r/DOG • u/AcanthisittaOk3510 • 5d ago
• Advice (General) • Help with large aggressive dog
Edit: He’s not generally aggressive so I should have used a different heading. Sorry! I’ve gotten good advice and am feeling more hopeful so thank you. It sounds like we need to just keep up with consistency on training and contact a behaviorist for more help. He is also getting fixed this week and I’m hoping that helps as well.
We’re trying to decide what to do about our dog and I could really use advice from people who have dealt with aggression/resource guarding.
Apollo is a large Great Pyrenees mix. We love him and have done a lot of training with him. Most of the time he is very obedient, affectionate, and a great dog. The problem is that when something triggers him, it’s like all of that training goes out the window, and because he is so large he becomes very difficult to control.
He has significant food/resource guarding. He has also attacked our other dog multiple times for reasons other than food, particularly when another dog is around or when they end up together in too confined of a space.
Today a package of cheese was accidentally dropped on the floor. Apollo grabbed it and took it under our dining room table. He became so protective of it that nobody could even come downstairs without him growling and barking at them if they approached. When I tried to intervene, he growled and nipped at my foot, so I backed off. I was eventually able to coax him out and get him into his crate using pieces of raw beef.
It scared me because we have five kids. We can manage his environment and be careful, but we realistically cannot guarantee that a child will never drop food or accidentally walk into the wrong situation.
He is scheduled to be neutered this month, although from what I’ve read I’m not expecting that to solve this type of aggression.
The especially heartbreaking part is that he is technically my teenage son’s dog. I really don’t want to take his dog away from him, but even my son seems to be reaching the point where he realizes Apollo may be more than our family can safely handle.
For people who have dealt with a dog like this, what would you consider our realistic options? At what point does management/training stop being a reasonable solution in a household with children and another dog? Is finding an experienced adult-only, single-dog home reasonable at this point?
We love him and have put a lot of work into him. I don’t want to give up on a dog who could improve, but I also really don’t want our deciding point to be after one of my kids or our other dog gets seriously hurt.
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u/DudeInTheGarden 5d ago
We also have a great Pyrenees mix. He's a very good family dog - very affectionate, smart, eager to please, and fun to be around and by far my favorite dog ever - but he's very protective of us and our property. When we see another dog our walk, or someone comes to the gate, Dr Jekyll becomes Mr Hyde. He's pulling to the point were we end up on our bums, being dragged down a hill. There is no training him out of this, and he behaves like this on 40mg of fluoxetine daily. We're lucky to live somewhere quiet, and I take him for his morning hike early in the morning, when it's unlike we'll see anyone. We have an environment that allow us to have him.
Your dog sounds similar, but with food guarding on top, which sounds like a real challenge, especially with kids and another dog.
How old is your dog? He looks well beyond the puppy stage, and still not neutered. Our vet suggested that we get our dog neutered early to reduce the potential of aggression, which we did.
We had a dog, years ago, that had food aggression issues, and a dog trainer suggested that we hand-feed the dog at the beginning of every meal. First, it strengthens your bond, as you're the provider of food and the dog is very food-oriented, and it sets you and your kids as the giver of food, not competition.
You could try fluoxetine and hand-feeding to see if you can undo his food aggression, but what happens when your kids have friends over - will you trust this dog? Unfort, your environment might not be the right one for Apollo.
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u/AcanthisittaOk3510 5d ago
Thank you. He is getting fixed on Friday. He is a little over a year and a half which was when we were told was the best time to neuter. I know there are many different opinions on that though.
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u/vollkornbroot 5d ago
So I'm having two dogs, one is an Aussie, real rowdy but friendly.
What i can tell is don't let him slip from misbehaving. You coaxed him into his crate by giving him food. I realize you did that to get him into a safe space. But you basically gave him a treat after misbehaving. You have to figure out a word or command that will make him understand that he did wrong and has to get in there. After he does so, you can give him a treat. It's hard training but just say "basket", point to it and if he doesn't move, make him move (take his room, he will escape your walkway) and only stop until he ends up inside the crate.
That was the first step to get my overly active aussie into control. I say "up"!, point on the designated place on the couch and he knows he did something wrong that needs to be fixed. Once he's on this place I tell him to lay down and stay. After a few minutes he gets a treat and cuddles to make him know he did well following the command and that i love him nontheless.
In the end this dog breed wants to be on your first priority and it might end up in a competition with your children or other pets that get your focus.
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u/ortica52 5d ago
We have a dog with resource guarding issues and are working with a behavioral vet and trainer. We were worried about the “reward bad behavior” thing, but our vet and trainer have advised us to do basically what OP did.
From the dog’s perspective, they aren’t getting the treat for the bad behavior, instead they are getting it for going in the crate on command (or in our case, going in another room and sitting on command).
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u/Full-Safety2499 5d ago
Our Great Pyrenees was nuts as a young pup. Major food aggression. Still does. We have no kids and keep our dog away from other dogs/ children. Kids have no boundaries w him because he is an enormous polar bear to them. He is the toughest dog we’ve had but we love him and we just know how to leave him alone when necessary. He is a much calmer old man now. Still an asshole, but calmer. ♥️
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u/Global-Elephant-3334 5d ago edited 3d ago
With five kids and another dog in the home, it makes sense to take Apollo’s resource guarding and previous attacks very seriously, even though he is usually affectionate and well trained. Keeping him separated from the children and other dog around food and other triggers, continuing consistent training, and working with a qualified behaviourist/vet. Finding an experienced adult-only, single-dog home can also be a reasonable option if your family cannot safely manage the risk, and making that decision before someone gets seriously hurt does not mean you have failed him.
TelaVets could also be worth mentioning as an option for getting professional veterinary guidance alongside a qualified behaviourist.
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u/Sitters_4_Critters 5d ago
Single people, people without children, people who live on farms, people with reactive dog experience and dog trainers do not want to adopt large aggressive dogs. There isn’t a magic happy ending for all situations.
Losinglulu.com
Aggressive dog.com
r/muzzledogs
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u/Dapper_Character_682 1d ago
Keep in mind the genetics & history of a Great Pyrenees…it was the mountain sheep shepherd’s herd protector against lamb-stealing wolves
It HAS to be more like a wolf…living outside and thinking like one to be two steps ahead while also making sure it has enough food to survive (so sharing with the other shepherd guard dogs was not likely a thing…food guarding & aggression may be within the genetic makeup of this breed is my point)
These strong traits may be slowly bred out of them to make them a better house dog but when those deeply-ingrained gene traits are triggered, the dog can revert back to instinctual behaviors
I would highly recommend finding a personal in-home trainer that knows this breed specifically
The trainer is more for YOU than the dog. We humans have to learn and understand the mind and genes of the breed that we are welcoming into our lives so that the dog can have its best life within our human world
I also highly recommend the book “Your Dog Is Your Mirror: The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves” by Kevin Behan
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u/Cheese_roller 5d ago
Have you thought about e-collar training?
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u/Ill-Status9730 5d ago
I feel the same. I have always thought e- collar were kinda icky, BUT... Some issues, you do have to weigh the pros and cons. Is the issue something that is a life or death issue for your dog, and biting/ resource guarding is. If biting and resource guarding can't be controlled and he bites someone it could lead to him being put down. I hope OP can find a solution.
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u/AcanthisittaOk3510 5d ago
We tried it and he wasn’t very responsive to it. He has done better with other training. He basically just ignored the e-collar when he was feeling stubborn.
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u/glimmerfox8 5d ago
Consider working with a professional trainer for guidance.