Any advice please for aggressive dog-sitting?

[HarthillLass 10]

Hello. I'm not sure there is a solution to this but I would really appreciate any useful and relevant advice. Basically a family member is going to a wedding down South and would like to stay the night at the venue due to the distance. However they have a Rottweiler who they cannot take with them. So we're looking for any possible solutions or ideas.

 

The dog was bought as a puppy and is now about 8 years old. He was a lovely animal for the first four years or so but then became quite ill. This involved lots of trips to the vets due to skin complaints. However every time he went he seemed to get more and more aggressive. We presume (although we know very little about dog psychology!) that it was related as now he seems to have changed in to a different dog. He's become steadily more aggressive, especially towards visitors, since that time - even people he's known and had involvement with all his life. He unexpectedly went for me the other week without any provocation and I have always been around him. He has recently started attacking the TV which is the most bizarre thing of all.

 

The family member-owner is in denial that there is a problem but is there anyone out there who could advise us about dog training or has the situation gone too far for that? Is there anyone who is experienced with this breed who dog sits or has kennels where he could stay? Is anyone mad enough to take on this huge pile of aggression?!

 

Thanks for any help.

[suecatsitter 10]

obv no one should dog sit/home board this dog until problems have been sorted so either a willing family member or kennels would be the option

 

and also speak to a dog trainer a few on here you could inbox

 

good look lovely dogs btw:)

[Elizabeth13 10]

Has the vets recently seen this dog? Could be a medical issue here that had escalated. Attacking the TV in particular is an odd trait for an older dog to get.

[tzijlstra 11]

Hello. I'm not sure there is a solution to this but I would really appreciate any useful and relevant advice. Basically a family member is going to a wedding down South and would like to stay the night at the venue due to the distance. However they have a Rottweiler who they cannot take with them. So we're looking for any possible solutions or ideas.

 

The dog was bought as a puppy and is now about 8 years old. He was a lovely animal for the first four years or so but then became quite ill. This involved lots of trips to the vets due to skin complaints. However every time he went he seemed to get more and more aggressive. We presume (although we know very little about dog psychology!) that it was related as now he seems to have changed in to a different dog. He's become steadily more aggressive, especially towards visitors, since that time - even people he's known and had involvement with all his life. He unexpectedly went for me the other week without any provocation and I have always been around him. He has recently started attacking the TV which is the most bizarre thing of all.

 

The family member-owner is in denial that there is a problem but is there anyone out there who could advise us about dog training or has the situation gone too far for that? Is there anyone who is experienced with this breed who dog sits or has kennels where he could stay? Is anyone mad enough to take on this huge pile of aggression?!

 

Thanks for any help.

 

I hate to break this, but having had a sick St. Bernard that went for my throat, random people when out on walks, any dog out there (A St. Bernard that weighed around 14 stone and when standing on hind-legs got well heigher than me at 6,2"). I had a vet look at him who said: oh we should do this treatment, that treatment and this treatment. And another vet who said: he has a brain-tumour and it can't be cured, I recommend putting him down, I am happy I listened to the latter.

 

A Rottweiler with a similar 'mood' as my St Bernard had, can easily kill another dog, or a child... let that sink in and do the right thing.

[vwkittie 10]

I don't think it'd be right to have a dog sitter, a stranger alone in a house with a dog like that could be a recipe for disaster! As he's gone for you even a person known to the dog wouldn't be safe.

 

Maybe a kennels where the owner could put him in the kennel and leave him there securely until they picked him up - but even then he's going to have to be fed and watered at some point which could put someone at risk.

 

Not sure what to suggest, I'm afraid I'd agree with tzijlstra, he sounds dangerous and he can't be a happy dog either.

[medusa 16]

If the dog is aggressive even towards people he has known a long time then what chance would a stranger dog sitter have around him? How could kennel staff enter his kennel, feed him, clear up after him, take him for a walk? He would need to be muzzled to guarantee their safety, and in order to be muzzled he needs to be able to be handled to put it on and take it back off for feeding and the like.

 

I'm very good at not giving out any sort of body language signs to dogs, which means that dogs that bite other people don't tend to bite me (I basically completely ignore them apart from having my hand open on my leg with treats in it) but would I take the chance with a dog that's known to snap even at people he has known for years? Not likely.

 

The dog needs to be seen by a vet and assessed by a behaviourist if no physical injury is found, then a (potentially long) period of implementing the training recommended by the behaviourist needs to happen before he's unleashed on unsuspecting strangers.

[Chelle-82 10]

The poor dog sounds to me like he's suffering, he's obviously not happy and possibly in some kind of pain.

 

He defininately needs to be seen by a vet.

 

Totally different breed!! but we had a golden cocker spaniel that was lovely and then when he got to about 4 years old he just became so aggressive and started to even bite us, he was muzzled for a long time and everytime we took him to the vets they couldnt find anything medically wrong with him and this went on for years and then when he got to about 16 years old he went for a check up and because we has moved area we changed vets and the new vet did a check on his teeth and found his nerves etc all damaged and removed all teeth except for two!

 

When he came home he was so happy and unfortunately he only lived another two years but he never growled or bit again after having his teeth out, that poor dog suffered for over 10 years!!! :-(

[HarthillLass 10]

Thank you everyone for sensible and helpful comments. I was dreading coming back to a page of 'Well you bought a Rottweiler, what did you expect?'! I think the only sensible solution is staring us in the face sadly but I will suggest the dog therapists alongside asking the vet next time he's due for his boosters about the possibility of a brain tumour or something else that could change his personality. Apparently strangely it's the two old ladies on the food advert who are spying through the neighbour's window that sends him bananas!