[Whom]

I have searched, I have read, I can't decide what approach is applicable in my specific situation. So here goes:

Oso is our 15 month old mostly GSD, we adopted him 5 weeks ago. He was with a couple since a pup before they split up and he went to the shelter where he his balls were removed 6 weeks ago. His original origins are unknown. He's sometimes timid but getting better, super smart and great fun. We love him.

I work from home, he immediately bonded to me (even before we got home). I've been working on lots of behaviours, but there is one that I can't seem to solve. He doesn't trust/is aggressive towards my wife and it doesn't seem to be getting better.

When we got him, he was pretty nervous around the house but behaved well. He would sometimes grumble as you walk past his bed but we ignored him and he got more trusting. But then as time went by, he started getting worse at guarding his bed against my wife, and after 2 weeks it escalated into snarling and occasionally running towards her aggressively. With the bed removed, it would be the rug he was lying on etc. At this point we realised it wasn't just a case of waiting for him to settle in.

So we upped the attempts to teach him to trust her, she is the only one that gives him "high value" treats (hot dog chunks). And she'll throw them to him when he's just chilling on his bed, or give them to him when she walks past. He seemed to be getting better, a few days went by with no growling. He'll roll over for her on command, and listen to other commands well also.

Now is a good time to mention when she is here, it's always her who feeds him. She's been able to take bones from him that he finds in the bushes without a problem, in fact we've never had any problems outside the house. And 80% of the behaviour is when he's tired in the evening, or sleepy in the mornings. During that time he will sometimes appear afraid of me too (ears back, head down etc). We have never told him off for growling, only rewarded him for looking chilled on his bed and not growling. When he was growling we were just walking past or walking away not reacting. I did shout "down" to him twice when he ran 10m across the room barking and snarling straight at my wife, but resisted the urge to scold him.

Then this morning, as she got back from work (she's a nurse and worked a night shift) he sees her outside and runs at the door snarling and barking, much more aggressively than he does when strangers approach. Before this we wondered if eye sight was a factor, or tiredness, but I had woken him up to and got him alert with tricks and treats in advance of her arrival trying to prevent this and it was broad daylight.

So it keeps feeling like it's getting better, then suddenly it happens again and often worse than before. He hasn't bitten, just snapped/snarling/barking as a warning. Usually we can see when he's in this mood, but sometimes it comes out of nowhere.

Initially we were approaching it as resource guarding, and it does seem worse when he has a toy or his bed it out. We don't take things away when he's got things unless it is an exchange with a treat then giving it right back.

He still barks at strangers (working on it), and it's much more likely he'll bark if it's a girl. We don't know what his history was like, but there could be an unsavoury lady involved perhaps.

Anyone got any ideas to solve this?

I don't think it's jealousy, he never tries to get between us and it isn't when she approaches me. We thought it was location guarding and it might still be, but we don't understand why it is escalating still. We're not snatching anything away from him ever, we've only been kind to him even when he makes us scared and mad. Maybe it's getting worse as he becomes more comfortable in the house? But it's been a while now and he's perfectly settled when it's just me around.

Thank you everyone for any helpful input in advance!

 

[Steve Strom]

It doesn't sound like a space or toy issue, it sounds pretty specific to your wife. I know you mentioned strangers too, but thats not really a major problem to me. You touched on something I would have thought of, he got more trusting when we ignored him. Could be she's understandably afraid of him. That can trigger suspicion and a fearful reaction from some dogs. Could be she's trying so hard to earn trust, its still overwhelming for him. My only advice would be keep him away from your wife . I'm not saying that to be funny or insulting. I'm just not real big on trying to alter a dogs temperament. You can change their perception of things in some ways, but from what you're saying, I think this is a little beyond that.

 

[dogma13]

Another thought is to stop rewarding him when he's on the bed or rug.He might appear chill but still be in the wrong mindset and you're inadvertently reinforcing it.

 

[sebrench]

Could you hire a trainer experienced w/working breeds to evaluate the situation in person?

 

[MineAreWorkingline]

I would crate him until you figure out what to do. It may enhance the problem but your wife deserves to be safe in her own home. I would also get your wife and dog involved with some serious obedience training with someone that really knows what they are doing and then reassess.

 

[Jchrest]

People often are too soft on adopted dogs. Or are afraid of them once they get them home and there is no one from the shelter handling the dog for you.

I know a lot of people are also into rewarding good behaviors only (positive training). I believe a dog needs both the positive when displaying good behavior, and corrections when they are being butt heads. Whether that be a firm vocal no, remove the dog from the situation in a “time out,” or a physical correction if the behavior warrants it. I train with a balance of positive training, and corrective training.

How long have you had the dog?

I’d start out with ignoring the dog altogether when he displays this behavior. Not just your wife, but also you. No attention besides feeding and bathroom breaks, and keep those all business. When he/she seeks attention, tell him to go lay down. He hasn’t earned your attention yet. After a day or two, if he is still displaying this behavior, get into his space physically while giving him the back command. Keeping walking him back until he looks away or moves away on his own. This one will likely cause some disagreement on the forum. I’m not a professional trainer, just stating what has worked with my fosters and rescues.

Don’t amp the dog up with treats and training before your wife gets home. That’s counterproductive. He’s in a heightened state when you do that, which makes him more aware of your wife. If he starts growling or showing signs of bad behavior, get in his space again and back him up. Once he starts moving on his own, give him a command to sit/stay. Not sure how much he’s trained on those, but if he rolls over he’s likely been trained to sit/stay.

And as a previous member stated, stop having the wife throwing treats at him. Until you know his language well, you may very well be having your wife reward bad behaviors, continuing the cycle, and increasing his reactions to her.

15 months is still a puppy, GSD’s don’t mature until around 2-3yrs. You’ve got to mold the behaviors you want while he is still young enough to be moldable.

Invest in a plastic crate, or a wire metal one with a cover. Crate the dog before your wife gets home, and don’t let him out until he’s in a calm settled mood.

He is likely sensing your wife’s fear of him, and that puts him in a fight or flight mode. He is choosing the fight mode. Don’t give him the choice, make that choice for him. If he is reacting negatively to your wife, crate him or put him out back (if you have a fenced yard), and again, allow him out/in when the calm and settled behavior happens. I wouldn’t offer any treats to any of these scenarios. His treat is getting to be with you when he displays the proper behavior.

Once your wife is more comfortable, have her do the things above. Remind her he is a puppy in a grown body. His mind does not match his size. Sure, they look very scary, but what he is showing is lack of confidence (based on your descriptions).

And of course, a good trainer that has experience with the breed is always recommended. They can have eyes on the dog that we don’t have over a forum post. Just be careful in who you chose as a trainer. Find one that balances praise and correction. One extreme or the other can ruin the dog.

Most importantly, aside from the trainer, is to get it out of both yours and your wife’s head that he had a bad history with women, don’t go down that what if road. He could have just as easily been a great dog, and was surrendered due to death, poor health, a divorce, or military being shipped overseas.

You’ll likely get a ton of great advice here, wade through it all and pick what works for your situation. There isn’t a one correct way to handle or train in this situation. Good luck, and we all love pictures if you care to share!

 

[Shane'sDad]

OP in your shoes I'd suggest doing a lot of research... and get a trainer or a behaviorist to come to your home and put a fresh pair of eyes on the situation...reading your thread sounds like you're doing many of the "right" things but some times a different perspective may see something obvious that you're missing... but again any one can call themselves a trainer.. there's no regulation so you'll need to do the homework and check their reputation...whether or not it's successful hinges on the time you spend finding a "good" trainer........



As you said when we don't know a dogs history it can be a challenge figuring out what the root of a dogs "behavior" really is-it very well may come from a female in his past who looks like--dresses like or walks/ talks like your wife....again new eyes may see something obvious.....

 

[wolfy dog]

I would bring him back to the shelter unless your aim was to start a long, possibly risky project with mixed results. A shelter should not adopt a dog out like that. Is there a temperament test report on him from the shelter?
One of our local shelters cranks out dogs like him, causing similar heartaches. They come in loads out of sates where they are deemed unadoptable. So the shelter has these 'rescue transports' and people adopt them. Good business for the trainers though.
Can you post a picture so we can see what 'mostly GSD' looks like?

 

[Whom]

Firstly, thanks everyone for helpful and positive replies, it's clearly a great community here.

Secondly, pictures should be attached! Try not to fall in love with him too hard =D GSD/Rottie? Or a small part Lab maybe? He has a short single coat and massive head and paws.

Steve Strom, my wife is doing a really great job of staying calm, giving him attention when he asks for it by sitting and making eye contact. Not overwhelming him just frequent and (we think) appropriate treats to gain trust and so he knows when she approaches it isn't something to be scared by. Understandably she sometimes gets frustrated/upset with him after she's been working in the emergency ward for 12 hours overnight and comes home in the morning to a butt head dog (and husband but I'm a lost cause). If we can't get him to accept her, then we'll be unable to keep him. We like camping, travelling, we need to mesh all three of us and I believe it is still possible. It's early days still and he's young. I've seen big changes in lots of behaviours and he was somewhat like this with me sometimes before, didn't like his head being grabbed or foot held onto or giving up a toy. But now with me he's great and nothing bothers him so I believe in him getting there with my wife too.

dogma13, this is true, our thoughts were if his ears are up and he's just watching then she'll give a treat as she passes to teach him that her approaching isn't a threat. If he looks scared we ignore him and walk by carefully. But we'll give it some thought thank you.

sebrench, there's a trainer who used to show Belgian Shepards nearby, I'm trying to get in contact with them as they're supposed to be very good.

MineAreWorkingLine, unfortunately we don't have and don't want a crate if we can help it. We live really lightly and don't like to accumulate stuff if we can avoid it, but it is an option.

Jchrest, we've had him just 5 weeks, and have been avoiding correcting him mainly because we've assumed it's a fear reflex and don't want to make that worse, or "prove him right" that we are scary and need to be kept away. But with other behaviours such as chasing animals etc, if appropriate, we will correct him as required. The "amping up" was more to get him moving around as the problem seemed worst when he was sleepy/tired. He wasn't a bundle of energy but rather just switched on ready for the day. In fact, when he's stoked for food etc he has never been bad with anyone, and if a stranger has a treat he's their best friend immediately (so I've been passing treats to new people). He was surrendered because a relationship broke down and the man couldn't keep him as he had a job. I wasn't trying to make excuses, just observing that he isn't as fearful with men as he is with woman. And he does seem more fearful when people are in a rush, such as preparing for work etc. So he is probably sensing something isn't right with my wife prepping for her shift maybe.

Shane'sDad, I've been doing a bunch but was running out of ideas so I put it out to you great folks! Thanks for your advice

wolfy dog, The shelter is good, it's the BC SPCA here in Canada. They did a temperament report, and we were aware he was pretty timid for his size. But we believe in him, but if it really really doesn't work out we do have that option.

Thanks again everyone, he was very good today and more relaxed around my wife than he has been before, no growling or scared behaviour at all. But we've been lulled into thinking it's getting better before then suddenly.... Will keep this thread updated and keep trying to get a trainer who knows their shizzle!

 

[GSDchoice]

Wow, this sounds terrifying for your wife!

I agree with the suggestions of having a trainer/behaviorist evaluate - that's what I would do...then you can get a (hopefully) expert opinion on whether his behavior is dominant or fearful or fear-aggressive. His behavior actually doesn't sound "dominant" to me (like you describe that he sometimes seems fearful and has his head down/ears down)? But it's hard to tell what's really going on!

My dog, although never to that point, did have a really strong preference for me and preferred to have nothing at all to do with my husband. A few times when my husband approached him and he was laying in a corner, he growled. He did that to his foster mom's husband as well (she warned us). And he growled at my husband for moving his dog bed, whereas I was free to drag his bed all over the house (who knows why). Anyway we evened up the preference a lot by having my husband hold his dinner bowl and command "Sit" and after he Sat, my husband put down the bowl. My husband also brought him in the car and took him for long walks in new places. Things are better now...even though my dog remains fixated on me as his One, he accepts my husband as Runner-Up. One thought is that instead of dispensing hot dog when walking by, your wife could ask for a behavior (like, "Come" or "Sit") and then give the hot dog i.e. have the dog "work" for her daily...?

And I've got to hand it to her, I would have already asked to return the dog by now! It sounds very scary to get rushed at by a snarling barking GSD when you come home! I agree with crating if necessary so your dog can avoid making that into a habit.

 

[4K9Mom]

I agree with Wolfy. This sounds like a very difficult years-long project. This dog appears to have significant anxiety issues. You can’t just train those away in a few sessions. You’re talking a long term expensive commitment.

Something in your home may be triggering the dog. If I had to guess, it might be hospital/healthcare smells that come home with your wife. He may do extremely well in almost any other home. But it seems to me that your wife could become in danger.

Please note (and this is important) : Please don’t try to correct anxious behavior. If a child is afraid to get on an elevator, we don’t correct her with punishments (no matter how minor we think they are). We try to help her through her fear. Punishing anxious behavior simply amps up anxiety.

You *may* see a temporary cessation in offending growling & barking if you punish these warning behaviors.. You’ve also destroyed your warning system. Dogs are social animals and warn us when they’re uncomfortable. If we punish warning behaviors, that’s how you get the dog where “he just bit from out of nowhere.” No, you destroyed his ability to earn you.

Many trainers (& some owners) think they understand standard obedience and that techniques that sort of work on essentially stable dogs can work on anxious dogs. They often ruin these dogs and can create nightmare situations.

Ok, that said, if you do opt to keep him, I strongly suggest a veterinary behaviorist. That’s a board certified veterinarian that specializes in behavior. Essentially a canine psychiatrist. Meds may help this dog, but I think you need a specialist to manage his case, not a regular veterinarian.

I also strongly recommend a trainer that is *certified* in Grisha Stewart’s BAT.

If I had this dog, I would take the risk of keeping him seriously.

To be honest, I wouldn’t keep him in your situation.

Finally, as you can see, it’s not “dominance.” It is resource guarding but it’s much much more.

Good luck to you & your wife.

 

[David Winners]

5 weeks into a new home. The dog is still figuring things out. Just live your lives like you want to. Come and go as you please. If the dog throws a fit, ignore it. Don't over think this. Show the dog what normal looks like. Don't feel sorry for him. Don't worry about him. This is today and not whenever bad stuff may or may not have happened.

Have the wife feed him, groom him, let him outside and back in, have her interact in ways that build trust. Fun stuff.

Anecdotal story alert:
Our newest addition is a male Cane Corso, 2 years old. Bite history. Hates men. Bit a kid.

It's supposed to be a foster situation, because no one adopts a 120 pound dog that bites people without some type of intervention. For the first time ever, this dog immediately bonds with the wife and doesn't like me. At all. He would charge me when I came in the door. When he heard me leave my bedroom he would charge me and circle me until I ment back in my room (we sleep separately because I don't sleep much and she snores). He would also guard the wife from me and try and separate us.

I knew from day 2 that the dog was staying. He LOVES the wife and she LOVES him.

I didn't try and win him over. I didn't feel sorry for him (he was severely beaten a couple of times). I just went about my day. If he was good, I acknowledged him in a positive way. If he charged me, I didn't care. I would walk right into him ignoring him completely. Look dude, you don't scare me, and I'm not going to hurt you.

I did walk backwards around my kitchen island with hotdogs in both my hands for 15 minutes until he ate one. That's was early on when I thought I could bribe him. He's a patient dog and it didn't really work. It took time and patience.

What I ultimately did was show him that he could trust me by not being fake. You can't lie to dogs. I just went about my business and when he decided to approach me and want some interaction, I gave it to him. I think the most important thing is that I was consistent and predictable. I really didn't care about his outbursts and if he approached me I was nice but not fake. Again, you can't lie to dogs.

Fast forward 11 months and we're supreme buddies. He sleeps with the wife, but we spend some QT together every day. He comes in my room after he goes outside to pee first thing every morning and we hang out for 20 minutes or so being manly friends, wresting and doing manly dog things. He's a fantastic and totally goofy dog that is relaxed and trusts me 100%.

It really did take time and consistency. She can't be fake with the dog. She just needs to go about her day and ignore him unless he's interested in a positive way. Don't make a big production of things. Hey dog, this is normal. Fit in.

Dogs know when you are faking it.

 

[Jchrest]

I’m so surprised to see members jumping on the return to shelter band wagon.

It’s not an issue I would return for. I’ve dealt with worse. There are no children in the home, the “threat” to the wife is likely a bluff, and if given the opportunity to get to the wife during one of these rushes, he likely wouldn’t bite. He’s trying to see if he can scare her away because he’s not confident in her.

And I’m sorry, but you can correct a dog with bad nerves without ruining the dog. It depends greatly on how it’s done, but letting any dog get away with poor behavior is going to end up with a dog who knows they can push their owners boundaries.

A correction is as easy as a “no” and ignore. I’m not talking physical corrections of pinning or rolling a dog, I agree, that type of correction will likely backfire. But a body bump when the dog is in your space, with a “move” command is far different. A correction can be moving the dog to a different location and not paying attention to him when he whines or wants back in the room with you.

If a teenager yelled at me, I wouldn’t wait for it to stop yelling at me so I could give her a cupcake when she was done yelling. You stop the bad behavior immediately. You “punish” the teenager for yelling or talking back, and in this day and age, it’s generally a grounding, a removal of electronic devices, or additional chores.

Same with a dog, don’t just sit around waiting for good behavior to randomly occur. Show the dog that good behaviors you’ve asked of him are rewarded, and the bad behaviors he displays is bad behavior through correction. Like I said earlier, no affection from anyone while he is being a butt head. Interactions being business like as far as feeding and bathroom breaks, but no affectionate or play while he is being a butthead.

OP, my rescue I have now came to me at an estimated age of 2-4yrs. She was never socialized with humans beyond feeding, she was chained to a chain link fence, and was used as a breeding bitch. The only interaction she had with other dogs was when one was brought to her for mating. She was a wholly terror when I got her. I still have the scars up my arms from her coming up the leash and attacking my arms. Teeth, claws, hackles raised, lip pulled back. She didn’t do this because she was aggressive, she did it because she was scared, and wasn’t sure what behaviors were okay and which ones were not, because she had never been shown. I worked with her alone for awhile, and realized at one point, I could only take her so far myself, so I hired a trainer, and we worked with her for a little over a year. I had gotten her past the scared stage, and basic commands on home turf, but she was still very leash reactive and dog aggressive when outside on walks. This is what we worked on.

It wasn’t exhausting, I didn’t cry myself to sleep at night. And I wasn’t scared of her. It didn’t take over my entire life, just an hour to two hours a day, twice a week with a trainer to get her to the point where I could walk her without fear that she would pull me down and take off after another dog. I also learned management. She’s never going to be 100%, and some people still cause her fear aggression to pop up. We don’t allow anyone inside into she is put up in her room, because we found that fear aggression went away when she saw me interacting with the person, and the person ignored her. She would calm and settle, and then I would open the gate to let her decide if she wanted to great the guest, or stay in her safe zone. People make management seem like this daunting task, when it’s not. Most of the management with her is something I would do with any dog. How many people truly enjoy getting rushed and sniffed by their friends or families pet as soon as they walk in the door? Not many.

She successfully lives with me, my 2 young girls, my DH, and his two daughters. We also have a 2yr old unaltered male Husky/GSD mix, and recently added a puppy, now 5 months old, and unaltered. The only issue we have had with lyka is that when the dogs blow their coats, the stepdaughters have to take allergy meds. This is a dog that used to tear my arms to shreds out of fear, and would bite any dog that got near her. She now lives happily with 2 other dogs. We do crate and rotate, but she gets one on one time with the dogs separately, and always gets one on one time with me. All the dogs do.

Can I take her into a pet store with other animals? No. Can I take her to a dog park? No. Can I trust her 100% to be off leash around a crowd of people? No. But I can and do cuddle with her on hen floor. She loves just following me around the house to see what I’m doing. She gives kisses I would rather not get, but put up with them because she loves me. She is honestly one of my favorite dogs I’ve owned, fostered, or rehabilitated before turning them over to an obedience trainer. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat to turn back the time to get more time with her. She was poorly bred, poorly raised, and poorly used prior to me, so she is facing health issues right now that break my heart to see. That is my only regret, not getting her sooner.

 

[GSDchoice]

On a light note:
a few weeks after we got our dog, I was on the phone with my Mom.
"How's the dog?" she said.
I said, "Ugh, he's having some diarrhea."
She said, "Diarrhea?!! Return the dog to the shelter!"

So you see...different people have different levels of tolerance...

 

[Jchrest]

On a light note:
a few weeks after we got our dog, I was on the phone with my Mom.
"How's the dog?" she said.
I said, "Ugh, he's having some diarrhea."
She said, "Diarrhea?!! Return the dog to the shelter!"

So you see...different people have different levels of tolerance...

I can’t stop laughing. That is just too funny. I have threatened DH to take Crios to the “dog farm” when he was pulling his escape artist trick every day for a week, but it was all in jest. We built the gate to allow us to get to the front door with a barrier, so the dogs (mainly Crios) never have access to the front door unless we allow it.

But I see your point, people have different thresholds as much as dogs do.

 

[MineAreWorkingline]

Making eye contact? I hope only briefly and breaking it off as eye contact is viewed as a challenge / threat.

In the meantime, if you are feeding kibble, your wife should hand feed him each and every piece. Right now, all food should come hand fed from her.

 

[wolfy dog]

OP, can you post his temperament report form the shelter? Ideally objectively describing behavior to stimuli without interpreting it.
I based my take on returning him on the OP's post. I don't do this easily. This dog requires a very experienced, committed and consistent owner. OP has to work with a good trainer who doesn't just use the food rewards. It is probably his last change in life but OP, this will be another 10 years. If you are up for it, go for it. Of course I hope he will be a success story.

 

[Whom]

GSDchoice, I showed her your comment and she appreciates your sympathy and the hopeful story of your pup learning to at least like your husband! I wish it was that way round with this dog as I have a lot more time to work on him than she does.

4K9Mom, we have been doing our absolute best to avoid "telling off" the behaviour, and we have 100% not made him feel wrong for growling when he's on his bed. When he's up and rushing or barking at her close, I will shout a command like "down" or summon him to me with "come" in a very "I MEAN IT" kind of way. He listens, does what he is told but remains in a really strange frame of mind. Thank you for the tips.

David Winners, great to hear a positive story! That's a lot of dog to handle kudos to you for that patience. One reason we'd really like to sort this out fast is that we live on a big property (big field, large pen, nice creek with a bridge), but in a smaller suite that is kind of one big room. So unfortunately that makes it a little harder to avoid him and impossible when he's being a pain in the butt. Plus we don't know if it will escalate yet beyond "threatening".

Jchrest, I completely understand your correction suggestions and it's great to hear another story of rehabilitation. To me it feels to me like a fine line we're treading between punishing his behaviour making him more fearful and stopping him warning us before biting, or "proving him right" in any way. We have been attempting to ignore him any time he was scared or growling, but the rushing and snarling/barking is quite terrifying and just out of nowhere sometimes and I've been the one shouting the commands. We need a expert who can tell us how we should react in this exact scenario I think, because any guessing could take us down the wrong path.

GSDchoice, YUK, diarrhoea? I think you're mom's right time to claim warranty.

MineAreWorkingLine, yes it isn't aggressive stare down, just making sure his attention is on us and not the food in the hand or distraction elsewhere. Don't worry, we're not making that rookie error!

wolfy dog, I have attached what we received, it certainly isn't thorough and I don't think he would have displayed this behaviour in their care. He was only there 1 week, and it took longer than that in our house for the full behaviour to become apparent. I still have faith in him, in every other way he is a good dog and easy to train. But alas, time will tell.

Anyone got any guesses to the mix from the photos below/above however it appears?

I made a huge mistake. Stupidly, I thought it would help if I put his bed (which I had removed for the last week) deep into the closet so he had his own space to feel comfortable, but it was stupid and I can see why it was an error now, so obviously. Given he had "his own space" it was something to guard again, and he came charging out of the closet as my wife went to the bathroom last night teeth bared and stood in front of her barking and snarling. I called him away and made him lie on a rug in another room. While she was then in the bathroom he ran back to the door and stood outside growling. I called him back away, and while he obeyed and "stayed" I closed the closet door to keep him away. This is tough. She didn't flinch, she didn't run away, just stood there looking at him. But she is scared, and of course she is who wouldn't be. **** dog =(

Right now she is walking him somewhere fun, and she fed him his whole breakfast by hand only when he did what he was told (which he does very reliably when food is involved).

Time to try and get through to those behaviourists again!

 

[Jchrest]

As to my guess in mix, I would say Rottweiler.

You said when he charged your wife when she got up to use the bathroom, she was just looking at him? Looking, staring? Or just a quick glimpse?

If you want to keep the dog, get a trainer ASAP. Or contact the aspca, let them know the troubles you’re having, see if someone their that did the temperament test could explain the difference in the test vs real life. They may even be willing to send someone, or recommend someone to assess the dog in your home environment.

It is definitely increasing, is there anyway you can take video of him being his normal self, and then one of him acting defensively? We may be able to help very short term until you can get a trainer in ASAP.

 

[Saco]

Why is he sleeping loose at night? Crate him.

The more he practices this, the more he'll do it. He knows she is scared of him, some dogs enjoy scaring people. Bit of a rush for them.

Forget the behaviorist. Find a qualified trainer who is balanced. People on the forum might have suggestions. This is probably a pretty quick fix, but it needs to be done yesterday.