Help! Behaviour Modification For Aggressive Dogs

[Siobhan]

Hi All -- Only yesterday I posted the following about our 7 month old German Shepherd:

"I have a 7 month old German Shepherd girl. Recently we have been worried about her mental health as she is the kind of dog that requires a lot of attention. Not necessarily hands on, interactive attention, but she just wants to be around us; whether it be sitting watching me cook in the kitchen, or watching the telly with us. A few weeks ago, we noticed that she was getting increasingly upset and desperate to see us when we got home from work. She would throw herself at the back door, and get herself into such a state that when we did let her in she would wet herself. We have always been careful to avoid loud, overly exciting returns home, in order to avoid, as much as possible, seperation anxiety... But she was getting obviously more and more anxious about being left alone. My husband and I both work full time, so she is on her own up to 10 hours a day, 5 days a week - We knew this would be the case, so we have always provided her with toys and mental stimulation while we were at work. We take her to obedience training on the weekends. We also have family members with farms and lots of other dogs, so we take her there as much as is practical. In short, she is rarely away from us on the weekends. Anyway - to cut a long story short, we made the decision last week to get another dog. We had always planned to get another one, but it's been pushed forward in order to avoid a sick German Shepherd.

We have purchased a 1 year old Labrador dog named Toby from the RSPCA. Kai and Toby have been introduced onsite at the RSPCA, prior to his purchase, but I would like some advise on the best way to bring him home and re-introduce them on Kai's territory. We thought that it may be best if we take them both to a local park and introduce them there, then walk them back onto the property together - But if anyone has some methods that have worked for them, we are VERY open to suggestions."

Well the new issue is that we took her to the vet last night to have her stitches taken out from being desexed. The situation was not ideal - she was in a small consult room with no was to escape (from her perspective) and she was essentially backed into a corner. The vet approached her and she barked aggressively at him. She never lunged or attempted to bite him, but the vet certainly got a nasty fright. At that time, the vet panicked. He raised his voice at us, pointing aggressively towards Kai. My husband became quite upset, and the vet and hubby had a minor verbal altication. By now Kai had backed herself even further into the corner of the room. The only time she would be remotely calm was when he was on the other side of the table, at which time she would lie down and watch him. Once the pressure was taken off, she retreated immeadiately. After further discussion, the vet once agin attempted to approach her. He crouched down, looking her full in the face and offered her a treat. She once again barked at him aggressively. At this stage, I removed her from the room and took her outside in order to calm her. She immeadiately calmed down and would respond to commands such as sit and drop. There have been a few instances at this particular vet where, surprisingly enough, the vet nurses (and once - one of the vets) have frightened her and she has barked at them. Kai is normally a sweet natured thing, she is certainly shy and timid, but not aggressive. She does not deal with stress well, but is perfect in situations where she is comfortable, such as at home, at the farms and at dog training. At this stage the vet is talking about her being a "Dangerous Dog" and wants to medicate her to the eyeballs. Our trainer has given us the name of a Behaviuoral Vet and also the name if his own GP vet for us to take her to. We refuse to take her back to that vet! We are also going to be doing some extra training with our trainer and an expert that he has brought in for us. <Yes all this has happened since last night> My concern now is that we are bringing Toby home tonight and they are both going into a kennel for the weekend, as my husband and I are supposed to be going away. Our trainer has told us that they should be fine, as they will bond over the next couple of days, and then even more in the kennel as they will both be in an unfamiliar situation. Does anyone have any similar experiences or advise for us to consider? At this point we are highly stressed about our situation and could use all the advise we can get....

Thanks in advance - Siobhan

[poodlefan]

Follow up on your trainers recommendations Siobhan and book in for a behavioural consult ASAP.

I hope the kennel will not put your two dogs in the same kennel/run together? Given they they are 'strangers' and in a highly stressful environment, I'd not be doing it. Kenneling alongside each other would be safer.

Fear can be a trigger for aggressive behaviour - dogs will behave this way in an attempt to drive away the threat. If she'd been further provoked and her warning barking ignored, she may have been triggered to bite. Thank your lucky stars she didn't. I'd say the sooner you seek qualified professional advice the better. She's going to grow into a powerful dog.

That said, the vet acted like a pork chop.. crowding and staring at her would be very confrontational.

[persephone]

I have PM'D you, Siobhan...

I ,too have concerns about a) introducing a new dog into the mix, and especially b) putting this pup into a KENNEL

She has had a big fright..... and the extra stressors over the next few days are not what her system needs ....

[Kavik]

I've read a few threads where vets got spooked and acted like this. Not sure if I just get lucky with vet or what, I've never had a vet act this way towards one of my dogs My old girl Belle didn't like the vet, but everyone knew that, and either I would hold her head or if she got really stressed we would muzzle her, same when I was a vet nurse at various vets.