help!my staffie is a rescue.  we had her since 4 months old.  she's now 2,5, neutered and mad.  we know she was attacked when she was a pup by a man.  then when we got her, my boyfriend took her to work, and some numbskull thought it would be funny to blow and airline in her face which makes a hissing noise.  the last few months she has become less and less tolerant of other dogs.  she will whimper then growl then whimper again.  I watch and her tail is between her legs when she's doing it, but she'll launch out if the dog gets close enough.  this is one thing and we muzzle her when at the vets and don't walk her off lead any more.  the worst thing is towards men.  with the exception of my partner (we live together), my dad and my partner's mate who has looked after her when we go on holiday, she launches herself at men and tries to bite them.  she will interact with women and is fine, but any man she gets really aggressive with.  she looks so calm then, bang, she's lashed out.  you see no warning sign, no growls, nothing.  I called a local behaviourist but she said i need to find a male but there's none in my area (southend) and have sought advice from the vet, including changing diet and giving her calming therapies.  am at my wits end now as added to this she has started to bark when we are out and our neighbour, rather than speaking to us courteously, has gone straight to the council and if we can't fix it we will be in court.  obviously we didn't know she was barking until someone told us as she never barks when we are at home, would have been nice to have a chat with the neighbour (council won't say who it is), we explained to the council we will do everything we can to help her including shutting her in instead of in her run/kennel in the garden as we can't take her to work because of her aggression issues and risk of gnawing people.  i know nothing is more annoying than a barking dog which is why im so upset about it as i don't want us to be nuisance neighbours, but my dog is causing such issues it's getting to the point that rehoming has now been brought up by my partner as he doens't know what else we can do.  if anyone has any suggestions can you post them on here as I don't want to lose my girl.

> I called a local behaviourist but she said i need to find a male

I think you should try a different behaviourist. You don't need to show your dog that the behaviourist is nice & friendly, you need a behaviourist that will help you show your dog that all strangers are not something to be frightened of, that knowledge and experience can be just as helpfull from a woman, if not more so in this case as your dog will not be trusting anything a male behaviourist does or says (I would have thought). Seeking out a male behaviourist to help a dog overcome fear of men seems a bit like flooding to me ?

In the mean time this link may give you some hope, but not as an alternative to a good behaviorist, the sooner you can get help from somebody that can see exactly what is going on and knows what they are doing the better.

I'm sure you will get some advise that points you in the right direction regarding a good behaviourist.

Lots of luck.

Hi Nicky

sorry to read of your ongoing problems.  The first thing that springs to mind is that a lot of time has elapsed between her sad, frightening and early experiences with the original owner and the idiot at your BFs work who scared her with the air-line.  IMO, throughout that period until the present day, and that appears to be around 2 years now, she has been aquiring and practicing behaviours which she has used as a defense mechanism - i.e. to her, 'I'm frightened, I do this/that, and the object of my fear backs off/leaves/takes fright' - ergo the practicing of techniques to achieve this end, men being kept at a distance, has become a learned and established behaviour.

Most undesirable behaviours with most dogs can be turned around - in the main it is the length of time available and unfailing dedication of family/household/trainers etc required which are the greatest factors in assessing the realistic results in each individual circumstance.

From what you write here and in previous threads this girl's behavioural issues have been escalating and, regardless of efforts made to date, the best solution for working her around her problems has yet to be found or at least correctly introduced and stuck with.

I think you should look again at seeking professional advice from a reputable behaviourist - IMO any behaviourist worth their salt will not shy back from this case due to their gender as any behaviourist's role is to ASSESS the dog and what it's reactions are etc - NOT for themself to best suit the profile of the dog's greatest fear! 

The behaviourist should be able to assess the dog and give you a detailed work sheet of tasks required to desensitise this dog - if that is possible.

> my dog is causing such issues it's getting to the point that rehoming has now been brought up by my partner as he doens't know what else we can do. if anyone has any suggestions can you post them on here as I don't want to lose my girl

Can I stress that any dog with such serious issues should never be passed on to someone else :(  I sincerely hope with the correct help you can work through a method  of de-stressing your girl and making her feel more comfortable in the vicinity of males however there are far too many in everyday situations to not have this drastically improved for everyone's safety.   In the absence of success at rehabilitating this bitch, the only other option - distressing as I know it is for you to be told - would, IMO, be to have her pts :(

Teri

Nicky,

May I just add to the excellent advice given already,
please get your dog a baskerville ( rigid plastic basket type) muzzle and have it on her in all potentially risky scenarios. This will achieve two things ( at least) it will make you calmer around 'flare-ups' and it will keep the situation stable until you get a Behav. referral.
The last thing you want is a crisis to force you unto an action.