

Forgive me if this gets long but this just happened and its has us all shaken up

We rescued Norton from a shelter two years ago. The only information they knew about him is that he was hit by a car and he was about two years old. For the first year and half he didn't show any signs of aggression towards anyone. One day he started to get leash aggressive towards a dog he'd play with frequently at the dog park. After a couple of random bouts of aggression while on the leash we figured he had a leash aggression problem. Blind rage, snapping, growling, showing teeth.

Two days ago my brother and mother came to visit us. Norton has been around my brother multiple times but this was the first time they came to visit us in our new house. Norton generally loves my brother. Takes treats from him, approaches him with happiness, looks for affection from him. But the first night my brother when to the bathroom during the night, waking up Norton, to which Norton growled at him. Normal I thought, it was dark and he was asleep. The second day my brother tried to hug Norton trying to play with him and Norton snapped at him. My brother backed off but moments later Norton came into the guest bedroom where my brother's air mattress was set up and jumped on it. My brother reached for Norton to remove him off the bed and Norton snapped at him.

Tonight after dinner, I was playing a game with Norton where I have him walk around my body as I am laying down to get a treat. After playing for a minute or two, I let him have the treat. Immediately after eating the treat Norton made eye contact with my brother and got into a blind rage. Snapping, growling, gnashing teeth and attack stance. After a brief moment Norton lunged after my brother, I pulled Norton off before he could bite my brother but separating them for a second Norton again lunged after my brother and successfully bit him. I removed Norton from the room. After checking up on my brother for a couple minutes I went to check on Norton. He seemed confused or even a bit remorseful. As I leashed him and led him to the front porch he seemed to have a very confused, nervous, and displaced energy. Checking up on him a little bit afterwards he seemed normal and while our walk he seemed fine.

Some other random info is that we are dog sitting a dog he knows and plays with. But since she eats Norton's food, he's eating schedule has been thrown off, usually we just leave the bowl out for him as he only eats when he is hungry. After the attack, I gave him his food as he waited outside, he left it untouched until me and my wife went outside to check on him. He often waits to eat food until we are get home. But he's never been resource aggressive with food, treats or water. Also he just got a clean bill of health from the vet.

If anyone would like more info I'd be more than happy to provide it. My wife and I are really worried. The attack seemed so random and unprovoked. Any information or advice would be greatly appreciated.

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wokman
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Re: Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by wokman »

Maybe Norton associates your Brother with the guest dog and his missing food. The new surroundings and these other events are confusing him. It is not unusual for a dog to change its opinion of another dog. A change in scent of one dog, brought on by the season could bring out aggression in Norton. If he shows aggression towards more people and dogs tell your Veterinarian. Maybe being hit by the car caused a delayed response to neurological injury. :?
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Merlin
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Re: Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by Merlin »

leash we figured he had a leash aggression problem. Blind rage, snapping, growling, showing teeth.
- because he can or somewhere in your relationship with him, he feels he should. What did you do when he did this to the other dog?

There is no such thing as "unprovoked" or "random" aggression. You need to understand this entirely.

It sounds like your brother probably crossed a sacred threshold when he woke him up in "his" space. ( in the eyes of your dog). Does your dog always sleep in that room??

As far as your chow purposely hunting down your brother ( that's what you are making it sound like), there could be many reasons for this.

- Your brother could have come into contact with an un-neutered male
- your brother could be sick and the dog smells it and wants him out of the pack,
- your brother could be very hormonal, and again is inciting your chow. ( and if this one is the case, then you are less in charge of your dog than you think you are)


A clean bill of health is only as good as what the vet looks for if nothing obvious is present. Often, the unusual appearance aggression could be the result of physical health issue, such as , or thyroid disease ( you need a blood test for that), - in fact, if you just had a rabies shot done, it has been proven that a side effect of this vaccination is aggression. but based on what you are saying, I don't feel it is.

Your brother is simply another catalyst in your chow's behaviour.

I think this chow is possibly being allowed to get away with behaviour that has been escalating over time that you either didn't notice, didn't correct or diffuse properly or have even possibly perpetuated just through kindness. People forget that chows are guard dogs. That was their purpose of origin and deep in those genetics lie the original character of a very ancient breed of dog.

Always go back to basics when you have a temperament problem. Always. No matter what.

Get this dog back into a school scenario with an instructor / individual who can properly show you how to correct effectively him when he displays aggression towards anything and anyone. This person would also be able to observe you together with your chow and point out any activities which lend themselves to confuse the dog as well. This person would also be able to help you understand how to predict possible aggression scenarios that may present themselves to you and the chow, and how to avoid them.

In the meantime, aggressive dogs, or dogs who display aggression should never be hand fed food or treats because in their eyes they see you as submissive, and that's ALL they see. ( trust me on this one) - they often remain in a state of flux over who is controlling whom. There are many types of dogs that don't respond favourably to the traditional treat-training method, in fact, if he's latent aggressive, the "treating" could have even helped trigger his aggressive response towards people or towards other dogs, so please consider stopping this.
You can reward your dog with a "mark" ( a thumbs-up) or a click... something like that, but avoid the food.
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LapuLapu
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Re: Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by LapuLapu »

Thank you for both of your responses.

We always removed him from the situation when he becomes aggressive. We were hoping to start awarding him when he is introduced to dogs on the leash, as recommended by a couple of dog professionals we know.

Yes, Norton always sleeps in the hallway.

We are starting to look into a behaviorist.
Rory's Dad
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Re: Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by Rory's Dad »

After reading this post, all i think is that there is a lot going on. Maybe too much for the dog to properly adapt to...new home, guest pet, human guests, etc.

Leash aggression can sometimes come from the other end of the leash. Hold the dog back and he senses something is wrong and he should protect. If you use a loose hold on the leash and let the dogs meet and greet, its usually pretty smooth.

Your brother 'shooing' him off the air mattress becomes a territory battle. This continued into the treat episode.

Mentioning that the dog seemed confused seems appropriate. His response is not. Separation is not going to cure the problem, it just delays it. Dog is still trying to protect his property and home from something he views as a threat. Logical or not, he sees it that way, and by separating him, it is just delaying his ability to solve the problem his way. He needs to have reassurance, from his pack leader, that there is no issue.

I agree with Merlin. You need to get some outside assistance. We only get brief blurbs on the forum, but an actual observance would make sense. Since so much time has passed without real issues, take a look at your responses to how the dog is responding. He is not peeing on a rug or chewing on a slipper. A time out is not going to address his perception that he needs to defend his home.
LapuLapu
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Re: Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by LapuLapu »

I truly appreciate the response. We are currently talking to a professional we know and who is going to help us. In hindsight I regret calling the event random and unprovoked, I know that aggression isn't something that is random. I was just an emotional response to the situation.

Other than removing Norton from the situation, how could I've better handled the situation?

Also some other info that might give a fuller picture, is that we've had 5 guest with pets stay with us over the last 3 weeks or so without an incident. Also other guest have stayed with us over the course of a half a dozen or so months we've been in our new home.
Rory's Dad
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Re: Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by Rory's Dad »

Since the original post mentioned that your brother had been around Norton several times before, i would suggest that they try to 'mend fences'. It really seems that it was a territory issue. Dogs sometimes find a spot that they feel should be their's regardless of where they spend their normal time. The air mattress could have been that spot or being woken up unexpectedly the prior night was the trigger. Hard to say for sure, but clearly the dog was not in his comfort zone in either situation.

It may have simply been a combination of events as well. Other dog guests may not have triggered a food aggession or a threat to Norton's position in the household.

I would recommend a neutral site to let the two of them sort it out...have your brother approach outside the home. See how they do. If all goes well, have him walk the dog home and let him back in. Have him reward Norton for a nice walk.

It's all good in hindsight, and you have to react to the situation at hand, so dont worry so much about what has happened, rather work towards resolving the issue. My thoughts may be absolutely useless in the end, but you can think on the situation and what may have started it all. Sounds like Norton doesnt have any deep issues and just needs to get past whatever was upsetting him.
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Victory
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Re: Sudden aggression towards guest

Post by Victory »

You state that when he was young he was hit by a car and was injured. Dogs hit by cars sometimes suffer closed head brain injuries just like a person can. These injuries are often times missed, but can result especially later in life in seemingly unprovoked aggression. I would have him examined for brain injury, it sometimes shows up just like it can in humans.

Sometimes a really good behaviorialist can see the signs of brain abnormalities as well.
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