jack russell growling

Question
Our 11 year old jack russell has been growling uncontrollably for the last 2-3 years. We are a family of 5. The oldest two (girls)are away at college. He first started growling at the oldest during summer break. She went back to school and he was her friend when she came back home. Next, he started growling at my son (13 yrs old at the time). He did that for a while then turned on me. He never growled at the middle child (girl) or my wife. My wife babies and coddles him and my middle child doesn't bother with him because she doesn't care for him. He currently growls at me intermittently and has once again begun to growl at my son every time he walks in the room. He seems to cower when he growls (he shakes and puts his short tail downward and close to his body).  He is currently spending a lot of time in the garage. When he growls we pick him up and say no growling, bad boy, and put him in the garage for about an hour. My wife feels this behavior began immediately after a rabies shot. I must admit he was an all around nice dog before that shot. We are at wits end. What should we do? Are there mood altering drugs? Any comments are appreciated

Answer
This is a tough one, because it could have behavioral causes, but also likely to have underlying medical causes.  

It seems you already have an idea that this is a relatively new thing, and not normal in the dog.  The first thing I would do is get a full health evaluation from your vet, including screening checks for senior dogs, like complete blood count test, urine test, etc.  Because he is a senior, there is a possibility he is suffering from an illness, or cognitive dysfunction disorder, and you can ask your vet if medications would be helpful.  There are uses for medications in pets for anxiety or aggression.  If you believe his aggression is related to the rabies vaccine, I would suggest consulting a homeopathic vet, and ask your vet about getting a waiver to exempt the dog from future rabies vaccines.  

As for behavioral causes, did he ever show aggression to anyone previously, before the past 3 years?  Has he ever bit anyone?  You said he does not growl at your wife.  How does he react if he is reprimanded by her for growling at other family members?  If you are going to bring the dog to the garage, it would be better to walk him there than to pick him up.  It may also be helpful to go through a training course, and have every family member work with him in obedience.  It is not the actions themselves (sit, down, heel, stay) that are they key, but when done properly they are used as tools to gain respect and have control over a dog.