Help! New worrying behaviors from an 8yr old pyr.

[Erin]

These are 2 new behaviors from Bear, an 8 year old pyr.

The first is that he will lunge at men and 1 woman when they turn their backs to him. He dosent attack, only lunges. We are concerned about him doing this. Thsi is, at this point, the more worrying of the behaviors.

The second we believe to be Bear trying to determine his ranking within his
'pack'. He has recently stared getting really rough with my cousin, who is almost 13. He grabs Luke's arm in his teeth and shakes his head. He then pushes Luke down and then he grabs his arm again. He has to be physically pulled away from Luke because he wont stop. This usually happenes after his walk He has fully accepted my aunt and uncle as the Alphas of his pack, after my uncle picked up the then 2 year old Bear and put in the truck after he refused to jump up. But Luke is getting older and we believe this to be the problem, Bear no longer knows if Luke is above or below him.

Any advise would be a big help. Thanks

[vin63]

There are too many variables (environmental, routines, family interactions, etc.) to try and diagnose remotely. I would recommend working with a trainer that can be on site to help evaluate and implement specific training tactics to address the behaviors. On a more general note, I do not tolerate any aggressive behavior from my dogs, especially toward people...and, it sounds like from your description that the behavior toward your cousin was not an isolated incident, but has happened more than once or continues to happen? Dogs in general, but especially large dogs, should always be monitored when around children, so that any type of aggressive behavior is not allowed to escalate. To me, no behavior should be allowed to progress to the point that a dog bites and knocks down a 13 year old child. Good luck with addressing the aggression.

[nick's spirit]

Our female was 8 when she turned on our Aussie, who was her companion through out the 8 years. We could not figure this out, had tests done for thyroid and anything else we could think of, then the vet suggested 2 things...get a brain scan!! or try prozac!! So we went for the prozac, she mellowed out towards our Aussie, but still had her guarding temperment. We never did figure out what set her off after all that time, but she lived peacefully with the rest of the pack for another 2 years.

[TexasKat]

Another thought (pure speculation)....

Your dog doesn't like men and your cousin is now 13? Never heard of dogs who changed their reaction of someone based on the person going through puberty, but I guess it's possible.

Hormones (and potentially pheronomes) may be what the dog is reacting to. Just a thought

[Erin]

The thought with Luke was that with growing up and getting older, Bear is trying to determine if Luke is still a pup in his pack. And we do stop this behavior when we see him do it. When we got Bear, Luke was almost 7 years old, and Bear seem to treat him like a puppy in the pack,, very protective of him but now with Luke growing up, and gaining alot of his father's 6 foot height, maybe Bear is...i dont know, testing him maybe to see if he still ranks below him in the pack.

as for the lungeing, he only does it to people who arent family. He has only ever tried to attack someone once, and the only thing we have to go on with that is that the man had known anger issues and most dog can sense things like that. My uncle wasnt home at the time, only my aunt and Luke. Bear tried to go through a close window. He was fine and then the man came by to drop something off and Bear went nuts when my aunt opened the door. he has never done it before and never since.

Nick's Spirit, you mentioned a change in behavior towoards another dog. my aunt and uncle had another dog, an austrailia herding dog, the only time Bear got upset with Jessie was when Jessie tried to herd Bear away form my aunt. Bear doesnt like being kept from her. there is currently a large house at and a pug, and Bear doesnt seem to mind them.

[Jewel]

Bear should not be allowed to try and "measure up" with Luke. All humans in the family should be off limits and must be respected by the family dog. The behavior Bear's exhibited towards Luke can potentially be very dangerous. This coupled with Bear's tendency to lunge at strangers does make him, at least in my opinion, a possible time bomb.

I don't think anyone can fairly give advice without really observing Bear's behavior. A lot of questions asked by members on the forums are questions dealing with a puppy or a young dog's behavior. Those questions are easier to deal with because it is usually part of the growing process. But when the dog is 8, as Vin said, there are just so many variables that probably need be considered before advice is given.

You are probably better off calling a trainer or behaviorist in your area so the professional can observe Bear in person.

[lovely mornings]

I agree with Jewel.
Call an expert, their are children to consider and many variables indeed.
P