Anger Management

I have a German Shepherd, who is two years old now and he loves people but is terrified of dogs. Lately he has been showing aggression to children. He’s nipping, snarling and even lunging at kids who try to pet or play with him. He’s never shown this kind of aggression before and I don’t know what to do. Is it because he isn’t fixed? I need help. If this problem isn’t foxed soon I could get complaints or he could hurt a kid: my worst fear. Please give me your opinions.
– Rohit Aggarwal, Kolkata

We are sorry to hear that you are experiencing this serious issue: if your dog is aggressive towards children you are dealing with the most serious issue possible. The key to gradually stopping this behaviour is to figure out the cause of it (most likely fear, possibly developing from the fear with dogs). The first thing we would do is take your dog to the vet ASAP to have a thorough check up to eliminate any health issue. Some dogs act out because of pain or illness, so if this is the case it needs to be addressed. Your vet will be able to speak about neutering. There is some connection between neutering and behaviour, but it doesn’t guarantee “stopping” aggression. It’s actually quite unlikely neutering will eliminate a problem that is established and growing like this – even if it decreases somewhat you will definitely need to address this with a trainer assuming the aggression isn’t due to an injury or illness. We would also recommend speaking to your vet about a safe and appropriate muzzle to have your dog wear until the behaviour is addressed. There are serious legal liabilities for you having a dog who has these known issues (even unknown ones), and obviously you also do not want anyone to be hurt. Please, your #1 priority is to keep your dog away from children and other dogs and muzzled because you have a known nipper and lunger. If your dog is healthy, then we absolutely without a doubt urge you to work with a professional trainer/ behaviourist to sort out the route of this issue, and devise an action plan to address it. You are dealing with a serious problem, and it would need to be addressed with a professional that has experience in addressing these things. Even after working on the issue, know that life going forward may involve not having your dog meet children… and this is OK. Some dogs are simply nervous around strange humans (especially children), and we do not let them interact directly – this is a life-long plan. It’s much better than risking a bite. But a behaviorist can hopefully help you get to a point where your dog is not as dangerous, and that’s worth every penny and minute of effort.

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