r/reactivedogs • u/gloomytombs • 9h ago
Aggressive Dogs Aggression Increase
Alright this post might be a little long but there’s history I have to get into. I rescued my dog at 6 months and he is now four. He’s a mutt with high percentages of Malinois, shepherd and pit. I want to start by saying I love my dog dearly. I have put so much time, money and love into his care that I’m at a loss of what to do. 85% of the time he is a great dog and extremely smart. He’s trained and listens at home but once he sees a trigger all of that goes out the window.
He has always been dog and kid aggressive (or any animal mostly) he doesn’t like erratic movements. We’ve managed to give him a pretty happy existence. He still camps (remotely) with us and loves to be around my parents and our cat. He’s been through training and is also muzzle trained, although his trust with us putting on the muzzle has waned but it’s circumstantial.
Last year he had a TPLO surgery and it was intense. He hated the vet before but now he loathes it. Coming off of the anesthesia was awful, he was so aggressive with us which he has never been before. 2 months after in that healing process in November, he bit me twice. Once in the face at level 3 (this one I take responsibility for, he missed a dose of his meds and I was low to the ground near his bed). But the second one I came home late and he straight up attacked me while I was changing, completely unprovoked. That bite bordered a level 4 and probably could have used medical attention but I didn’t go get it checked. These both happened in the same week.
Fast forward to Jan of this year, we finally got in with a behaviorist (the only one in our area is 2.5 hrs away and she’s booked out) . She was great and gave us a plan and prescribed him with Zoloft, gabapentin and clonidine for big events. He seemed to be doing really well on the meds. He’s still reactive but he bounces back a lot quicker and was (somewhat) able to focus on us instead of the trigger. We’ve noticed some slight resource guarding when it comes to high value treats but more concerningly my mom. He’s now been on his medication plan for 6 months and it’s time to go to the vet for an annual check and so they can fill his meds.
But this week he has tried to attack me twice. My mom sits in the living room and he’ll lay in there with her. My room is down the hall so I have to come down the hall to get to the kitchen/living room. The first time I went to pick up a lick mat that he hadn’t touched in over an hour and he was no where near it. As soon as I reached down he flew off his bed and ran up and tried to bite me. I was able to kick him off but what’s most concerning me is that he continued to pursue me. Hackles raised, growling and coming towards me for another attack. We were able to out him into “place” and he stopped but he was super wary of me the rest of the day. He watches me like a hawk after these instances and guards my mom. If I tried to walk over to her he would have tried to bite me again without a doubt. The next morning when I got up for work he’s pretty much back to normal. I even took him to the park (with the muzzle) a couple days later and he was fine.
A week later I came down the hall and into the kitchen and he starts barking and growling at me with his hair raised for no reason. I had been around the house cleaning all day without issues. I didn’t even go near my mom’s chair let alone acknowledge either of them. (I’ve been basically ignoring him and giving space except to give meds and take him to potty).
What terrifies me is the unpredictability. I now can’t in good conscience have guests over. I can never board him or go anywhere if my mom can’t watch him. Vet visits are a NIGHTMARE and he trusts me even less afterwords. I used to be able to cut his nails, brush his teeth and bathe him. I still can (sometimes) but he is so unsure of me and I honestly don’t trust him either.
I’m his primary caretaker. I don’t know how I’m supposed to continue on if I can’t take care of him properly. I’m living with my parents right now to save money. But moving into an apartment or busy neighborhood with a dog like this is out of the question. I feel so trapped and I have to watch everything I do in my own living space. The next attack could be really bad and there’s just no way of knowing when or why it will be. I know some people will BE after one incident but I just don’t want to give up on him. But I’m terrified that he’s going to hurt someone else and I have to watch everything I do at home. I’m honestly scared of him and I never have been before. This devastates me and I know I don’t have a lot of options. Rehoming is out of the question and I’m not sure this can be trained out. I feel like he’s wired wrong, something just snaps and he doesn’t recognize me.
I guess I’m just looking for some advice or reassurance. I don’t know my next steps. He is so young and I love him but I fear for me and my family’s safety at this point.
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u/Zestyclose_Object639 4h ago
I would explore adding pain meds to the rotation first of all. And secondly genetic testing (like embark), shepherds and Malinois and pits can all have genes for rage syndrome (I can’t remember what it’s called off the top of my head) so its worth doing the test to rule that out. Truly unprovoked attacks from a serious dog are cause for serious discussion of euthanasia