australian sheperd

Question
hi... i have a question where i'm looking for an honest opinion from someone educated... a few months ago my dog was injured badly playing fetch with a stick bigger than what we should of... to make it short the stick ended up sticking in the ground and catching him on his stomach area launching him a few feet in the air as i was told. i was out front in the yard not in the back when this happened. so i'm just going on someones word. anyhow..the surgeries for what he needed and the healing process went great which took over a month...except for..about a month ago he has developed a bad biting habit that is drawing blood from people in certain circumstances. he is going to be 7 human years in July and i've had him since he was just a lil pup and never has he ever shown any type of behavior towards anyone in this way.  luckily the people he has bitten have been people i knew, and know of what happened to him and haven't tried to sue me or anything..he has always been a very good listener and such a well mannered dog i almost cant believe this is happening.. when he bites the person he chooses which for some reason he has a few of my friends picked out, the others he loves.  he never attacks them... i have begun to see that he has a certain look in his eye where it looks not normal and his head is down when he does it..he doesn't snarl growl or anything before doing it. its almost out of the blue and its just one bite where he releases instantly and runs to his safe spot in my room knowing he has done wrong. the question i have is.... he isn't neutered at this time i always kind of believed against it but in these past 2 years i have found it to be more unhealthy for him to keep his parts.   i was wondering if i neuter him do you think it would help his situation or not?  i have spent a lot of money this year in surgeries and am not sure if he can handle under the knife again.  i absolutely love my dog and would like to try and correct this matter before having to say "its time for the end". i appreciate your help and thank you

Answer
You have my heart felt sympathy in this horrible situation!! I can't tell you how much I feel for your pain.

DO NOT neuter this dog.  It won't help (and the surgical experience might even worsen the behavior.)  It's quite possible that your dog acquired a strong conditioned fear response to (certain) humans approaching in a (certain) manner, because of his life threatening injury.  Imagine this:  You're in absolute agony from injury, someone approaches (to help you, but you can't know this, you're a dog) and you instantly associate the approach (the manner of approach, the slant of head, the look in eye, who KNOWS, anything is possible in a conditioned fear response) WITH THE PAIN.  End result: fear aggression (the hallmark of fear aggression is: the dog bites and then retreats).  Your dog appears to be suffering from a VERY STRONG conditioned fear response, something you CANNOT know or intuit, not only having not been there, but having not been there from HIS perspective.

First, and ALWAYS when presenting symptoms exhibit, you need a veterinary consult.  A high end general veterinary surgeon or a veterinary neurologist needs to examine this dog; it's possible blood loss resulted in neurological injury (just as in humans.)  However, it does appear to me that your beloved dog has acquired a strong conditioned fear response to CERTAIN LEVEL OF APPROACH  by humans, something you will NEVER (most likely) be able to ascertain.  GO TO the neurological evaluation first; ask the veterinarian for a medication that can help alleviate the dog's clear emotionally charged response (even if no neurological injury is evident, and remember that it's quite difficult to diagnose this in dogs, since they don't have the capacity to report visual, auditory, or other disturbance, as does the human.)  There are medications that can help to calm the dog (even with concomitant risk, as in any medication.)  Meanwhile, PROTECT YOUR DOG from any and all interaction with "outsiders"; there's no need for him to be "Lassie", he doesn't need to LOVE everyone.  When visitors are expected, confine him to a safe (securely locked) room with special toys and treats and a radio on soft music station.  He is YOUR DOG, not anyone else's dog, and you clearly love him.  For the remainder of his life, he needs to be YOUR companion, not anyone else's.