Seriously considering rehoming my EBT
Winston
Scotland
We had problems with Winston when he was younger with guarding my wife, he would growl and snap whenever I went near when he was beside her. We corrected his behaviour pretty quickly after following the advice we received here but the same problem has suddenly reappeared, except it’s now escalated to full on biting.
Today was the fourth time in six weeks that he’s attempted to bite me, fortunately he only managed to catch my sleeve this time but the end result was me kicking him three times to get him away before he ran into his crate.
The biggest problem for me is that the attack was completely unprovoked. We were in the kitchen talking, there were no raised voices or any excitement in the lead up but as soon as I walked past my wife Winston jumped and tried to bite my arm, leading to all hell breaking loose.
As a last resort I’ve agreed to have a trainer in to see if this behaviour can be sorted but I’m not overly optimistic as there doesn’t appear to be any obvious triggers before he kicks off and I’m actually wondering if there’s something mentally wrong with him at this point.
I feed him as much as my wife does and I take him most of his long walks, he’s never left home alone for more than an hour, he gets plenty of exercise and lots of time off lead running and chasing balls so I don’t think it’s a boredom issue. I’m now struggling to see any positives in having him around and if it wasn’t for my son crying he would’ve been gone already.
I should also say he’s booked in to be neutered next month but is this typical behaviour from an intact EBT, or does it look like severe behavioural issues that are not going to change.
Today was the fourth time in six weeks that he’s attempted to bite me, fortunately he only managed to catch my sleeve this time but the end result was me kicking him three times to get him away before he ran into his crate.
The biggest problem for me is that the attack was completely unprovoked. We were in the kitchen talking, there were no raised voices or any excitement in the lead up but as soon as I walked past my wife Winston jumped and tried to bite my arm, leading to all hell breaking loose.
As a last resort I’ve agreed to have a trainer in to see if this behaviour can be sorted but I’m not overly optimistic as there doesn’t appear to be any obvious triggers before he kicks off and I’m actually wondering if there’s something mentally wrong with him at this point.
I feed him as much as my wife does and I take him most of his long walks, he’s never left home alone for more than an hour, he gets plenty of exercise and lots of time off lead running and chasing balls so I don’t think it’s a boredom issue. I’m now struggling to see any positives in having him around and if it wasn’t for my son crying he would’ve been gone already.
I should also say he’s booked in to be neutered next month but is this typical behaviour from an intact EBT, or does it look like severe behavioural issues that are not going to change.
Comments
Hello
I forgot how old Winston is? But I do remember your previous concern.
Its very unfortunate and extremely upsetting to hear you going through this. I really hope the trainer has some positives for you along with other owners with similar experiences. But I having two intact males haven't experienced this (one 2yo and 2.9mth) yes they show protective emotions (growling) and try to guard or get jealous over me but I am the confident, heirachy dragon and intervene with assertion and fortunately have not encountered any biting etc. My Moose I have to say, I'm very proud that he has a lot of tolerance before reacting.
I really hope you get some feedback as to how to tackle this. Does it happen when close to your son at all?
Goodluck🤞
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
I'm sorry to hear that Winton is having unprovoked aggressiveness towards you around your wife. Sounds like he feels like he has the upper hand and the incidents are becoming more frequent. I had challenges with my female BT with guarding and unprovoked attacks on random objects and I've got a few redirected bites trying to pull her off the object she was attacking/ guarding. The problem became more frequent as she sensed my fear, anger, and frustration. I had to send her off to boarding school where they used an e collar to help train her. I continued to work with her everyday on her obedience and try to prevent her from her triggers. I also got Billie a muzzle that I use while I'm training her and thats been a life saver as well. I would suggest going with a trainer that specializes in behavior vs obedience in your case with Winston. In the meantime, I would suggest that you designate a spot in the house where you can send Winston to before u approach your wife. I send my girl to "corner", "couch", when I know there's a trigger or when she's being annoying.
I hope the trainer is able to help Winston and your family!
Having gone over the 4 incidents again, and looking at them with a clear head, I can pinpoint possible triggers for 3 of them, although not excuses for the behaviour or acceptable it gives some understanding of the reactions but still leaves one completely unprovoked lunge.
None of these incidents have went unpunished so it’s not as if he’s learned that he’ll get away with acting in this manner.
Generally, he’s absolutely fine, he’s not aggressive towards anybody else or other dogs as he’s been well socialised since we got him but he appears to be reacting differently towards me recently.
Ive emailed 2 trainers today, one residential and another that deals with larger breeds like American bullies, cane corsos and protection dogs. Hopefully we get something sorted soon and it turns out that we all just need some proper training and direction that enables us to quickly deal with any dominant tendencies without resorting to rehoming him.
Sounds good. We wait to hear you receive positives and a successful outcome🙏
Could possibly be that he is trying to be the dominant male in the family and is starting to see your wife as his possession?
I've had a couple of friends who have had to have their bull terriers put down around 15m - 18m due to unprovoked aggressive behaviour, all of them due to neurological problems.
Before giving up maybe the neutering will help....he should have grown his full height now so having him done shouldn't really stunt his growth.
Mine only really shows aggressive behaviour towards me....usually if I'm taking something his got excited about away from him and also as I'm the one who has to discipline him...and no I don't beat him but he does get a telling off especially when he does something that endangers his own life..
Fingers crossed it works out for you guys
It nearly 2 weeks since he’s displayed any aggression but I’ve been a bit more hands on in dealing with him and aware of things that can get him excited and correcting him before he gets the chance to start playing up.
He’s been absolutely fine recently, we’ve worked out that he’s only ever triggered by sudden movements near my wife and sometimes when we’re preparing his raw food. He has no guarding issues with anything else, he steals socks and toilet rolls
We think he just needs some direction and manners from a professional and that will, hopefully relax him enough that he realises that we’re looking after him and he doesn’t need to be protective between us and allow us all to live happily together.
Anyway, here he is, standing on top of his crate looking down on me
That's great news👍
He's gorgeous🥰
He’s in for a follow up tomorrow and the vet can check if any remedial work needs done, although they say this can sometimes happen. Hopefully they’re correct and the swelling starts going down soon.
Omg! Poor Winston! Is it infected? Wishing him a speedy recovery!
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
That's what I thought😬
Poor Winston ☹️
Please post with a recovered Winston🙏
I let them know in no uncertain terms that I’m not happy with the condition he’s been left in and that I’d never have had him neutered if they’d told me that this was a possible outcome of the surgery because he looks like he’s been hit by a car. I’ve hunted the net for scare stories of neutering and I’ve not found a single picture that comes close to being as bad as Winston.
He’s supposed to go back in on Wednesday but we’re going to register him with a new vet on Monday so we’ll take it from there and see whether we let them back near him again.
We're wishing you a successful outcome in another vet and especially for Winston🙏🙏🙏🙏
When he woke up he was extremely agitated, trying to get to the wound but unable because of the buster collar. He then lay down, shivering and staring at the wall and was quite aggressive when any of us tried to comfort him.
We took him to the vet hospital where he was sedated then examined and tested. They told us what we already knew, he’s badly swollen, has an infection and it’s causing lots of painful pressure on the scrotum. They gave us 3 options for treatment.
They could operate again, clean out the wound and re stitch but if he swelled up again it could be worse due to some of the tissue being removed and there being even more pressure on the wound. We decided against this even before the told us it would cost between £3.5-4K.
We could take him home with stronger pain meds, stronger antibiotics and try to use ice packs on him to reduce the swelling. We thought that would be difficult and cause him too much distress.
I was all for storming the vet practice in the morning but I’ll only get myself in bother so I’ll use the proper channels and raise a formal complaint with the practice director and then escalate it to independent advice for resolution as I don’t think they’ll do anything other than close ranks.
We feel awful that he’s in there but we followed the vets advice until today. I told them about his discomfort but they were adamant that he had enough pain meds and that the antibiotics just needed time to take effect and we listened to them until we decided we couldn’t watch him suffer anymore.
Hopefully tomorrow is a better day for him and some stronger antibiotics will kill the infection and swelling and he can get back to his normal self but we’re worried about him after seeing his reaction towards us and how terrified he was in the vets.
Oh gosh, what a nightmare for all of you guys! I'm so sorry to hear that Winston and your family are in this situation and his original vet is not taking any responsibility or trying to rectify the situation. I would be livid!!!
I hope they put him on an stronger antibiotic to kill the infection and in the meantime, they're able to keep Winston comfortable.
Sending prayers your way for a speedy recovery for Winston
Tina, you said it all, second that👍
🙏 for Winston
I registered him with a new vet but I had to go into the current vet as the hospital had sent his notes to them. I spoke to the practice manager and she knows how furious we are although at this point I didn’t tell them I’d registered him elsewhere as I wanted more medication for him without having to take him back into another vet.
They’ve given him gabapentin and trazadone to take alongside the original meds but it looks like the trazadone has had another bad effect.
As soon as it kicked in his eyes glazed over and he looks completely wired and has tried to attack us both. We’ve got him in the crate now and covered it up but if we check on him he’s got a blank stare and starts growling. The vet says it can take 6 to 12 hours to wear off so he’ll be stuck in there for a while yet until it’s safe to bring him out, hopefully he falls asleep in the meantime.
Looks like Winston is a dog that if there are side effects to something he’ll get the worst of it.
Oh no....the downside of meds🙉 my Moose reacts badly too as I've found out. You're in a difficult situation as he needs to get better quickly. We just pray this is the right course and so its not going to cause lasting detrimental effects on him🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
the top layer of skin on his scrotum is flaking away and underneath is red and extremely sore looking so he’s back in the vet in the morning for them to deal with it. We’re now 1 week post op and he seems to be getting worse rather than better. Obviously the meds are having a massive effect but he’s a shell of the dog that he was before the op.
We’re feeding him by hand but that’s really as close as he likes us to be near him now. He’s growling every time my wife tries to clean him because he seems in pain even with the meds and we feel dreadful because we caused this by having him neutered in the first place.
You were just unfortunate with the vet that did this op. I'm sure and hope it isn't common. Yes poor Winston and you guys. You have to look forward, can't be changed but Winston has to pull through this stat! We all wish you a speedy recovery and that long term damage hasn't been done. He's going through a hard time and meds plus pain will cause his aggression towards handling.
Hoping for good news 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Poor guy sounds like he's in a lot of discomfort and pain. I hope the antibiotics kick in sooner than later. Gabapentin made my girl extremely tired and she also had a hard time controlling her anus muscles- where she would accidentally have poop pebbles while she slept.
Whats the vet's prognosis for Winston? Did they say the infection is getting better and how long for the antibiotics to clear out his infection?
I’ll ask when I’m picking him up if an anti histamine could help him with the irritation rather than just hammering him with sedatives for the next week.
Oh another med, I hope they fully understand the interactions they all play with one another and any adverse reactions🙏 you would hope as they are the professionals who you trust your dog with. I would still research these meds for my self knowledge. This is just me.
Here I am questioning long haul antibiotics!
We all truly wish for a happy Winston in the end and very very soon💙
I'm glad they gave you guys a tangible prognosis and what to expect. I hope the next 7-10 days goes by fast without any further complications. Wishing Winston a comfortable and fast recovery!
We’re more positive and content having spoken to a different vet and been given reassurance that he’s on the road to recovery.
Fantastic news😃
Can't wait to see him thrive again!
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
That's awesome news!
We stopped giving him meds on Saturday as the irritation seemed to have gone and he hasn’t been agitated since. The tramadol worked wonders for him but just wish they’d prescribed it sooner and he might’ve been more comfortable in the first week after the op.
Fantastic news🙏👍
I bet you are all relieved!
Quirky Winston🤣
Great his on the upwsrds👏👏👏
Send us a pic of that quirky boy with his headgear 😊
I can imagine you have to move everything outta his way🙉
He looks beautiful!
So happy he's getting well👍
Awwwe, he's a handsome fella! Im happy to hear he's getting better!
So glad to hear he's better and doing well! He looks very happy to be out and about!
He's a good looking BT!
That's what we've been waiting for👍👏👏👏👏🥰