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We're having a problem with Thunder, our 7 y.o. Shepherd mix. Just to give a little background, this dog was sickeningly sweet & friendly up until he was about 5 yrs old. We originally purchased him for personal protection purposes, as we lived in a drug infested apartment building and declining area at the time. We got him from the Bide A Wee shelter when he was 5 months old & VERY submissive. In fact, he was a seemingly incurable submissive urinator. But I socialized him extensively and also began obedience training with him very early on. This dog was very willing to please, and though he had a soft temperment I did a great deal of training with him, then later on honed the obedience work with a clicker. He's not just trained for the sake of it, he was trained to be well behaved, and he was. He does perfect off lead heels so well that you would think he was crazy glued to me. He has almost no bad habits - doesn't jump up on people, is not dominant, is very mindful. A few years ago we brought him to a private nursing home several times. My grandmother was there & patients were allowed to have dogs visit them, and also visit other patients. I could walk him in a heel and he'd have to pass by wheelchairs, walkers, elevator doors opening without flinching. He was always a bit of a nervous nellie, but as I said, he was trained & well behaved. He was put into a down if anythign scared him and would focus on his obedience rather than whatever made him nervous. As I mentioned, he was somewhat dog aggressive, but:
A.) Most of this was just posturing
B.) He was always well controlled and the aggression never got out of hand - we always distracted him and put him into a down or sit if another dog got in his face.
There was the occasional spat over food, so I seperated him from the others while they ate. I think that's just normal behavior and very reasonable for a dog to guard their food. It was by no means out of control or even much of a problem - just an occasional occurrence.
About the time he turned 5yrs, we were feeding a diet that all the dogs went to **** on after a formula change. I honestly do not know if this was the cause, but the problems began to esculate during this time. He had a bad ear infection as well, and so we blamed the infection and his being in pain on much of the aggression. At first, it was mostly directed towards the other dogs, and always seemed unprovoked. I thought maybe he'd been stepped on, but sometimes the other dogs were no where near him when he decided to attack. Then one night last January, the unthinkable happened. Thunder was barking during the night so I came upstairs to quiet him. I turned the light on in the kitchen so know he saw me, then I told him to quiet. When he did not, I took a step towards him, raised my hand to shake a finger at him "QUIET". This dog stared me down with a very wild look in his eyes and literally lunged at my face, all the while never taking his eyes off me. I deflected a facial bite with my arm plus my mother had heard the commotion and came downstairs and two of my dogs had come to help. My year old male Beagle went for him first and got attacked. I seperated the two with a garbage pail, and corraled the Beagle into his crate. Things had settled down - my mother was bit trying to help me, but Thunder seemed to have settled. I got the leash and when I tried to put it on him (I honestly don't remember if I was yelling, but think I was) he once again lunged for me. My little 15lb Beagle charged him (brave soul) and literally was picked up and flung against the wall like a ragdoll. But it distracted his attention from me, and using a baby gate, we corraled Thunder outside. He was not himself for 3 months after this incident, and it was very careful hadnling that got him back to his old self. We also started cooking for the dogs and changed the diet, and honestly, the difference was night & day!
Finally, I felt like we were now at the place we were before all this craziness began. Another food change improved this dog's health 110%, and a chronic ear infection has been pretty much cleared up for the past week with a new medication! His personality has been back for a few months now, and I have not seen any aggression at all.
But tonight, Thunder attacked one of my male Beagles unprovoked. He was upstairs eating, had been finished w/ his food for about 10 minutes. When I let him down, he took a flying leap for this dog and viciously attacked him. My Beagle's ear is chewed up pretty bad, and he's limping mildly on his front leg. Now, funny thing is that Thunder is not in the same state of mind that he was when the first attacks began. He's back to normal, calm. Like it never happened. I did not see that last time - it was a slow process getting him back to normal.
I am fed up with him & honestly do not want to give him another chance, but then again, I don't want to NOT give him another chance. It's a very difficult situation all around, because the behavior is so unpredictable. It comes and goes - he can go through the same routine 100x, then change his behavior and attack the 101th time. I can't blame health issues, as his ear infection is cleared up, he has no arthritis, etc. Last time this happened he had a thyroid and CBC, and all was well. The only think I can think of is that once in a while, his right eye gets droopy temporarily (this is also the side he always has the ear infection on). I am tired of going through this crap with him, and am at that proverbial fork in the road. I just don't know which path to take.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
A.) Most of this was just posturing
B.) He was always well controlled and the aggression never got out of hand - we always distracted him and put him into a down or sit if another dog got in his face.
There was the occasional spat over food, so I seperated him from the others while they ate. I think that's just normal behavior and very reasonable for a dog to guard their food. It was by no means out of control or even much of a problem - just an occasional occurrence.
About the time he turned 5yrs, we were feeding a diet that all the dogs went to **** on after a formula change. I honestly do not know if this was the cause, but the problems began to esculate during this time. He had a bad ear infection as well, and so we blamed the infection and his being in pain on much of the aggression. At first, it was mostly directed towards the other dogs, and always seemed unprovoked. I thought maybe he'd been stepped on, but sometimes the other dogs were no where near him when he decided to attack. Then one night last January, the unthinkable happened. Thunder was barking during the night so I came upstairs to quiet him. I turned the light on in the kitchen so know he saw me, then I told him to quiet. When he did not, I took a step towards him, raised my hand to shake a finger at him "QUIET". This dog stared me down with a very wild look in his eyes and literally lunged at my face, all the while never taking his eyes off me. I deflected a facial bite with my arm plus my mother had heard the commotion and came downstairs and two of my dogs had come to help. My year old male Beagle went for him first and got attacked. I seperated the two with a garbage pail, and corraled the Beagle into his crate. Things had settled down - my mother was bit trying to help me, but Thunder seemed to have settled. I got the leash and when I tried to put it on him (I honestly don't remember if I was yelling, but think I was) he once again lunged for me. My little 15lb Beagle charged him (brave soul) and literally was picked up and flung against the wall like a ragdoll. But it distracted his attention from me, and using a baby gate, we corraled Thunder outside. He was not himself for 3 months after this incident, and it was very careful hadnling that got him back to his old self. We also started cooking for the dogs and changed the diet, and honestly, the difference was night & day!
Finally, I felt like we were now at the place we were before all this craziness began. Another food change improved this dog's health 110%, and a chronic ear infection has been pretty much cleared up for the past week with a new medication! His personality has been back for a few months now, and I have not seen any aggression at all.
But tonight, Thunder attacked one of my male Beagles unprovoked. He was upstairs eating, had been finished w/ his food for about 10 minutes. When I let him down, he took a flying leap for this dog and viciously attacked him. My Beagle's ear is chewed up pretty bad, and he's limping mildly on his front leg. Now, funny thing is that Thunder is not in the same state of mind that he was when the first attacks began. He's back to normal, calm. Like it never happened. I did not see that last time - it was a slow process getting him back to normal.
I am fed up with him & honestly do not want to give him another chance, but then again, I don't want to NOT give him another chance. It's a very difficult situation all around, because the behavior is so unpredictable. It comes and goes - he can go through the same routine 100x, then change his behavior and attack the 101th time. I can't blame health issues, as his ear infection is cleared up, he has no arthritis, etc. Last time this happened he had a thyroid and CBC, and all was well. The only think I can think of is that once in a while, his right eye gets droopy temporarily (this is also the side he always has the ear infection on). I am tired of going through this crap with him, and am at that proverbial fork in the road. I just don't know which path to take.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
