Aggressive Behaviour-Is this the end or are there alternatives?

I have a 10 year old American Bulldog. I adopted him from a frightened family 4 years ago and since then I have had James in my home. The family was afraid of his unpredictable aggression, to which, now I am also a bit afraid. In the past 2 months he has killed one other animal and attacked another with no provoking whatsoever. He has been to obedience school and I could not possibly keep a closer eye on this dog. I love James, but he does not listen to me or anyone, or force, when he is in attack mode. Even with a leash, if another dog was present it wouldn't matter. He is 95 lbs and nothing but muscle. I have this picture in my mind of a child chasing a baseball into the yard while I am walking James, you can imagine what that looks like. I emailed rescue groups and one of the people had the gall to say get him neutered and keep him on a lease as if I am some kind of idiot. Of course he is neutered and if it was as simple as keeping him on a leash, I wouldn't be considering euthanasia. Anyway, I'm looking for any advice. I don't want to go through with this, but I feel after I have extinguished all other options, this is the final option....

If you're speaking about aggression towards people, then of course there is a problem. But you only mentioned killing animals. That is natural prey drive coming into play.. it doesn't always mean the dog is a threat to people. Have you had him evaluated by a dog behaviorist? Need to do that before putting him down.

Also, you should take care to avoid getting dogs that are too powerful for you. I'm a 5'9" 220 lb female and am able to hold onto very powerful dogs under a normal harness. Surely you as a male should have no trouble?

If he has been to obedience school, how is it that he reacts to other dogs in an aggressive manner. Surely he'd have not passed if he did this? Or did he not pass? I'm slightly confused unfortunately.

Hi and welcome to Dogsey. I'm sorry it is under such distressing circumstances.

I am just a pet owner and not a professional behaviourist or vet. But my personal advice would be:

The first thing I would do is get him checked out by a vet, explaining the problem in case there is an underlying medical problem, especially as his behaviour has changed dramatically over the past 2 months.

Have you got a behaviourist involved (different from a standard dog trainer) as they may be able to find a way for you to manage James better. However, if you have lost faith in this dog and really do feel he is a danger it would probably be the safest/kindest thing to have him put to sleep. You took this dog on and gave him a second chance for the past 4 years which he wouldn't have had, had you not offered him a home. Unpredictable aggression for no apparent reason would worry me but do get him checked out at the vet before doing anything else.

Good luck amd let us know what happens.

Thank you for your advice

Have to agree with Jenny. But also have to say that I don't consider just 'killing another animal' not to be too much of a problem. I wouldn't be too pleased if that 'other animal' happened to be my dog!

I am most worried that you say you are becoming 'frightened' of him yourself. That's not good.

Wouldn't matter if he was smaller and less powerful and easier to hold onto - being afraid of him is the thing (for me).

Welcome to Dogsey and good luck.

To my mind, if you are actually frightened of the dog, then there is little hope for you to keep him. However, knowing him as you do, how could you rehome him ... you sound a lovely person, so I am sure you would be rehoming him "warts and all" ... you would clearly state his aggressive problems towards other dogs, and therefore it would be unlikely that anyone would want to rescue him, even a rescue centre possibly.

You are in a similar position to what we were with our boy Ben. However, our one advantage was that despite the fact he bit my husband when he mistakenly thought he was going to be beaten, neither of us were frightened of him per se - just very cautious and wary. Nearly 4 years later, we now have a wonderful dog who we can trust 100% with humans both large and small, but still have to be very wary with other large male dogs.

If you can get over your fear ... perhaps by working with a dog behaviourist ... then you may achieve what we have managed to with Ben. I can only wish you the very best of luck. You need to keep telling yourself that he has never bitten a human, it is other dogs that have suffered, and you clearly love him very much. Have you considered a muzzle? The baskerville type are the kindest? This will prevent him being able to seriously get a hold on another dog, and will give you confidence, safe in the knowledge that he cannot bite you. This worked with Ben, such that I will now thoroughly groom him, something he hates, without a muzzle. Good luck

Definitely get him checked by a vet and then find a behaviourist to come and assess him BUT please do your research. You need to find a qualified behaviourist who really understands dogs modern training/behaviour modification techniques. Do not go near anyone who quotes pack/dominance theory or you advocates using any adversive techniques such as prong collars, choke chains, rattle cans, shock collars etc. it may seem obvious but, in your situation,it would be easy to be swayed by someone like that. Presuming there is no medical condition as to why he is behaving this way, and no very serious behaviour traits...he needs to be shown other ways to behave /cope rather than aggressively.
Although you are scared of him I wonder if this would improve if, once assessed, you were able to understand why he is doing what he's doing...he may be feeling threatened. Lots of ifs and buts I know but worth giving it a go.
Good luck and sorry you have come to Dogsey in such difficult circumstances.

I agree mostly with what has been said already. While killing another animal and showing aggression to other animals in general is not great, it isn't the end of the world and many dog aggressive/animal aggressive dogs can be managed and live safe, happy, lives. This is where you need the help of a GOOD, knowledgeable, behaviourist. Also as has been pointed out already a dog showing aggression towards animals does NOT usually equate to human aggression.

When you research behaviourists, make sure that they are experienced with both aggression and the breed. This is important as they will be able to assess what is going on and give you an accurate prognosis of what realistic expectations are.

I wish you all the very best with your boy and hope you find a favourable resolution to his problems x

He lives in GA. I live there myself. It can be extremely hard to find someone who doesn't use these methods. Might be a bit of where his problems are coming from to begin with. Maybe there is no where he can turn?

I know that if I had a dog with these problems and I needed a dog behaviorist... it would be neigh impossible to find one. I can't even find basic training without the prongs and whatnot (you know that story)

American Bulldogs (which are often wrongly classified as pit bulls) are problem dogs. Not in the sense that they are bad dogs or anything, but in the sense that they have a bad/questionable reputation, much like pitties, rotties, staffies, etc. and nobody wants to deal with them.

Catrin, can you believe that some places don't even accept pit bulls, Akitas, and a few other breeds into the training classes? How on Earth can you possibly train a dog if the damn training classes won't accept your breed??

The program Nigredo and I are entering has that, as well. He had to pass an exam to make sure he wasn't one of their banned breeds. Pit bulls, English Mastiffs, Akita Inu, Alaskan Malamute, a few other breeds or any dog that is "only black and brown". Or any mixes thereof.

You can also donate puppies, but they only accept Golden Retrievers and they only accept them when they are 2-3 months because they want to train them without the possibility of any outside influence. You'd think a volunteer moving therapy program wouldn't have such breed discrimination?

I don't think it's right. Any dog can make for an excellent dog. Any dog can be well behaved. ANY breed, as well. Finding a dog behaviorist that is kind, uses calm, gentle methods, and certified (not mean and uses punitive methods) shouldn't be so hard for owners of these breeds.

It's sad to see stuff like this. There is often little to no hope for dogs in the bull categories and sometimes rotties, Akitas, Dobermans etc. because it's so hard to find someone (who doesn't use garbage methods) who will take on an aggression problem.

It's why pitties are #1 put down in shelters. If they show even an ounce of aggression, they are deemed dangerous monsters and put down without a chance most of the time. Some shelters even have an auto euth policy. We see a pit bull, we kill a pit bull.

Labradors, poodles and many other breeds (even very large ones) often get this second chance because people are willing to try and train them and work with them. Very unfair... very, very unfair.