Jax-Extremely Aggressive 1 yr old Male

[Jana21]

Hi, my name is Andrea. My family and I have recently taken in (appox two months ago) a one year old fawn male from rescue his name is Jax. He was brought to the rescue by a vet who stated the dog was previously abused by its owner. Jax is extremely loving once he becomes familiar with you. However, its getting in and getting to know him thats the problem. If anyone comes near my fence or in the house Jax is extremely aggressive toward them.

My brother who does not live with us came home to visit. This was his first interaction with Jax. My brother came to the door (but did not enter) Jax ran to the door and proceeded to ram his head into the door multiple times, while also growling and barking he has done this on more than one occasion (and will also do this in the car if someone gets close to it). It appeared he despreatly wanted a piece of my brother. Jax has also already bit someone however, she came into the yard even though there are mulitple signs not to enter the yard. Then on the plus side he shows no aggression toward my 2 yr old female boxer or toward my 2 yr old nephew.

Jax has been to two behavorial classes in which the trainer has stated that he tends to play very rough and does show some signs of aggression.

So my questions are (sorry this is so long), Can I start to look for a behavior specialist? We were told by the place he attended for behavioral testing that he is still to insecure for obiedence school, is that true? And where should I go from here? I would really love to keep Jax but if his aggressive behavior can't be curbed I am not sure what to do. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[kassa]

The person who tested him behaviorally who told you he was not ready for obedience training -- what did he/she advise? Private training?

At one year of age I would say the sooner you deal with this, the better. Training (in the right environment) will help him gain the confidence to not be so reactive. I understand if they want to start with private sessions to work on your gaining control, but generally with issues like these you're better off facing them sooner than later. The more you keep him away from the situations that trigger bad behavior, the worse the behavior will become. Don't wait for him to get better around the house to deal with behavior outside the house.

But I would advise doing it under supervision (can't really tell how aggressive he's being, but one bite is enough to be very cautious).

Lots of training will help him to accept you as a leader and aid him in backing down and yielding to your judgement in situations that currently set him off. I'd definitely talk to a behaviorist ASAP.