i own a boxer, he's a year and a half nearly, he is as soft as shit, but recently he has snapped at people, 2 times last month and again today.

today he jumped up at a 65 year old female customer as she bent down to stroke him, and caught her right between the eyes. she had to go to hospital and have 5 stitches to the one wound (sounds worse than it looked). She was ok about it, said that he wasnt being nasty, just caught her. He didnt growl, just sort of snapped.

luckily my dad knows her quite well, so she was ok with us about it. her neighbour was being snotty and melodramatic about it.

We bought him last august when he was nearly one, last owner said he was moving into a flat so couldnt have dogs... not sure if i believe him or not. They said they had him trained, and he can, most of the time, sit etc.

he hasnt done it to anyone he's normally around, only strangers the first time he sees them...

what can i do to stop this happening? i love him to bits, but i have a child on the way in may so i want to be sure he wont snap at it when its older.

andre

 

He sounds like hes feeling threatened....were these people looking at him directly in the eyes or anything that could have spooked him?

If they are strangers it seems a defensive thing...if he's never been bad with you/family then it's probably to do with strangers approaching him too suddenly/getting too close to soon. I'm sure it can be sorted out if he's only agressive to people he doesn't know...doesn't sound like a psycho dog....just timid/nervous of new people.

He's probably not used to people/wasn't around many people as a puppy or something...may be worth taking him to training classes of some description and stopping new people approaching him until he is familiar with them...?

 

keep him close to you when strangers are around, my dog acts like he feels better when i pull him close to me when we go for walks etc

 

My mate had a similar problem and he had a baby on the way...... Baby came and the day they brought the baby home the dog went for the baby the 1st time he saw it and they got rid about 10 minutes later....
Imo it's a hard decision to make but would you really want to risk it with a new born as you can't be there every second of the day unfortunatly.

 

go and see a pro to get some help, start reading up on body language of a dog it might open your eyes to things you havnt noticed before.

may be a simple case of wrong introduction to strangers.

hope you find a solution

 

First thing i would do is buy a muzzle for him,at least it would give you piece of mind around your child that he couldnt bite,but deffo seek profesional advice.The dog whisperer is the bollox on the telly

 

Mate, i have had dogs ALL my life,i have two Rotties right now.

I would not be worried about the dog snapping at the kid when he/she is older,i would be worried full stop,dogs like to be domineering,they like to head of the pack.
If you have a baby on the way, im sorry to say i wouldnt want any dog near it.
You may love the dog, but we are talking of a child here, you could try getting professional help,but i know what i would do....sorry.

Just my honest oppinion

 

I currently take my sisters boxer, Hatton, to a training class - she really enjoys it
I don't think she's ever snapped at anyone, but she will play rough and mouth you if she's in that mood


If your dog is that age and he's not neutered, i'll tell you now - the first thing your gonna get told is to have him neutered in my experience

I think like others have suggested, seek professional help or a training class would help loads - they teach you how to teach the dog it's place

 

As said has it had its nads choped?

 

my advice as hard as it may sound , get rid now you cannot take any chances when there's a baby involved , too many kid's been killed by dog's don't let it happen to you , shame as im not a dog fan but have alway's loved boxer dog's from been a kid , have you got any piccies of him ??

 

a dog that lashes out, harsh as it sounds is the owners fault, through ignorance or otherwise, a dog has its place in the family and sould be an important part of the family, IMO getting rid at 1st sign of trouble with no attempt to deal with the problem is wrong.

boxers are nice dogs not aggressive usually just a bit "bouncy" and live their teenage years for quite a while then they die

has the dog had any kind of training? also is this your first dog?

also i would never leave any dog alone with a child, children can easily provoke without knowing

 

i got a boxer and she can be funy sometimes around people,and other dogs more so when she on the lead!i would take her to a pro and see what they say first

 

alot of dogs change in and around the two years old mark.

a local vet calls it the dreaded terrible twos especially in larger breeds of dogs where there attitude influences people more.

 

Pretty much what everyone has said is true. But this is my personal opinion on it.

Has the dog been neutered? If not, GET IT DONE, as soon as a dog has his balls cut off his testosterone levels change, which will take out some of the domineerance (sp) issues.

Is there anything in particular he has reacted to? IE someone getting close to his face? someone encroaching on his terriotory? If so, take him out of this situation, so that if he does feel threatened, he doesnt have the opportunity to snap.

If you have a baby on the way, something i have always advised people with dogs to do is play a tape of a crying baby..... because initially if he hears a baby cry, he may think its a toy... and thats the last thing you want, so, get some crying baby sounds and play it to the dog, maybe 10minutes a day, just so he gets used to it.

If you are that worried though fella, you really have to assess the situation, i personally wouldnt give up straight away, but i definitely think neutering him will be a massive help!

Good luck!

 

thanks for the replies

he hasnt been nutered. he will be in two weeks time though!

on this occasion the woman stared at him in the eyes, and he stared back, and jumped up at her as she bent down. we have bought a muzzle type thing that goes around his mouth, but doesnt look like a horrible muzzle.

here are some pics of him...

 

and giving him up will be the very very last resort, it isnt as if he bit anyone as such. he is as soft as shit, and he would never do anything to someone he knows... he is ok with dogs aswell, he gets on fine with the dogs in my family

 

How did you react? If my dog bit anyone for no reason I'd beat the fuck out of him. Dog's tryin to elevate his status by using his teeth.

 

well i smacked him hard a few times on the arse, then dragged him in the van and went mental at him (shouting). he was shaking for a couple of hours after. i felt really bad seeing him scared, but maybe it will make him think twice! maybe not though...

im not one for hitting dogs at all normally, but i had to, he needed to know he did something very bad

i was trying to plan our escape route if the cops/rspca came!!!

 

I think you need fucking training.

 

and before anyone says owt like that to me, i never 'beat' him. just 2 or 3 short sharp slaps on the arse

 

my friends bullmastif was a little aggresive and had him neutered as he thought it would calm him down. NEVER WORKED

i think the biggest problem is you got him just before he was 1years old. first few months mould the dog but this was out of your controll.

people shouldn't get dogs unless they are going to keep them for ever but unfortunatley it happens and people like youself take them in but end up with some behaviour problems due to their previous owner!

you probably need a dog behaviour expert to work on him.

 

my dog had his bits off and it didnt make any different to his personality, i would take him somewhere, or at least get some advise, my dog is fine with strangers, but a right nightmare with other dogs, he trys to protect us at first, then after a while he is alright.

Dogs do not like people staring them in the eyes, its the worst thing you can do.

I think he was just looking after you, speak to someone, they may be able to help, or when new people are about, maybe try to play with a ball, or do some tricks with some treats

you may have to go dog borstal thats on TV

 

Awww he's lovely i was telling my mum about him and she said it's the worst thing to do to a dog what that lady did, so it could be a isolated incident , but i would be very carefull with a baby he may get really jealous once the baby is here

 

if your not compleatly happy after having his job done ,then you will have to think about rehoming him ive got 2 boxer s 1 dog and bitch .. the dog after having his job done is very placid now i suppose i would be after the same totally changed him , never was nasty but very lively like all boxers..good look with him ... ps my bitch boxer is white with brown patch on one eye love em too bits

 

cute dog but weigh it up mate.....baby or dog...from the dogs past behavious it's not an option to have both even if it does improve before the nipper comes.

Dan

 

My dog's actually well trained, he's a bit hyper cos of his age but never aggressive, cos he knows he's not allowed. These sort of dogs need firm handling as well as the softy rewardy stuff or they'll try and dominate, especially males of this sort of age.
When a dog tries to dominate over people, by using his teeth, thats when headlines happen, nip it in the bud. "Beat the fuck out of him" Probably comes across as over the top, but imagine if the dog bit a kid cos you hadn't been firm enough in an earlier incident? I'd rather have a scared dog than a scarred kid. When I raise my voice the dog stops what he's doing, thats how it should be.

 

you need to speak to Cesar Milan Dog Whisperer

 

one day you will 'try' and beat your dog but he will be planning to rip your throat out long before, hope he does a good job

why do you think you have to beat him to be firm. dogs are masters at reading your body langauge.

 

Think you've read something that wasn't there mate... "IF my dog bit someone..." ...he never has and he's never been beaten. Little slaps on the nose when he was a pup, raised voice, point at him and he drops his ears and goes off to lie down. This dog is obviously past that as he is biting people on the face as he is reaching adulthood! A dominant dog needs to be put in it's place by somebody who knows what they are doing, or be destroyed, or you will end up in the papers and court.

My dog knows who the master is and knows he's not allowed to be aggressive, he also gets treated and rewarded for good behaviour, progress in training etc. I have no problems with my dog.

I asked how the guy reacted, I didn't say I beat my dog. You say you hope I get bit for beating him, your dog might read body language but you can't read plain text... go get braindamaged or somethin




My dog... clearly lives in fear for his life at my hands.

 

hes a cutie!

im not sure if he bit her or caught her with his claw. she needed 5 stitches to a single wound. no teeth marks suggest it was his claw.

like i said before he is 99.99999999999% as soft as shit. I have had male boxers before and he is by far the least hyper out of them all. He loves me and my partner (and my dad who i work with) to bits, and gets scared/droops his head in shame when we shout at him. after living with him for a year im 100% confident he would NEVER touch us!!!

its strangers that worry me, because hes cute and unusual loads of people stroke him, sometimes he will growl

he also goes crazy barking when the door bell goes.

i think i need to invest in some training.

cheers for all the replies

 

heres some pics of my boxer

 

ive got english bull teriers, always had them and if one of mine ever done that and i was having a baby, ild get rid, rehome them.

think of the baby, that lady moved her head, a baby cant.

 

Do a search on Google for 'dog attacks baby' and see how many people claim their dog is 'soft as shit'. I wouldn't even contemplate keeping a dog that has bitten someone twice, let alone keeping it with a baby due!

All dogs are bred with in-built "pack mentality", children are automatically considered lower ranking members as they are smaller in statue and have higher pitched voices.

Many dog owners notice that their dogs get hold of a toy and shake their head franticly with the toy in their mouth. As humans we think this is funny not realising that this is a dog's natural instinct in "killing" the toy as this is how they would do so in the wild when killing prey. This is what could happen to your baby... do you really want to take that chance?