URGENT!!! Aggression HELP

[Aqualung]

Having a problem with my female "Stomper" .. The last 2 or 3 months she runs into the bathroom after you.. She used to do that all the time and just lay down ,now she becomes a possessed beast when you try to open the door..She goes into attack mode.. It's scary to say the least.. Yesterday she bit me when I tried to open the door .. I dont understand why all of a sudden she is doing this..She is about 3 years and a few months old..She is very over weight and not very affectionate but playful when she wants to play..I wont stand for this aggression and if she keeps up with it I'm not sure what to do .. Thanxxx Joey D

 

[Taylor]

You shouldn't put up with aggression ever.
Here's what I would do, but this training will take some time. Do you have a second person in your house? Put her bed, or a towel, or something she likes on the other side of the house as the bathroom. Have someone stand near her and station her on her bed (if she knows the command, have her go lay on it. If she knows sit, have her sit on it, if she doesn't know these things, just have lots of yummy treats).

Have someone start walking in the direction of the bathroom. Before the dog moves or looks to get up, tell her shes a good girl and give her a treat. Have the bathroom person continue walking. Have the person with the dog continue to treat and give praise. If she gets up or moves, have the bathroom person retreat from the bathroom and reset her to start from the beginning.

This is a very slow process but it's completely positive training. This will get you the best end results. Never push your dog, and only train in short sessions (10 minutes or so, a few times a day)

 

[2BullyMama]

You should work on getting her weight down..... cut back her food, give veggies as treats and some daily walks. What and how much are you feeding?

for the sudden aggression ... is the bathroom door closed? has it always been kept closed? If you are now keeping it closed, she may see it as a danger or threat ... also, has anything else in the home or your leadership of her changed?

 

[Vicaroo1000]

I love your post, [MENTION=5363]Taylor[/MENTION].

Bo has a "thing" about what I call "the shiny"; it's a reflective patch on the screen door that goes to the dog's yard. Only in sunny days, during a short period on the afternoon this shiny exists and it drives him INSANE. He will knock over Bea and CRASH out that screen door; hit it with his face! I have been making him wait patiently to go out the door AFTER I have opened it. Tough. It practically kills him to do this. The closer they are to the "target" the more power the target has, right? The good news: soon the sun will go away (we are in Washington afterall) and so will "the shiny". The problem however will not go away unless it's addressed and in all likelihood, he could transfer some of that OCD to another object! Too, You will always have a bathroom door and will need to go in/out of it.

Perhaps you can escalate the positive training by baby-gating the hallway where the bathroom door is --- to keep her farther away from the target. Then condition/reward as Taylor as suggested?

I am also curious about WHY she's doing this. Bea got stung by a bee (I think) in this one spot where we pass on our walk every day. Since then, she acts apprehensive through there. I ignore it (give no energy about it) and continue to walk as normal. It took her about a week to "forget" (or rather, unlearn that behavior).

 

[Aqualung]

To answer some of the replies... When she gets in the bathroom SHE closes the door ,then becomes very aggressive if you try to open it...She always came in the bathroom and just hung out with no problem there till a few months ago..
As far as her weight... I remember people saying their puppies were lets say 35 pounds at 4 months old , she was more like 55 or better at that age..I've tried every different weight control food out there,some very pricey stuff too ..All to no avail.. I had a thyroid profile done last year and it came back normal,I was thinking it was on the sluggish side.. She is not a big boned dog ,but her weight is almost 85 pounds ..
Most of the time if I see her ready to charge into the bathroom I'll point my finger and say no,it's when she catches us off guard that this happens. We do try the treat thing when she is standing at the door and it sometimes works..

 

[2BullyMama]

To answer some of the replies... When she gets in the bathroom SHE closes the door ,then becomes very aggressive if you try to open it...She always came in the bathroom and just hung out with no problem there till a few months ago..
As far as her weight... I remember people saying their puppies were lets say 35 pounds at 4 months old , she was more like 55 or better at that age..I've tried every different weight control food out there,some very pricey stuff too ..All to no avail.. I had a thyroid profile done last year and it came back normal,I was thinking it was on the sluggish side.. She is not a big boned dog ,but her weight is almost 85 pounds ..
Most of the time if I see her ready to charge into the bathroom I'll point my finger and say no,it's when she catches us off guard that this happens. We do try the treat thing when she is standing at the door and it sometimes works..

very smart girl.
What and how much are you feeding? has anything else in the home or your leadership of her changed?

 

[RaRett]

Time to cut down the calorie intake, and raise up the calorie burn -

Exercise - cut back on the kibble, and use 'filler' like frozen green beans

(as I sit and poke my own expanding waist line) yea... exercise LOL

 

[Aqualung]

Like I posted earlier She gets 1 small cup of chow in the AM and 1 small cup of chow in the PM..I've tried all the fancey weigh loss foods and she is still a porker.. My Male eats the same amount and he is lean.. She is 83 pounds..He is 62 pounds..They get maybe a biscuit or 2 during the day also

 

[2BullyMama]

Wow. Then she is just a big girl

 

[Taylor]

I may have misunderstood this post the first time...
I was under the impression that she was getting aggressive when people would go in or out of the bathroom, not that SHE was in the bathroom and you were opening the door on her. If that's the case, she has somehow decided to claim the bathroom as her territory. You should then provide her her own "area" (blanket, crate, bed) to retreat to as a safe place, instead of the bathroom.

 

[Aqualung]

Taylor... She has the run of the house and the 2 of them can lay anywhere they please.. She sneaks in the bathroom if you are not watching and she jumps on the door to close it behind her..Once she closes the door she wont let you open it,she actually attacks you if you try.. I tried tying the door to the towel rack and she went ballistic trying to close it..She turns into Mr Hyde when in there..

 

[Davidh]

I would cut back on her food some more. We have 3 females at home and only give them 3/4 cup of kibble two times a day. You can treat with green beans. As far as the bathroom, you may need to put her on a leash and do not let her go into the bathroom. When she wants to go in tell her "NO" and you may even have to take her away from the room on the leash. Take her to an other part of the house and make her sit then treat her. This will take time, so be patient and constituent. At first she will not be happy about it. You need to claim the bathroom as yours and not hers.

 

[kazzy220]

I would baby gate your bathroom door. That way she can't close the door and she can't get in there either. From your post ... the way I read it ... she's going in there all by herself and then if you try and get in she gets furious. So has she got a crate that she likes ... it sounds as if she has made the bathroom her safe haven or crate that she goes into.

 

[Taylor]

I think she needs a specific place within the house to call hers...like I said, a blanket, a bed, a "spot", a crate. She needs somewhere to be quiet time, alone, that no one else bothers her. If you have kids, tell them not to play/touch the dog when she's in her spot...she'll learn to go there when she doesn't want people to bother her.

As for food, I feed char 1/2 cup in the AM and 1/2 cup in the PM. She gets treats too, but she's approx 50 pounds and the vet said she could come down to 45 (shes a smaller frame)

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Taylor... She has the run of the house and the 2 of them can lay anywhere they please.. She sneaks in the bathroom if you are not watching and she jumps on the door to close it behind her..Once she closes the door she wont let you open it,she actually attacks you if you try.. I tried tying the door to the towel rack and she went ballistic trying to close it..She turns into Mr Hyde when in there..

OMG. I totally misunderstood the post. I'm sitting here truly laughing my arse off.... I know it's naughty but man, that's funny. She has made the bathroom her own, private space NOT to be invaded!! hahahahahahaha OK. It's unacceptable for her to do that, of course. (But it's still funny)

I would simply redirect her from that area. Put a baby gate in front of the bathroom door so she cannot go in there and "claim" the space. As Twice suggested, provide her her own "time out" place - a crate will work best - but a bed or blanket in an out of the way spot that is always available to her, will surely help. No more bath room time for Stomper.