Expert: Cassie - 1/31/2008

Question
Though I wanted to say, I have never written before, so I think you may have gotten me confused with someone else???? When I wrote the question it was my first time even looking up the issue and finding this website for the first time.....  So thats why I wrote to get some help, not a mean response, I thought he might be a different story than some of the previous posters.
Please dont respond if my question had bothered you.

Below this is your response to your question:
"I have already answered this question for you once before.

Your Question was:

I have a 4 year old Akita/German Shepard/Chow mix.  We have had him
since he was about 8 weeks old.  He was a very sweet dog and had never
shown any signs of aggression, though we did see a personality change
after he had a surgery for severe torsion where he almost died at 1 year
old.

After that he seemed to have severe abandonment issues.  

Twice he has jumped into our car when he realized we were leaving... He
jumps in the front seat (when he does go in the car he is never in the
front)and will not move.  He literally turns into Cujo and would
rather attack us than be removed from the car.

We were nervous about the behavior so we hired a dog trainer who did
the little shock collar training thing and he got worse.  You could not
get near him by the end the training. We did not pursue it, since it
seemed to upset him so much.  

On a handful of occassions (maybe 10 times) has been very aggressive
(growls, barks, teeth bared, ears back, attack stance) when we try to
remove him from a spot he wants to be in. (On the bed, under a desk, or in
a corner in the office).  He is worse with my husband than with me.
 He has growled at our 3 year old son once when the dog was under the
desk. He has never bitten any of us, since we do back off and remove
ourselves from the situation.  He always calms down immediatly (id say
within 2 minutes).

I am so worried he will bite one of us one day, so I want to fix what
is wrong.  We love him dearly.  Other than that, he is a great dog.  He
sits and shakes paws on comand and loves to be pet and loves attention.
 You can lay on him and watch TV.  

We do have a younger 2 year old Jack Russel/lab mix that he gets along
with. they do wrestle and play, though the 4 year old is the boss  and
lets him know when he does not want to play.  They have gotten in 2
very short fights (in 2 years) about not wanting to play.....

What should we do now to remove the issue of aggression?

Thank you so very much~
Jenifer



Expert: Cassie  

Answer
Hello Jenifer,
     I apologize for the rude previous reply to your question, but when I have answered a specific question before, even if it wasn't sent in by you, I click a certain button and it automatically sends the message, without me knowing exactly what the message contains. I will be sure to contact the website operators and see what they can do.                                                                                                                                     Is your dog neutered? Unfortunately, my expertise does not lie within animal health, but I can help you with the aggression issues. Akita's are very dominant dogs, as well as Chow's, so you can see why that is not a good combination for a family with a small child. If you were looking for a dog that is good with kids, then a Labrador or Golden Retriever would have been a better choice.
    This is a serious situation, and I would try talking to a professional. I highly recommend famous canine behaviorist, Cesar Millan. This is a case which he would consider a "red-zone". Go to this link to learn more: http://cesarmillaninc.com/dogwhisperer/submissions.php
    Visit this link as well to purchase some of his books. They are excellent and he gives perfect detail on all the methods of reprimanding your dog: http://cesarmillaninc.com/products/btpl_book.php

Thank you! If you have any more questions, be sure to ask a follow-up!