I have one year old male German Shepherd. Over the last two months he has become very aggressive. 2 weeks ago he bit my son. On consulting the doctor he said getting him sterilized will calm him down, but somehow I'm not satisfied. Is there any other way out?
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Your dog appears to be healthy. How old is the son? Maybe the dog doesn't like children or the noise he makes or being pestered. Maybe the dog is an ALPHA dog trying to enforce dominance over your son. Was your son near the dog while it was eating? That's food aggression and the dog will need to be in a confined area away from others until its done eating. I could go on and on to the possibilities, but the problem is, the dog is being aggressive to your son to the extent of biting. You are seeking a way to eliminate further aggressive/biting patterns and smart to do so. Let me suggest to you that you buy your dog a wire mesh muzzle to wear around children and other pets and yourselves too. If a dog bites once, it will repeat. It's better to be safe than sorry. Your dog needs a lot of time for going on long walks, runs, etc., to get pent up energy released. They are not like a smaller lap dog who tires quickly from playtime. IF you cannot get the dog to stop this behavior, consider donating it to the police for training purposes and will be a service dog.
If you allow the dog to continue this behavior it can only get worse over time. Maybe you dog was smelling a female in heat and this is one reason he turned aggressive towards your son. If you are not planning on breeding the dog to make money I would really consider what the vet said and have him fixed.
If you choose not to neuter this dog you need to have him evaluated by a professional trainer who works with aggressive dogs. A trainer may be able to offer you more options for living with an aggressive dog. You want to get the dog evaluated and have good programs in place to keep him from getting into further trouble.
Neutering may help with the aggression. It will also help prevent many canaine cancers. If you are intending to breed the dog and he has a clean bill of health, ask your vet for a reference for a trainer who specializes in the breed and interaction with children.
If your son is old enough to participate in the training, he needs to be involved. All family members need to offer consistent behavior and reactions.
Dogs love to please and unless there is something unusual happening, aggressive behavior can be trained out of a dog with lots of positive reinforcement, work, and consistency.
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Neutering only prevents testicular cancer and actually may increase other cancers. Neutering is a huge money maker for veterinarians, probably the first and foremost money maker and that is why they all recommend it. Before the 1980's, most male dogs were never neutered, yet there were so many less dog attacks in comparison to the present time.
Talk to your Vet, maybe there is some type of medication or training for him that will help!
to me,if your dog has only just started to be aggressive,i would take him to the vet in case something is hurting him,or some kind of infection that could be upsetting him,dogs dont usually just start biting for no reason-could the child have accidently hurt the dog?best wishes,pam x
I do hope that your dog was Rabies vaccinated! This sounds dangerous. This is a problem that has only surfaced recently and this could point to a health condition.
Possibly neutering will help but, especially if you have children, don't be surprised if sadly you have to surrender him. Some say that after he bit one of your family members, there's no going back from that
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