Scared to leave our dog for a week

[Alex39]

My family really wants to go on vacation for a week. We have a place booked for a few months from now. We have two weeks from now to cancel and get our money back in full. We are so excited, but we don't know if we should cancel, because of our dog. 

We've never left our dog anywhere. We explored leaving him in a boarding facility. But we've read horror stories of dogs being ganged up on by other dogs and being traumatized, or them leaving them in cages too long. 

My parents have a 2 year old Australian Shephard and he's very high maintenance. I go to visit a lot and have even cared for the dog myself. We love him.

He'll do basic commands- sit, stay, come, go to your place. But he barks at everyone out the window like a crazy person, he barks at everyone in the front yard like crazy, pulling, and going nuts.  He has territory protection obsession. But he's actually friendly. If he sees a person, he wants to run up and greet them. So he goes nuts because we don't let him.  And if you try to grab him, by the collar or his head, he'll bite you. He also resource guards his toys. The other night he was sleeping on the couch, and I went over and started petting him. I was nicely petting him, talking to him sweetly, he's eyes were open on me. He seemed calm and awake. I felt the remote under him. I went to nicely grab it under him. He ferociously jumped off the couch and bit my forearm, barking and attacking my arm. He wouldn't let go. Then I got him off me. He went and grabbed my other forearm and bit that too. I have wounds, but am okay. After, he acted like nothing was wrong and he seemed worried as I was crying. 

He can be very sweet. He'll lick your face when you come in. He likes other dogs. He loves people. He likes to cuddle on the couch. He sleeps in his crate all night. Goes in without issue. He likes to play and run in our yard. 

But if he grabs a paper towel off the counter and you go to grab it from him, he'll bite and growl. So we usually offer him a dog treat to drop items, and he does. 

My best friend offered to take the dog at her home for the week while we vacation. She and her husband love dogs. They have an older Australian Shephard at home and a young little terrier. Both friendly dogs. I think my dog would love playing with them. 

We plan on warning my friend not to startle him at night or take things from his mouth or he will bite. But I'm terrified- what if he bites my friend or her dogs with his resource guarding? I don't want to ruin my friendship with her. But 85% of the time, he's a great dog and rarely ever does that stuff. My parents scolded me that I shouldn't have tried grabbing a remote control from under him while he was sleepy and laying. But they also admitted his attack of me was uncalled for and they want to get him better training for this. 

 

What do we do?

[boltnrun]

4 minutes ago, Alex39 said:

But if he grabs a paper towel off the counter and you go to grab it from him, he'll bite and growl. So we usually offer him a dog treat to drop items, and he does. 

This encourages his behavior because you're rewarding him with treats when he bites and growls.  It's like the parents who give their kids candy to get them to stop misbehaving.  What does that teach the child?  So now he will bite and growl because he thinks you WANT him to, and he expects a treat.

If you have a few months before the trip, you have time to hire someone to retrain him and un-teach this behavior.  Definitely stop rewarding it.    And your parents have to be on board and be consistent as well.

[Alex39]

10 minutes ago, boltnrun said:

This encourages his behavior because you're rewarding him with treats when he bites and growls.  It's like the parents who give their kids candy to get them to stop misbehaving.  What does that teach the child?  So now he will bite and growl because he thinks you WANT him to, and he expects a treat.

If you have a few months before the trip, you have time to hire someone to retrain him and un-teach this behavior.  Definitely stop rewarding it.    And your parents have to be on board and be consistent as well.

I've said this to my parents. He's being bad. He doesn't get a treat. But they don't want him eating things that can make him sick, so they do it to get the item from him. I already sent my mom some trainers that she's going to call to get some help. 

[Coily]

Sounds like the dog AND your parents need to go to obedience school. The bites alone should be enough to correct this behavior.

As for vacation, it sounds like a boarding kennel would be best. Your friends having to deal with an unpredictable and spoiled dog, seems cruel to them:

[Seraphim]

He needs proper training . 

[Batya33]

In 1992 I was bitten by my boyfriend's parent's dog who was on a leash actually when I walked in on my own -simply walked by him -no noise -and unprovoked he leapt at me and bit my leg.  Broke skin. It was horrible and triggered a long fear of all dogs for many years.  I had to be seen by a doctor, miss important appointments, get a tetanus shot.  Horrible.  The dog was not a biter.  I was not mad at the parents at all.  

No one should stay with this dog your parents have chosen not to train. I have no clue what kennels require as far as whether you have to tell the kennel he is a biter/aggressive, etc.  You can check into that. I don't know anything about how long it takes to train a dog so I'll let others respond.

[Jaunty]

These are extremely serious behavior issues.  Austrailian Shepherds are often in "top 10" lists of dogs that bite people.  A poorly bred one can be very fractious.  Owners need to be ahead of this potential while raising a puppy, which hasn't been done in your dog's case.

You can arrange for a "board and train" situation with a canine behaviorist.   It will be expensive and not many behaviorists will even touch a dog with this extensive of a bite history, which is already noteworthy.   Start looking now to fit this in with your travel plans,  because this type of trainer is often booked out months in advance.

Your parents and the rest of your family will have to commit to maintaining the new training.  Falling back into old patterns will just put the dog back into old patterns of his own.

I advise you to keep him away from licking your face or anyone's, and keep him away from children.   If anyone gets bitten and goes to a doctor (including family members), it's required that they report the bite to Animal Control or the sheriff.  A face bite, especially if the dog holds on (like yours did to your arm) can end up requiring extensive plastic surgeries, damage an eye, etc.   If expenses are incurred your parents' homeowners' insurance (assuming they own and have this insurance) will pay the medical bills - and probably the insurance company will drop your parents.  They will be able to get different insurance at a massively more expensive cost. 

Your parents' dog is a ticking time bomb.  

*I am speaking from years of professional experience.

 

[Seraphim]

1 minute ago, Jaunty said:

These are extremely serious behavior issues.  

You can arrange for a "board and train" situation with a canine behaviorist.   It will be expensive and not many behaviorists will even touch a dog with this extensive of a bite history, which is already quite serious.   Start looking now to fit this in with your travel plans,  because this type of trainer is often booked out months in advance.

Your parents and the rest of your family will have to commit to maintaining the new training.  Falling back into old patterns will just put the dog back into his own.

I advise you to keep him away from licking your face or anyone's, and keep him away from children.   If anyone gets bitten and goes to a doctor (including family members), it's required that they report the bite to Animal Control or the sheriff.   If expenses are incurred your parents' homeowners' insurance (assuming they own and have this insurance) will pay the medical bills - and probably the insurance company will drop your parents.  They will be able to get different insurance at a massively more expensive cost. 

Your parents' dog is a ticking time bomb.  

*I am speaking from years of professional experience.

 

Exactly he has territorial and anxiety based aggression. Dogs get this way when owners are not the Alpha. This dog needs to understand his place in a pack and not be treated like a spoiled human. 

[tattoobunnie]

58 minutes ago, Alex39 said:

But if he grabs a paper towel off the counter and you go to grab it from him, he'll bite and growl. So we usually offer him a dog treat to drop items, and he does. 

This is normal; many dogs are like this.  Your Bestie is an experienced dog trainer of the same breeder.  You're just being a worry wart.  The pup will be in great hands.  I have two mad bossy dogs by breed, but a well experienced sitter will know what to do.

I have found a ton of great house sitters with rover.com

[Alex39]

4 minutes ago, Batya33 said:

In 1992 I was bitten by my boyfriend's parent's dog who was on a leash actually when I walked in on my own -simply walked by him -no noise -and unprovoked he leapt at me and bit my leg.  Broke skin. It was horrible and triggered a long fear of all dogs for many years.  I had to be seen by a doctor, miss important appointments, get a tetanus shot.  Horrible.  The dog was not a biter.  I was not mad at the parents at all.  

No one should stay with this dog your parents have chosen not to train. I have no clue what kennels require as far as whether you have to tell the kennel he is a biter/aggressive, etc.  You can check into that. I don't know anything about how long it takes to train a dog so I'll let others respond.

He doesn't just bite if you walk by for nothing. He's never just bitten me.  It's only if you try to take something from his mouth, or if he's sleepy and you start grabbing at him/near him. We had about 20 people at our house for Christmas and he was great the entire time. He's been working with a trainer for a year, and he learned all the basic commands. 

[Wiseman2]

59 minutes ago, Alex39 said:

. My parents scolded me that I shouldn't have tried grabbing a remote control from under him while he was sleepy and laying. 

You may want to see a doctor about the dog bites. Your parents may want to take him to a veterinarian to assess if this aggressive behavior has underlying problems. Additionally if he's exhibiting dangerous behaviors, it could be a serious liability for your parents. What if he bites someone's child? 

[Batya33]

Just now, Alex39 said:

It's only if you try to take something from his mouth, or if he's sleepy and you start grabbing at him/near him.

I am in shock at your cavalier response to this serious issue.  I'm probably triggered since I was bitten and I've also been chased and nearly attacked by dogs because of the careless, thoughtless and irresponsible actions of their owners. Not the dog's fault. Your response upsets me so I will stop responding.

[Jaunty]

1 minute ago, tattoobunnie said:

 

I have found a ton of great house sitters with rover.com

It would be completely unethical, irresponsible and dangerous to hire somebody off of Rover who has bitten one of the owners, broken the skin, not let go, and then grabbed their other arm once gotten off of the first one.  LAW SUIT central.

[Alex39]

6 minutes ago, Jaunty said:

These are extremely serious behavior issues.  

You can arrange for a "board and train" situation with a canine behaviorist.   It will be expensive and not many behaviorists will even touch a dog with this extensive of a bite history, which is already noteworthy.   Start looking now to fit this in with your travel plans,  because this type of trainer is often booked out months in advance.

Your parents and the rest of your family will have to commit to maintaining the new training.  Falling back into old patterns will just put the dog back into old patterns of his own.

I advise you to keep him away from licking your face or anyone's, and keep him away from children.   If anyone gets bitten and goes to a doctor (including family members), it's required that they report the bite to Animal Control or the sheriff.   If expenses are incurred your parents' homeowners' insurance (assuming they own and have this insurance) will pay the medical bills - and probably the insurance company will drop your parents.  They will be able to get different insurance at a massively more expensive cost. 

Your parents' dog is a ticking time bomb.  

*I am speaking from years of professional experience.

 

He doesn't have an extensive bite history. He bit me. And I think he bit my brother once, because my brother was trying to grab something from his mouth. We do want him to get more training. We looked into the board and train. It was $6000 and we read some things about them using cruel tactics to train them. Sounds borderline abusive. 

[Seraphim]

1 minute ago, Alex39 said:

He doesn't just bite if you walk by for nothing. He's never just bitten me.  It's only if you try to take something from his mouth, or if he's sleepy and you start grabbing at him/near him. We had about 20 people at our house for Christmas and he was great the entire time. He's been working with a trainer for a year, and he learned all the basic commands. 

Commands are not the only things learned . Biting and jumping and going bananas when seeing people are not trained behaviour . It is misbehaving. 

[Alex39]

8 minutes ago, Jaunty said:

These are extremely serious behavior issues.  

You can arrange for a "board and train" situation with a canine behaviorist.   It will be expensive and not many behaviorists will even touch a dog with this extensive of a bite history, which is already noteworthy.   Start looking now to fit this in with your travel plans,  because this type of trainer is often booked out months in advance.

Your parents and the rest of your family will have to commit to maintaining the new training.  Falling back into old patterns will just put the dog back into old patterns of his own.

I advise you to keep him away from licking your face or anyone's, and keep him away from children.   If anyone gets bitten and goes to a doctor (including family members), it's required that they report the bite to Animal Control or the sheriff.   If expenses are incurred your parents' homeowners' insurance (assuming they own and have this insurance) will pay the medical bills - and probably the insurance company will drop your parents.  They will be able to get different insurance at a massively more expensive cost. 

Your parents' dog is a ticking time bomb.  

*I am speaking from years of professional experience.

 

I do appreciate your opinion as someone with professional experience. We are going to call a trainer tomorrow.  We do take this very seriously.  

[Seraphim]

Your dog is thinking he is a human and the boss . His actual place is bottom of the pack and he needs to be obedient. 

[Alex39]

We are taking this very seriously. We are calling a trainer today to do extensive training. I do agree. He's spoiled and I think he's the alpha in the home. That needs to change. 

[Seraphim]

Dogs bite and discipline those they feel are beneath them . That isn’t his place . 

[boltnrun]

49 minutes ago, Alex39 said:

I've said this to my parents. He's being bad. He doesn't get a treat. But they don't want him eating things that can make him sick, so they do it to get the item from him. I already sent my mom some trainers that she's going to call to get some help. 

Again, this rewards the bad behavior.

If you occasionally went off on your manager and called her or him names and they gave you a raise, would you think there were consequences for your bad behavior?  Or rewards?

And this dog cannot reason, they just see correlations.  I steal a paper towel or someone takes something from me, I growl and bite, I get a treat!  I conclude I should take things and bite and growl so I get a treat.

If you are all not willing to address this behavior or you're trying to save $, maybe take the dog with you or have someone stay home from the vacation.

[Alex39]

3 minutes ago, Batya33 said:

I am in shock at your cavalier response to this serious issue.  I'm probably triggered since I was bitten and I've also been chased and nearly attacked by dogs because of the careless, thoughtless and irresponsible actions of their owners. Not the dog's fault. Your response upsets me so I will stop responding.

I apologize. I'm not taking this lightly. What I tried to explain is he isn't some vicious dog who is just going to attack you on the street. He would lick you and be so happy to see you. I think there is a big difference between dogs who go around growling and biting for no reason. Our dog does it for a specific reason. We've has him around kids, adults, holidays, and other dogs. He has never attacked or hurt them. 

[Crawfords Wine]

You and your family owe it to this dog to get properly trained. 
He is only a youngster, and an accident waiting to happen. 
Actually, not even so much an accident, more of a liability.

Alsatians are intelligent, but they can also be quite territorial and wary of strangers. 
A well integrated, well rounded dog of his breed needs to have more training than just the 'basic commands'.
It has to be ongoing, consistent, with the whole family being on the same page. 
The fact that he bites you, incurring actual wounds is really concerning, as is your rather blasé attitude towards this.

If your dog was to bite a stranger or another dog, even when it's not done out of malice on his part, it is more than likely that he will get confiscated by the authorities and destroyed. 
If nothing else, you could be on the hook for some serious damages and/or medical bills.
 
So I repeat, you and your family OWE it to this dog to get him properly trained. And if you can't, have him rehomed.

[Seraphim]

Just now, Alex39 said:

I apologize. I'm not taking this lightly. What I tried to explain is he isn't some vicious dog who is just going to attack you on the street. He would lick you and be so happy to see you. I think there is a big difference between dogs who go around growling and biting for no reason. Our dog does it for a specific reason. We've has him around kids, adults, holidays, and other dogs. He has never attacked or hurt them. 

The thing is well trained dogs do not jump on people or lick them all over and bark like crazy to see them. 

[Jaunty]

Just now, Alex39 said:

He doesn't have an extensive bite history. He bit me. And I think he bit my brother once, because my brother was trying to grab something from his mouth. We do want him to get more training. We looked into the board and train. It was $6000 and we read some things about them using cruel tactics to train them. Sounds borderline abusive. 

You can find board certified behaviorists who work with HA (handler / human aggressive) dogs (your dog is also dog aggressive - you and your family are not reading the dog correctly) and who do not use cruel training methods.  

Obviously your dog needs very strict training methods, which does not mean cruel.  Unless he just has a screw loose, which does happen,  I suspect that most of his dangerous behaviors stem from how he's been raised and handled all his life.   He needs a re-set to a place where he knows that all of "his" stuff is at the pleasure of the people in the house.  

Also your family needs to re-set. Every single example you've given of your dog's terrible behavior, including going crazy at the window & when someone's at the door (threshold aggression), resource guarding - are things that the humans have permitted to take hold and which are being inadvertently reinforced by the way your family deals with the dog.

[Wiseman2]

4 minutes ago, Alex39 said:

. I think there is a big difference between dogs who go around growling and biting for no reason. 

Apparently he attacked you for no reason, so this is something to investigate.