Expert: Have4Paws - 4/30/2009

Question
Hi, I am at a loss as to what to do - Our 2 year old Beagle, Toby is steadily becoming more and more aggressive in  certain situations...
He likes to sit in the living room on one of the armchairs and will sit nicely there for a long time. However, if we try to get him off the chair - telling him firmly "Off" or "Come here" he starts to growl and when we tell him firmly "No!" , he barks loudly - warning us off (basically he seems to think he is pack leader. Last night he did this and he actually went one step further by lunging at me. He jumped and bit my stomach in the process. He didn't draw any blood, but it did hurt and he has left a mark. When he does something like this, it's as if he knows he has done wrong because when we then tell him to "come here", (after a while); he crawls very low to the ground (almost on his belly grovelling) and sits very close to the person calling him over. He is also very possessive of things we have given to him and will growl if he has a bone in his bed with him - which eventually leads to the same situation with the barking - getting worse and worse.
We try to be the dominant ones but when the fear of getting bitten is there - it's very, very hard. There are 5 of us living at home and I have said many times to my mum that he shouldn't be allowed on the sofa because its as if it gives him the right to be the dominant one - but my opinions are often ignored. We all care for him but don't know what we should do. Once he has attacked once or twice - I fear that it will always be in his nature.

Thank you for reading,


Answer
Hi Lucy, very sorry to hear about the problems you are having. This can quickly escalate into a very dangerous situation and it sounds as if it is well on its way. You need to find a trainer locally to do some one on one training with you all and your dog IMMEDIATELY! This is unfortunately not something I can fix via email and it would be dangerous to attempt to do so, so beware of other people wanting to give you advice this way. Anytime there is aggression it requires experienced in person handling.

Please know that aggression breeds aggression so you have to be very careful that no one is trying to "punish" him in any way. As well, when he crawls  to the person calling him as you described it,  this is due to fear, not because he knows he did something wrong. Fearful dogs are the most likely biters. Dogs live in the moment and they also do not have the reasoning ability to figure out WHY someone is mad at them or to feel guilty. They can however sense very easily when someone is not pleased with them.

I agree that if he is mistaken about who is the Alpha it isnt good to let him on the couch but I am worried about you tring to change this behavior without the aid of an experienced handler. Please let your family read this and encourage them to seek help right away!