Expert: Jill Connor, Ph.D. - 4/29/2008

Question
QUESTION: We adopted a 4 year old neutered Boston terrier from the local small town pound 1 1/2 years ago.  We were told the owners were “druggies” and wouldn’t pay to get the dog out of the pound.  He is very sweet and affectionate around people.  Since my Pug is my "baby" , we made sure he knew my Pug was the boss, - ie only the pug is allowed on the bed, the pug is fed first and the B.T is very respectful and submissive to the Pug.  A week after we got him, we let our German Shorthair pointer out (intact male) and the BT with no warning,  no growl, no fuzzing, no obvious signs of agression, jumped on the GSP who was wagging his tail and being a normal friendly dog.  The BT as some put it, went into a "red zone" attack and we had to pull the 2 apart.  The GSP tucked tail and left.  The BT did this again about a month ago to the same GSP.  About 6 months ago, the BT was at our small office with me and the pug and one of the guys brought his 8 month old lab female in, she was acting friendly and rather submissive and again the BT with no warning jumped on her to kill her.  This past weekend, we went camping with friends and when we got to the primitive campsite, my husband, against my wishes, let the BT out of the truck and he immediately beelined for a 6 month old boxer female that was on a long tether and attacked her - red zone.  I ran over and grabbed his back legs and was able to pull him off the young boxer.  We put him on a leash under our camper and went for a trail ride, when we got back he was off his leash and had not attacked any of the other dogs in the camp.  The next day, he was on his leash and a young lab approached and as before  no growl, no agressive stance, the BT just attacked and my brother-in-law threw his body on top of the two and broke up the fight.  The BT is my husband's favorite and is about to cause a divorce because I want the dangerous dog put down.  AFter each of this past weekends attacks, my husband picks up the BT and speaks lovingly to him and puts him in the camper. I would like to roll the dog on its back, expose its neck and grab it by the neck to show him I'm dominant.
Interestingly, we got a coon dog pup - walker female a year ago and the BT has never fought with her.
What do we do, besides buy this dog a muzzle?.  How do we teach him tht dog fighting is not tolerated?  Also, why does he not growl or show any other warnings?
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your advice.  I cannot tolerate a dog that is such a liability and mentally unstable.  I also am infuriated at my husbands almost "proud" attitude towards this dogs behavior.  I"m ready to get rid of the two of them!

ANSWER: Your situation is complex.  Without an in person, hands on evaluation  of this dog and close observation of her body language with other dogs, I can't determine what's setting her off.  However, a "wagging tail" means nothing -- it's the rest of the body that counts, including ear set, whites of eyes, hackles, etc., so don't assume that because the opposing dog's tail is wagging means your BT has no "doggie" reason to do what she's doing.  Furthermore, by "protecting" your Pug (artificially elevating his rank) you may have put this BT into a psychological state where she responds to rank signals immediately and with no warning; I can't determine this from so short a description.  One NEVER promotes one dog over another without an educated evaluation of temperament.  While a dog will rarely attack a bitch over rank, the same cannot be said for the bitch.  Your BT may very well be responding to your inappropriate enforcement of rank upon her, and this could generalize to dogs outside your home (given your presence and the additional complication of your husband's reactions.)

There ARE body signals (subtle, you are not aware of them) which can predict these seemingly random attacks by your BT, but you need to be seriously educated and gain experience in reading them and, the fact is, your BT cannot be exposed to other dogs in ANY VENUE without serious restraint and close observation (if at all.)  Furthermore adding other dogs to your pack, when you are clearly not in charge, is a huge mistake.  It's not unusual for husband and wife to "square off" over a dog's behavior; this can be an indication of other underlying problems of control.  That's something you have to evaluate in another venue, possibly with a professional in family therapy.  In the meantime, you need an expert evaluation of the BT by a dog behaviorist (NOT a DOG TRAINER!)  Find the veterinary school closest to you and ask for a referral to a Ph.D. or DVM who has experience in assessing dog to dog aggression.  The BT does not need to die because of this problem but it's unlikely you will be able to rehome her, especially given your husband's response.  Your situation at home (among your own dogs) can be successfully managed with the right professional help, providing your husband is willing to participate 100% of the time.  However, allowing the BT free interaction with other dogs outside your home is worsening the problem.  I don't advise it at this time.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: In my effort to be not terribly wordy, I believe I nay have mislead you in certain situations.  My pugs "artificial rank" is primarily extended to the bed, and order of feeding.  Otherwise the BT is on the couch, goes to work with me every day and sits with hubby and the pug on the recliner every evening (the BT closest to hubby).  Also, as a horse trainer for 20 years, professional wildlife biologist,  and falconer (birds of prey respond only to positive reinforcement) I spend a great deal of time looking at animals and birds' body language - position of ears, body position,so I am not unattuned to nuances in body position and carriage when a dog approaces the BT. The animals the BT has attacked were in a friendly submissive position and the BT gave no physical signs of attack. As for bitches, the BT and pug are both neutered males, and 2 of the females attacked were neutered and I don't know for sure about the others. My GSPs are intact males and the two dogs of ours he respects are bitches, one of which we got as a 2 month old pup.
I appreciate your comments regarding a dog behaviorist and will contact one nearest us.
One other interesting interaction to note is the fact that one morning at 2 am, the walker bitch was baying a 35 lb beaver in our pasture.  My husband went out - half asleep to see what she had bayed where there were no trees for a tree dog to bay, and the BT when out with him.  When he saw it was a 35 lb beaver, he turned and left and the BT stayed and bayed with the coon dog.  The next morning the beaver was dead, the walker hound had no marks or blood on her and the BT had big holes in neck from the beaver's teeth that required medical attention. In contrast to this aggression, my secretary brought her 10 week old lab pup to work 10 weeks ago (the pup is 20 weeks now) and the Pup and my BT are fast and hard pals.  Do I worry about this positive relationship changing?
Also, I have no history on this dog.  Oddly this BT will not get in the truck by himself and every morning I pick him up and put him in the front seat and then the pug jumps in. When you ask the BT to get in the truck, his eyes zone out and he will not respond, not to treats, not to commands, to positive or negative efforts to get him in the truck.  If he is left outside for 20 minutes with the door open and no one around he will get in.  But when I say he zones  out, I am serious, there is no flicker or life or response in his eyes.
I will take your advise and consult professionals.  If you have any additional comments, I would appreciate hearing from you.

Answer
This further information you've provided makes me think that your BT has a neurological problem of some sort, perhaps (you have no history so we don't know!) as a result of an illness he had (not an outrageous assumption as this does occur and sometimes leaves the dog with neurological problems.)  For certain he has an enormously high prey drive (the beaver) and is extremely inappropriate (and random -- even worse) in his responses.  You might want to find a veterinarian with an expertise in neurological function (the "zoning out" around the car is a huge symptom of cognitive dysfunction caused by excitement.)  You also really do need a credentialed behavior expert.  As for exposing this dog to dogs owned by friends, I would NOT advise it.  He is so unpredictable.  If it were my dog, I would not want him/her interacting with another that is capable of random (and serious) aggression.  Go to the vet, find a behaviorist, protect other dogs from interacting with your BT until you have some handle on this behavior.  If I were treating your dog, I would insist on a full neurological examination and possibly even some titers to determine past exposure to disease, as well as a super blood chemistry.  Evaluate his diet, also.  Remove ALL artificial ingredients, keep protein levels low, and observe if there is any change in behavior after several weeks.  Dogs OFTEN demonstrate food allergy with bizarre behaviors.  I'm very interested in how this situation evolves.  It's quite rare to see this sort of problem (although I have seen very bizarre problems) and I'd like to know how it resolves.  Please repost.