Aggressive dog, looking for advice and views on the situation.

Frankenstein!

I typed this post as my dog was at the vets getting stitches after being attacked by the family dog. I’d like to hear peoples views on the situation that surrounds the family dog. I’ll just note that our dogs are not allowed outside unaccompanied, though on the rare occasion get out for a few seconds/minute if someone forgetfully leaves the front door open. They can generally move around the house as much as they want, as well as having a reasonably large back garden. They are also walked for about sixty to ninety minutes most days where they can run and explore as much as they like.

The dog is a small breed terrier cross, roughly six years old. She has arthritis (I believe caused by a neighbour hitting off her at a slow speed in our estate years ago), and has been gradually losing vision (probably hereditary) for a few years to the extent where she’ll bark at shadows or my family (at night time if the lights are dim, she’ll also get aggressive if anyone enters a bedroom she’s in). She also has pancreatitis and is on a ‘special diet’, though it ‘flares’ up occasionally.

She is vicious, likely due to her deteriorating ailments, and she regularly attacks our other family dog (a much larger breed weighing at forty kilograms). The larger dog sniffs the smaller dogs tail in an attempt to get her to play, and then she’ll be warded off by the attacks of the smaller dog. Due to the repetition of incidences such as this the larger dog is covered in cuts and scars that are clearly visible, and don’t seem to heal (she’s a regular at our Veterinary clinic at this stage, thank fuck for pet insurance). Luckily the larger dog who is very playful, yet extremely gentle and sensitive, hasn’t adapted any of the aggressive mannerisms that she’s been exposed to by the other dog all her life. The smaller dog never attacks other dogs while out on walks and is definitely at peace while at the beach or in the woods, it’s her behaviour in the home that is dangerous and has caused most of the family anxious feelings over the past few years

The small dog attacks family members regularly (usually in short three second bursts, though still often longer), and occasionally people who come into the home. The most recent would have been yesterday, the small dog was sitting on the stairs (when she’s there only two people in the family can call her to move as she’d very rarely go for them) and my sisters partner tried to go downstairs, as he moved closer towards her she attacked the persons feet twice in three second flurries of what would have been an uncalled for defensive reaction from the dog. This happens everyday, she always blocks the stairs and regularly attacks when someone tries to move past. A few months ago, while my brother dropped his guard, and went to pet the dog and leaned his face towards her (sitting on the couch) he was bitten leaving a scratch under his eye and a bad gash on his ear lobe (there was a lot of blood pour, the floor was covered in red). The shock had him believing she’d bitten his eye for a minute or two. Another incident happened a few weeks ago when there was a man fixing an appliance in the house and she bit him when he tried to pet her, it left a ‘puncture’ wound.

I believe the dog must be ‘put to sleep’, but my aul’ lad won’t just accept this and instead consistently makes excuses relating to the dogs ailments. I’m of the belief that if a dog is aggressive and vicious then they cannot be kept. We also have two young nieces that are in the house for several hours every weekday, and the thoughts of the dog getting into the same room as them terrifies us all (which has never happened as she’s kept in the back garden/kitchen during these times). Aside from the aggressiveness in the dog, I believe it to be wrong and immoral to keep a dog that is in such pain.

I'm wondering if my belief to have the dog put to sleep is a right or wrong action?

Thanks in advance, I appreciate on views or advice!

/my writing can become incoherent when I type this much, just to put that out there!

Whispered

Just wanted to say that your dog isn't really, genuinely, aggressive, just old and ailing and probably in pain.

Personally, I'd have her vet checked for further illnesses, or progression of her current illnesses, see if there is any pain medication she can be given to make her comfortable etc.

I would also limit her access to areas of the house. Like if you have guests, don't allow her on the stairs, when your young nieces visit, have to confined to one room that they can't access, things like that. I'd be less likely to have her on the couch if she's biting, so that she cannot get near peoples faces. If she's going blind, then there are some steps you can take that would make this easier for her, like speaking to her as you enter a room, not moving furniture around too much etc

Honestly, to me it sounds like she's lashing out due to pain or maybe fear/confusion. Really, the decision to have her PTS or not can't really be commented on, you and your family know best. I know for my dogs, I would prefer to manage behaviour if they were still getting some joy from life. This might not suit other families. Either way, be very very careful about encouraging someone to have their pet PTS, you could end up ruining your relationship if he caves, then blames you. It's not an easy thing to do.

Do you think there is any way the behaviour could be managed?

snoman

This sounds so stressful for you all! I don't really have a lot to offer but I do know that when I introduced my older rescue bitch to my younger dog she absolutely hated having him go anywhere near her rear end and would growl at/menace him till he backed off. Not nice to watch, but he did eventually stop. However if someone approaches her when we're in the park she will make it very plain that it's not cool. Not agressive, but firm!

It sounds as if your older dog could do with a space of it's own. My girl gets very anxious if threre are too many people in the house (she only has one eye and gets a bit dithered), I don't have a crate but threre is a space that I bring her to that makes her feel comfortable. Perhaps a crate would be the answer for you? The upside to crating would be that the dog would be comfortable to go in at times when there are so many people in the house, and would not feel frightened/threatened - whilst you'd have the comfort of knowing exactly where he is. You could ask people to ignore him when he's in the crate so that he can relax completely I don't know a lot about crate training at an advanced age but I think that something like that would be perfect for him? There are lots of posts in this forum that would help you.


From your description it seems that it's 3 second nipping is more of a warning to keep away, however - obviously - if that nipping happened to a child the results could be disasterous. It also sounds fearful, so maybe if the dog was more relaxed he would be less inclined to lunge. Again I think that crating would help with this.

I definitely think that you should take him back to the vet so that his pain/condition can be assessed. The decision to put a dog to sleep is not one that I've ever had to deal with and one that I'm not looking forward to, but I would imagine that it can only be made more difficult when there is more than one person involved.

I hope these thoughts are helpful, and very good luck in a really horrible situation.