# Have you known any dog that simply 'snapped'?



## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

This is in light of a recent thread but I don't want to relink it here because it is such a tragic story and I didn't ask the OP for permission to do so...

I'm curious to see how many of you have known any dog that simply 'snapped'; became dangerously aggressive to a human without warning or any known medical issues. Can you describe the situation to asses for a warning sign you may have missed?

Because while I trust my two, I'm sure most people in that situation did as well. 

And that 'it'll never happen to us' attitude scares me...A LOT.

I will admit Smokey has growled at me before and his posture was an 'am going to bite you if you take away my bone' posture. I've also been on the not so good side of redirected aggression when he couldn't get to a dog on the other side of a fence. But this was all understandable in the sense that there were triggers and warnings of aggression ensuing...we've trained and traded and redirected and it's worked splendidly but I still get scared...maybe for no reason.

How likely is YOUR dog to become aggressive toward you, a family/ friend or a stranger without warning? How much do you trust your dog?


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## AngelaA6 (Jan 20, 2013)

My dog has never growled, lunged or even aggressively bitten me. I don't worry about him biting anyone in our family. I do keep him on a leash though around small children because his prey drive is a little nuts. I don't want him tackling them and accidentally hurting them, I don't worry about him biting them in an aggressive way though. I don't have kids myself so training him around the actions and noises small kids make has been pretty close to none.


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## Vagus (Oct 7, 2012)

Our neighbour was attacked by one of his rottweillers (had two), and the dog went straight for his family jewels  I was quite young when it happened though, so I don't really know what the full story was


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

I trust Lola and Harry with me 100%. I feel I am in tune with them both and can pick up if there is something wrong. I just need to listen to my intuition a bit better.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Woolf hasn't just 'snapped'. There was a period of time he would redirect on me. My fault, didn't catch his cues in time; and in my defense, during that period his cues were so lightening fast, it would have been difficult for most to have caught them. 

We are past that now.

As far as trust, that isn't really in the cards for Woolf. I always have to keep in mind what he is and isn't capable of.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Next door neighbor's Doberman. Out of the blue, attacked her one day. It wasn't pretty.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

yes.
A Dalmatian dog . Bought for the kids , from a pet shop, after the Disney movies 101 Dalmatians . 
The dog jumped onto the owner's bed while they were sleeping and started to bite at and rip out chunks of scalp, hair and tore an ear before the lady had a chance to even wake.


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

Without warning? I trust both my dogs in that respect. Would they do it if pressured/cornered? My shih Tzu might snap, but not attack. My GSD? He's only a year old but he has never snapped at me. As a young pup, he did at my son and husband when resource guarding a toy (he CAN have resource guarding tendencies, again with others, not me,) but I monitor it and him and make sure it never takes hold.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

My dogs are animals. I respect that. I would never, ever say "My dog doesn't bite." Just as I would never, ever say, "My horse won't kick." They may never have, but that doesn't mean they never will. Every animal has it's threshold. 

But, I sleep well at night.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Yes. A female we got as a puppy from another breeder who was perfectly fine, social and stable until close to 3 years old when she suddenly developed a form of rage syndrome. She would zone out, her eyes would glaze over and she'd attack anything that moved. Then a minute or so later she'd be back to normal, completely unaware that anything had happened. Obviously this was something medical, but it was not treatable or manageable. She was PTS.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

I had a dog growing up who developed Rage Syndrome. It was absolutely terrifying. He was PTS. 

Echo has never shown any signs of aggression, ever, at all- and has a very high tolerance for being touched, handled while nervous, etc. That being said, I will never allow him to be unsupervised with my toddler niece, I will never allow strangers in his face... he's an animal, and as such is never going to be 100% predictable.


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## Cara Fusinato (May 29, 2011)

Aussie female from rescue. I had her teeth in me multiple times with provocation such as I tried to push her aside when she was fixated on food or she was sleeping and I accidentally stepped near her nose. At one point, she was on the bed next to my husband (her person) and I walked up. She actually got up growling with teeth bared and had me pinned against the wall next to the bed. Husband woke up and called her off. The final straw, after 5 years of successful management, we got a kitten and she mauled that kitten til it was having a seizure from shock. The kitten lived and recovered 100% after a small bit of sedation to get through the shock. The dog was put down that day at 10 years of age. She "snapped" -- food, being asleep, interfering with her human, to our other dog and kitten, NEVER to another person who came in our house but these were dog savy adults who simply ignored her and stayed out of her way or had me accompany them if she was in the house when they were. However, this was no surprise, the signs were there and we managed it and came to a routine that worked within her mental quirks.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Not a one went into unprovoked rage although I had one rescues that you had to announce your presence in the room if he was laying down. If he was sleeping or half asleep, he'd get up biting. He was abused, had a choke chain scar when we got him, charming dog as long as he was AWAKE.


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## jafo220 (Mar 16, 2013)

Cruz has gotten what I call "loaded up". Usually it's another dog he's focused on and trying to get to. I grabbed his collar to get him under some control and try to snap his focus, but sometimes he will turn and grab my wrist. Doesn't clamp down or bite though. It worried me he might sometime though. It's like when you here of someone mistakenly hitting someone whos breaking a fight up, that kind of thing.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

I've had a trainer that recently had to be put to sleep because he was not adoptable. He would be a bit of a tease. Come up like he wanted to be pet and shift gears quickly into don't screw with me or I'll bite the crap out of you mode. It was never a without warning signs thing though. From the moment we laid eyes on him he had "the look." He was also dog and cat aggressive in the process of going blind and had arthritis.

I walked on egg shells with him in the beginning but after developing a relationship with him I felt fairly safe around him, but part of that stemmed from me being willing to fight him should things have gone bad and knowing I could take him. Part of that was I actively counter conditioned him with food to take crap from me willingly. It wasn't something that generalized though. He was not a dog I felt would do well outside of a very structured environment. He had 13 bites to his name this year alone (I was not informed of his bite history until after training) and even as he was put down his last act was to bite his owner. 

Not gonna lie. I was upset about it. But some dogs just can't be made safe.


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## Sri (Apr 25, 2013)

jafo220 said:


> Cruz has gotten what I call "loaded up". Usually it's another dog he's focused on and trying to get to. I grabbed his collar to get him under some control and try to snap his focus, but sometimes he will turn and grab my wrist. Doesn't clamp down or bite though. It worried me he might sometime though. It's like when you here of someone mistakenly hitting someone whos breaking a fight up, that kind of thing.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App




Curious if you are working with the ecollar on this? I think Lou has a crittering protocol he says might work for dog reactivity as well. (not exact quote, just the gist of what *I *understood.)


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

So I don't have to bore uninterested members with the ENTIRE story, here's the link to my one and only incident ever with Titan and I still can't figure out what happened execpt it was a protection thing, even after visits with trainers and all that. 

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...401746-aggression-fixable-moved-gen-info.html

He never did it before and hasn't done it since.. listens to me much better since then too, though I blame the amped up OB I have done with him since then. 

I will never, before this and now def after, say that he won't bite. I will however say, it's not like him to bite, and I dont' expect this to happen again due to myself having much better control over him than before. I take much more precautions with him.. while my mind tells me he is fine, there's a part of me that will never 100% trust that he will not do it again, so I jsut stay on the cautious side.

I know for a fact though if you break into my house.. well... him plus various, weapons, good luck with that


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Chris Wild said:


> Yes. A female we got as a puppy from another breeder who was perfectly fine, social and stable until close to 3 years old when she suddenly developed a form of rage syndrome. She would zone out, her eyes would glaze over and she'd attack anything that moved. Then a minute or so later she'd be back to normal, completely unaware that anything had happened. Obviously this was something medical, but it was not treatable or manageable. She was PTS.


I had to put down a dog ( Shepherd mix, 8 years old) like that who fitted most of the Rabies Vaccinosis symptoms. He had always been a gentle soul and then turned crazy, first towards strange dogs, then to his own out-of-our-family-pack buddies and then his own pack members. In the meantime we had tried just about everything with meds to calm his brain, incl. vet.behaviorist consults. Nothing worked.
When, one day, he looked at me with this green crazed look I decided that it was time to prevent him from taking off someones face. 

Please read https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/vaccination-reactions-can-mimic-disease-symptoms/

Luckily our county accepts titers for Rabies so I don't have to vaccinate him after immunity shows. Too bad I learned this too late for my other dog.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

hey Bailiff for a moment I thought you meant for your post to appear in the misinformation Thursday thread . 
Some poor unlovable schlub , -- thought the put to sleep option was a bit drastic -- the I seen you were talking about a dog , phew , that's a relief 

" I've had a trainer that recently had to be put to sleep because he was not adoptable. He would be a bit of a tease. Come up like he wanted to be pet and shift gears quickly into don't screw with me or I'll bite the crap out of you mode"


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

When i put down humans im not as euphemistic about it.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Foster I once had, lab/shepherd mix. Had been abused and was prone to fits of growling for no apparent reason, but was really a pretty good dog. I was sitting at my kitchen table, had my jacket on and was finishing my coffee. He came and laid by my feet. I told him he was a good boy and he growled then wagged his tail at me. I reached down to pet him and he grabbed my arm, and didn't let go. At one point I was pinning him with my knee and a friend who was with me was trying to pry his mouth open. Whole thing lasted maybe 3 minutes, and he let go and got up wagging his tail and wanting to play. I went through a few months of therapy to restore movement to my hand and I still have the scars, pretty glad I had a jacket on.
He was placed with another foster home and 1 month later did the same thing with much more devastating results and was euthanized.
There were definite signs he was unstable, but I never expected a full on attack. Lesson learned. I did advise that he not be placed anywhere else except with a professional trainer or behaviorist, and I was ignored.


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## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

I was 10 years old. A stray Husky-ish dog came around and started following me around very playfully. He would sleep on my porch at night and follow me around wagging his tail. Would fetch sticks and things so I named him "Sport". My mother even purchased a bag of dog food and I pretty much started to think he was my dog. This went on for about two weeks. One day we went for a walk down the road to a small wooded area at the edge of the neighborhood. It was just Sport and I. This was an area that was in ear shot of the neighborhood and a place that I would come often with my friends to hike around. Once we got just out of view of the houses on this particular day, (the first day Sport and I were out there alone) he completely turned on me. He became very aggressive and started attacking me and tearing off my coat. I have no idea what came over him. I started screaming for help and a man came out of a house and chased him off of me. My mother also came up. She said she had a premonition that I was in trouble and came looking for me. We walked home with me sobbing and Sport followed us to the house and laid down on the porch like nothing happened. I am not sure what ever happened to him because the next day he was gone. Never saw him again. My mother said she scolded him pretty good but did not do anything to him, he just left on his own. She said she felt like it was that dogs plan all along to get me alone away from the rest of the family and attack me. 

I know, weird story.


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## DaniFani (Jan 24, 2013)

Chris Wild said:


> Yes. A female we got as a puppy from another breeder who was perfectly fine, social and stable until close to 3 years old when she suddenly developed a form of rage syndrome. She would zone out, her eyes would glaze over and she'd attack anything that moved. Then a minute or so later she'd be back to normal, completely unaware that anything had happened. Obviously this was something medical, but it was not treatable or manageable. She was PTS.


Was there a "trigger"?? This is very interesting to me, I always assume some kind of chemical imbalance or brain misfiring. My GSD before my current one started exhibiting aggression through confusion. The vets hypothesized that because of his heart condition his systems weren't getting enough oxygen (this was seen through kidney/renal failure and digestive shutdown), eventually it was his brain that was affected and all of a sudden he wouldn't recognize anyone. 

It happened twice, once to me and once to my husband, before we had to put the dog down. He stared right through you, obviously had no idea who you were, hackles up, growling, inching towards you...it was terrifying. Both times he snapped out of it, but those were some long seconds.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Yes, actually a whole litter of dogs that seemed to not be wired right. One male, 2.5 years old mauled his handler as she went to put him in his kennel. Another at around 7 got aggressive towards people he had known all his life. Was put down. Two others were dead before 6 months. The one I had was almost feral. The breeder had a friend that wanted to attempt to work with her. When she went to remove her from the crate, she ended up attacking her. She was put down the next day (she was 4.5 months). We lost track of two of them. One other was OK, but she died of cancer at a very young age.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

lhczth said:


> Yes, actually a whole litter of dogs that seemed to not be wired right. One male, 2.5 years old mauled his handler as she went to put him in his kennel. Another at around 7 got aggressive towards people he had known all his life. Was put down. Two others were dead before 6 months. The one I had was almost feral. The breeder had a friend that wanted to attempt to work with her. When she went to remove her from the crate, she ended up attacking her. She was put down the next day (she was 4.5 months). We lost track of two of them. One other was OK, but she died of cancer at a very young age.


what was the pedigree on that litter?
I was chatting recently with someone who has a Mal and in that litter there were several who weren't wired right...she keeps hers at home under management, but a few of the others have been put down due to aggression that didn't always have a trigger.


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

There are imperfections in every creature on earth... I knew an Arabian stallion who snapped years ago. Arabs have absolutely the best temperament of any breed, even the stallions. This particular horse had never been mistreated, however the owners knew he was not to be trusted, but because of his bloodline they managed his psychosis, for lack of a better word. During a photo shoot he broke free from his handler and went after the photographer--he had to be shot and killed on the spot. I am sure there are even GSDs this could happen to, but I fortunately have never experienced one (or any dog, actually).

Susan


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

No, but I had a pup once that had what I'd call 'dead eyes.' There was no normal connection.

I had children at home and after working with a vet and a trainer, I payed to have him boarded with trainer until we found a home with adult, experienced dog person who wanted him.

Broke me heart, but those eyes, IMO, portended no good.

Anyone else noticed those eyes in an unreliable dog?


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## Juliem24 (Jan 4, 2014)

I grew up in the country, our neighbor raised golden labs. They had a wonderful bitch named penny, who I practically grew up with. She was about 8 yrs old and had a litter of 9 pups, I think they were about 4 weeks old. I was 7 yrs old. I was over visiting, and she looked at me, then at the pups-and proceeded to kill every single one of them. She then turned on me. We were all outside of the barn (she had brought the pups out, I was a kid who by then had learned the hard way to stay the heck away from litters and moms). She had "dead eyes". She tore up my leg pretty good before the neighbor got her off of me. The next time I saw those dead eyes, they were my husband's upon returning from 'Nam. Scared me just as much.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Years ago when I worked at the vet there was quite a few dobermans that had to be put down. All were in good homes but just snapped and attacked there own owners. The thought amongst the vets was brain lesions due to inbreeding. Some very nice dogs were put to sleep.


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## Vagus (Oct 7, 2012)

Juliem24 said:


> I grew up in the country, our neighbor raised golden labs. They had a wonderful bitch named penny, who I practically grew up with. She was about 8 yrs old and had a litter of 9 pups, I think they were about 4 weeks old. I was 7 yrs old. I was over visiting, and she looked at me, then at the pups-and proceeded to kill every single one of them. She then turned on me. We were all outside of the barn (she had brought the pups out, I was a kid who by then had learned the hard way to stay the heck away from litters and moms). She had "dead eyes". She tore up my leg pretty good before the neighbor got her off of me. The next time I saw those dead eyes, they were my husband's upon returning from 'Nam. Scared me just as much.


 This is so sad in so many ways


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## CindyMDBecker (Feb 22, 2013)

Owned a Caucasian Ovcharka. Steadily became more and more aggressive toward us. Dangerously aggressive. I've owned many German shepherds from all walks of life ... can handle and overcome a LOT. The CO put me in WAY over my head. Breeder was stumped. Professional trainer refused us. The dog died (had to be PTS) due to sudden kidney failure at 7 months old ... honestly think maybe underlying health issue triggered this. He could be very loving but progressively got vicious. Broke my heart because I felt like I failed him. And the kidney failure sickened everyone ... though at least he's at peace and nobody got bit.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

zyppi said:


> No, but I had a pup once that had what I'd call 'dead eyes.' There was no normal connection.
> 
> I had children at home and after working with a vet and a trainer, I payed to have him boarded with trainer until we found a home with adult, experienced dog person who wanted him.
> 
> ...


When I first got Bud, my husband noted that right before he attacked his eyes would go 'still'. It was sort of like watching everything drain away, I spent countless hours sitting by his crate talking to him in those first few months. It used to send shivers down my spine when his eyes did that, and I am ever so lucky he was half the size he is now.


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