Dog is very aggressive

ViveLaVie

tk123 wrote: »

A behaviourist will cost less than a trip to a&e and god forbid legal fees if he was to bite somebody else. I had one come to the house last year for my dog (he has separation issues) and it was honestly worth every penny. They'll come to your house see what's happening and offer guidance. It's not a blame game or somebody coming to tell you off and that you're doing thing's wrong - they'll offer guidance and give you a plan on things to work on.

Thank you. I will look into it.

Nody

ViveLaVie wrote: »

Oh well Dad walks him everyday, sometimes twice a day. These are good, long, robust walks. I definitely notice he's more likely to be aggressive if he misses a walk.

It should really be twice a day if possible if not more; from the sound of it the dog is simply high energy and not given enough stimuli to get it out of the system so to speak.

I'm saying that Bailey has snapped and growled
at me on more than one occasion. He tried to attack me one day, went to bite my arm and got my sleeve. He snapped at my sister once ever and never at anyone else really. The first time it happened we'd had him for years and when I told my father he point blank didn't believe me.

It's unusual for a dog to go directly to biting from nothing; are you aware of the signs of a dog being stressed? Because my guess here (and once again this is why you'd want a professional over) is that you (and possibly your family) are missing what Bailey is telling you and picking up on the body language he's giving that he's uncomfortable in a given situation. This in turn leads to the growling/snapping (i.e. escalating the warning from I'm stressed -> growling/snapping air -> biting someone) as he feels cornered and don't see how to get out from the situation. Combine that with poor socialisation as younger and you have a dog that's scared of a lot of things and don't know how to handle it so they growl, snap the air and are simply afraid. This is also where the behavourist comes into play to help the dog feel more safe and read it's body language (and by extension you feel safe around the dog because you know what it does and why).

*edit*Only to add I'm very happy you'l consider a behavourist; it is really the best possible route on advice no matter what us keyboard warriors can tell you.*edit*

borderlinemeath

Karlitto wrote: »

Yes, I did read it, and yes, it is a good environment to go, the trainers there were more than happy to assist when I brought my previous dog there (which was extremely dog aggressive as he was a rescue with a background that the pound believed to be a bait dog)

Irresponsible dog owners come in many many forms. If you know as much as you appear to, then you know regular interaction with a single person is simple not enough for a dog.

Yes, I do think I am being harsh, but to me, dogs are not toys, nor should they be thrown in the back garden and left there until you want to play with them.

The training classes in Cloghran may have worked for you but to force a dog aggressive/fearful dog into a situation with lots of other dogs is known as 'flooding', a potentially damaging method of behaviour modification that can be extremely stressful for the dog. Put it this way, flooding is one of Cesar Milans favourite techniques, so I would steer well clear of it.