AIBU to think our dog bit because his warning growls were ignored?

[Vauxhall21]

I have a 4 year old Cavapoo. He has always been a placid, but anxious dog because of his background and the environment he was bred into, however this has massively improved over time.

He has always had a little bit of resource guarding, but usually only a tiny bit of a growl and then happy to let you take the item if it was not appropriate for him to have.

He is currently going through a trial (chemical) castration. Potentially due to this, his resource guarding has got considerably worse where he will even growl at me now when he never used to, because of this if I have to take an item off him, I usually get him away from the item first by treats or a distraction and then remove it and this works fine.

Today, he was chewing on a piece of plastic and my partner attempted to take it from him, ignored his warning growls and did not do the distraction technique or try replacing it with something else, and it ended up with him biting her quite badly on the finger.

This is the first time I have ever been in this position and it has completely shaken the whole house.

Firstly, it is likely to need a hospital visit due to the punctures being quite deep. Does the hospital report this to the police? I also have a 10 year old child in the house (who knows not to go near him when he has anything in his mouth and respects his boundaries), will the hospital report this to SS?

Secondly, how do I handle this going forward? I already do the trading/distraction technique, I also suspect that the castration is making it worse so I will call the vets and ask for advice. But who was at fault? Was this a careless mistake on my partners behalf or is my dog no longer safe to be in the family home and is likely to be more aggressive after this first biting incident?

He is a very much loved dog and this was very very out of the blue despite his resource guarding issues, and we are all feeling incredibly heartbroken that this has happened so please be kind.

This is absolute nonsense. Ignore any responses that say anything about dominance. Listen to @WiddlinDiddlin .

I’ve known several cavapoos and they all have issues and all bite (if not people, then other dogs).

Your partner is solely at fault for the bite. The dog was telling him to back off (that's what the growl is for) he didn't so be the dog bit. Train your partner better.

CBA tagging people..

Yes of course the 'clip round the earhole' comment was tongue in cheek, but I'd still have said it had I clocked that the DP was female, as the gender of the person being stupid here is irrelevant.

And yes I stand by that too - doing something you've been told not to do, and have an alternative available, and why you shouldn't do the thing has been explained - is fucking stupid. I don't have to be nice and hold my tongue here, none of you are paying for my advice, if you were... then obviously I'd speak/write in the professional manner I use with clients.

Finally, prioritising dogs over humans - well hardly, given my advice was to seriously consider if the humans involved are capable of the management and handling necessary, and if they are not, then rehoming or... other options... should be discussed.

Generally speaking, the dog IS my priority, I do like them more than most humans, however I recognise that in order to achieve a positive outcome for the dog, the humans need to be safe and to understand what is going on, why, and how to fix it. Dogs do not train themselves or modify their own behaviour!

And as for the person who thinks stamping your foot at and approaching a growling dog will assert dominance, justified by an anecdote about geese - please, never go near a dog and don't give out behaviour/training advice. You will get people bitten and possibly killed.

The one biten was female. Not a husband

dog warned by growling

nothing was given in return

don’t blame the dog tbh

If you can't trust the dog not to bite it's a problem. Not everyone is going to know how to handle your dog in the right way so it doesn't bite them, particularly children. A nip is one thing but this sounds like a real bite and may well need antibiotics, dog's teeth are not clean, they really should go to A&E or the gp to get proper treatment. Could you take the dog on a training cause to improve it's behaviour?

Its one thing to trainn your partner bug are you going to train everyone coming in the house. A normal person visiting would not necessarily know about dog behaviour and could get badly hurt.

Oh FFS !!!!!

Your partner should have listened to the animal's warnings. I understand Cavapoos growls can sound cutesey compared to say a doberman's... but it is still a growl and it should be listened to.

If your partner still insists on antagonising your dog to the point where your dog has no choice but to bite, that is an unfair position to put your dog in ... and i would change my partner for a better one.

I second this.

Stamping your foot in front of a resource guarding dog is more likely to escalate the aggression, not diffuse it.

Secondly, never do this to a stranger's dog, for any reason.
I was once walking a friend's German Shepherd when a drunken male walked up to us, stamped his front whilst wildly waving his arms about and making aggressive noises at the dog. Unsurprisingly, the dog growled and lunged at him though it was a warning and not an attempt to bite him.

Thirdly, I like geese but only at a safe distance and I've never allowed any of my dogs to go anywhere near one. If they're protecting their partner or their young, they can easily break your arm.

That’s not the dog allowing things to be taken from their mouth though using the distraction is it

"the lack of testosterone due to the chemical castration (assuming Suprelorin, please say its not Tardak, thats worse!) will have caused him to be more anxious..."

Depends when he got it. From the Suprelorin SPC:
" In male dogs or cats, the continuous low dose of deslorelin will reduce the functionality and the size of the male reproductive organs, libido, and spermatogenesis, and lower the plasma testosterone levels, from 4-6 weeks after implantation. A short transient increase in plasma testosterone may be seen immediately after implantation."

That initial hormone surge, coupled with the fact that it takes weeks to start working and, once it's in it lasts for ages makes me not a fan of trialling it as a dry run for surgical castration in cases of male behaviour that involve aggression whether it be mild anxiety-driven defensive resource guarding growling or actual full on billy big balls testosterone driven dominance aggression-aggression towards other entire males. (Interestingly, I once used it in a jill ferret who was the sweetest wee dote you've ever met; she was snuggling up to me gently nibbling my earlobes at the admit. After she got it she turned into a demon per the owner- angry with her beloved owner and viciously attacking the dog who had been her best buddy. It was really alarming and sad and made me long for the return of Delvosterone).

If you're in the UK I assume it wasn't Tardak as I don't think that has been available for a few years (probably because Ypozane and Suprelorin came onto the market and between them replaced most of the functions of Tardak for longer). I used to love Tardak for precisely this sort of trial though, as you didn't get the initial testosterone surge, it started working quickly and if you didn't like it sure it would be worn off soon enough...plus it was cheaper and would go through a needle.

Not wrong though

Yeah, Tardak was better in that it wore off much more quickly... but it also could cause pretty dramatic fear based aggression, one of the reason my vets (both then when it was common and my vets now) are happy to have alternatives. But yeah chemical castration of any kind isn't the best dry run for castration in many cases.

Either way, chemical or surgical, not enough people are warned that the hormone fluctations and drops can alter behaviour and that they need to be more mindful, not introduce big new changes or put the dog into situations they suspect he'll struggle with!

the dog is 4 yes four years old, why is he going through a trial chemical castration ?

why wasn't he neutered years ago ?

I don't understand why you've bought a badly bred, highly anxious dog -especially when you have a child? I assume it's bought as I'd hope no rescue would rehome a dog like that with a child.

Did you just want a small, cute dog and not care that you were supporting puppy farmers? Cavs are one of the most poorly bred dog breeds there are. I just don't get it.

I wish this whole obsession with poos would just end, so many of them are poorly bred and highly neurotic, and we should ban Cavs like Norway because the breeding is so bad - but who cares when they're cute right?

"Yeah, Tardak was better in that it wore off much more quickly... but it also could cause pretty dramatic fear based aggression"

Hmm, never saw that, mind you the vast majority of the time we were using it for prostatic hyperplasia (before Ypozane existed) and so the typical recipient was an old dog with maybe a dodgy heart where Os wary of GA, or some wee Yorkie that you just needed to buy time to let them save up or steel their nerves for castrate and perineal hernia surgery.

Neurotically bred doodliepoos with the salubrious in utero/ neonatal experience of puppy-farm adjacent conditions (not saying OPs dog is quite one of these but by the sounds of it she reckons he may have had a bad start) didn't really exist then, so our dog population was a bit more emotionally and mentally resilient, I think.