Help: Aggression. - Page 8

HEY???!!!!!  Uhhhhhhhhh, anyone else possibly smell a big old fat rat?  This poster is brand new today, and posted this harrowing story about the evil GSD from hell, and has not come back.  hehehhehe, had me going but good, I think and honestly, if this is a joke, better that than the real deal.

You could be right Sue.

Maybe her dog got her finaly :) j/k don't bite me now lol :)

Give her time. Remember, she said she was on a very slow dial-up connection, and not to freak out if she didn't get back to us right away?

She said she had a slow internet connection at one point.  Maybe yes, maybe no. The story sounds a little off to me because a 100 pound intact male GSD is an extremely strong animal and a berserk male of this size is very hard to control without a choke collar.

Let's hear from the OP. What advice are you going to take?

Fellow board members. Please read the posts carefully. There is NOTHING that indicates the sex of the original poster other than his/her moniker. Since that is Lewis88 and not Louise88 I suspect the OP is male which may give some more credence to the physical feats.

A couple of thoughts if I may. While I don't necessarily disagree with the recomendation to neuter if the decision is to keep the dog it is not a magic wand and never has been. Recent research shows that it does NOT reduce aggression in dogs and in fact more neutered dogs are involved in aggressive incidents than intact ones. Secondly I would hesitate to recommend as a trainer anyone stupid enought to try an alpha roll( another mythical training success) especially with this type of dog you are just asking for someone to get hurt.

I too think IF you can afford it, that a complete medical evaluation would be merited. Be aware however that not all tumours can be seen even with sophisticated equipment. And yes he will have to be muzzled for the safety of the medical personnel. You also need to ask for a complete workup on epilepsy. At least one theory on the rage syndrome is that it is a type of epilepsy. It is not unsual for some diseases to be triggered by puberty and growth hormones. I knew one young male who did develop what appeared to be rage syndrome. Again a sweet lovely dog until the concrete wall came down behind his eyes for no apparent reason. The owner(and friends) could never discern a trigger and the length of the episode somewhat varied but when done the dog appeared as "normal" as could be. After many months of heartbreak and trying to find answers and a solution the very difficult decision was made to PTS because a. he could not be trusted and there was absolutely no way of predicting when the switch from Dr. Jeklly to Mr.Hyde would occur b. when it happened no one was safe and c. as a result his life was so constrained that he had no life. They were not giving him any gift by keeping him alive.

We are stewards for our animals. The hardest part about being a good steward is stepping up to the plate and making the difficult decisions. It is done not based on your feelings but based on what is best for the dog and for your family and for society at large. If you cannot ensure that this dog is safe no amount of insurance will assuage your guilt if he maims or kills a child or person and this is the possiblity you must assess NOT how much you are bonded to him.

not sure it matters but i didn't realize the op was female, and i'm not sure it's true.  i read through the op's posts again and can't seem to find any mention what gender s/he is, also lewis is generally a male's name.  again i'm not sure it mattters because there are many many women who can manage an intact male without any problem, but the conversation seems to be assuming something - that the op is female - and i'm not sure we actually know that for certain. can someone point out where the op tells us his/her gender?

"Then my girl went to get a drink of water, out of the blue Drake walked over and grabbed her by the neck.
I ran over and grabbed him. He tried to attack me yet again (I say attack because it was not just a simple "snap" or "bite"). I managed to keep him away from my face and when it was clear to me that this dog meant me harm, I slammed him up against the wall and ran to the bedroom.  I quickly tore up a pillow sham into one long strip so that I could make a muzzle.
I opened my door and there he was. Growling like a beast from hell, inching towards me ready to strike.
He jumped at me again, I caught him by the cheeks and quickly wrapped the fabric around his face to make a muzzle.
That REALLY ticked him off. He began thrashing around, growling and trying to jump on me. After a huge struggle, I managed to make it to the crate.  He went in without protest and the fabric muzzle fell off his face."

I'm with sueincc, I smell a rat. It's like a scene out of a bad movie. Remember, the OP says this dog weighs 100 lbs. And she slams him up against a wall?? And never gets bit?? Sorry, if this was my dog, he'd already be dead.

I assumed the OP was female because of the phrase "my fiance", which means a man engaged to be married. "My fiancee" would be a woman engaged to be married. OK, could be a typo or a misspelling. I can only go by what's there.

Assuming for the moment that no medical issue is found but you choose to try to "train" and manage the situation. Again you must be pragmatic about what resources are available to you, what the cost will be not only in dollars but in change of lifestyle and what the possible risks are for you and your family, for your other dogs, for this dog and for society at large.

Trainers who are very experienced AND good in working with aggressive dogs ( and no I would NOT go to a shelter looking for one there. They do not WORK with such dogs, they merely make a quick sometimes wrong assessment and off to the needle) are few and far between. I know of one in LA ( not Cesar). Such a trainer can possibly teach you how to manage the situation but I suspect would have the honesty to tell you that no training program can guarantee that this will ever be a safe dog. You MIGHT get him to the point that he is "safe" in certain constrained situations within the home but outside those venues or that group of people you wil always always have to be on watch, on guard and worried ( which of course the dog will pick up on).

So the questions to ponder if you are considering training are these. 1. How will it change your life? How many hours a day will you have to spend training/managing this dog? Will you have to change or limit your social interactions because of him both for his safety and other people's safety? Can you live with it if you are not able to manage the situation and he injures or kills one of your dogs, another animal or god forbid a child or person?

Most of the suggestions to you above are pieces of what is known as the NILIF training method ( Nothing in life is free- not so much as even one pat on the head). I would suggest you read up on it. When instituted on the level it would have to be for this dog, it is not a program for the faint hearted because you can NOT sort of do it. IT's all or nothing and has to be done and done and done. Not for a day or a week or a month but as Dr. Phil is want to say "you do it until".  You can not slack off. You can not loosen up for example the giving of affection just once or twice. That amounts to variable reinforcement which is the strongest kind of reinforcement there is and by violating the rules of the program you will have then made it that much more difficult for it to succeed because you have just rewared the kind of behaviour you should not have. Finally not only do you have to be committed to this total restructuring of your lifestyle but ALL household members must be to. Again not just for a day or week or month but for as long as this dog is alive.  So seriously ponder whether a. you and your family are up to this committment and b. whether you can guarantee to yourself and the world at large that this dog will be unable to inflict mayhem on another living being. If the answer to either or both of these is no, then give him a final kindess by being with him while he is PTS. Love him, cry for him, mourn him but do not beat yourself up if you are unable to deal with this situation. Whatever  you do DO NOT I repeat DO NOT do as some have foolishly suggested of passing him off to another person. That is NOT being responsible. The first reality is the truly experienced that might be able to handle him have no need for him - they can have the choice of any dog in the world and why would they want your problem. The 2nd reality is those that are not experienced enough but would take him anyway have a nefarious purpose and nothing good will come of it.  Our hearts are with you. We do understand that you are faced with a hellish situation and decision. For your sake I can only hope that there is something like hypothyroidism that MIGHT give you some other options. Take care.