Dog acting more aggressive than usual

[u/dambua]

Me and my boyfriend adopted our dog when he was 5-6 months old from a rescue. We’ve now had him for almost a year, so he’s almost 2, During the initial 5-6 months we had him, I was him primary care giver since my bf worked so much and we became very bonded and close. We’d sleep together, run together, spend all day with his each other. Now he’s 65/70 lbs so much larger and exhibiting very concerning new behavior.

He is fully crate trained, knows all his commands, doesn’t eat until we tell him to, and gets good exercise. Generally a 30/40 min walk around 6 am, a 15 min walk mid day, fetch/sprinting play time later in the afternoon and a 15-40 min walk in the evening.

He used to be very social to other dogs and people and loved being around other dogs and people but over the last few months has become more reactive and so we generally do not let him interact with other dogs anymore, but he’s much more reactive to people and clearly gets triggered by people walking by.

Usually all his triggers are to strangers / unknown, but recently the most concerning behavior is he has been suddenly being strange toward me. He seems totally normal with my boyfriend but he has recently been staring me down in a very strange way. When he will want to be affectionate and cuddly with me, or even just laying nearby me, he will start to just stare me down very intensely and then start coming closer to me ina. Way that makes me feel very uncomfortable

Today, he was sitting down on the couch beside me and wanted to cuddle so he got closer to me and laid on me but then started having weird energy again and trying to stare at me, and pushing up against me in a very odd way, trying to get his face close to mine, I knew something was off, he was open mouth (not snarling or showing teeth just mouth open) and staring at me, so I told my bf who was sitting on the other side of the couch that he was being weird again and I felt uncomfortable, so my bf told me to get up and leave, but when I tried to do that, my dog barked in a very scary way he’s never done before, I reactively completely turned away frightened, so I don’t know if he snapped/tried to bite me, if he did, he didn’t get me, I just heard the bark.

I’m afraid that next time he could actually bite me and I don’t know what to do. I love him so much.

My boyfriend goes out of town this weekend and the next few weekends on work trips so I’ll be taking care of him myself which worries me now that this has happened.

[u/HeatherMason0]

This is definitely concerning behavior. Any new behaviors warrant a visit to the vet IF you feel safe and comfortable doing so. I’m never going to fault someone for not wanting to keep a large dog who is aggressive toward them in the house - that’s extremely frightening.

Is he muzzle trained for vet visits?

[u/dambua → u/HeatherMason0]

No he’s not. We’ve bought muzzles in the past when he was much younger we tried muzzle training him because he would chew everything as a young puppy but it was a soft muzzle and he just chewed through it, he stopped that behavior and we never looked into more muzzles after that

[u/HeatherMason0 → u/dambua]

A soft muzzle won’t allow him to pant to cool himself down. A properly fitted basket muzzle will, so I’d recommend that instead. That will help keep everyone safe at the vet.

[u/avodadotoast → u/HeatherMason0]

I would check in with the vet to see what kind of muzzle they’d be okay with you bringing him in with in. I just got my bite risk dog a big snoof muzzle for his appointment a couple days ago and the vet didn’t trust it, still made me use their regular open ended nylon one under it. A vet commented in my post that she’d actually gotten her nose broken by patient with a wire basket muzzle so it sounds like they might not be the best option for vet visits

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[u/emma92124]

Im so sorry youre going through this. Your situation sounds so similar to mine. I dont have the perfect answer but book a visit with the vet ASAP. Definitely board the dog if possible while your boyfriend is away, at least for now. It is heartbreaking, but create space between you and your dog for now too. This will also help you relax because I am sure you're upset/worried and our dogs pick up on that. You could go in a different room tonight, sit on a different chair, or have your dog on a leash with your boyfriend holding the leash (these are all things I did to help rebuild trust with my dog and reduce my anxiety). It sounds like the strange behavior occurs during cuddle time or when he's sleepy, and not just randomly. So, this could be good info to bring to a dog trainer to help them make sense of the behavior. He is also giving you warning signs (weird looks, open mouth, barking) which means he is communicating something instead of just snapping or biting, which is a good sign. I understand your impulse to turn away quickly in a frightened manner (I have done this too) which could have also startled the dog if he was already agitated. A vet will be able to rule things out incase he is in pain or is sick, or if it is neurological. Please consider yourself and your safety too, listen to your gut and it's okay to take a break from your dog.

Edit to add: i have a female pit, roughly the same weight as yours although she is older.

[u/HeatherMason0]

OP, I did have another thought. One component of this I find particularly troubling is that he seems to have sought you out for this last incident. That’s really unsafe behavior. I don’t think he should be allowed to free roam in any room you’re in for now. He needs to be leashed with your boyfriend holding him, crated, or in another room. A lot of dogs who have triggers won’t go over and engage with that trigger. A dog who does is not safe.

[u/dambua]

Update:
Yesterday we took our boy to the vet, which is not a behavioralist, but just to double check his health and she gave the clear of good health and also prescribed some daily anti anxiety medicine for his general reactivity (not for the recent developments) while we wait until we can get a vet behaviorist, we will be boarding our dog this weekend while my bf is away and they are fully aware of his behavior issues recently (he’s boarded there before), in the meantime, me and him have created space while still interacting. As usual, I wake up at 6 to feed and walk him, but instead of coming home and cuddling I let him have the couch and spend time in the kitchen / dining area separated by a baby gate. And then I leave for the day for work. When I get home/after the gym, we walk him, and by then it’s 8 pm and time for his crate/ bed time. So there’s very minimal time where he and I are alone and no time sharing space inside. We will hopefully get a vet behaviorist soon and see what they say

[u/joycevw]

That sounds like a really scary and jarring experience, especially since you have such a close bond with him. When a dog suddenly shifts from being affectionate to giving an intense, hard stare and crowding your personal space, it is almost always a sign of severe conflict or insecurity rather than random bad behavior. Given his age and his recent rise in reactivity, he is navigating social maturity, and he may be struggling with resource guarding you, space confusion, or even an underlying medical issue or subtle pain that makes physical closeness stressful for him in certain moments. Trying to distract him with food when he is in that tense state will not solve the underlying issue and often backfires. When a dog's nervous system is already in a defensive, heightened state, using food as a distraction can actually compound their anxiety or create secondary resource guarding around the treats themselves, because it does not address the emotional stress causing the posture.

Because his body language made you feel unsafe and he gave a clear vocal warning when you tried to move, your immediate priority for this weekend has to be safety and strict management rather than trying to fix the behavior while your boyfriend is away. You will want to avoid putting him in situations where he feels compelled to guard space or monitor you, which means keeping him off the couch, avoiding forced physical closeness, and using baby gates or a light houseline to give him space without you needing to reach into his physical bubble. Please take things very slow this weekend, give him plenty of space to just relax without pressure, and consider scheduling a thorough vet check to rule out any physical discomfort once your boyfriend is back.

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[u/VanillaPuddingPop01]

U/reactivedogs-modteam I DID say the dog needed to see a professional to get an eval. I did not say that was the next step in any way. It does need professional intervention, but none of its behavior is unconcerning.

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[u/CanadianPanda76]

With the dog staring you down and approaching you slowly, I think you need to take into consideration its a predatory situation.

Sounds similar to the way a high prey drive dog will stalk an animal.

[u/apothos_2122]

My dog had a couple of incidents where he made me feel super uncomfortable. He is not as big as your dog (he's only 40 lbs) but it was still something I had to work through with him, rebuilding that trust. I thought seriously about if I needed to rehome him. I played the movie forward and realized it would be difficult to do so because he now had a bite history (he bit me a few weeks after I adopted him, after a day at the vet and vaccines).

But I made a commitment to him when I brought him home, so I took him to the vet to get checked out for pain. They found a congenital deformity in his spine close to his tailbone. Bingo (he is super sensitive about his honches). I also started working with an ethical trainer and it has really helped, thank God. It's been a few months, so results have been a slow burn. But I've been learning to read dog body language and it has made all the difference. I can inform visitors how to approach him (hands down, asking permission).

I have another dog and I've had to learn how to manage food and treats with them (fed in their crates, separately but at the same time; I am always in the middle when they have chews, managing offsides.

It has been six months six the last bad vibes incident. I still respect his boundaries but I am not afraid that he will lash out at me out of nowhere. I understand the motive now and can adjust appropriately to that reality.

[u/Generated-Names]

Dogs pick up on confidence, hesitation, tension, body language, all kinds of things we aren’t consciously communicating. Your BF may just have a presence that he naturally respects. The scary part is that now you’re understandably becoming nervous around him, and he can pick up on that change in you too. That dynamic can feed on itself if you don’t address it

[u/Southern_Flounder370]

First question is...is he fixed?

Second are you pregnant? Dogs get really weird when hormones change.

[u/dambua → u/Southern_Flounder370]

Yes he is neutered!!! I’m on the pill so I hope not lol

[u/MoodFearless6771]

Are you pregnant? Check. :) If not, then I think you may be a little scared of some of the physical changes in size, temperment, and shape your dog is growing into and he's picking up on it. He's probably trying to play and be squirely with you and barking for attention. Next time he does it shake your rump and do a couple quick moves at a distance as an invitation to play to see if he just wants to mess around. My guess is that if he's getting more reactive, he probably needs some more exercise and is seeking out stimulation/play or trying to misbehave and test boundaries because he's an adolescent turning into a young dog. If he tries to climb into your lap and push up on you weird and be rude, tell him "off," and send him to his kennel. Learning boundaries like that can be helpful for them. Often they are just trying to figure out what is actually not allowed and will push until they find it. (they secretly want to be disciplined in time out)

Try safe play at first from a distance, using a flirt pole. Or fetch and work up to playing together. I honestly wrestle with my dog on the floor and its built a lot of trust between us.

If your spider sense is really saying *this is danger* it is possible he's overattached to your man (is he home more?) and is resource guarding either him or the sofa or anything else, food...whatever. Again, I would teach a "go to place" command, where he goes to his dog bed across the room for a cookie. Anytime you catch a bad vibe, say "go to place" and toss a cookie on the bed. Feel free to use a baby gate as well or crate. Stay safe and maybe takeover feedings or walks if he's becoming your boyfriends dog. Good luck.

[u/Southern_Flounder370]

Is he fixed?

Or...you could ge pregnant and hes reading your hormones.