# Aggressive 14 month old



## VBMom (Nov 4, 2015)

My husband and I have a 4 year old Cockapoo who is a total lovebug. The breeder is a friend I've known for years who has a great reputation. She called us a week ago and asked if we would be willing to take on a 14 month old boy who was being turned in by his owners due to his very aggressive behavior. This couple evidently tried everything, including putting him on Prozac and occasionally Xanax at the urging of their vet as well as obedience classes. After talking with the breeder and meeting this gorgeous boy, we agreed to give it a try. We also decided to wean him off the Prozac to see how his behavior really was. We've had him in our home for a week. He will get what we call "crazy eyes" and then just attack. We've managed to not get bitten yet, but it's really scary. Our older dog is also acting different. Instead of playing or cuddling on the couch with us, he stays under our bed a lot. He just lets the puppy take his toys from him and then walks away. Has anyone else had a Cockapoo who goes from being very sweet, to totally psycho with no warning (other than "crazy eyes"). Afterwards he has tremors and just walks around in a daze for a few minutes. We want to be able to rehab this guy, but not at the expense of the peace in our home and feelings of our other boy.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Well done for giving him a chance. 

It will all be very new for all of you so don't worry for the moment about your older boy - things could settle down.

Molly had quite serious aggression when I first took her on. Hers was pretty much down to resource guarding but at her worst she would guard huge areas like the whole room. She could also change in an instant and would be very stressed after guarding. Her whole face and expression was very different when guarding.

I hope things settle down


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## arlo (Mar 11, 2013)

You have done a wonderful thing giving this boy a chance, there are some others on here that will be able to give you great advice and pointers of how to handle things. I see little point in keeping a dog permenantly on drugs, if it is something like resource guarding. Arlo has reasource guarding issues, but it is alot better now as we have adjusted our behaviour and have learned how to read the warning signs inc crazy eyes, although he sometimes catches us out, he feels very guilty afterwards but it does take a bit to diffuse him. Good luck helping this boy, what are your dogs called? You might find posts by Lolas Grammy interesting to read up on.


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## VBMom (Nov 4, 2015)

The 14 month old is Brody and the 4 year old is the Merlin. I'm hoping we can help him. My husband used to raise German Shepherds, so he has a lot of experience training dogs. Plus he's retired, so he's home all day with both boys. They get to be outside a good deal and both get a lot of attention. It's not just resource guarding, although it's that, too, but sometimes it comes out of nowhere (or at least it appears to). He's a beautiful animal, so I hope we can make this work. 
Thanks for your encouragement.


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## arlo (Mar 11, 2013)

Sounds like he is in good hands, hope it all works out, please keep us updated.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

I find with Molly any stress can cause a massive increase in guarding so I am sure a change of homes will be causing worse behaviour at the moment and whilst I am sure it is the right thing reducing the medication could also be affecting his behaviour.

If she was guarding something I found the way it was resolved affected her behaviour hugely too. So a calm peaceful resolution where I was able to distract her from whatever she was guarding and retrieve it without her knowing would be fine, but if I had to take something from her directly for some reason this would vastly increase her stress levels and her behaviour would get far worse.

These days she is generally quite peaceful to live with and any guarding seems to be just for show and usually quickly given up if ignored.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

VBMom said:


> Afterwards he has trimmers and just walks around in a daze for a few minutes.


I am confused by this. Is trimmers tremors? Or something else? It sounds like some kind of seizure to me, and if your husband with all his dog experience does not get him sorted out quickly I would do the rational thing as much as it hurts you.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

It sounds like he's having some kind of seizure. Maybe some anti seizure meds first. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## VBMom (Nov 4, 2015)

*Brody*

I finally talked the vet who has treated Brody since he was 14 weeks old to give me her notes on his behavior. Her prognosis was that with his history of biting and aggression, he needed to be muzzled and she did not see him getting better, only worse. Brody seemed to have the real rage syndrome that is so rare. As he became more comfortable in our home, he became increasingly more hostile not only to my husband and I, but more importantly to our 4 year old Cockapoo, Merlin. Merlin is NOT an alpha dog - he's a zen dog. Merlin quit eating and took to hiding under our bed. The kicker came Thursday morning as I was trying to leave for work. Brody was determined to guard the hallway I needed to pass through to get to the kitchen for my keys, etc. I have no doubt I would've been bitten had I tried to pass. I was able to get him out the front door to the porch so I could go back for my purse and keys, then let him back in. It took me 15 minutes before I could get out of my house.
He was given back to my friend (the breeder) that afternoon. She took him to her vet who evaluated him and after reading the 22 pages of notes on his behavior (the former vet even had a behaviorist from Miami come up to evaluate him), the very, very sad decision was made to send Brody over the rainbow bridge last night.


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## VBMom (Nov 4, 2015)

Yes tremors. The vet's 22 pages of notes showed they tried everything, but found it to be an untreatable neurological problem that would get worse as he got older and nothing was going to make it better. So tragic.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

So sorry it did not work out but well done for giving him a chance - it sounds like there were complex neuro problems with no real solution. 

I hope Merlin has now recovered his confidence


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

It is tragic, but well done for trying.


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## beekeeper (May 3, 2015)

I'm so sorry, it must have been hard for you, even after such a short time.


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## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

I'm sorry for your loss, and I commend everyone involved for pulling out all the stops and then making the tough call at the end. That doggie is a million times happier over the rainbow bridge, I am very certain of that. I hope that brings a little solace at this sad time.


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## VBMom (Nov 4, 2015)

*Sad*

It was extremely sad. The original vet gave us her 22 pages of notes on his behavior and what had been done. Everything had been done. All the right training, medications, etc. When the breeder took him to her long time vet (who has a stellar reputation in our town) he said Brody truly was suffering from what is called "Cocker Rage Syndrome", although it affects many other breeds and the only humane thing to do was to put him down. He would never be able to be a pet and would have to be confined and wear a muzzle when not confined. The really sad thing is, when he wasn't like that, he was so sweet but would turn without warning and then be confused after. So yes, Brody was one of the very rare pups that suffered from this syndrome. Merlin is back to his mellow self and we have decided to be a 1 dog family.
Thanks for all of your support.


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