kkahn920

My husband and I took in a basset hound in April, we rescued him from a home that had been broken into multiple times while he was there alone and we are not sure exactly what was done to him during these break in attempts. We have had consistent problems with him being extremely overprotective and aggressive. I am about the only one he is never aggressive towards. For the most part he is fine with my husband as well, but there are the rare occasions that he will raise his lips and sometimes growl at my husband, usually this happens if I was sleeping with the dog nearby and my husband startles him by waking us up. However the dog is extremely aggressive whenever anyone comes to visit our house. As soon as they walk in the door he is at their feet barking non-stop at them, even to people he has met many times before and should be familiar with. It is extremely difficult to get him to calm down and stop barking, is there anything I can do in order to speed up the process so he will be comfortable with certain people who are over on a regular basis. We have noticed that generally he barks more if the person is wearing a hooded sweatshirt or jacket, even if its someone he knows. When its just me and my husband around he is the sweetest and most playful dog, but the second someone else comes in he loses his mind. He has bit or threatened to bite on a few occasions. He is a 3 year old male basset and has NOT been neutered.

bubbad

Get him fixed and get a trainer or dog behaviorest you are not going to be able to do this on your own with out a possibly bigger problem developing.

houndmomma

As Bubbad said - get him fixed as soon as possible and find a "good" dog behaviorist that can come to your house and "see" how he is. I wish it were simple enough that we could say do XYZ and everything will be fine - but we can't when we can't see in person how he is.

If you're not sure how to find a good dog behaviorist or trainer ask your vet or better yet, contact the basset rescue in your area and I'm sure they will be happy to help you to ensure he can stay with you.

Please don't give up on him especially now that he’ll be tagged with “aggressive” – he wouldn’t have a lot of luck in rehoming. With my rescue it took me two long years of working with her to get her aggression under control. She is now 13 ½ years old and I’m blessed every day that I can wake up to her sharing my day with me. There’s not a day goes by that she doesn’t give me a belly laugh.

Jen~

__________________
Momma to Lucy age 13 ~ Basset Hound
Momma to Mabel age 1 ~ Basset Hound
Mamma to Page age 1 ~ Basset Hound
Momma to Rickie age 6 ~ Shi-Poo (don’t tell him though – he thinks he’s a hound dog)
Momma to Flash ~ Basset Hound – RIP 2000 ~ 2011 – Gone in body but with me in spirit ~ You will live on forever in my heart baby ~ Je t'aime

Mikey T

Nuetering the dog will not fix the situation. The best you can hope for is making the dog more comforatable around stanger but it is unlikely you will ever be able to trust him, that said when you say he is being agressive ie barking and growling , lip curl you neve mention any damage. Has the dog bit anyone and houw severely.
Bite Inhibition - How to Teach It
* Level One: Bark, lunge, no teeth on skin.
* Level Two: Teeth touched, no puncture.
* Level Three: 1-4 holes from a single bite. All holes less than half the length of a single canine tooth.
* Level Four: Single bite, deep puncture (up to one and a half times the depth of a single canine tooth), wound goes black within 24 hours.
* Level Five: Multiple bite attack or multiple attack incidents.
* Level Six: Missing large portions of flesh.[/url]

it is important to answer the question about biting honestly before i can give you some ideas where to start.

bubbad

No fixing him will not fix the problem you are having with him but with less hormones flowing it won't hurt either.

Vectisvagrant

I was persuaded by out vet (since changed) & our boys breeder that the best thing was to neuter, never again unless for medical reasons. Especially in a dog that has behavioural issues, ours was an insecure tenager which has escalated, nervous of other dogs running at him & no wonder - he has probably ended up smelling female - humped by dogs & bitches. Why is there this belief that by taking away the testes that a dog is going to be transformed into a well behaved bidable dog, all that happens is he fires blanks, he'll still show interest in bitches & can still tie. Problems require patience, training, consistency & reward. Being flippant do you think the behaviour of any man you know would change for the better if he was neutered.

momofedee

I agree with getting professional help. Since you haven't had him since a puppy and who knows what he has been through, you have to kinda start all over and teach him the right behaviors. He probably was never corrected for doing bad behavior so doesn't know better. A professional should be able to help. Please seek one out before ever considering re-homing.

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Edee--basset hound--age 5 ***rescue***
Domino--jack russell--age 3

Mikey T

there are behavioral studied that show increased aggression with neutering along with other behavioral issue if the behavioral issue is sex hormone related ie aggtression toward other male dogs, n=marking etc nueter can have an effect. but other than that at best nuetering has no effect or can make things worse.


Early Spay-Neuter Considerations for the Canine Athlete