So upset over our aggressive dog, how's this going to end?

[Speckledhen617]

I feel devastated over this. Our pup is just 12 months old, he's an entire terrier.5 months ago we had a succession of incidents in the space of 2 weeks triggered by a child screaming at him and our DS accidentally scaring him whilst he was asleep. He snapped and growled at DS and started growling when he saw the child who screamed at him. We saw a behaviourist and the issues resolved.

Over the last couple of weeks we've now had him shaking and lip curling at fil and bil when they've been in our house and last night whilst I was sat on the sofa and he was on the floor with a new toy he went very stiff, started staring at me and shaking. DH called him out of the room, played with him outside for a while and all was fine. A few hours later as I hugged DH good night he jumped up at us growling.

Its really upset me. I know the advice is to see a behaviourist again, which I'll do on Monday but I'm so worried about it all.

I feel like its a bite waiting to happen. I'd never let him around DS friends or the children in our family, I feel like I can't have any male visitors in the house. We tip toe around him while he's sleeping, what next-no new toys? DS adores him. All we wanted was a family dog. DS's an only child, we waited 12 years to get a dog. We've put in so much love, time and effort and money. We're all so gentle with him. I just feel lost with it all.

I’ve got a terrier and grew up with one, they need a lot of exercise, highly intelligent and like to be the boss if they can.

They like to be busy and learn.

Def needs to be castrated. How old is your child?

Your dog is a teen now so will be testing you and needs strong but kind training.

You’re welcome. A balanced view is always helpful.

I’m typing this with my terrier currently snuggled into my neck asleep, they can also be very loving, my loves a cuddle. Is there one person in the house he has gelled with, they tend to gravitate towards one particular person.

Remove him. He's in the wrong place with the wrong people. This happens, he needs a calmer environmental you need a less stressed dog.

@Sertchgi123

You’re welcome. A balanced view is always helpful.

Yup thank god for irrelevant opinion or this thread would be nearly empty!

We had a JRT who had severe fear aggression from a very early age. No one could come into our house without him going crazy. He would snap at and bite DH and I repeatedly for no reason. We tried numerous behaviourists, training classes, medication etc, you name it, we tried it. We eventually had him PTS at the age of 3 after we couldn't take any more. I was terrified of him and petrified as to what could happen to DS who was then 18 months. I'm convinced that if he was still here, something very bad would have happened by now. It broke our hearts but it was the right thing to do.

I hope you don't need to go to that extreme so wishing you lots of luck for being able to change his behaviour.

@Veterinari

That is what I meant. Sometimes, castration helps with aggression. In other cases, like cases of fear based aggression, it doesn't. Sorry if my previous post wasn't clear.

@Sertchgi123
I never said you didn't have experience. With all breeds of dog, you get aggressive individuals. That doesn't mean that we should condemn the ownership of them in general though. You know of a few aggressive ones, I know of loads of friendly ones. There is a wide range of terriers and not all terrier breeds are suitable to have around children.
I also know of a few non-terrier dog breeds that have bitten. My friend got bitten on the face by a collie? Should we condemn all collies now? I don't want to get in a row over the merits of terriers with you because this is not what this thread is for. Send me a PM if you want to hash it out.

@Veterinati

You are joking right? Advocating against the ownership of an entire category of dogs just because of a few aggressive individuals? Thank God we don't all do that otherwise nobody would ever own a dog. There are aggressive individuals in every breed. I'll admit, there are some terriers that are aggressive. But there are plenty of ones that aren't.

I certainly wouldn’t have a Collie! They are working dogs, highly intelligent and best suited to farms.

Anyone getting a dog with children needs to do their homework.

Children are hard work. Dogs are hard work. There are many posts on the internet about dogs biting and being aggressive towards children. There are far too many dogs in rehoming kennels.

A bit of a reality check about what dogs can be like is needed.

To be honest @Purpledaisychain my comments were directed more towards the posters criticising the OP for not castrating and then not listening to their 'advice' when the reality is that she's actually making a perfectly valid evidence-based decision. There's a lot of misinformation on this thread being spouted as 'advice' including the anti-terrier nonsense which you've already corrected

What sort of terrier is it? I’ve had a JRT lovely, bonkers and very friendly, had her for 17 years.

Currently have a Scottie known more for being stubborn and judgemental, lots of side eye.

Both tried to dominant but lots of training and no issues now.

I suggested castration because there are so many unwanted dogs.

[quote Purpledaisychain]@Veterinati

You are joking right? Advocating against the ownership of an entire category of dogs just because of a few aggressive individuals? Thank God we don't all do that otherwise nobody would ever own a dog. There are aggressive individuals in every breed. I'll admit, there are some terriers that are aggressive. But there are plenty of ones that aren't.[/quote]
Umm where have I advocated against terriers? 

If you mean my comments to @Sertchgi123 I suggest you review and consider where exactly she's contributed 'helpful, constructive, or relevant' advice to the OP, and consider how sarcastic or otherwise my comments might be

@Veterinari I'm sorry.

@Sertchgi123 The collie wasn't hers. It happened to her when she was out and about. I think it was a working dog that nipped her. All I'm trying to say is it is daft to turn on an entire breed just because some individuals are aggressive.

The dog sounds unhappy and scared by his environment - speak to a behaviour expert and I'm consider asking if he needs a different type of home life with say an older couple with no children etc

My min pin had not been done when we rescued him .
Huge difference now he is

OP i gave up reading this thread after the first two pages due to uninformed posts.

1. Get a vet check - pain, injury, physical causes need to be ruled out.

1. Yuo are correct in getting in contact with your behavourist only in RL can this situation be assessed correctly

1. Castration is unlikely to help probably make things much worse.

4.Rememeber you did sort* out the previous problem with qualified advice so it is very likely this will be sorted to.

5.The behaviour you describe does not worry me hugely . He had a new prized possession.

1. Your behaviourist will help you understand your dogs body language and how to diffuse the situation, prevent it from happening if required.

1. If toys are too overstimulating for him dont give him toys or only give him tug toys that can be removed or played with at a distance so you feel mmore confident.

1. Hide this thread it will not do your mental healty any good . THe behaviourist is the person to help you.

This too will be sorted in an easy and painless way.

We have a terrier here.

The castration thing is really relevant. For dogs who exhibit fear based aggression castrations just isn’t the answer. Ours is a really confident dog which is why we were happy to castrate, but it’s not always best.

Terriers are often snappy dogs, ours a very soft but he has triggers which could make him snappy, he’s not great tied up for example so not a dog to take to the pub or school run. Off lead he’s happy and confident and I have no fear of him snapping. I also don’t let any children approach him whilst he’s resting. I’m probably paranoid but I just know he’s lovely with kids but when he gets to approach them and play. He does like to be in control.

Yours is still young, adolescence does change their character somewhat so if you can, stick with it. I do also think letting them on sofas etc can be bad as they start to guard territory. Mine got silly guarding us on the sofa so I put him on the floor for a while and always make a point of moving him off for the kids and he’s better now.

I hope this is of done help. I think I was worried about mine for a while when he was younger but we just worked out when he is at his best and worked with that. He’s gorgeous now x

[quote Purpledaisychain]@Veterinari I'm sorry.

@Sertchgi123 The collie wasn't hers. It happened to her when she was out and about. I think it was a working dog that nipped her. All I'm trying to say is it is daft to turn on an entire breed just because some individuals are aggressive.[/quote]
No worries 

OP, @PollyRoulson has given excellent advice. If you're still reading then follow that and ignore 90% of this thread as nonsense.

He's still young and finding his feet, with time and support I'm sure you'll see improvements

Thanks again for all the replies, I've taken on board all the sensible ones.

DS is 13 next week. We're a very calm household, DS is very sensible. I think we just need time to see how this develops. Our dog needs time to finish growing and maturing and we need time to implement whatever the behaviourist suggests.

He's a wonderful dog in so many ways, very sweet and settles well when left home alone. He's never shown any issue with other dogs or people or children when out on walks although I don't allow anyone to stroke him.

Something DH has just thought of is that we've got new neighbours. They've spent 2 weeks renovating next door-lots of workmen and noise. The dogs been barking at them in the garden a fair bit but has seemed calm inside the home but maybe this has contributed to his stresslevels. Mine have certainly gone up!

Some people think castration is the answer but I've heard sometimes it makes them worse and sometimes it makes no difference it's not a magical cure however I'm not a behaviourist.

Further to what everyone has said about castration, obviously talk to experts and take their advice, but you could try a chemical castration (unlikely to be the best choice RIGHT NOW). Then if it helps his behaviour you can go for surgical castration, but if not you haven’t made a permanent decision.

Re the sofa. He's not allowed to sleep on the sofa (even though he loves to snuggle up) this had been working well but I think we now need to make the sofa a no-go area. Hes happy enough in his bed.

We've never had him crated but we're going to buy one and cover it just to see if that helps. We won't shut him in there but he could use it as a safe den if he wanted to.

We'll also get him checked at the vet. Hes on good quality food too.

We'd definitely go down the chemical route first if we were advised to castrate him.

Good luck with him OP, we had a completely different issue with our terrier (DD had what we thought was an allergy DDog), at one time I thought we might have to send her back to breeder , but that feeling of having to give up on our much loved family dog was awful, I really hope it works out for you.

Sorry if I’ve missed it but what sort of terrier are we talking about ? We have a patterdale x and although he never growls he does get very upset if I hug anyone else and will try to intervene .Some terriers are very people orientated and can get a bit over attached .