# Suddenly Aggressive



## Drdteach (Apr 14, 2015)

Our wonderful 13 month old male Bently over the past 3 wks he has shown significant aggression towards family members; my youngest son (11) who has always been his buddy and older son (13) have both been for lack of a better word attacked by him. Last night he went after me which has never happened. We hired a behavior specialist who came into our home and identified part of the issue as resource guarding. We have been following her plan to deal with this as well as her other suggestions. However, last night he came to my older son who was sitting on the floor and snuggled up to him, as he was being petty he "went off" growling, snarling, teeth bared. My son was of course terrified. At bedtime he got a hold of a cat toy that he is not to have and jumped on my younger son's bed with it. He growled, we saw the toy and my son quickly covered up with a blanket because of course he went postal again. We got the toy and once it was out of site he calmed down. I decided I did not want him on my son's bed for obvious reasons and he viciously went after ME. I got him subdued and put him in his kennel.
This dog "saved" our youngest from a very deep dark depression. Our son loves this dog (as we all do) They played together all summer, Bently has always slept on his bed next to his head and snuggled with him,
Now I am scared to let him be too close. I have contacted the behavior specialist again and have a vet appt to see if there is something medical going on.
Has anyone else encountered this sudden type of behavior? It literally came out of nowhere just after the start of the new year. Bently even jumped up on the couch and snuggled with our son who again petty him and he again went off.
We are terrified that we are going to have to give him up. Obviously I don't want that and will spend what we can afford to try and correct the issues but our money is not unlimited and training is very expensive. We love this dog and he was so great but these episodes of aggression are scary and very dangerous.
Anyone have any ideas or help to offer?

Thank you


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Can I ask what the behaviour expert has suggested for dealing with the resource guarding so what you have been doing? How did you get the cat toy off him and how were you trying to remove him from the bed when he went for you?

Definitely get him very thoroughly vet checked as he could be in pain which is causing his issues. Resource guarding is a form of stress behaviour and the more incidents the greater his stress will be especially if the items are forcibly removed from him or he is forced from somewhere he feels comfortable. This will actually mean he is more likely to guard so sets up a vicious circle and you need to stop things escalating to stop that happening


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## Drdteach (Apr 14, 2015)

We discovered he had the toy when he opened his mouth and it dropped out at that point he went after my son who was under the blanket. I grabbed the toy and my husband took it to the trash.
As far as removing him from the bed goes I had a treat and was directing him to "kennel up" like we typically do I did reach out towards him so he may have thought I was trying to grab at him.
The behaviorist has us doing "treat and retreat" we give him a preferred item and leave him with it. We get several feet from him and call his name, when he raises his head to look at us we toss him a treat and back away. We repeat this about 5-7 times watching body language so that we know if he is feeling stressed or not.
We so need this to be something we can fix medically or with a couple hundred dollars of training.
I am just sick to my stomach. We love this guy so much but something is up. Maybe he ate something he shouldn't have. But he seems to be eating and pooping just fine. He's such a cutie and normally very sweet. Our hearts are breaking...


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Thanks - it does not sound like you are doing anything to make things worst and it does sound medical to have such a sudden onset.

As an example of pain affecting behaviour though last year Molly became very aggressive towards my other dog at the point of them both getting in the car. This caused lots of tension between the dogs which spilled over to other times. She was also grumbling at me some of the time for no reason I could see especially if I picked her up - which was usually in response to her asking me to pick her up!! It took a while to work out the problem but we eventually found a gut bacteria problem which was causing her lots of pain even if there were no other outward signs. Once the gut problem was resolved she was back to her usual self.

I would be asking for full blood tests including a full thyroid panel as well as a full physical examination to see if the vets can find any cause.

Hope you can find some answers.


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## Drdteach (Apr 14, 2015)

I will definitely take your advice about the tests thanks! I have also read that hypothyroidism can cause sudden aggressiveness so we will have that checked. I have sent an email to our trainer so am planning on setting up another session with her. 
Just praying we can get answers as we love our little "poo" He's so smart and I know he wants to be a good dog; something is just going on for him. 

I appreciate your input! 

Thanks again


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## Barbieg (Jan 4, 2016)

I'm guessing this is something you would have noticed earlier, but an undescended testicle can make a dog aggressive


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## arlo (Mar 11, 2013)

No advice I am afraid, but I just hope that things can be sorted, it is obvious what this little poo means to your family, and how much you are putting into sorting it out. Arlo has resource guarding which normally only kicks in, in the evening. Bently's behaviour must have been very frightening for your son in bed, where it is normally a cuddle place. Does he act guilty after an episode? 
I hope it will be able to be resolved and they can be best friends again.


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

You would be better to start a new thread with exactly what is going on with your dog Jadebyme 

Resource guarding can be resolved but it takes time and careful handling and avoiding the triggers as much as you can.


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