I thought I had posted this earlier but for some reason it hasn't
shown up. I took the liberty to contact a friend of mine who was a
Vet Tech in a very progressive Vet's office about aggression in dogs
and here's what she said:
It depends on what the aggressive behaviors are, but some of those are
learned behaviors and I believe some are congenital. I know that the
obedience gurus and Cesar Milan say there are no bad dogs- just bad
owners;
but I have truly seen some dogs who were just a challenge! I had one
patient, a German Shepherd, and we started seeing him when he was
just 8
weeks old. This dog had some very bad temperment/aggression problems
by the
time we saw him at 12 weeks. The owner did everything right- she took
him to
many classes, socialized him, brought him by the clinic just to visit,
worked with a behavior specialist and by the time this dog was 18
months
old, she ended up having to put him to sleep. He had bitten over 10
people
in those 18 months, the last time was her elderly father. The bite was
unprovoked and the father ended up in the hospital due to the
severity of
the bites. So- there was a case of the dog was just not right! I have
never
cried as much as I did that day, but I agreed with the owner- she did
everything that she could and this still turned out to be just a bad
dog.
I am not sure why thyroid was suggested to be checked. Usually with
hypothyroidism we see lethargy, weight gain, hair pattern loss,
occaisionally seizures. Aggression is not a typical symptom. It is a
very
rare case that we see hyperthyroidism and the symptoms for that are
generally massive weight loss, loose stools, hunger that is out of
control
(this is mostly in cats that we see hyperthyroidism).
It would be interesting to see what the exact aggressions are. If
they are
food or toy agressions, behavior modification would be in order.
Training is
always a good thing. Consulting with a behavior veterinarian may be
called
for. Medications/behavior modification go hand in hand in some cases
also.
If it is dominance that is a problem- there are many things you can
do to
try to curb that. Make sure the dog does not go out the door before
you do,
feed the dog in a crate, do not let the dog sit on the couch or sleep
with
the humans, make the dog sit before each treat, do not let the dog
get into
a staring contest and win with the human, if the dog puts a paw over
your
arm- take it off...do not let the dog be "top dog" if that makes
sense. Just
reinforce that the dog is a dog and the humans are in charge.
Hope this helps somewhat. I sent her another email explaining the
aggression so waiting to hear back from her again.
I have to say I was taken aback by some of the responses to this
thread as to me, anyway, they came off as being not so nice or
supportive but more accusatory.
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