Hank is becoming aggressive

[hankbaby]

For GG's comment. The high prized items (bones included) are given separately. Haley gets hers outside and hanks get his inside. Hank finished his bone before she did and he opened the back door (by pushing on it) and came outside, saw her with it and attacked. Our dog park is very relaxed with only about 15 at most. Money is not an issue as far as a behaviorlist, but as far as spending 200+ a month in meds that seemingly have worse side effects it is an issue. I will look into other ways in regards to break up a fight that Hank gets in, but the way I dealt with it a perfectly acceptable method and I am extremely confident. Like I said in previous posts, I have dealt with dog aggression before (I have owned 3 Akitas and they are a very dominant breed and their aggression can easily escalate) and can handle it, and I believe hanks to be combination of age and pred since the attacks are only towards dogs his size and larger.

 

[hankbaby]

For GG's comment. The high prized items (bones included) are given separately. Haley gets hers outside and hanks get his outside. Hank finished his bone before she did and he opened the back door (by pushing on it) and came outside, saw her with it and attacked. Our dog park is very relaxed with only about 15 at most. Money is not an issue as far as a behaviorlist, but as far as spending 200+ a month in meds that seemingly have worse side effects it is an issue. I will look into other ways in regards to break up a fight that Hank gets in, but the way I dealt with it a perfectly acceptable method and I am extremely confident. Like I said in previous posts, I have dealt with dog aggression before (I have owned 3 Akitas and they are a very dominant breed and their aggression can easily escalate) and can handle it, and I believe hanks to be combination of age and pred since the attacks are only towards dogs his size and larger.

 

[Garden_girl]

I am aware of Akitas and what they are capable of, esp. male akitas. :nod:
Call me crazy, but I also would not roll and conquer an Akita either. I grew up with Rottweilers, and was treated by everyone of them with the utmost respect, it was mutual respect, actually and never a problem except a little food stealing now and then.

What I was trying to do with my post was to break down a large problem into smaller, workable problems. Hanks going after Haley's bone is an aggressive act -but that doesn't necessarily translate to an aggressive dog (my example of high value vs. low value, using MY dogs). Seeking out dogs to pick on & fight with is aggression.

Also, I wanted to offer alternatives to training in case you could not afford a behaviorist, as you mentioned the expense of the other meds a couple of times.

Consider that 15 dogs at a park might be too much for Hank to handle at this time, given his meds-even 5 dogs might be over-stimulating. I'm only bringing this up because we had a situation this past weekend at our own dog park. My daughter was there with her Newf. There was a scuffle up on the hill and apparently a Saint puppy was annoying the heck out of another dog. The owner of the dog that was being annoyed, picked up the Saint puppy and kicked him like a football and yes, the dog went flying into mid-air. Not only can there be chaos, there are crazy dog owners there, too.
So please reconsider the dog park at this time, when you have a better handle on what is going on with Hank, you can revisit the dog park idea.

Finally, please go back and re-read my post with the spirit in which it was intended...that of heartfelt concern for Hank & you. I never intended to offend you, only offer alternatives and a more gentle means to prevent something that could become a larger problem in the long run. Great news about the behaviorist and good luck!

 

[hankbaby]

Just to let you know, we decide against two days before I made the first post about this and I apologize if you think I took your post the wrong way but I was just trying to give a little more background on me and the situation. And as far as the financial talk I just don't want to pump him full of more drugs that will further complicate his life due to the worse side effects of these drugs and pay 3x the amount in doing so. I believe in quality of life not quantity. I appreciate everyones opinions and suggestions in regards to my initial post, but I may worded my first post wrong. The feedback and responses I was after is if anyone knew anything about the long term usage of immunosupressive doses of prednisone and the possible link to aggression. Like if anyone had any experience with that or info, not information on how to deal with dog aggression.

 

[mtnzookeeper]

No eye contact, no posturing, no loud voices. Make sure everything is in it's place. Trying to think of anything else I do when my wife's on prednisone.

:lol::lol: :whistling: OK the problem is not funny but this reply had me rolling....Dannyra, shame on you!!

 

[hankbaby]

Eah that reply was pretty funny.