My dog is suddenly aggressive towards my daughter. What should I do?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. My advice is to get professional help sooner rather than later. This type of behavior is often due to anxiety. I would strongly recommend talking to your vet about anti-anxiety/ behavior modification medication which can make a huge difference! Once the medication is on board, the fear-threshold is lowered, and learning can occur. At that point, working with a reputable trainer in your area is a must. Best wishes to you and Cooper.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem! If this has been a fairly sudden behavior change for Elsa, the first thing I would suggest would be to have her examined by a vet to see if there may be a medial reason for the aggression - many illnesses including thyroid problems and neurologic issues can cause sudden mood swings and behavior changes like this, as well as anything that may be painful such as an injury of some kind, arthritis, etc. If your vet determines that Elsa is healthy, then I would strongly recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist as the next step. Aggression towards humans is a serious and complex behavior issue that needs to be handled by a professional who can work with your dog in person. The behaviorist will evaluate your dog and help you determine what is triggering the aggression, then put together a detailed training plan to work on the problem. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

I hate to hear that about Cooper. Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety , resource guarding or a combination. Pets can also shift around within the pack hierarchy. Being overly aggressive may be a sign that Cooper is uncomfortable in his current pack role. Unless you are very familiar with reading canine body language and training, I recommend to work with a professional trainer. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say before a bite happens. You can find many books written on the topic. One thing you can do at home is to give Cooper (and all the dogs would benefit as well), lots of exercise, routine and structure. A physically tired dog typically has less behavioral issues. Dogs also tend to thrive in a controlled environment. This can be a tough situation. You may want to separate the dogs any time you are not home to avoid injuries. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Oh dear! That is a worry for sure! It's really important that you don't get hurt, because dog bites can be pretty serious. I would suggest making an appointment with your vet to talk about possibilities. They might be able to link you up with a behaviorist, or dog trainer that could help a lot. There also could be medications that might help. Or, like you said, there could be a medical problem that is upsetting him.

Hi there. Aggressive behavior towards small children in the home is always very concerning, so I would definitely recommend getting a professional on-board who can help you determine what is causing this behavior and put together a detailed plan to work on things. I can't really give any specific advice without being able to evaluate Kiwi in person and get a much more detailed behavioral history, so the best thing I can tell you for now is to keep him separated from the child until you're able to get an appointment with someone who can work with you on changing his behavior. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here, which would be the best options: www.dacvb.org. If you don't have a VB nearby, you could also search for a trainer here: www.ccpdt.org

There are many possible reasons for this, I'm afraid - aggression is a complex behavior issue, so it can be hard to provide a succinct answer in this format. Many dogs develop aggression issues related to fear or anxiety around the age of 2-3 when they reach social maturity, so it's possible that this may be the issue. Or, since I see that Chucky is a bit older than that, he may have a medical problem causing him to be painful or uncomfortable - this is a common reason for "new" aggression in a previously friendly dog. I would recommend having Chucky examined by a vet as a good first step - he/she can check for anything that may be causing him pain or making him not feel well, and get him started on treatment if needed. If everything is normal medically, then it would be best to make an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist to help you determine what is causing the aggression - he/she can observe your dogs in person and also give you a step-by-step treatment plan to work on the issue.

If this is a sudden or new behavior that happened out of the blue, and Toby is now biting and snapping when picked up or handled, I would be concerned that there is something going on such as pain or illness. Often times, a sudden behavioral change can indicate pain or another underlying condition. A good first step is to schedule an appointment with your vet to rule out any health issues that could be causing this. If Toby checks out healthy and he is still acting aggressive and trying to bite you or other animals, I would seek out the help of a trainer or veterinary behaviorist in person. Aggression is a very serious and complex issue and having someone there in person that can observe, assist and provide a tailored plan to help change Toby's behavior is best. Veterinary behaviorists are great as they are able to prescribe any needed medication in addition to a training routine to help create a safer, stress-free environment. You can visit this site to learn more about veterinary behaviorists and find one in your area: http://www.dacvb.org/about/member-directory/