Our 10-month old rat terrier has been showing some troubling sings of aggression in the past month, even since getting neutered over a week ago. We adopted him when he was about four months old and have done our best to socialize him, always taking him out to the park, meeting other dogs, and exposing him to a lot of people. He was a little fiesty at first and used to bite a lot  but we seemed to get him out of the habit by startling him, making loud noises when he would bite, and giving him a chew toy. For months he got along with strangers just fine and never tried to bite. He is still generally fine around other dogs and cats (he lives with a german shepherd/border collie mix and a cat) but has become aggresive towards people, especially in the past month or so.

He has become hostile towards visitors, barking uncontrollably when they come to the porch, especially into the house, and has more recently begun to snap at strangers as well as friends of ours in public even though he never did this before. This snapping is really troubling to us. He is a sweetheart with us but we think he is becoming very defensive and territorial. If he keeps it up we will simply have to find a new home for him because we can't take him around our friends and family, and fear he will bite someone, god forbid it be a child. We do not know what to do. He has taken basic training so far. We thought after having him neutered he might mellow out a bit, but maybe its too soon to expect changes? He seems to sniff people out at first in many cases, and just when you think he is okay with someone he starts barking and snapping.

We love him very much and want to do whatever it takes to fix this problem. We simply want him to accept other people and stop the snapping. Please help!

Hi and welcome!  I am sorry I can't help you with you problem but, I'm sure when Nora the training moderator or other members with more training experience than I reads your post they will offer some excellent suggestions to help you and your pup.  You'll love this site.  P.S. We love pictures.

Welcome!  We love pictures!   Lots of pictures! 

And I think you are doing the right thing in seeking out some guidance on the agression issues you're seeing.  I'm confiident there will be others with some good advice for you on this topic, and if you haven't done so already, take a look in the Training forum.  There are several helpful threads there regarding similar issues.

i feel for your situation... i would hate to have to be thinking of giving up my baby...

food for thought and i may be way off (so anyone correct me)...  maybe he just needs to be "retaught"... mine are both the same age of 10 months... i know when i was training bryson (to this day) if i slacked in being consistent with him, and when others werent consistent it seems as if we take 4 steps back to the 1 step fwd progress. even with simple come and stay commands... i need to go through it everyday and if 1 day passes the next feels like we are at square one sometimes. pesky rebelious teenage years i tell you!!!

Just cuz he got neutered, doesn't mean all the testosterone is gone. That will take a little while. Give him time....

Good advice from everyone.  One note, you do want to be careful when using a prong collar on a dog with aggression issues.  The collar may accomplish supressing the aggressive behavior, but it may not solve the reason for the aggressive behavior.  For instance, if the dog is aggressive due to fear, the prong collar will not solve the issue of the fear.  Because of this, the dog will find a new way to channel that fear.  Sometimes this can result in even worse behaviors.   Often times this is where the "dog bit out of nowhere" scenario comes from.  The dog seemed to show no aggression, then wham... he bites!   His aggression seemed to be supressed, but it was never really solved.

The key is to get to the root of the aggression using a qualified trainer like Rattytatty suggested.  A behaviorist or trainer can determine the cause of the aggression and then help you develop a plan of action to solve it.  Believe it or not, aggression can have a lot of different causes. I'm not saying a prong collar is horrible or anything, just be careful when using it with aggression.

You can do a trainer search at: www.apdt.com if you need a place to find one.

There is also a good book called "Feisty Fiedo Help for the Leash Aggressive Dog" by Patricia McConnell.  It is an excellent book!  www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm

Also, here is a great article for you: www.4pawsu.com/onleashaggression.htm

I understand where you are coming from.  And I agree when you caution to use a good trainer to show how to use the prong. I am just saying that even used in the correct way, the prong or any type of positive punishment/negative reinforcement technique threatens to supress the behavior but not extinguish it.  You will find that often the underlying fear, stress or other cause will work its way out into another behavior.  That is why counter-conditioning techniques are good for building new associations and effectively extinguishing the old emotions and replacing them with new positive reactions/emotions.  Do you see where I am coming from?  I am just afraid that even with proper technique, the prong could make some aggression cases worse.  Hey, we can agree to disagree too.  That is the beauty of dog training, so many different opinions and methods.  Not trying to start an argument, just add my own view.  That doesn't make it right or wrong.  I respect your knowledge and experience. Dog training is about constant learning.  I am certainly open to other views as well. 

Edited to say, I guess what I am trying to say, is I'd be wary of any trainer who would use a prong first, without trying other behavior modification techniques for aggression.  I'd say a prong should be a last resort, after other options have been exhausted.  This is just my opinion, not doctorine or anything LOL.    Look for the cause of the behavior, try to modify the cause through counter conditioning, negative punishment if needed (removing something the dog wants)Use great caution when using positive punishment when dealing with aggression.  You could find yourself in a worse situation. 

You are probably right LOL