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Unknown Aggression, any advice or help would be greatly appreciated


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Hi,

My wife and I recently adopted a ex racer greyhound 'Seymour' around 3 months ago. By all accounts he is our perfect dog, he is toilet trained, very responsive to our training and commands and has been an overall joy to see him come out of his shell more and more as time goes by. Unfortunately, during this time Seymour has scared us both with a few incidents of what seems to be aggression, but specifically only with me.

The first time was when he was laying on the couch with me very early on in the adoption, he suddenly reared back up, snapped and drew his lips back and snarled. I firmly told him no and led him off the couch. We immediately looked into causes and figured it must be resource guarding or sleep aggression (as we were unsure if he was asleep at that time). So I took it as it was and we have left him alone since when he is very tired/sleeping and removed his couch privileges at the time, but I was quite rattled from that experience.

Over the course of a few months he would go on to snap, snarl, growl and bark at me in what seems to be a very aggressive manner, very different to when he is trying to talk to us wanting a walk or food. The worst thing is we cant seem to pinpoint why he is being like this. It usually happens after he comes to me for pats and scratches. Most recently he went berserk after only just finishing nibbling my hand (a sign I thought was meant to indicate they are affectionate towards you).

My wife is devastated as we have both grown extremely fond of Seymour, and she is worried that it may escalate into biting and as we have young children that come around we need to know they will be safe around him.

He's never aggressive with my wife (and she is quite clearly his favourite), and 99% of the time he seems to be nothing but loving towards me. We just can't figure out what to do.

Any help or advice would be great. If any more information is required i would be happy to post it!

Thanks!

Ben

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Greyhounds can sleep with their eyes open so if yours suffer with sleep aggression even if they apear to be awake when he is laying down be aware, give some form of warning before approaching. I just wonder if, as you are giving him pats and scratches he half falls asleep and suddenly wakes with sleep startle?

Grace (Ardera Coleen) b. 18 June 2014 - Gotcha Day 10 June 2018 - Going grey gracefully
Guinness (Antigua Rum) b. 3 September 2017 - Gotcha Day 18 March 2022 - A gentleman most of the time

 

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This happens sometimes, and no one can really explain it.  I tend to think of it like cat behavior, where you're just sitting there petting them and then suddenly seem to reach a threshold and snap into murder cats, attacking the hand that's petting them, biting and scratching.  Then they go right back to being sweet.  :dunno 

Couple things though.  If you can swing it, in these times, find a good positive reinforcement only, certified animal behaviorist to come into your home and observe your interactions in person.  They will probably catch behavioral cues that you might miss, and can give you good advice about how to deal with this for everyone's benefit.

Second, take over as much care as you can from your wife;  Do his feeding and walking, take over his play sessions and training.  He needs to learn to see you as his caregiver as much as he does her.  When he's quiet and resting comfortably, just sit near him on the floor (at his level), don't pet or touch him, and just be there.  Read a book or magazine, something quiet and sedentary you can do for an hour or so.  Every little bit, speak to him and get his attention, calmly todd him a small but high value treat.  This is so he becomes accostomed to seeing you as a "giver of good things."

Third, If he knows and can reliably do any behavior - like sit or down or touch, something easy and fast - make him "pay" for everything he gets.  He has to do do the behavior before he gets a treat, before he gets fed, before he gets let out for potties or plays, before putting on his leash for a walk.  This is called NILIF training (Nothing In Life Is Free) and bsically, again, puts the humans in more of a leadership position without reinforcing him negatively with punishments.

In the meantime, make sure he's awake and aware and standing on his feet off the furniture whenever you want to pet him.  If you have small kids over, have him watch from a secured doorway and closely surpervise any and all interactions.  I would advise this with kids anyway, since many dogs are just not comfortable around small children - don't force him to interact, and let him decide when he's had enough attention from them.

Fourth, teach him a command to get him off the furniture so that you don't have to grab him to move him.  All our dogs learn an "off" command as one of the first things when they come into the house.  We also teach them to "scoot" so they can make room for another dog or human without much fuss (you do get a huffy sigh or two, but that's better than bared teeth! ;) )

Fifth, take some comfort from the fact that if he *had* wanted to hurt you, at any point, he likely would have already.  Remember that growling, snapping, and biting are all very common ways for dogs to speak their minds dog-to-dog.  They say their piece and then the incident is forgotten.  So in and of themselves, the act of growling/snapping/biting doesn't mean the same thing to us as it does to them.  We often see these behaviors as newly adopted dogs begin to settle into their homes, open up their personalities more, and begin to communicate with the humans they've bonded with.  Think about what he's trying to say to you, and what an appropriate response would be.

Get the ebook/booklet "Familty Friendly Dog Training" by Patricia McConnell.  She has good, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions for training any new family member.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

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