# Environment change = suddenly aggressive dog?



## indoscot (Jul 12, 2010)

Hi, I'm new to this forum so I hope my posting is in the correct area.

I have a problem with a dog that has gone through some recent environemntal changes, and as a result, has become aggressive towards other dogs and cats (although it was never the case before).

I have a 3 yr old male bulldog-mix (Mickey) and a 5-month old male husky (Shadow).

For the past 2.5 years, Mickey and I lived with my parents. Mickey would go to doggie daycare twice a week, and loved seeing his daycare buddies. But just a month ago, I moved to a new home and got Shadow within the same week of moving. Mickey and Shadow are best buds. They love each other and are inseparable. Because the 2 dogs now have each other while I am gone to work, Mickey has not attended doggie daycare since Shadow was adopted. 

I suspect all the sudden changes have caused stress on Mickey. 

The problem is that Mickey - who used to be the friendliest dog - has now become embarrassingly aggressive towards other pets. I cannot walk both dogs at the same time, because Mickey will start lunging, growling, yapping, screaming, shaking, etc. at the mere sight of another animal. Mickey makes noises that I never knew a dog could make. It scares me and everyone within earshot! This makes Shadow upset, and he begins to dance around and howl. It's quite a spectacle to see. And I always have to cut the walk short and run home to calm them down.

Also, Mickey has developed the bizarre habit of sneaking into the basement and relieveing himself. He refuses to use the backyard (even though he was 100% housetrained when we lived with my parents). If I block off the basement, he will hold his bladder for over a day and then eventually "give up" and go outside. But most of the time it still requires me pushing him out the door. It's almost as if he's disgusted by the yard. He refuses to walk on the grass. 

I suspect that Mickey's behaviour is caused by a combination of:

- only seeing my parents once a week instead of every day
- new home, new neighbourhood, new yard, new smells
- thinking he's in charge of 'protecting' Shadow
- no longer being at doggie daycare
- suddenly reaching social maturity

Did anyone go though the same thing after moving houses or introducing a new dog to the family?

How do I correct Mickey's sudden aggressiveness?

Thanks!


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

indoscot said:


> Hi, I'm new to this forum so I hope my posting is in the correct area.
> 
> I have a problem with a dog that has gone through some recent environemntal changes, and as a result, has become aggressive towards other dogs and cats (although it was never the case before).
> 
> ...


I'm hoping some of the experienced trainers will chime in on this thread, because they can offer a whole lot more ideas than I can. But I think the combination of things you mentioned (especially social maturity) could definetely have an impact on how he's responding to other dogs. It might be worth taking him to the vet for a good check up, just to make positively sure that he doesn't have some health problem causing his reactivity.
Bump goes the thread!


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

> It might be worth taking him to the vet for a good check up, just to make positively sure that he doesn't have some health problem causing his reactivity.


Yep, sudden changes in personality and sudden housebreaking setbacks should always result in a vet visit. There might very well be a medical cause behind both issues.


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## Bumblina (Jul 6, 2010)

indoscot--I'm interested in this this thread as well. My two pups don't have a history of being aggressive/reactive when they were at their previous homes, (they were adopted separately) but together they are barky/growly towards other dogs when we go on walks. Ugh.


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## fuzz16 (Mar 13, 2009)

my dog had this problem and had a brain tumor...so mayb a vet run wouldnt hurt


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Yes, it is possible that the changes in environment and routine have triggered these behaviours...BUT the first rule of any behaviour change is a full vet checkup, because working on behaviours that have a health component is going to be a fail.
It's kind of a feedback loop, stress can exacerbate a condition that was already lurking, giving rise to the behaviour..then the owner tries to work on the behaviour but not knowing about the underlying condition increases the stress which in turn exacerbates the health issue and the behaviour again.

Given his age I wouldn't be suprised if you were seeing a thyroid based issue. You should have a full workup done including free T4 and see what comes up. Even a slightly low thyroid can mess up a dog's stress tolerance. 
Then work on trying to get him back to a schedule like before. Figure out what is missing from his present lifestyle and try to see how you can fit adjustments in to give back what he is now missing...more social time? more exercise? time out of the house? a break from the puppy?


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