My male Rottweiler is attacking family. How to stop his aggression?

Unfortunately, it's relatively common for behavior issues like this to develop between 1 and 2 years of age - this is the period when dogs reach social maturity. Often, they may have been fearful or nervous about many things when they were puppies, but don't start to act out aggressively until they are a bit older. Aggressive behavior in a large dog like this can be a serious problem, and is best treated by a professional who can work with you and Molly in person. I would recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist who can evaluate her and put together a treatment plan to work on the problem. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist here: www.dacvb.org In the meantime, I would recommend keeping her away from people and dogs as much as possible for safety reasons, and to avoid making the problem worse. Treatment for this problem is generally based on teaching the dog to associate good things (such as treats) with seeing people or other dogs, starting at a distance where they are comfortable and gradually working close from there. The behaviorist can help you with this, since it can be hard to do on your own! Punishment of any kind for this behavior (including verbal scolding, leash corrections, shock collar corrections, etc.) is not recommended, as it tends to make the dog more fearful and has a high risk of worsening the aggression over time.

I hate to hear this is happening. I;m sure it's not only scary but stressful as well. Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety, resource guarding or a combination. Most people are not familiar with reading canine body language and training. Because of this, I recommend to work with a professional trainer. Researching on your own will also be helpful. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say. You can find many books written on the topic and there is a trainer named Victoria Stilwell who I think is particularly helpful. Also, dogs who are spayed and neutered are less likely to fight though this is not always the case. I recommend to discuss having both dogs altered with their veterinarian. Best of luck.

I strongly recommend that you have your dog examined by a vet since she is considered an old dog and very heavy and therefore could be suffering from painful arthritis which in turn may make her aggressive. If pain is the culprit, then NSAIDs given regularly will help control that pain and the aggression may stop. I would be worried that she will hurt your other pets and ultimately the humans in the house (not just your brother). Best keep her separated from the cats until you take her to the vet.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem! It sounds like you're on the right track by separating them as much as possible when you're not home - with redirected aggression, managing the dogs to prevent situations like this from occurring is one of the most important parts of treatment. In some cases, it can be possible to teach both dogs to do something else (such as go to a mat) when exciting things happen to prevent Ophelia from becoming overly aroused and aggressive towards Chitsa, but this would really only be feasible when you are at home to manage things - so it wouldn't help much for things that happen when you're gone. I do understand your concerns about crating one of the dogs for long periods of time during the day. I would suggest trying to find a way to separate them that doesn't require using crates - perhaps by putting one of the dogs in a bedroom or other room with the door closed, or using a baby gate or other barrier to keep them apart. If there are certain things that trigger the dogs to become upset (such as seeing people pass by through the window, for example), you could also try using some type of barrier to keep them away from windows or other areas that tend to make them overly aroused. Finally, this behavior can sometimes be improved by prescription medication such as an SSRI like Prozac - you could certainly talk to your veterinarian to see if he/she feels that this might be helpful for Ophelia.

Hello, German Shepherds are commonly aggressive and may require intense training and socialization to be good companion animals. It sounds like he has become quite a dangerous animal, especially to your mother. Please take his aggression seriously and do not allow small children or animals to be around him, as he has a history of severely hurting people. He also needs to maintain his rabies vaccinations to ensure he is not able to spread a fatal disease with his bites. I would recommend seeing a veterinary behaviorist, a good dog trainer, as well as pursuing neutering him. This will be the best way to try to make him a safe animal to live with. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem with Champ! Unfortunately, aggression towards humans and other dogs is a complex behavior issue that can be caused by many different things. In most cases, it's related to stress or anxiety - treatment is usually based on trying to identify what situations trigger the aggression, then either avoiding them or teaching the dog to be more comfortable in these situations through reward-based training. It would be best for you to find someone who can work with you in person on this problem, so I would recommend asking your veterinarian if they can refer you to a good behaviorist or trainer in your area. Ideally, try to make sure that the trainer does not use any type of punishment - aggressive dogs should be handled with reward-based techniques only, as corrections tend to make this behavior worse over time.

I strongly recommend you consult with a professional, in-home dog trainer. You need a trainer to come to your house and see the behavior and the interaction of all the family members with the puppy. This is your best bet. Aggression problems need special care and it is not recommended that you try to correct this on your own. You may give him the wrong signals and make him worse. This needs to stop before he hurts someone.