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Having fostered several rescues, if this dog is truly aggressive and the possibility of a real bite is an issue, the dog is not adoptable. It is a lawsuit waiting to happen. People who turn in a dog for biting never are honest about it, which is why we sometimes get them. I had two rescues and one dog I was hired to train with owner possession, which is considered a type of resource guarding. The breeds are well known to be gentle and good with children. Not adoptable. A dog that bites will be put down.
 
Hi!
Please bear with me here.
We rescued a perfect little poodle 12 years ago, making her 13 now. She has been raised with my children and has been an integral part of our family.
She is trained, gentle and we have worked hard with her.

We had a beautiful black full standard poodle fall into our laps this summer. He has sebaceous adentitis, which means he produces no oil. It is genetic and many dogs are put down due to it. Their hair falls out, they get open sores, etc. I was willing to take on a skin condition, but not a behavior problem. The owners were irresponsible and had not neutered him, even after knowing about this condition. He is 3. The SPCA let me know he was a bit hyper, but ensured all would be changed after neutering (which I knew was wishful thinking). I asked the veterinarian treating him many questions, asked them to ask the owners about any problems, aggression, barking, etc. All was a no, it was just the skin condition.
I read for hours and bought many products for him. I have worked out a perfect regimine and after 3 months, his hair has grown back beautifully. It will never be fully curly, but is wavy and thick with no fall out. This is what I signed up for.
The bad: He barks LOUDLY and barked at people without warning with scary lunging on a leash. No biting actions, though. We got a gentle lead to stop pulling and I took him on TONS of walks despite embarrassment, giving him treats before he could bark and telling him Quiet. It has worked beautifully. We go hiking and walking every day and he does not bark.
I can now take him to parks and throw for hours with him running to the ball and coming back every time. He responds to come very well.
He remains VERY hyper and is obsessive compulsive with balls and he knows they are not allowed in the house, dropping them at the door out back. We hike with him, taught him to swim for balls with his cute life jacket, he is loved, cuddled, has an asenal of chuck it balls for all times of day, he has learned sit, shake, come, quiet, spin, roll over, wait, down, hug, etc.
He was VERY underweight and after hand feeding him to get weight up, he is eating mostly independently and looks great.

PROBLEM: Each a few days apart
1st instance: We were leaving as a family and he ran from the house and into the car without permission. He loves to go in the car to soccer games, hiking, etc. When my teenage daughter went to call him out, she did not even go for the collar or anything, he began growling VERY aggressively and then jumped out and went toward her. Not really to bite, but barking loudly and scarily right at her. I jumped out, ran around to get in between them and yelled to break his attention. I got him into the house. I never hurt him, just made a sound to break his attention.
2nd instance: He was up on the couch we love to snuggle him on and I just came up to hug him. He began growling horribly and jumped up still growling while coming right up to me. I turned around and walked to the door, called him and put him out.
3rd instance: He was again on the couch and my youngest daughter called him to come up to the kitchen. They had been sleeping together for an hour together just before, with her snuggled on top of him. He just was sitting, not making a sound so she came down to call him (not grabbing at him) and he again growled loudly and then barked aggressively and jumped off to bark right at her.
Now she tries to play with him abit, but I can tell she is very scared.
I am HEARTBROKEN.
Do I give him back?
If it were just the couch, I would not worry as much. We will sadly keep him off it from now on as he is resource guarding it. But with him doing it in the car as well, and with him being aggressive towards my children AT ALL, I just don't know what to do.
I know we can train this, but I feel I will always be afraid of him. Aggression is the ONLY thing I was not willing to deal with.
I can't help wondering if the dog is in pain. Dogs are notorious (along with other animals) for not showing overt signs of pain as this could make them vulnerable to attack from pack members. I mention this as I have a condition that sometimes causes painful ulcers to erupt and these are preceded for several months by quite severe pain underneath the skin. There is no indication on the skin surface that anything is happening underneath! Reading about this dog's former skin condition made me think of this and wonder. I have never experienced this type of issue with any of my dogs so can't really offer anything except this random thought. I do wish you all the very best in your search for resolution and commend you on your dedication to doing your very best for this dog.
 
Don't let him on the furniture anymore. Turn the cushions up if you have to or even put up a gate to keep him out. Never let him on a bed. I know it seems too simple, but it often works. It would be frustrating to go through lists of tests and behavior training if keeping him off the furniture will fix the problem.
You can add a house line to his collar: a short leash without a loop so that you can lead him off the sofa, out of the car etc without grabbing his collar. We have had our grey hounds go through a growly period. And yes, they lost furniture and bed privileges until theyearn
I also agree he needs another vet work up.
Also think of growling as a disagreement and a argumant from you dog.. You should win the argument without escalating. Sometimes a firm NO and a SIT is enough. Please remeber to treat intermittently when he is being good and complying.
 
Howdy, you've come to the right place. Best of luck going forward.

Buddy (skin issue healed, thanks) problem, serious. Age is 2, health is good. He had been friendly on a walk, both towards people and dogs, pulling and whining to approach them. March of 2021 - he was attacked by a German Shepherd whom the owner said was 'friendly'. Mistake, obviously. Note - we were standing on the street in front of GS's home. GS immediately attacked Buddy, I could not separate them, eventually the owner, doing nothing while I screamed at her, pulled her dog away. Miraculously, Buddy was not physically hurt. When I asked why she let her dog approach, she said he was 'usually friendly'.

However, from that day forward, he has aggression from fright. April of 2021 - I developed a serious illness and can not address Buddy until November. I found a local CBCC-KA (certified behavior consultant canine-knowledge assessed) at ccpdt.org, thank you. I also was directed to a local trainer.

He barks out the window at passing dogs and on a walk, if he sees a dog (not a person) in the distance, will lunge and bark until they pass. He gets into a zone, and no treat can get his attention. I cannot train him now and am not sure I ever will be able. He was too much dog for us, and apparently no attention was given by the breeder to this fact.

My question: to start, am I better with a behaviorist or a trainer? Thank you.

Note: he has been friends with a local dog since he was young, and even now whines to greet him and they hug.
 
Ignatz713 at this point you need the behaviorist to develop training strategies to address Buddy's issues that you can then work on wiht a trainer and/or on your own. One thing you should do now rather than allowing continued rehearsals of the unwanted behavior of barking at passersby is hand even just a sheet to block his view out the window. This will keep that behavior from becoming more strongly neurologically set and should start it on an extinction pathway.

I am really sorry to hear that your neighbor is so stupid about her GSD as she is. We just lost our GSD in March, but truly he and Lily were always the best of friends and Peeves was a really reliable dog who often visited my partner''s mom at her nursing home. He was well loved by almost everyone in the facility. GSD can be marvelous dogs but they need a person with a firm and consistent hand, not someone who will stand by while their dog does damage to another dog and then says well he is usually friendly. Seriously?

Be careful about the idea of dogs giving "hugs." Close physical interactions like that can turn on a dime. Also if this is an on leash encounter it can become dangerous just from people getting tangled up by the leashes.
 
lily, thank you.

I have come to doing just that, even though he loves to spend time looking out the window. I now put the blind down and even though he reacts to the sound (smell?) of a dog, he doesn't bark.

On his friend, I believe you are correct. I was surprised to see how he differentiated between a 'friend' and a 'stranger', but as you say, he can turn at any time.

From reading the strategy of both, you make sense on the behaviorist vs a trainer.
 
I greatly sympathize with you. I agree that you need to find somebody to show you how to do some kind of therapeutic training to help him. I understand that you dont have the extra funds to put into that but I also fear what funds you do have will likely go towards a hospital stay if he injures someone. I do feel the growling and lunging is a byproduct of his past. He likely was never given his space and now he is feeling healthy and strong and is testing his limits. Dogs can smell fear in a person and he probably feels he is the boss and will only get more "bossy" unless he is "put in his place". I would strongly recommend searching for an experienced pet therapist who specializes in rescued dogs...one who does not do it for the money but for the dog and dog owner's well being.
 
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