Aggression after neutering

[Cooper01s]

So Koda is just over 2 now, and he has never been the best behaved dog in the world, brilliant with commands, sit, stay, leave, lay down etc but he has always had a problem with possessions, or my possessions shall we say.

Basically If he manages to get hold of a tea towel or a sock, a pillow, underwear etc he becomes extremely aggressive. You can't even go near him without him snarling and showing his teeth and on 3 occasions he has actually bit me, drawn blood etc but it was semi under control, I learnt to put things out of reach etc and managed to find a couple of ways to remove the said object but was never a dead certain he would give it up, there's been instances where he has turned his nose up at a nice juicy steak for a tea towel?

ive had numerous behaviourists in, tried all sorts of different techniques and nothing worked, so I took the last resort and had him neutered, HUGE mistake. Now he is 10x worse, and not only is it with possessions now it's also with going to bed of an evening, he has is own little room at the back of the house which he sleeps in so when it gets to bedtime he used to go off to bed lovely, now I have to get his lead out to move him and he has even gone for me whilst trying to put his lead on.

what can I possibly do? 

[SamK]

I'm not a vet but I think the aggressive behavior is due to anxiety and fear. He doesn't want to go through the experience of losing his reproductive organs again. You have to be patient with him.

[loudlucky]

I've been experiencing a bit of the same after my pup Tsunami recently got neutered!

One moment he's freaking out and scared of everything, the next he's 'attacking' me grabbing an arm ir something and chewing like its his bone! Thankfully not full out biting, but he is more aggressive and moody!

So far if he gets in this mood and starts chewing on me (he even slapped me in the face this weekend!) I have this tin with marbles in that I shake...it scared him so he retreats to his crate, without having to fight back with him and get him more aggressive. So far its been working great, he stops as soon as I shake it and I then give him a toy (as reward for going to his crate to cool off)

[Cooper01s]

I may have to try that however I don't feel like it will make any sort of affect as when he's got something he has tunnel vision and doesn't respond to anything but that object 

[loudlucky]

1 minute ago, Cooper01s said:

I may have to try that however I don't feel like it will make any sort of affect as when he's got something he has tunnel vision and doesn't respond to anything but that object 

Problem is finding something of higher value...and with them what could have higher value that a stolen human item??

Have you thought to teach the 'leave' or 'drop it' commands? Maybe they could be of use, if you can find treats he values more than whatever he's got in his mouth!

[Cooper01s]

1 hour ago, loudlucky said:

Problem is finding something of higher value...and with them what could have higher value that a stolen human item??

Have you thought to teach the 'leave' or 'drop it' commands? Maybe they could be of use, if you can find treats he values more than whatever he's got in his mouth!

Well this is my main problem, he knows leave and drop and is very good at it, if we are playing with a ball etc and I say leave her drops it straight away every time without fail, try it with a sock or tea towel and the word leave makes him growl and snarl untill you move away 

[wolfpup]

1 hour ago, Cooper01s said:

I may have to try that however I don't feel like it will make any sort of affect as when he's got something he has tunnel vision and doesn't respond to anything but that object 

I could well be 1000 miles off target here, but when you mentioned 'tunnel vision' and not responding to anything, this brought to mind my dog Cain who died in December.    He was an adult dog when I got him (10 years old) and had a major problem with possessions, - not giving them back for any reason - even food which he would normally go through fire for.  On a couple of occasions he got that 'tunnel vision'  -  only its focus happened to be on my hand - once when holding his ball and once when holding his lead.  He attacked me both times causing broken bones and lacerations.  However on those occasions he did not growl or snarl - but bit and held on.   It turned out he had developed focal epilepsy  -  triggered by an every day item he would usually not react to.    Not saying it is this - but something to think about.

Question - has he also gone food aggressive??

I really hope you can get him back to normal, he certainly seems in a bad place right now  -  and it is making me reconsider getting my pup castrated when old enough  -  at least until he is over some of his current issues   (possessiveness and a little food aggressive)

[Cooper01s]

3 minutes ago, wolfpup said:

I could well be 1000 miles off target here, but when you mentioned 'tunnel vision' and not responding to anything, this brought to mind my dog Cain who died in December.    He was an adult dog when I got him (10 years old) and had a major problem with possessions, - not giving them back for any reason - even food which he would normally go through fire for.  On a couple of occasions he got that 'tunnel vision'  -  only its focus happened to be on my hand - once when holding his ball and once when holding his lead.  He attacked me both times causing broken bones and lacerations.  However on those occasions he did not growl or snarl - but bit and held on.   It turned out he had developed focal epilepsy  -  triggered by an every day item he would usually not react to.    Not saying it is this - but something to think about.

Question - has he also gone food aggressive??

I really hope you can get him back to normal, he certainly seems in a bad place right now  -  and it is making me reconsider getting my pup castrated when old enough  -  at least until he is over some of his current issues   (possessiveness and a little food aggressive)

Yes he is also aggressive about food and bones etc

another spanner in the works is if I walk him more regular he gets worse, he used to get 2 walks a day and was uncontrollable that's when I got the behavourist in who stated some walking program which meant his walks were cut right down for a little while and as soon as we worked back up to notmal he got worse again, it's like he plays up untill he gets his walk and then he would settle for a little while.

 

im not an expert but all I can make of it is the fact he is not getting the attention he needs, it's seems to be when I'm busy or doing something that doesn't involve him that he goes looking for objects to steal

as for going to bed of an evening I've put that down to the fact he spends most of the day in his bedroom on his own as I have my own business and I'm on my own too, I go back for him at lunch most days to let him out for a wee etc then I have to go back to work

the walks seems like he learnt that if he plays up he got a walk so he played up more thinking eventually I'd give up and walk him

problem I have is there's not a lot I can do about him being alone most of the day which means when I get home he's a nightmare

also he is really hyperactive around other dogs to the point he upsets them and they end up attacking hi again I'm putting this down to attention, he's suddenly got dogs to play with so he loses his cool and goes mental to the point he upsets them

does my theory seem logical?

What can I do about it?

I have considered getting another dog so he has company during the day and he is not alone as much but the thought of a second dog turning out like Koda seems like hell

[wolfpup]

Is there any sort of doggy day care near you?    That way he is not on his own during the day.   It is unfortunate that he is on his own in a small room whilst you are out.   Can you work from home as it is your business?  Are there any responsible friends who could take him during the day?   Can he be left in the garden instead of the room?     At night can he stay in your bedroom at night so he is with you?

[Cooper01s]

17 minutes ago, wolfpup said:

Is there any sort of doggy day care near you?    That way he is not on his own during the day.   It is unfortunate that he is on his own in a small room whilst you are out.   Can you work from home as it is your business?  Are there any responsible friends who could take him during the day?   Can he be left in the garden instead of the room?     At night can he stay in your bedroom at night so he is with you?

There is but I'm a plumbing and heating engineer and never know and exact time of finishing etc

i could leave the back door of his bedroom open so he has the garden and his bedroom as its like a little lean to off the back of the house so I could leave the main back door Locked but leave his open but I'm worried he will try jump the fences etc, they are all 6ft high but we all know huskies defy the laws of physics, I may try it for a week see how he goes that way he could still go in his bedroom if the weathers bad

[wolfpup]

My 4 month old pup is already eyeing up our fencing - in the spring I am going to be getting the wooden slatted concertina type fencing you can get in B & Q and nail it onto our fencing and gates  -  it will add another couple of feet on top of the height.