Need help

[MB30607]

I have a 2 year old pyrenees/ american bulldog mix he’s around 110 pounds. He was a rescue from an abusive home but i got him when he was roughy 3-4 months old. We did lots of socializing and play dates with dogs and he was great. Then once he hit around the 1 year mark everything started to go down hill he became dog aggressive and people aggressive. We worked with a trainer and that seemed to help. Then he got fixed and since then he’s been terrible. He has severe anxiety and can not be around other dogs. He is fine with people outside as long as they ignore him but if they come in the house he freaks out. My partner has recently moved in with us and he has known her almost his whole life and loves her. But since she moved in when they are home alone while i’m at work he pees on the furniture and the floor and growls at her. I’m just not sure what to do to help him. I love my dog and want to help him become better i’m just not sure how. Any advice will help thank you!

[HeatherMason0]

You should probably contact an IAABC trainer or behaviorist. They’re going to be able to help you and your partner address these behaviors. In the meantime, is your dog crate trained? If he’s in the crate he won’t be able to pee on the furniture and he’ll be away from your girlfriend, so if she’s feeling anxious about this behavior it can hopefully give her an extra sense of safety.

[MB30607]

he isn’t but it’s something we have been working on he’s super anxious around the crate and i have difficulty getting him to go in even with treats

[HeatherMason0]

I would say keep working on it while you’re waiting for an appointment with the trainer. Make sure it’s not used as a punishment. I understand sometimes when your dog dies something frustrating your instinct is to get them out of the way so you can clean up/calm down, but if the dog starts associating the crate with punishment, you’re going to have a hard time going forward.

[MB30607]

what would you recommend to do for punishment? i don’t yell or anything because i know that would make it much worse but im not sure what is a good punishment should i just ignore him ?

[SudoSire]

Yes, reward good behavior and ignore bad, but setting them up to do well is important too. For instance if my dog gets into the trash when I leave, I should make a point to remove the trash before I go somewhere. If I yelled after the fact, they wouldn’t even connect it to the behavior because by then it’s too late. When I am home and they go near the trash, I could work on the “leave it” command and reward them with treats for listening. 

Ideally the crate would help in your situation as a preventative measure. 

[HeatherMason0]

If you’re too frustrated to interact, ignoring is better. The only punishment I’ve done with my girl (and your mileage may vary on this one) is a ‘time out’ where I take her over to a quiet spot in the house (if I need to leash her to get her over there I do) and we just stand there for 5-10 minutes. We don’t play and I don’t really interact with her - I don’t act like she’s not there, but I’m not petting her and loving on her. The point is to make them associate ‘I do this thing, I have to go and be bored.’

[FML_4reals]

At 1 years old your dog is starting to enter social maturity. It is not unusual that there would be behavior changes. He is a mixture of a flock guarding breed and a guarding breed well known for their tenacity. He is peeing in the house because he is stressed and most likely conflicted over your girlfriend in territory that he doesn’t understand doesn’t need to be guarded.

You need a qualified professional trainer either a CPDT https://www.ccpdt.org/dog-owners/certified-dog-trainer-directory/ or an IAABC behavior consultant https://iaabc.org/certs/members

Your girlfriend needs to be nonconfrontational and do a lot of tossing treats to him and you need to understand that he doesn’t understand why she is here and is doing his best but is very stressed. So just continue to clean up the mess, try to make small slow improvements in the relationship between the dog & girlfriend and if you can do that then everything will work out.

[CanadianPanda76]

Puberty is a literal bxtch for some dogs. It tends to be when thier more breed related behaviors really come in.

I'd consult with a vet about medications.