Post Neuter Aggressive dog [Help]

[adacres]

Hello! I've been grappling with this for months, thought I'd finally turn to reddit. I was fostering the sweetest, funniest dog. My family decided to adopt him and paid the shelter fee to get him neutered. HOWEVER. since his operation, he has been fearful, aggressive, and LOUD. People in my family are starting to float the idea of surrendering him.

I was suspecting a hormone imbalance and gave him this, but I don't see much of a difference. Does anyone have any tips? I'm truly at a loss, it's been 2 months and nothing seems to help.

 

[silentnyte]

@adacres Keep reinforcing training. Treat each symptom as it comes. When he is fearful, shower him with love and attention. When he is aggressive tell him no, then show him what you want him to do and give a treat.

 

[sara57]

@adacres Well, first off Rescues can take a lot of time to reveal their real personalities. 3 months is the usual estimate for when you get to the ‘core’ of who the dog is. He may just be a fearful dog and it not be hormonal.

If you suspect it’s hormonal, talk to your vet. They could refer you to a canine neurologist or mental health specialist to get to the bottom of his issues.

I would recommend you get in touch with a trainer first. They would be able to tell you how to work with him and help him gain confidence. They’d also likely have a good idea of if it’s his true personality or if it is a medical issue.

 

[adacres]

@sara57 Thank you! The only thing is he wasn't really fearful before! He would be a little shy around people, but he'd always end up warming up having a lot of fun with them. Now he rarely gives people a chance. We've started calling him "50 first dates" because he always seems to forget the trust he's managed to build with others. Could it be that he's guarding me?

 

[sara57]

@adacres It could be that! Frankly, that’s the trouble with rescue dogs. It’s hard to nail down direct causes for these behaviours without a history. A trainer would be able to work with you to try and piece it together.

A fun game I played with my fosters was that I would invite friends over and before they came in the door, I would give them high quality treats like bits of real meat, cheese, etc. You know, stuff that the dogs don’t get everyday. When they entered the door, I asked them to toss these treats to the dog as soon as they made any type of positive contact. It could be as small as eye contact, a sniff, or for the far gone cases, any signal that the dog was getting comfortable while this person was in the room. Eventually, the dog makes the connection that new people = cheese treats! This helped immensely with their confidence around strangers.

I really wouldn’t expect it to be hormonal. Far as I’m aware, it’s quite rare for something like that to occur.