Agressive Barking at me!!!Need Advice

[afrosentrik]

My Japse is a little over a year. We recently got another dog a bulldog. At first Jasper was fine with him. But recently Jasper has been acting different. He has been peeing in the house and he has agreesivly barked at me and my partner on more than one occasion. He tried to bite my finger but then let go when he saw what he was doing. This is totally out of his character. He is usually very sweet gentle and loving. We don't know if it is because we have another dog. Jasper is very jealous however we are very careful to always give him attention. I must say that I am afraid of him now. I have never been afraid but the way he barked and lunged at us we don't know what to do or what is wrong with him. He just doesn't seem right. His eyes are usually so warm an inviting but theya re now cold and hollow he has me very concerned. He had been sick with very runny stool but I don ot know if that has anything to do with this behavior. He has been to the vet, he is up to date on all his shots. The vet says there is nothing wrong. Any advice i would appreciate. I do not want to give him away but I don't feel comfortable having him around children and what is there to do when you are scared of your dog???

 

[Eric J]

Interesting scenario. The loose stool could be caused by the stress of the new change of your household (some dogs take change harder then others) OR the opposite is the new personality quirks can be caused by a physical problem wich is also shown in the loose stool. How secure do you feel trusting your vet's diagnoses? Is it possible to get a second opinion and possibly have some blood work done up? How does he interact with the new pup?

Is Jaspe fixed? The reason I ask it the peeing in the house when a new dog shows sounds like he is marking his territory to me. A non-neutered male has tendencies to mark more, and be more territorial from all I have read. He might feel his place in the pack is threatened with a new addition and does not know how to correctly act if it is not some physical problem.

I would reccomend getting a copy of Jan Fennel's "The Dog Listener" and following her guidelines to help establish the hierarchy in your home. Especially with you being afraid of him now, he senses that and acts accordingly.

I am looking forward to reading other responses to your post and more importantly hearing your follow ups to hear how this works out. Wishing you the best.

Luck to ya :D

 

[VTbxrFan]

If I were in your position, I would contact a professional behaviorist for help immediately. I would be afraid of accidentally making the problem worse by trying to fix it on my own and doing the wrong things -- aggression can be a tricky problem to deal with. Eric is also right that it could be a medical issue causing the behavior change, so I would also get a second opinion if it were my dog. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Renee&Jake]

I would get a second opinion immediately. Does Jaspe have any issues with the new dog?

Is the bulldog male/female/puppy/adult?

Does he urinate when your are/are not home? Is everybody crated?

What happend in the moments before he barks/lunges/bites? What is the frequency?

What have you given him to remedy the runny stool, has it helped, it there blood?

My instinctual response would be that this is medical, the new dog is coincidence. Rule that out first.