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Location: Los Angeles, USA
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2
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In need of advice: Sudden Aggressive Behavior
Hello Everyone. I am new to this forum and in dire need of some advice in regards to a serious incident that occurred yesterday.
I have a 3 year old Boston Terrier named Rambo. Yesterday, my boyfriend and I took him in for his routine shots which was not new to him. He has always done so well at vets and groomers. When the vet administered the shot to his hind leg, a side of him we never saw came out. He became extremely aggressive, snarled and bit down on my boyfriend's hand, puncturing the skin and his hands became bruised and swollen. Rambo has had no previous signs of aggression and is the sweetest dog you will meet. He loves dogs, cats, children, ... anybody. Even to the point we worry if a robber came in to our home, he would make friends with them too! A few weeks ago we even went to a Boston Terrier gathering and everybody was praising him for his sweet demeanor.
The vet was very upset at us and told us we were lucky because if it was any other vet or had bitten her instead, Rambo would have been put down. We felt absolutely awful.
We changed our plans and decided to take him home immediately after the horrible occurrence at the vet. I wanted to do something nice for him and decided to groom him which he usually absolutely loves. I started to bathe him and as soon as I got to his hind legs, he snarled and tried to bite me. I was a little scared but I rinsed him off and brushed him and everything was fine. Then I tried to clip his nails. He once again snarled and tried to bite me so I stopped. Up until yesterday, he has NEVER EVER reacted this way.
We also have a 1 year old female Boston/Terrier Mix named Halo which we adopted from a rescue 6 months ago. Rambo and Halo completely adores each other and watches out for each other. They got along so well from day one that we couldn't have been happier. The only thing we noticed was that Halo tends to excessively but playfully bite/nip at Rambo's ankle and leg but we always made sure we stopped Halo immediately when we saw her nip at Rambo.
My boyfriend and I decided to reflect back at Rambo's behaviors recently and realized a few things. He would run, hide, or jump on our laps if Halo began biting at his legs. Also, we realized that Rambo was getting a little aggressive with Halo when she would nip at his legs. We now think the root of his aggression is Halo's excessive biting at his leg.
We considered maybe his legs were injured but he isn't limping or showing any signs of discomfort. As long as we touched his legs "in a none threatening matter" in his eyes, he would let us rub/play with his legs which makes us believe that he isn't physically hurt.
So here is my question: Aside from us being even more persistent with stopping Halo from bitting Rambo's foot, how do we get him to stop being aggressive when touching his legs? How do we regain his trust? How do I bring him back to old Rambo? We can't have what happened at the vet again.
My boyfriend and I have never felt so lost, confused, and embarrassed. After that vet visit, we feel like we let both Rambo and Halo down. But, we really want to tackle and defeat this behavior. For now we are going to have to muzzle Rambo for any kind of vet or grooming visits but hopefully Rambo will be back to his old self with the right training.
If anyone could give us any insight, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for your time.