Becoming More Aggressive

[jeni]

I've had my dog Luciano since he was a puppy. He's about a year and a half now and he's always got along with other dogs and people fine, however he didn't go much further than the yard and walks in the neighborhood. We moved to San Francisco 6 months ago and I noticed that he didn't like bikes, pretty much anything on wheels, and runners (fast moving things). He tended to be more aggressive towards these (i.e. lunging at them) while on the leash. When off would show little interest.

However recently he's been more aggressive. Our neighbors stopped by, I was holding Luci and the the 3 yr old girl went to pet him and he lunged at her almost out of my arms. Last weekend I took him to the laundry mat with me and a guy stopped to pet him. Luci let him, but when he went to walk away Luci bit his leg. Two days ago I was checking his paws for fox tails and he kept snapping at me. Not thinking he'd actually do anything to me, he actually bit my finger on the fourth try. And this morning while taking him out before work he saw another dog. This time he crouched down as if he was hiding and then pounced at him. This is not my Luci. I don't know why he's acting this way. It's scaring me because especially living in the city, if he does go after someone, and hurts them, he could be put to sleep. I absolutely could not have that happen. He's my everything. Someone help!

[LavenderRott]

If this is truly out of character for this dog, you need to take him to the vet. Have him checked for everything including Lyme's disease. There is some new info out that shows that Lyme's can cause aggressive behavior in some dogs. Just a thought.

Rule out the medical, then move onto the behavioral.

[Lucky Rescue]

Agree with LavendarRott - vet check first!

however he didn't go much further than the yard and walks in the neighborhood

This concerns me, because in order for puppies to become well adjusted adults, they should be exposed to as many people, other animals and situations as possible in the formative stages.

If you didn't do this with your puppy, he could possibly be fear aggressive simply from lack of exposure to people and things. The fact that he is more aggressive on leash, when he feels vulnerable, makes me think he is fearful and stressed.