Aggressive Rat Terrier....Help ????

[Guest Anonymous]

My Rat Terrier, Bobby who is three years old has become very aggressive. In the past he has been very protective of me. Yesterday and today he bit me and would not back down. I have a new puppy(which is one of his, and he seems to accept him) and a new grandchild. I understand he is feeling threatened. He has been the center of my attention for three years. I can understand why he feels this way, just don't know what to do about it. Any suggestions?

[Guest Anonymous]

Morgan napisał(a):

My Rat Terrier, Bobby who is three years old has become very aggressive. In the past he has been very protective of me. Yesterday and today he bit me and would not back down. I have a new puppy(which is one of his, and he seems to accept him) and a new grandchild. I understand he is feeling threatened. He has been the center of my attention for three years. I can understand why he feels this way, just don't know what to do about it. Any suggestions?

Your dog is come into his maturity and is in the process of taking over the 'pack' in your home including you from what this sounds like.
Ask your vet if there is a veterinary behaviorist in your area or a really good behaviorist style dog trainer in your area that you can consult with. This kind of situation requires in person observation and assistance to manage properly.
I'm sad you bred this temperament to pass it along to the next generations without understanding what you were seeing when you thought your dog was 'protective' of you (he was probably resource guarding a typical dominant dog behavior) :cry:

[Guest Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your reply. I am going to get in touch with a University here in Ill. which is where the closest behaviorist is. He has bitten me twice since I first wrote for help. He will not back down and I am at my wits end. Each time is when my grandchild is here. When she is not he is fine. I know he is trying to intimidate me and I know I am doing a lot of things wrong I am just so frustrated. Others have told me to "put him down" or give him away. I would not give him away to a new home because of the obvious, he would do same to them. Any opinion on shock collars ? I am afraid it woud only make him worse. I have never used one before. If I had known this he would have been neutered and there would not have been any litter. The mother of the pups is very gentle and I think the offspring I have is her temperment. Thanks for responding.

[Guest Anonymous]

Morgan napisał(a):

Thank you so much for your reply. I am going to get in touch with a University here in Ill. which is where the closest behaviorist is. He has bitten me twice since I first wrote for help. He will not back down and I am at my wits end. Each time is when my grandchild is here. When she is not he is fine. I know he is trying to intimidate me and I know I am doing a lot of things wrong I am just so frustrated. Others have told me to "put him down" or give him away. I would not give him away to a new home because of the obvious, he would do same to them. Any opinion on shock collars ? I am afraid it woud only make him worse. I have never used one before. If I had known this he would have been neutered and there would not have been any litter. The mother of the pups is very gentle and I think the offspring I have is her temperment. Thanks for responding.

I agree with you its worth putting in the effort to help this dog learn how to live properly with you.
I suggest while you wait for a chance to see someone with him that you make sure to have him isolated in a room when your grandchild visits - or a dog crate if you have one the right size - and make sure he has a good chew toy to work off frustration on while he is in it.
Don't give him a chance to use his teeth on you now you have figured out the trigger.
You are right in guessing a shock collar could easily make things worse - when you have a dominant dog using pain may make aggression more severe instead of curing it.
On top of (but not instead of) the in person help I suggest the book by Brian Kilcommons on Child Proofing Your Dog as excellent reading for anyone planning to mix dogs and kids in the same home.
I too hope the pups all have the dam's nice temperament - as she helped train them in their early weeks on how to respond to thing they might but good luck to anyone who gets a pup or grandpup with this dogs attitude!
Let us know if you find help and how it works out for you.