How can I change the aggressive behaviour of my dog?
Is there anything else I could do to attempt to change my dogs behaviour?
I have an 11 month old Doberman. He's not altered, and has never mated (or even mounted another object/creature). I've had him since he was 3 months old. He didn't have the best start in life - he wasn't well socialised with people or dogs and the only contact with other puppies he had from early on was his 10 litter mates. Anyway, I got this dog in hopes of being able to show him, as my other Doberman, although very friendly, intelligent and family-y, is too tall to show. I got him out and about as soon as I could, carrying him around town and to friends' houses until he was fully vaccinated, and then walking him around town, to parks, along the canal paths, to festivals, etc. A few months after regular walks and a schedule was set, his personality changed completely and he began growling and showing aggression to some people and most dogs, although he was perfectly relaxed and fine in crowded situations.
I attended obedience classes with him as soon as he began showing aggression, just to get him that little bit more socialised. He's fine with my other dogs, but if somebody is invited into my home, he acts like a black and tan Cujo. Only after ten or so minutes does he calm down enough to come in the same room and greet the guest(s) with no problems.
I recently obtained a hand-held back massager, as I read that frequent massages to the shoulders and lower back of dogs can "help to rebalance energy". I did, however(!), stumble across this online. I've also put him on the treadmill (which is electronic) for ten minutes a day, but it only goes up to 10mph, and is a human treadmill, so not long enough for a dog to burn the energy. I'm avoiding social situations with him by taking him out in the early hours of the morning for proper exercise (Off lead running, fetch games and mind stimulation games) as dogs seen wearing basket/nylon muzzles in my area WILL be reported - there aren't many dog-friendly people here and they don't take kindly to dogs that look aggressive. It isn't safe to take him out without a muzzle, which is why I go out early/late when nobody is out. (I do bring the basket muzzle out with me when I go, in the unlikely event I bump into people and have no choice but to walk passed them.)
The 7minute long massages I've been giving him and the 10 minute walks at 6mph on the treadmill have improved his behaviour some, and I feel more confident walking him in a smaller group of people, but I refuse to walk where I know dogs will be. We go to a dog obedience class every Thursday evening for one hour, and, strangely, he's fine with all dogs. My trainer has told me he's most likely fear-aggressive, but has advised I don't take him to places where there will be other dogs, or smaller groups of people until he's somewhat under controll. I get up at 5am, and am out of the with him by 5:30. We walk for 1hr and 40mins. We go to a large field (sport ground), though it is not enclosed. To get there we must walk along the road for 5-10 minutes. When we get there, he's off the lead for 1hr and 10mins, usually chasing the tennis ball. He then goes back on the lead and we walk for 5 minutes to a wooded area. He's off the lead again, and we play hide-and-seek for 10+ minutes. After this we usually do some extra training (Sits, Downs, Waits, Heel, etc) before I hide the tennis ball and send him to find it, but some days we miss out on this. We then head back home, him obviously on the lead as we're on the roads. He's on a balanced diet, the food being advised by my vet (18.0% protein for all working breeds of any size). Short of the aggressive behaviour toward dogs and some people, he hasn't got many behavioural problems. He occasionally hesitates when I go to take a chew, toy, or rawhide bone away from him, but has never attempted to bite or growl at me. He's chewed furniture occasionally, but in the passed 4 months he hasn't destroyed anything. He's never dug up any plants, or even dug a hole in the garden. He doesn't pee in the house. When he first came home, he slept in a dog crate in my bedroom at night, but after one month I started leaving the crate door open and he now sleeps on a dog bed by the side of my bed. He doesn't sit on the sofa or dinner chairs. He knows not to take things off the counter-tops. And he's very obedient and easy to learn. It's just when he spots another dog, he completely changes.
It's been a constant training class since he began showing aggression, and I haven't let him get away with any unwanted behaviour since. I'm planning on getting the injection which allows you to see how neutering would effect your dogs behaviour from my vet. He's already too tall to show, and because of his behaviour, height and quality I wouldn't even think of breeding him, but
...I don't want to have him neutered if there would be no changes - hence the injection before-hand.