Well said Doberluv, I think if they follow your advise they will see improvement.
I have a 6 year old pitbull and his behavior changed like someone flipped a light switch. It started a couple days ago when I grabbed his collar to take him to his chain out side and the hair on his back raised and he snarled. I yelled at him and he growled louder.
This sounds like that silly Alpha training - train of thought.
You get better results and a dog that trusts you by earning the dogs trust not forcing the dog into submission. I rescued a Rottweiler which was like this when I adopted her, her owner used very bad training techniques by trying to be tough with her. It took me about a year to gain her trust and turn her into the wonderful dog she now is. By using the NIFIL policy and
positive training only, I achieved wonderful results with her. Once a dog loses trust in it's owner it takes a lot of positive training to get rid of that distrust. Trust me, if you treated me like that and pushed me around if I were staying at your home, I would take it for so long then I would start reacting to the harsh treatment. Your dog has shown amazing control thus far.
Since then my dogs just been acting strange. The get down command off the (MY!!) bed used to work in a flash now he growls. My dogs constanly looking at me with suspision like he dosent trust me, when pass in a hall way sometimes his tail stops wagging. Its spooky.
It sounds to me as if this dog does not trust you at all. You are unpredictable in your dogs eyes. It sounds like you need to go see an animal behaviorist who can show you how to act around your dog. So far I find your dog has shown amazing control around an unpredictable person. When the tail stops wagging the dog has just become tense, not knowing what mood his owner is now in and what punishment is going to be dealt out. The dog is confused. Of course, I am assuming that you are using dominance to control and train your dog. If not, then I apologize.
As already suggested I would take your dog to the vet to make sure every thing is alright. He may be in some sort of pain (Arthritis etc.).
Second, I would rethink the way you are dealing with this dog. I commend your dog on how well he has tolerated your harsh ways. I have a feeling that you try to dominant your dog by being physically harsh and yelling. If not, then I apologize. Dogs need to be shown proper behavior in a positive manner, dogs respond to happy owners better than harsh owners. Dogs are not born knowing all human rules, and by punishing the dog when they do wrong this can be counterproductive. You show the dog the proper behavior and lure the bad behavior into the proper behavior and reward when done right...not punish when done wrong.
As far as having an intact male, I have had a few intact males live with me. My current male Dilon was just neutered this year (he is about 5 years old). He was neutered due to shooting blanks, not due to any behavioral problems. He has the same temperament as before he was neutered, except the only problem I have encountered is now that he is neutered he has a huge interest in food and has started a little bit of food aggression with the other dogs. I am working on this successfully with positive training. So, for him, he couldn't care less if one of the other dogs came over and ate out of his bowl when he was intact....that changed once he was neutered.
