gilcimarlp
New member
Hi all, apologies I know there’s been some discussion surrounding too many BE posts. This is a throw away account but I’ve found a lot of peace and solidarity in this sub and I wanted to vent.
I have a 4 year old mutt (shep, lab, mastiff, boxer etc etc) who developed pretty bad resource guarding around 2 years old. He also became dog aggressive. It got really scary and at 3 years old and after zero luck with R+ trainers, we mistakingly sought out help from trainers that use e-collars spring/summer 2022. As you can expect, he seemed to make huge improvements but because he was getting corrected for his growls - he no longer had a warning. I now know how bad this is and if you can spare me any lengthy lectures it would be appreciated but I understand this might upset some folks.
1st: Scary instance besides snapping, I once reached down to pet him before bed and he got up and bit the front of my t shirt and pulled back, it was terrifying and he wouldn’t let go. Summer 2022
2nd: He seemed to be doing good and then he bit my husband in the car one day on a road trip, level 4 bite. I know there’s lots of factors here, the e collar, a weekend away, waiting in a car lineup on a road trip. September 2022
3rd: He bit me after a walk (still using e collar) at this point) level 4 and I thought I would have ligament damage/some sort of break and got an x ray. This was December 2022.
4th: that same week he bit my husband, level 4, trip to hospital. They don’t typically stitch dog bites but he did get a single stitch. We attributed this to his cortisol still running high after the 3rd bite.
After this I said fuck the e-collar (total 6 months or less) and these trainers, he had only become more aggressive to us, his handlers, and damaged our relationship. He had never shown any aggression to anyone in my family or friend group at any time, parents often looked after him without an inkling of an issue.
We moved out of our apartment (very noisy building with a lot of reactive dogs) and into a house with a fenced yard, ditched the collar, and went back to R+ in an effort to improve his environment and he made a 180 change. We were so thrilled.
Recently I was trying to clean his eye and he lunged and bit my stomach (level 2) it had been 6 months since any incident and I knew I had pushed a boundary. He stopped when I grabbed him and I was pleased with his reaction. May 2023
Fast forward a couple months and my husband makes the mistake of throwing him some cheese and then going downstairs to “help him find it”, gets bit twice on the leg and on the hand. One puncture wound on thigh. August 2023
We understand we have put him in situations where he can fail and have fucked up in the past. Right now, we don’t take him hiking or expose him to off leash dogs, can’t in good conscience have him around family/kids in case something were to go wrong, and now with this most recent bite I will not leave him with my parents despite them “never seeing an issue”.
My life has become more and more secluded and it feels like I’m just waiting for the next disaster to happen. 90% of the time he is a sweet dog, athletic, happy, affectionate even. If you weee to meet him you’d be shocked to hear these things. I’m calling the vet today to discuss options, medication/behaviourist and/or BE… I’m hoping he can be helped but also dreading the anticipation of another bite.
I guess I just needed to vent. If anyone has gone through this and can share their stories it would be helpful.
I have a 4 year old mutt (shep, lab, mastiff, boxer etc etc) who developed pretty bad resource guarding around 2 years old. He also became dog aggressive. It got really scary and at 3 years old and after zero luck with R+ trainers, we mistakingly sought out help from trainers that use e-collars spring/summer 2022. As you can expect, he seemed to make huge improvements but because he was getting corrected for his growls - he no longer had a warning. I now know how bad this is and if you can spare me any lengthy lectures it would be appreciated but I understand this might upset some folks.
1st: Scary instance besides snapping, I once reached down to pet him before bed and he got up and bit the front of my t shirt and pulled back, it was terrifying and he wouldn’t let go. Summer 2022
2nd: He seemed to be doing good and then he bit my husband in the car one day on a road trip, level 4 bite. I know there’s lots of factors here, the e collar, a weekend away, waiting in a car lineup on a road trip. September 2022
3rd: He bit me after a walk (still using e collar) at this point) level 4 and I thought I would have ligament damage/some sort of break and got an x ray. This was December 2022.
4th: that same week he bit my husband, level 4, trip to hospital. They don’t typically stitch dog bites but he did get a single stitch. We attributed this to his cortisol still running high after the 3rd bite.
After this I said fuck the e-collar (total 6 months or less) and these trainers, he had only become more aggressive to us, his handlers, and damaged our relationship. He had never shown any aggression to anyone in my family or friend group at any time, parents often looked after him without an inkling of an issue.
We moved out of our apartment (very noisy building with a lot of reactive dogs) and into a house with a fenced yard, ditched the collar, and went back to R+ in an effort to improve his environment and he made a 180 change. We were so thrilled.
Recently I was trying to clean his eye and he lunged and bit my stomach (level 2) it had been 6 months since any incident and I knew I had pushed a boundary. He stopped when I grabbed him and I was pleased with his reaction. May 2023
Fast forward a couple months and my husband makes the mistake of throwing him some cheese and then going downstairs to “help him find it”, gets bit twice on the leg and on the hand. One puncture wound on thigh. August 2023
We understand we have put him in situations where he can fail and have fucked up in the past. Right now, we don’t take him hiking or expose him to off leash dogs, can’t in good conscience have him around family/kids in case something were to go wrong, and now with this most recent bite I will not leave him with my parents despite them “never seeing an issue”.
My life has become more and more secluded and it feels like I’m just waiting for the next disaster to happen. 90% of the time he is a sweet dog, athletic, happy, affectionate even. If you weee to meet him you’d be shocked to hear these things. I’m calling the vet today to discuss options, medication/behaviourist and/or BE… I’m hoping he can be helped but also dreading the anticipation of another bite.
I guess I just needed to vent. If anyone has gone through this and can share their stories it would be helpful.