Hey everyone, sorry to be long-winded but I am struggling with my new rescue dog showing aggression to a specific family member.
I have 3 other Husky mixes and have a decent amount of knowledge about dog training. One of my dogs is very reactive and I have done a lot of counter-conditioning with him. I have also dealt with resource guarding & same-sex aggression. They are all trained and know basic commands.
We were done rescuing dogs but then we saw C. He is a purebred 3 - 5-year-old male German Shepard. It was an emergency rescue. He was a day away from being euthanized. He was found in a pin with two deceased dogs. He was 20 pounds underweight and had feces all over him. He was almost completely feral.
The people at the shelter said he growls and they expected him to be put down. At the last minute, they told me without any previous warning that he hates children, people, & cats. I still brought him home, he didn’t even know what stairs were or how to use them.
Fast forward 5 months and he is glued to my side. I have even gotten him and my other male reactive dog to coexist with each other. He has never tried to hurt my cats. I think the shelter environment was stressing him out. He has never growled or tried to bite me. I am working on his separation anxiety. But, he is still very scared of my other household members (two other adult females & a teenage male). He has learned to tolerate the other two female household members but the only person he shows affection to is me.
The main problem is he doesn’t trust my brother at all. My brother can feed C treats and pet him on the head without any problems. But, C tried to charge and nip him anytime he feels my brother is threatening someone. C tried to bite my brother because he thought my brother was hitting me. My brother plays with our other dogs and C will try to bite him if he thinks the other dogs are being hurt by him. C also dislikes male strangers too. Today I & my brother were in the backyard will all the dogs and when my brother grabbed one of our other dogs, C snuck up behind him and bit him in the butt. My brother turned around and C immediately ran away in fear. C tried to nip him again any time my brother's back was turned from him. I yelled at him when he was trying again and C immediately stopped trying to get to him.
The “bites” do not break the skin. They are just really hard nips. He doesn’t keep going after my brother after he nips, he just runs away in fear. But, C is a very powerful dog and I can not let this escalate any further. He is just so fearful of everyone but me. I have tried having my brother hand-feed C his dinner my brother has given C treats and my brother can touch C without any problems. They even sleep in the same room together. C only reacts when he thinks my brother is harming someone. C won’t even growl at our female vets when they handle him. He is way more scared than aggressive.
I don’t know what C has been through before we rescued him. Considering how he literally cowers when he is scared and dislikes men, I’m assuming he was abused. C didn’t know any basic commands whatsoever and he didn’t know what a leash was. I just now got him to learn the “sit” command. He is around 3 years old and has had no training or socialization at all. I don’t expect him to be perfect and he may always be fearful of strangers but I cannot have him trying to hurt my family members. I feel very frustrated from the nipping situation that happened today. I know this takes a lot of time but, I feel like I am making no progress. C literally will not show any affection or trust to anyone but me no matter how many treats or food they give him. All household members have made an effort to spend time with C and they all show him patience and love. If anyone has any advice on how to help with this situation it would be much appreciated!
I have 3 other Husky mixes and have a decent amount of knowledge about dog training. One of my dogs is very reactive and I have done a lot of counter-conditioning with him. I have also dealt with resource guarding & same-sex aggression. They are all trained and know basic commands.
We were done rescuing dogs but then we saw C. He is a purebred 3 - 5-year-old male German Shepard. It was an emergency rescue. He was a day away from being euthanized. He was found in a pin with two deceased dogs. He was 20 pounds underweight and had feces all over him. He was almost completely feral.
The people at the shelter said he growls and they expected him to be put down. At the last minute, they told me without any previous warning that he hates children, people, & cats. I still brought him home, he didn’t even know what stairs were or how to use them.
Fast forward 5 months and he is glued to my side. I have even gotten him and my other male reactive dog to coexist with each other. He has never tried to hurt my cats. I think the shelter environment was stressing him out. He has never growled or tried to bite me. I am working on his separation anxiety. But, he is still very scared of my other household members (two other adult females & a teenage male). He has learned to tolerate the other two female household members but the only person he shows affection to is me.
The main problem is he doesn’t trust my brother at all. My brother can feed C treats and pet him on the head without any problems. But, C tried to charge and nip him anytime he feels my brother is threatening someone. C tried to bite my brother because he thought my brother was hitting me. My brother plays with our other dogs and C will try to bite him if he thinks the other dogs are being hurt by him. C also dislikes male strangers too. Today I & my brother were in the backyard will all the dogs and when my brother grabbed one of our other dogs, C snuck up behind him and bit him in the butt. My brother turned around and C immediately ran away in fear. C tried to nip him again any time my brother's back was turned from him. I yelled at him when he was trying again and C immediately stopped trying to get to him.
The “bites” do not break the skin. They are just really hard nips. He doesn’t keep going after my brother after he nips, he just runs away in fear. But, C is a very powerful dog and I can not let this escalate any further. He is just so fearful of everyone but me. I have tried having my brother hand-feed C his dinner my brother has given C treats and my brother can touch C without any problems. They even sleep in the same room together. C only reacts when he thinks my brother is harming someone. C won’t even growl at our female vets when they handle him. He is way more scared than aggressive.
I don’t know what C has been through before we rescued him. Considering how he literally cowers when he is scared and dislikes men, I’m assuming he was abused. C didn’t know any basic commands whatsoever and he didn’t know what a leash was. I just now got him to learn the “sit” command. He is around 3 years old and has had no training or socialization at all. I don’t expect him to be perfect and he may always be fearful of strangers but I cannot have him trying to hurt my family members. I feel very frustrated from the nipping situation that happened today. I know this takes a lot of time but, I feel like I am making no progress. C literally will not show any affection or trust to anyone but me no matter how many treats or food they give him. All household members have made an effort to spend time with C and they all show him patience and love. If anyone has any advice on how to help with this situation it would be much appreciated!