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.

[Speckledhen617]

Thank you. It is a dreadful feeling. I'm hoping we'll be able to manage this behaviour and control the environment for him.We don't have lots of people round (especially not now due 5o covid!) and we can keep him separate from ds friends etc. Its just sad as that's not how you want things to be when you get a dog.

His parents both have lovely temperaments. He was the runt of the litter, about half the size of the other pups (he's caught up now). I wonder if that's relevant at all.

[Bajalaluna]

Castration will definitely help to curb his behaviour and "mellow" him out, BUT it has to be timed right. We learnt this the hard way with our fear aggressive dog, (dog reactive, not people) we got him neutered before 18 months as a "quick fix" to try and stop his fearful barking and lunging at other dogs, and it made matters so much worse. He's now 9 and never grown out of the puppy stage I feel like we've almost frozen him in by getting him castrated too early. My other dog was dog aggressive when we acquired him at a year old, but we didn't neuter him until 3ish, and he is now the most chilled out friendly dog, I think because he had time to mature fully first.
Don't take any chances op, make sure the opportunity to bite a child is never presented and watch him like a hawk, could just be behaviour he grows out of, could be a personality trait. Can you distract with food? Have you tried clicker training? Terriers are very intelligent, high energy dogs, and if left bored, like others, can start displaying undesirable behaviour. What about some doggie brain training games? Kongs? Treat balls? Things to engage his brain in a positive way. Treasure hunts around a room are popular with ours. Let them sniff some treats, make them wait out the room while you hide them, and then let them back in to search and find the treats.

[Wolfiefan]

The worlds next door could be related. Worth trying the doggy calming spray or plug in? (Adaptil?)
They also go through a secondary fear period. Can’t remember what age. Sorry.
My 11 month old is being a bit more nervous than her usual bomb proof self. Including growling at hot air balloons and a factory that was emitting something from a chimney.

[Speckledhen617]

We've got an adaptil plug in from the first incident with DS.

He gets plenty of exercise and playtime. We are slacking a bit on the training though. Every walk is a training session and at home we treat him for all his good behaviour but we haven't been doing little training sessions like we used to when he was a pup so that's something we'll go back to.

[Speckledhen617]

He's a JRT, DH is definitely his person but he loves us all.

[ChickensMightFly]

Maybe the quiet of covid has regressed his socialisation. If he hasn't been routinely experiencing contact with people a child's shriek would be a shock. Perhaps you could work on him observing safe things from a comfortable distance and getting gradually closer etc. Dh and ds won't ever be able to enjoy a wrestle if he is very sensitised

[Speckledhen617]

I definitely think lockdown hasn't helped. We kept up the socialisation outside, he really is fine with everything (except motorbikes, he barks at them if they zoom past). We've had no one in the house though so 6 months! At his age thats bound to have an impact. I'd like the behaviourist to advise us on that too as he was very nervous of fil and bil.

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

I really like that bucket analogy for trigger stacking, I'm going to remember that.
You could have a point that the activity next door could be keeping his stress levels topped up...
Good luck OP & I hope the behaviourist has good practical advice!

[FAQs]

The house noise might have stressed him out. With our family JRT I was her go to person, she was my shadow and when I left home she came with me.

I’m currently signed with a JRT rescue waiting for a puppy (we have cats so it’s got to be trained) they are amazing, funny dogs but so so clever so very open to training.

[Tardigrade001]

I wouldn't rush to neuter him in the hope that it will solve the problem. It may in fact make it worse, particularly if it's fear-based aggression.
Some data:
@https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/canine-corner/201805/neutering-causes-behavior-problems-in-male-dogs%3famp

[vanillandhoney]

Hi OP :) I hope you're okay - some of the comments on here have been less than helpful - please don't take them too much to heart.

I would make the vet my first port of call - get a full health check done including bloods if possible. Rule out any potential health issues including pain. I would also see if you can video his episodes of freezing/shaking as it potentially could be epilepsy or fits. Medication could get this under control fairly easily.

If he has a clean bill of health, then go back to your behaviourist. Use the videos to show them your dogs' behaviour and see if she can see something that triggers it. You're right that lockdown and building work won't be helping the situation!

Good luck

[Ponchy]

Is he from a proper breeder or is from a backyard breeder? I know it's not wildly helpful at this point but this is why you should only get pups from someone who really knows what they're doing. An unstable temperament isn't fun and likely to be a likfelong issue.

[Veterinari]

@Bajalaluna

Castration will definitely help to curb his behaviour and "mellow" him out, BUT it has to be timed right. We learnt this the hard way with our fear aggressive dog, (dog reactive, not people) we got him neutered before 18 months as a "quick fix" to try and stop his fearful barking and lunging at other dogs, and it made matters so much worse. He's now 9 and never grown out of the puppy stage I feel like we've almost frozen him in by getting him castrated too early. My other dog was dog aggressive when we acquired him at a year old, but we didn't neuter him until 3ish, and he is now the most chilled out friendly dog, I think because he had time to mature fully first.
Don't take any chances op, make sure the opportunity to bite a child is never presented and watch him like a hawk, could just be behaviour he grows out of, could be a personality trait. Can you distract with food? Have you tried clicker training? Terriers are very intelligent, high energy dogs, and if left bored, like others, can start displaying undesirable behaviour. What about some doggie brain training games? Kongs? Treat balls? Things to engage his brain in a positive way. Treasure hunts around a room are popular with ours. Let them sniff some treats, make them wait out the room while you hide them, and then let them back in to search and find the treats.

Please read the thread! Dog-directed aggression and human-directed aggression have totally different motivations. Yes castrations can help in confident male dog aggression. But that's totally different to human or child directed aggression. It's not just the age of dog that matters but the type of aggression. Please do some research, or at least bother to read the thread before spouting incorrect and dangerous advice that's already bean corrected multiple times!

[Veterinari]

@Speckledhen617

Thank you. It is a dreadful feeling. I'm hoping we'll be able to manage this behaviour and control the environment for him.We don't have lots of people round (especially not now due 5o covid!) and we can keep him separate from ds friends etc. Its just sad as that's not how you want things to be when you get a dog.

His parents both have lovely temperaments. He was the runt of the litter, about half the size of the other pups (he's caught up now). I wonder if that's relevant at all.

Yes @Speckledhen617 his runtiness probably does have an impact. Runts are often overwhelmed by their siblings, have to compete hard for access to mum, food etc and this can result in resource guarding and anxiety over resources.

I'd generally recommend picking a calm confident pup that will willingly explore and has good sibling relationships.