Possessive Behavior

[Morganvan]

My sister's dog that they adopted from the shelter a few months back has recently started becoming very possessive of her and her boyfriend. If they try to pet any other dog while he's around he will immediately run over and bite the other dog. In the past week he has picked a fight with the boyfriend's parents dog after the boyfriend tried to pet the other male dog (at the boyfriend's parents house) and fought with my parents male dog just being outside with him (at my parents house not his own). He most recently drew blood on my parents 13 year old female lab. Do they need to consult a behavior specialist? Is there anything they can do?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Yes, I feel consulting with a behavior specialist is the best call in such a situation because you can have an in-person assessment, evaluation and hands-on guidance. On top of that, there is also a safety issue at play when dogs fight. Since he drew blood, it sounds like the fights are quite intense which can also put others at risk for re-directed aggression (dog biting other people/dogs neaby, especially when being separated).

 

If I were to tackle a mild case, I would manage as much as possible the situation (to prevent rehearsal) and then would try implementing a behavior modification protocol as outlined below:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dogs-fighting-over-owner/

 

However, there are no gurantees things may always work out because dog behavior can be unpredictable. There are always risks for a return of the behavior if the dog is exposed to a situation that wasn't practiced (eg, owner haven been away for some time, which makes owner much more valuable etc). Depeding on the individual circumstance, there may be chances that the safest option would be to keep the dogs separated (also from an emotional wellbeing perspective considering that, when a dog is bitten, there is often tension when the other dog comes near). And then of course, there is the option to simply rehome the dog to a family where he is the only dog (but from what I understand this dog doesn't live with other dogs sharing the household, which is an advantage.)

Edited May 20, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli