# HELP! Severe agression, had to send my sister to the ER



## h2o_polo_boi (Mar 21, 2008)

Yesterday, my dog bit my sister in both hands causing a half-inch laceration on each of her palms requiring 3 stitches each for a total of 6 stitches. I do not know all the details as I was in the living room. What I heard was my mom trying to pet my dog and he growled at her. Afterward, he was smiling and wagging his tail. But my sister immediately came out to scold him for growling and pointed a finger at him when he lashed out and bit her hand, she screamed and smacked him with her other hand and he bit the other as well without letting go.

I am very shocked as something of this severity has never happened before. My dog was especially tired because I had just taken him to the dog park and played for a long time. He usually growls at my mother or sister when they bother him when he is very tired or resting.

He does have a history of aggression but it has gotten better. Before he had a lot of food guarding behavior but that hasn't become much of a problem anymore after I had practiced hand feeding and giving him a treat whenever I take something away from his mouth and give his toy right back to him. Now he doesn't growl, just runs away lol. He still snarls at my mom and sister when they try to pick him up and will attempt to bite if they do not stop. He never snarls at me when I pick him up and he lets me. The only other time he is aggressive is when I am holding him and he is relaxing with his belly towards the sky. If somebody comes to touch his chest or belly, he will snarl and bite in the air if they do not back off. One time my sister did this and he went off biting in the air and caught my hand. He let go right away. I suffered some bruising and bleeding. He usually lets go once he makes contact as I had taught him bite inhibition.

For some reason, he never growls or snarls at me. Only my mom and my sister. He also, as never growled or snarled at any strangers and I hope it stays that way. With other dogs he is shy and extremely non-aggressive. Doesn't even bark when barked at. He has been attacked by a pitbull once and did not even fight back. He's now 14 months old and un-neutered. I will be neutering him in the next month or so when I get out of school and have time to help him recover.

Now my mom is furious at him and it makes me feel horrible because I never blame the dog but the owner. Do any of you guys have explanations of why this happened and does my dog need professional help? Thanks.


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## Nicole74 (May 30, 2009)

My running buddy and I were attacked by a black lab on our run and since he bit us, he was ordered to be put down. The owners of the dog were very mad at us, but they let their dogs roam free. They got a pretty big fine too and their dog was not up to date with his shots. If your sister went to the hospital I'm sure it had to be reported to animal control. I'm so sorry this happened to you.


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## honeysmum (Dec 4, 2007)

Bumping up.


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## MyGoldenCharlie (Dec 4, 2007)

Sorry you are going through this, It sounds like your dog needs some professional help with these issues.


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## h2o_polo_boi (Mar 21, 2008)

Nicole74 said:


> My running buddy and I were attacked by a black lab on our run and since he bit us, he was ordered to be put down. The owners of the dog were very mad at us, but they let their dogs roam free. They got a pretty big fine too and their dog was not up to date with his shots. If your sister went to the hospital I'm sure it had to be reported to animal control. I'm so sorry this happened to you.


I work in the ER and reporting to animal control is normally the protocol. But in our situation, we didn't have to report to animal control since it was our dog and he was up to date with all immunizations and we had a license for him. Had he bitten a stranger or someone else, things would have been different. But I want to nip it in the butt now before it happens to someone else.



MyGoldenCharlie said:


> Sorry you are going through this, It sounds like your dog needs some professional help with these issues.


Could you be a bit more specific in explaining why? I'm still trying to figure out if this was a freak accident or a behavioral issue as I see no consistency. Also, I am puzzled at how professional help would change a dog to like being bothered in his sleep etc. Aren't those personality things?


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## kgiff (Jul 21, 2008)

I agree that it sounds like you should get some professional help. See if there is an animal behaviorist in your area. The next time he does this, it may not be to a family member and I don't think most people would excuse the behavior as being part of his personality. Sorry, but agression is a serious issue. 

I also think your sister and mom could handle themselves better around the dog, but that's no excuse for his behavior.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

h2o_polo_boi said:


> Could you be a bit more specific in explaining why? I'm still trying to figure out if this was a freak accident or a behavioral issue as I see no consistency. Also, I am puzzled at how professional help would change a dog to like being bothered in his sleep etc. Aren't those personality things?


According to your first post in this thread, it's not just an issue with not wanting to be bothered when he is asleep. He doesn't like his chest or belly touched and he has no bite inhibition. If he did, your sister would not have 6 stitches. 

You really need a behaviorist to assess him.


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## h2o_polo_boi (Mar 21, 2008)

I am hoping there was a behaviorist on here to offer his/her opinions on the matter. I have already contacted one and waiting for a reply.


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## Rob's GRs (Feb 25, 2007)

Any chance he does not like women? 
When I fostered Hogan he had issues with women and growled at my mom. Later when he was adopted he growled at his new lady owner too. She gave him back and I adopted him. I was told by a trainer to have Hogan on a leash when he met a new women and let them give him commands to do for five to ten minutes. This established who was the dominant one. Luckily this did work and Hogan has seemed to gotten over this issue.....


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

What in the world is anyone is your house doing picking up a 14-month-old golden retriever? My initial response would be to get a behaviorist to assess him, but it may be that your dog has been gently trying to tell your mom and sister to leave him alone and they won't listen. Actually, please do get a professional to review the dog's behavior but also to tell the people in your house what is appropriate and what is NOT appropriate to do to dogs.


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## AcesWild (Nov 29, 2008)

h2o_polo_boi said:


> I am hoping there was a behaviorist on here to offer his/her opinions on the matter. I have already contacted one and waiting for a reply.


You can't solve problems on the internet based on one side of the story asking people to assess a dog they have never met.

The best thing you can do is wait for a behaviorist to meet your dog in person and actually get a feel for the issues.


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## Jersey's Mom (Nov 25, 2007)

Ace is right. The best you can do is have someone knowledgeable evaluate him in person. I also agree with others that it seems there's some inappropriate handling going on. Picking him up, laying him belly up on your lap (a position he's seemingly uncomfortable with), and reaching to grab the dog when he's giving very clear signals to back off for starters. One question, and understand I don't mean this as an attack, but am genuinely asking: I'm sure in a situation like this it is common for one to lose control. But is "smacking" the dog how situations like this or other discipline have been handled in the past by your sister and/or mom? Because that could surely do a lot of explaining as to why these are the only 2 people he seems to lash out against. Not accusing, or even asking you to answer on the forum, but just something to think about. 

I hope you are able to find a good behaviorist and work this out for your pup and family. Good luck!

Julie and Jersey


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Jersey's Mom said:


> Ace is right. The best you can do is have someone knowledgeable evaluate him in person. I also agree with others that it seems there's some inappropriate handling going on. Picking him up, laying him belly up on your lap (a position he's seemingly uncomfortable with), and reaching to grab the dog when he's giving very clear signals to back off for starters. One question, and understand I don't mean this as an attack, but am genuinely asking: I'm sure in a situation like this it is common for one to lose control. But is "smacking" the dog how situations like this or other discipline have been handled in the past by your sister and/or mom? Because that could surely do a lot of explaining as to why these are the only 2 people he seems to lash out against. Not accusing, or even asking you to answer on the forum, but just something to think about.
> 
> I hope you are able to find a good behaviorist and work this out for your pup and family. Good luck!
> 
> Julie and Jersey


I hate to admit it, but if a dog had already bitten my hand badly enough to need 3 stitches, I might smack the dog with my other hand, too, especially if I was still trying to get away. I am not sure the sister going in initally and scolding the dog was the right thing, but there is an immediate response that you don't think about when you are bitten, which can include lashing out at the dog.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

There are obviously many issues here that need to be addressed by a behaviorist and a vet. I would get a physical to rule out any medical issues that could be causing the aggression.

I also agree that "smacking" is no way to deal with a dog nor carrying a 14 mo.old GR!

It's hard to tell from your story whether your dog has reason to not like your mom and sister. But growling/biting are NOT normal behaviors for a golden. Not even close.

Good luck... I would be worried it's something medical.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

another golden with issues, pretty severe ones it appears. vet check to see if anything physical is going on, find a good behaviorist asap, do not trust the dog, he has bitten and if triggered will probably bite again. I have no other advice. sad situation and sad commentary on what is going on with our goldens.


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## Kand3 (Nov 3, 2008)

h2o_polo_boi said:


> Could you be a bit more specific in explaining why? I'm still trying to figure out if this was a freak accident or a behavioral issue as I see no consistency. Also, I am puzzled at how professional help would change a dog to like being bothered in his sleep etc. Aren't those personality things?


I just want to agree with everyone that you really do need to find a behaviorist. You say you're not sure if it was a freak accident, but in your first post this is what you said:

_"He does have a history of aggression but it has gotten better. Before he had a lot of food guarding behavior but that hasn't become much of a problem anymore after I had practiced hand feeding and giving him a treat whenever I take something away from his mouth and give his toy right back to him. Now he doesn't growl, just runs away lol. He still snarls at my mom and sister when they try to pick him up and will attempt to bite if they do not stop. He never snarls at me when I pick him up and he lets me. The only other time he is aggressive is when I am holding him and he is relaxing with his belly towards the sky. If somebody comes to touch his chest or belly, he will snarl and bite in the air if they do not back off. One time my sister did this and he went off biting in the air and caught my hand. He let go right away. I suffered some bruising and bleeding. He usually lets go once he makes contact as I had taught him bite inhibition."
_
Just based on your own words that he does have a history of aggression and the fact there have been multiple incidents now, I think there is no question that both your dog and your family could benefit from some training assistance. I wish you the very best of luck, I'm sure this must be so hard for you!


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## Jersey's Mom (Nov 25, 2007)

fostermom said:


> I hate to admit it, but if a dog had already bitten my hand badly enough to need 3 stitches, I might smack the dog with my other hand, too, especially if I was still trying to get away. I am not sure the sister going in initally and scolding the dog was the right thing, but there is an immediate response that you don't think about when you are bitten, which can include lashing out at the dog.


I get that completely, which was why I prefaced it the way I did. I don't know what my first reaction would be in that situation, but I'm pretty certain it wouldn't be rational. 

Good points others have made about getting a full work up from the vet. A behaviorist will likely recommend this before getting started, so it may pay to just get in there as soon as you can get an appointment. Make sure they run a full thyroid panel too (not the T4 test they run right in the office). 

Julie and Jersey


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## AcesWild (Nov 29, 2008)

Yes definitely rule out medical before you go to behavioral.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Seek out the help of a qualified trainer who meets with you, takes a thorough history (there are tons of consistent, red flags in your posts) and sets you up with a humane, behavior modification program, while giving you realistic management tools and strategies for how your mom and sister handle the dog to hopefully prevent situations where he growls, but also how to SAFELY (for all three of them) to handle things if he does.

Do not go with a correction-based trainer. Punishing the dog will make it worse.

Your dog's life depends on this. If he keeps biting and sending people to the ER, it's doubtful your mom will want to keep him in the house. It's unethical to rehome a dog with that kind of bite history; hemay well lose his life over it.

Please find someone who can help you.


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## Tanyac (Jun 18, 2008)

I can't really add anything to this thread that hasn't already been said, and I agree with it all!

The one thing I would ask is why you didn't ask for some help the very first time your dog snapped or showed aggression towards your family. Its really not good enough to suggest that the dog doesn't behave badly around you, it's the rest of the family who seem to be coming off worse, and that needs to be addressed asap!

As others have said, the picking up of a 14 month old golden is wholly inappropriate. It is quite possible he has been hurt in the past from doing this and could by why he has now felt the need to lash out. Like others have said its not easy to even try to advise without actually being there and seeing what happens, how your mum and sister are behaving around him, its probably a situation which has developed the whole time he's been with you.

I'm so sorry you are dealing with these issues, and I truly hope you can work it out.
Tanya


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I have nothing to add, sorry you are going through this, and I hope you find a wonderful solution that works for EVERYONE!!!

I had an aggressive golden growing up. Knowing now what I know about dogs, she should have been destroyed. Needless to say she is also the dog that made me fall in love with the breed. There are individuals who for whatever reason need assistance and this breed is so worth it. Good luck.


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## RummysMum (Jan 9, 2009)

He's either A) Lacking proper training and needs one on one classes or B) Something is severely wrong and he is in a LOT of pain over... or.... C) Not right mentally or poor bloodlines

I'd make sure you seek professional help ASAP


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