Need advice...Dogbox Problem

I have a really nice 6yr old English Setter that has developed a problem that I can't get a handle on. Problem is in the dog box. I can put him in the box and go to the lease and take him in and out of the box 25 times with no problems whatsoever. Only when I get back home and start unloading him at my house, he becomes mad and aggressive to the point that he recently drew blood when he bit me. This is normally the nicest, friendliest dog you have ever seen 99.9% of the time. He is always in your pocket wanting and getting attention. He is a very lovable and personable dog. Just when he gets home, he becomes angered and I mean real mad. I recently started putting a leash on him and running it through the top of the dog box door so I could grab it and pull him out of the box so I would not have to handle him down (only back at home). He has never had this problem before this year. I am stumped and need advice how to handle this situation. If you have a reasonable solution, let me hear it.

Thanks,

Is he only aggressive while getting out of the box? What about after he's out and away from the box?

I use the command load for the dog box. I use the command kennel for the back yard or kennel. What does he do if you simply open the dog box and tell him to kennel? You will have to try new things because this is new one for most dog owners on this forum.

Yes, only getting out of the box. He tries to defend his turf inside the box only at home. I have to take the box out of the truck with him in it with the help of my wife and line it up with the backyard gate and open the door. Once he gets out and does his business, he is usually fine within 5-10 minutes. He can't be touched while in the box when he gets back home. BTW, he and my other dogs have the nicest kennel and most comfortable set-up that you can buy along with a huge exercise area. It not like he is coming back to shoddy conditions.

Bill,
I have used the same commands with no problems. When I open the door, he becomes a literal mad dog, in the back of the box. He acts like he does not want to come out and defends his turf. It has become a real challenge for me. He is an outstanding birddog. This is the only hole in the dog's persona suddenly and I can't seem to get a grip on it.

Do you only take him to the lease solo, or do your other dogs go as well? Maybe he just doesn't want his fun related to the lease to end, or maybe he doesn't want to go back to sharing your attention. It may do some good to load them up & go around the block then back to the house. If you use a training collar maybe you can reinforce your commands.

I had one of my pups scared & not wanting to load for a while after she fell while trying to load up. After some practicing & reassurance she was back to normal in no time.. Also, I am not sure if yours is jumping out of the box or you're helping him, but he may be getting sore from riding in the box or need some time to get his bearings again.

I hate coming home from the hunting lease too.

Does it only happen after a long drive? What if you stop to air him along the way? Or is it only associated with getting home?

Robby

Is he fixed?

Nope

I wonder if it could be he's in some sort of pain or has a medical issue that's exacerbated by being crated for a period after exercise?

Then the process of getting out causes the pain and why he doesn't want to get out.

Just a thought...

Robby,
Just last weekend I hunted with a friend at his lease. We went in his truck hauling my dog crate for my dogs. We met at his house and returned there Sunday afternoon. After a 4+ hour ride he unloaded perfectly at my friend's house. Put the dog box back in my truck, loaded the dogs back up and drove 20 minutes home. He was mad as hell when we got to my house. It only happens at my house. I have tried two different boxes to no avail. He does not appear to be in pain and his performance in the field certainly does not indicate it. He is a HeMan in the field.....

Open the box and just walk away sometime when you have the time. You're not going to solve this with one trick.

That is where I am now. He will not come out.

park your truck somewhere else?

Keep us informed. You'll work it out.

Maybe a shotgun in hand until you get him in backyard. Or just leave his sour [censored] in it until he changes his mind. I bet he comes out the next morning.

Maybe he is mad he didn't get to ride upfront

Sudden behavioral changes should always prompt a visit to the vet. Thyroid panel and full nuero and physical exam. Barring any health issues you can decide whether you want to fix with honey or with vinegar.

Only thing I would suggest is next time you load him up put a rope on his collar and run it out of the crate so that when you get home you can open the door and give him something like an "OUT" command and pull him out with the check cord. Then after a few tries like this, and he gets to where he should know what "OUT" means, you can work him with an Ecollar. I would be real careful juicing him about the dog box because he might get to where he doesn't want to go in it, but that's really the only suggestion I have. He may start coming along with just the rope pull.

Thanks Tony. I have been debating with myself to as whether I needed to see the vet or not. I appreciate your comments.

Sherpa,
He goes with my other dogs to the lease. All of my dogs have individualized compartments in the dog box. No doubling up at all. I would not put another dog in the same compartment with him when he gets home. That could get expensive or I could lose a dog.

The obvious answer has been omitted from this thread. He hates your significant other. Time to find a new woman.

That is odd behavior. I agree with the others. Vet trip to rule out physical ailment. Then it is a decision between honey and vinegar.

One thing I would try to do in the meantime is not keep conditioning the behavior. Stop short of the house and get him out and let him in the truck for the quick ride to the house. Just try to change something to avoid the trigger that is causing this behavior as the more it is conditioned the more difficult it will be to fix.

My dogs get one free pass for biting or acting aggressive - anything after that they get reminded who the alpha is. Luckily I've only had issues with one aggressive dog. I would correct him in whatever fashion you seem appropriate and continue to correct him until he stops.

I wouldn't mess with a visit to the vet if it's only isolated to unloading at home. Waste of money IMO.

2X
After the results are back from the vet, I would work him on loading, and unloading at home. Even if I wasn't going any where with him that day. I'm a honey when they do it right, and a little vinegar when done wrong kinda person.

If it were my dog the next time he tried to bite me or acted aggressively I'd grab him by the ears and beat the sht out of him. I would t put up with that for a second

Easier said than done. I would do exactly that but this dog is such an athlete that he would get me before I could contain him. I think I have a plan. I am going to put my old faithful DT bark collar on him along with the leash and as soon as he starts barking and showing aggression, that bad Azz collar will go off and eat him up until he quits. I then help him out of box with leash.

You might consider using your ecollar, instead of the bark collar. That way you can control just how much juice he is getting. Some dogs handle high juice different than others.

One of mine was getting grouchy, and growling for a few days a month, and then would go back to being normal. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on, and the bad attitude was lasting longer. I had changed to trifexis heart worm preventive. The best I can figure, it was causing him to be lethargic. The tiredness led to a nasty attitude. He would still hunt like normal, but after we got home, he would growl at anyone that even spoke in a room he was close to.
I was ready to have the vet do a full work up on him, but realized it would start the day after he took the heart worm meds. I changed him over to Heartgard, and he went back to normal. My other two dogs take Trifexis, and have no problem with it. It just didn't sit well with him.

I have thought about using a water nozzle and spraying him down with a jet stream in the box every time he barks or growls at me. I know that it will make a mess but at this point I don't care. The box will have a week to dry out between hunts. This scenario has repeated itself for four weekends in a row. Enough is enough! I am bound and determined to gain the upper hand on him again.

I would not spray him with water.

Unload the other dogs, then open his kennel. If he growls, close the door and leave him for a couple of hrs, then try it again. Leave him all night if you have to

Or 2 days. It's either that or welding gloves and scalebusters remedy. I've never had a dog do that to me but not sure I would react too kindly to it.

My male won't get out of the dog box when I get home. He hasn't become aggressive, but will do everything he can not to come out. So I just take my other dog out and start unpacking everything. When all is put up, I open the door and see if he'll come out. If not, then I check on him an hour or so later. By the time he has to use the bathroom he'll come out.

The first time this happened, I left him in the box for 24 hours. Nothing changed. He was bound and determined to guard his turf in the box. I tried the morning after the original incident and no progress, then went to work all day and came home around 5:00. He was still soured up. I finally backed my mule up to the backyard gate and lined him up and opened the door. Took him about 5 minutes to come out. He was fine and acting normal with 10 minutes.

I saw similar posts on RTF regarding this situation, but I disagree. What is this teaching the dog? You can stay in YOUR kennel for as long as YOU want to. Is that the behavior we're trying to enforce?

I think the longer this goes on the worse it is going to get. Time to nip it in the bud. Next time you load him after a hunt, tighten his collar good and tight where he can't slip it. Leave a leash tied to the door hooked to the collar. Tell him kennel or whatever command you use to unload. Then yank him out and when he quits being pissed off let him down to the ground. Cutting off the air will get his attention. Sort of like forced retrieve training or whoa barrel training. When you get the desired result release the pressure and tell him good. Load him up again and repeat until he comes out willingly. I don't care if it takes all damn day. You can use a electric collar too if you do it correctly. Force to obey.

Be careful how much vinegar. Does he like treats and praise? I'd start there with sweet talking before I'd go to ear pinch or e-collar.

Can he ride home in the cab on a hunt or two? I'd want him to feel good about arriving back at the casa a few times.

So, your dog is never sharp with other dogs or animals, cats, varmints, etc? I've seen that dog aggression in the crate before, but it seemed to be a territorial, "this is my den" response since it occurred at new locations and not familiar locations. Luckily, it wasn't my dog and his aggressive behavior increased beyond just the crate.

I don't think I would ever offer a dog a treat for growling at me, or let a territorial (although it sounds more like possessive aggressive) one ride in the cab. Territorial dogs guard large areas, and possessive ones guard smaller ( food, bone, crate) things. You have a dog in the cab come unglued while driving, and things could go bad quickly.

Tony has a good suggestion. I would run a full battery of tests on him. However, weird things happen with dogs. Some event you missed may have triggered this behavior. One time I had a retriever that got into some wild mushrooms up camping. She got very sick but 6 hours later was ok. From that point on, she would not eat out of a stainless steel bowl. She would just bark at it. Maybe she saw flames come out of it while on the mushrooms -

Assuming that all is good with your dog's blood tests, let's try to figure out why and where things get bad. It sounds like you have determined that the lease is fine but the house is not. I would try some other areas like at the park, in a parking lot, in front of the house, at the neighbor's house, etc... If he is ok in other spots then drive over to another kennel with barking dogs, stop outside and try to unload him. You mentioned there are other dogs at home. See if the problem is due to the other dogs being around.

Tip: get yourself a pair of welding gloves while trying to sort this out. For now, I would also keep a leash on him while in the kennel, with part of it hanging outside. This will help you get him out and also give you something to grab in case he tries to bolt.

Let me know what you figure out.

Not really a laughing matter.. But I did get a little chuckle trying to picture this one

Here's an update on the aggressive dog while in the dog box. We stopped on the way home from the lease at the Stripes Gas Station out past Weatherford at the Hwy. 281 exit. I took one of my leashes and snapped it on and unloaded him to relieve himself. I left the leash on him and ran it through the top of the door to the dog box snapping it to the door hasp. Once I got home, I unloaded him first literally pulling out of the door pretty forcefully. He was not too happy but once he was out his aggression subsided. I let him jump down and I walked him around a couple of minutes until his attitude changed. He let me reach down and pet him and rub him up. Put him in the back yard to stretch out with no problems. Things are not perfect yet, but a lot better than the previous 4 weekends. He will not have to have his head knock against the top of the dog box too many times before he realizes that it is easier to just come on out and act pretty. For now the leash will stay on for the ride back home. Besides that, he had 15 covey finds in about a 2 hour stretch this weekend. He does not mess around once he is down in the field. His performance Sunday morning was one for the ages. He had 5 different covey finds in the last 30 minutes of the morning in the heat, 9 finds total for the morning. In all, it was the best performance by one of my birddogs I have ever seen and I have been doing this for almost 50 years. I have to keep him and get his dog box etiquette straightened out. He is just too good of a birddog.

Where's your lease?

Thanks fr the follow up. Looking good.