Need help with aggresive dog

[Wraith1234]

Hi guys i got a dog that's almost 11 months old and we are having allot of problems with him right now ,
first of all he is really aggressive if someone comes into the house he doesn't stop barking and wants to bite them
the entire time they are here.

Also we can't even take him out for a walk... for some reason he is scared of everything , if a car passes buy or
anything he gets scare so he's always pulling on the leash to come back home

We also can't take him anywhere , when we try to take him to get is nail done he just urinates everywhere in the store
and does number 2 also.

We really love this dog so we don't want to give him away to adoption or anything , would really like to be able to figure
something out Thank you for your help.

[Doberluv]

When did you get this puppy?

How old was he?

Where did he come from?

What age was he when you began taking him out for walks?

How often did he see people, cars, other dogs etc? (between what ages?)

How many people came to your house in the past? How often? What age was he? (Between what ages?)

What do you do when he barks and wants to bite, when he urinates and defecates?

How do you know he wants to bite? What does he do?

[Wraith1234]

Got him almost 1 year ago

he was 7 weeks old

came from a random person who had 7 puppies to sell

i would say he was arround 3 months old when we started going for small walks

soon as he got here he started seeing more people ( no other dogs )

at first when he barks and tries to bite we put a muzzle on him but now when we wanna put it on him he gets really aggressive and does try to bite. He doesn't urinate or defecate in the house it's just when we try taking him somewhere , when he gets really nervous.

How do we know? well he bites us. Just when we try playing with him after a while of playing catch or something he stop playing with is toy and just tries bitting instead , that is when we stop playing with him.

[Doberluv]

Well...it sounds like the most likely cause of his problems are undersocialization during the critical period (birth through 3-4 months). Starting at 3 months is late. It doesn't give you much time to have him exposed in a pleasurable way to these things. Once a puppy comes to the end of that critical socialization period, it is extremely difficult to over come those fears. The best way to hope for some improvement is to go through a desensatizing/counter conditioning program. Set him up to see one trigger in the most mild form you can and from a distance so it's not so over whelming. Feed him tiny pieces of something very tasty while he's looking but not over reacting.

Work on focus exercises at home so he learns to look at you when asked. If you research clicker training, that can be very helpful so he learns that looking at you, which breaks up his focus on the scary thing, brings him good stuff.

Introduce new things this way and gradually. Don't move ahead or bombard him all at once and give him distance the best you can, gradually decreasing the distance as he improves. Try turning the bad thing into a good thing by association with good food or his favorite toy.

When he bites you when you stop playing, do you think it's that he's trying to play more? Or is he for sure biting aggressively....snarling, showing his teeth, biting hard?

This fear he has of everything is undoubtedly caused by a lack of socialization...not enough exposure to these things he's afraid of.

This really sounds like you need a certified behaviorist in to help you. It's really hard over the Internet when we can't see his body language or what exactly is happening.

These kinds of dogs can be helped and you may see some improvement, but I wouldn't guarantee a great deal of improvement if he had an impovershed socialization history.

Also....be sure to rule out any medical causes. There are some conditions (thyroid etc) which can cause these upsets. So, get a thorough work up at a vet's.

When introducing a muzzle, do it gradually. Putting it on him by force when he's afraid or bothered by it, puts him more on the defensive. Feed him through it and just hold it in front of him. Do not buckle it on at first. Feed him high value treats. (small) Another time, do the same, then put it on him but don't buckle it....just one or two treats and call it a day. Take these kinds of things slowly so he can associate the scary things with good things. He must be given a chance to pair things together.

You may need to modify your life style for the sake of this dog. Don't take him everywhere with you if it stresses him out so much. Of course, he needs to be able to deal with vet visits. Again....take it easy. Take him there for just a treat and visit and leave. Do this a few times a week. Prove it to him that the vet's office isn't all about scary procedures. Then try to see if he'll stand on the weigh scale....just one foot and treat...if he likes attention from the receptionist, ask her to toss him a treat and say a few kind words. Then leave.

Avoid using force for things. For example, nail clipping. Don't let people hold him down and force him. His nails can wait. Every night when you're just chilling with him, stroke his feet and feed him tasty treats. (tiny treats or he'll get fat) Tap your nail on his nail just a little bit, feed. Another night, do that and while you stroke his nails and toes, take your clippers and alternate stroking with those. When he gets okay with that, then proceed to tapping and scraping the tops of his nails with the clippers. feed, feed, praise a lot. Another night, as long as he's comfortable with the former exercises, try cutting just the barest smidgen of one nail...just a token little bit of dust from his nail. Make a fuss over him, treat. Vary your treats. Fresh chicken, steak, a half tsp. of vanilla ice cream. Keep the treats coming as long as you're messing with his nails.

The next night do all that that you did before and try one more nail. Don't move ahead until he's okay with what you did up to that point.

This is how you handle doing anything with your dog when he's afraid of something. Break it down into baby steps, make things as mild as you can and associate with good things. Work your way forward as he becomes accustomed to the previous thing.

The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell may help you:

Working with a fearful dog

Calming Signals is an important and helpful book. They're both on that link.

I haven't read it, but this looks like a good book. Welcome to Dogwise.com

I highly recommend you get these books and educate yourself. They will take you through some step by step desensatizing techniques.

Keep us posted and good luck.

[Wraith1234]

Thank you very much for your help , i will try all these things right away little by little and hopefully see some progress. Thank you again

[Doberluv]

Well good. Let us know how he comes along.

[bubbatd]

Please let us know !! This is a case of a very bad breeder who did not socialize from day one ! Good luck !