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Seemingly random aggression

1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  dfunk2 
#1 ·
I adopted a male pit/lab mix from the local shelter around 2.5 years ago. He's never been aggressive towards people, but my girlfriend has a male bernese mountain dog mix that he seems to randomly attack. They got along well for the first year after her dog moved in. I have noticed some patterns over the past 8 months that it's been happening though.

It never happens when I'm alone with them or if nobody is home. It only happens if my girlfriend is here, or if she is alone with them.

We also have a 30 lbs paralyzed female pit mix, and another female dog that he doesn't attack.

He does seem to attack if toys are out and the male comes close. Again, doesn't attack the females. The paralyzed dog can take the toys right out of his mouth, and he doesn't care. (seems like an obvious common problem)

He seems to have "nervous days" where he will pee a little when my girlfriend baby talks him, then he shakes anxiously after the pee. Those days seem to be when he will attack. Other days they are fine together.

The attacks aren't terrible, as the other male dog wants nothing to do with a fight, and just relents. He gets some cuts on his face, but no major injuries have happened. He hasn't caused any injury since being put on the dog version of prozac. He was actually doing really well for the 2 months he's been on it, but now he's snapping at the other dog. I can't tell if he just has bad days and needs to be separated during those days or what's going on. He's had the "bad" days for the past 4 days, which hadn't happened before.

Sorry for the long post. I'm always nervous to leave the house. Thanks for any help or ideas.
 
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#2 ·
I would suggest a behaviourist evaluate & advise. It sounds like his aggression towards your girlfriend's dog is jealousy/possessiveness over her from what you've said. But the 'nervous days', peeing when being spoken to, etc... And if he's on prozac, I'd absolutely want to get to the bottom of it & if poss treat the *cause* rather than just address the symptoms with drugs. He might be worse again now because he's desensitised a bit to the drug, being long term, or it might be that the stress has built up to a level that it's now manifesting despite the drug.
 
#3 ·
Yeah.. if he's laying with her on the couch and she's giving him a lot of attention, the other male dog will be attacked if he goes close to her. Again, only on the "bad" days. I hate that he's on meds. I agree treating the cause, rather than the symptoms, is the obvious thing to do. Thanks for the feedback.
 
#4 ·
He sounds very insecure, and that probably makes his resource guarding more intense.

Can I ask, is he only nervous when he is baby-talked to? What happens if you just cut that out altogether - does he still struggle with anxiety?

Prozac/Fluoxetine (if that's what he's on) is an SSRI, which essentially increases the amount of serotonin available in the brain. You could make the argument that some anxiety meds (benzos, for example) are just band-aids treating symptoms, but SSRIs really do help treat the cause of anxiety in very anxious dogs.

I would definitely second the suggestion of having a behaviorist come in. It would be a good idea to get a professional opinion of how bad his anxiety is and if that's a factor in his resource guarding. Resource guarding in itself isn't terribly painful to deal with compared to some other things, but a pro could give you some suggestions after seeing it in person that could be very helpful.
 
#5 ·
He sounds very insecure, and that probably makes his resource guarding more intense.

Can I ask, is he only nervous when he is baby-talked to? What happens if you just cut that out altogether - does he still struggle with anxiety?

Prozac/Fluoxetine (if that's what he's on) is an SSRI, which essentially increases the amount of serotonin available in the brain. You could make the argument that some anxiety meds (benzos, for example) are just band-aids treating symptoms, but SSRIs really do help treat the cause of anxiety in very anxious dogs.
I think it is Fluoxetine. (I'm at work and can't check)
He normally loves the baby talk and starts rolling around and wagging his tail. Just on his days where he seems "off" is when he gets too excited maybe? And a little pee comes out, followed by acting like he's scared he's in trouble.
I did notice yesterday he was acting like he felt bad in the morning and afternoon. I took him to the basement with me while I did some computer work, and he chewed on a bone for a while. He acted way better after that.
 
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