German Shephard Agression

Question
We own a 2 year old male GS.  99% of the time, Max is a wonderful family pet - he is very loved, very well exercised, has a large yard under Invisible Fence, a 2 year old brother (Rottweiller) who he absolutely adores.  We have 4 kids - 19, 16, 12 and 10.  Max has bitten a 6 year old (pretty badly).  After that incident, we hired a "dog whisperer" and took Max to his advance training classes.  We have had his thyroid checked - clear - so no "medical" issues involved.  This morning, Max bit our 12 year old daughter - for absolutely no reason.  His biting is not provoked!  That's the part that we don't understand.  Our daughter was petting him and he bit her - drew blood on both sides of her hand, and we are at wit's end as to what we should do!  We love Max and, as I said, 99% of the time, he is cuddling on the couch, allowing us to pet him, very good family pet.  Any suggestions?


Answer
Well, I will say that there are other things besides thyroid problems that may cause a dog to behave out of the ordinary, i. e. they can have something hurting them.  If that was the only thing the vet checked, I don't feel that was a thorough exam.

What did your "dog whisperer" tell you to do, or what did he/she feel the problem was?

It would be extremely difficult for someone to evaluate what is going on with Max through email exchanges.  You may want to check out the website, www.iaabc.org, to see if there is a behaviorist in your area who may be willing to help.

In the meantime, you obviously have a responsibility of keeping him from biting so that he isn't taken away, so other people aren't hurt, and so you aren't held liable and sued.