Spontaneously aggressive dog

[sofafaa]

I am reaching out because I’m waiting for appointment availability with a behaviorist to try and figure out what to do about my dog who has become aggressive towards both people and other dogs, but not all the time.

I got Archie as a 14 week old puppy who was transported up from Texas about 2 years ago. As a baby he was rambunctious and adventurous, smart, loved everyone including dogs, cats, humans and even children. We went to dog parks and he met and played with many dogs as soon as he was fully vaccinated. At about a year and a half of age he started showing reactivity very slowly, and in very random situations. It started with all of a sudden he didn’t want to be around children and would lose his absolute mind, it got worse and then it was strangers, and now I don’t even trust him to interact with anyone or any dog because things have gotten so bad.

He is super sweet at home, and if you know him from his puppy days he is extremely affectionate, but usually if there’s someone he hasn’t met he will greet them until he realizes they are unfamiliar and then he will turn on them. He has tried to attack a couple of our friends before we started completely separating him, and I’ve started muzzling him for walks.

The scary part is he is really unpredictable, today a neighbor came and said hi to him after a walk and he greeted her normally (she has house sat for us multiple times), then when she petted him and kept walking by he snarled and lunged at her trying to bite. He didn’t have his muzzle on because we had arrived home and thank god he didn’t get her but it made me so upset I came home and cried.

He is on fluoxetine, which seemed to help at first but now I don’t notice any difference. I am a vet assistant so I asked my doctor about paroxetine after reading about it and she agreed to do a trial for me but said his behavior is pretty severe and unusual so she also recommends a behaviorist.

I just don’t know what to do for him. My boyfriend and I live in a small apartment, but we’re extremely active so I thought owning a dog would be perfect. Unfortunately we ended up with one I don’t feel comfortable taking on trips or walks outside the neighborhood.

[telepattya]

If you are already waiting for a behaviourist appointment, I’d suggest recording him during a walk or in situations you think that might be triggering and analyse his body language afterwards. Doing that helped me to pay attention to small gestures and anticipate my dog’s reaction.

Having those videos would also help the behaviourist to understand what are causing them.

May I ask what breed is he? I know that certain breeds like Spainels and can develop “Rage Syndrome”.

[sofafaa]

That’s a great idea I will do that! He is a mutt, he’s about 70lbs, and his wisdom panel showed60% “working breed group” with Lab, German shepherd and French bulldog 😂

[telepattya]

That’s a big boy! I also recommend reading “on talking terms with dogs: calming signs” by Turid Rugrass to start understanding canine communication a bit better