fear aggression

[cary]

i have a male lab, 3 years, who i think suffers from fear aggression. unfortunately i did not get him socially adapted during the critical period of 4 to 6 weeks.
he has become a fear biter. only i can be casual or free with him but with caution. anyone else who tries to pet him or even raise his hand to pet gets a growl and sometimes a snap without a warning growl. he has bitten at sometime each member of the family including me. there was a time when i wanted put him to rest but i have managed to get over that phase. i am trying improve his confidence by following few rules in your book. unfortunately in india there are not too many qualified dog behaviourists who i can call for help.
can you give me more advice, thanks

[KOPsarah]

Hi cary thanks for your post.

I apologize for the very late reply, I am a new staff member and unfortunately during the gap in staff members many post were left unanswered and I am endeavoring to catch up with them all so that no one is left stranded.

I would really like to help you and your dog. If there is still a problem I would love to get some more details. You say you think your dogs aggression is fear based and I am wondering if you could describe the sorts of situations that causes your dog to bite people for example is it when someone makes loud noises or corners the dog or when someone trys to touch the dog.

Apologies again for the delay. I will ensure all further posts are replied to promptly.

[cary]

hi kopsarah,

thanks for the reply. in fact i had not visited the forum for sometime now.

well, the problem still exists though less frequent as we exercise caution when handling the pet and he is kept on leash when resting and follow most of the rules for being the alpha dog.

he gets frightened in various situations- sudden noise, any stranger trying to pet him or aproaches him in a dominating manner, meets with/walks by other dogs(with hair raising along his back), hands touching his hind /underbelly, his tail is held high most times

generally snaps -without provocation without growling

thanks, cary