Cava-tzu suddenly acting agressive

Hello, We got a rescue Cava-tzu (about 2 years old and neutered) in July and all has been wonderful for the last 5 months. He was very gentle with little barking or growling. That is until the last few weeks. He has bitten my leg when I went to hand something to my mother.
Then started growling and barking when we came up the stairs (thought it might be protecting my mother). But now he had bitten my husband twice in the last 2 days when he took off the harness (gently of course).
It really seemed to start after he was groomed. He came back timid, and now this sudden, unexpected and unprovoked behavior. Sometimes he is fine, in the same situation he snaps. We don't know what to do. Please help.

Hello, and you must be so perplexed and upset by this change in behaviour.

You say that it all started after he had been groomed....did he go to a groomer? If so, it might be worthwhile asking them if anything untoward happened whilst he was there. You may have to be cunning in your questioning, as they will not be happy to admit that they treated him less than gently.

Other than that, I can only say that someone will be along soon to give advice I am sure.

Thank you for your reply and reassurance. Yes, we are very upset and perplexed by this. We think he acted this way once before the groomers, just before Christmas. Then we put it down to my interrupting his play with Mom and thought he might have just been excited and mistook my sock and leg for a toy. We tried to think other times were because we woke him up when we came up the stairs, but now it is too often and doesn't make sense. We can't find any correlations.

Mom was planning to go to the Groomer (this was our first time there) and ask if he behaved ok or if there were any problems with other dogs etc. Glad you suggested it too.

If they are good Groomers and value their reputation then they will be happy to discuss the problem with you and offer advice maybe too.

There is another possibility with this, and it is only my thoughts - he is a rescue dog, and is just coming up to the time when he is beginning to feel "at home" and settled. The traits that he is displaying now may have been dormant whilst he was unsure of his welcome etc. Some good training, over and above what you are already doing might be the answer, and as I said before, with luck someone will be along soon to help with this.

I do feel for you

Hi Anne and welcome to Dogsey.

When did your little dog last have a vet check? If you have not already done so I would get him checked by the vet before you do anything else making sure his ears/teeth/eyes and anal glands are examined and his body for sores and pain.

Yup what she said

If its a total change in behaviour then vets should be the 1st place to go
Agree that you can get a kind of honeymoon period with rescues too but this sounds a little dramatic

Possibly if there is some pain somewhere - and the groomers might have made that worse

If all is well at the vets I would consider getting a GOOD behaviourist in asap - the quicker you get working on it the less chance it becomes a habbit
APDT's are a good place to start, im sure other people will have good links if needed

I would also watch v carefully if he is giving any warnings before biting?

Hi, I see that Moltenmuse is in New York, so it may be more difficult to suggest a good behaviourist (as the APDT in the US have different criteria to the UK one).

I've got a feeling though that Pam Dennison is in New Jersey, and she would have contacts for good ones. A google would find her contact I suspect

Wys
x

We are bringing him to the vet today. His bottom looks very soar, perhaps anal gland issue. Hope that is the only problem and it is easily corrected.

Mom spoke to the groomer today and apparently all went well. They said next time (if we do go there) we can talk to him while he is being done. She said no need for muzzle or anything and that he was fine.

It is also strange that he is loving in the morning but not so friendly in the evenings?

The worst part is that we are scared to hug him. My husband, who's dog it really is, is devastated that our doggy doesn't want to be around him and even attacked him.

We also contacted the trainer from the shelter. Waiting to hear from him. He is the one who saved him from a kill shelter.

Might be a good idea to have his thyroid checked as well, sometimes a bad thyroid can cause aggression.

Just to comment that my rescue dog is also very different in the evenings. It's as though he switches off and withdraws.

I think you've been given great advice by everyone here. It can take months for a rescue dog to really settle down and sometimes a trigger for a particular behaviour only surfaces after quite a while. No way to know what has triggered your dog's aggression but if the vet gives him the all clear, I would echo what others have said and look around for a very experienced trainer or behaviourist.

And if it's any consolation, my rescue dog always went to bite and snap for quite a while when he first came here. Now he hardly ever does it. So don't despair - you've given your fellow a lovely and clearly caring new home, this is no doubt just a bit of a glitch