question about "bezerk" mode ....

[fj45lvr]

we have 3 dogs, one of which is young fila male (now 11 months)...got a question about behavior when a stranger approaches home or automobile.

if he is in our car or truck and someone approaches the vehicle he goes bezerk and in this state he will often end up attacking other dogs or myself or wife (seems as if he gets so pissed he wants to attack something and because he can't get the stranger he moves on to the next closest victim). is this a common characteristic? and what do people recommend to do to stop the aggression to other dogs and owner/family???

thanks

[fj45lvr]

need to clarify that he generally bites a dog or us once (and it can start a fight with other dogs then that carries on)...with us I think it is more that we are in his way and it is somewhat accidental as he gets reprimanded but with all his juices flowing it is hard to say whether the verbal reprimand does anything at all. On leash if someone approaches and I cannot divert off to the side he wants to get out in front and straining on harness if I try to pull him back close to me with a hand he did happen to nail me on the leg once. I just have no idea whether this type of reaction is typical or atypical or what should be done to correct it as it really upsets my wife, I suppose I would be better suited to get a utility vehicle to have a caged area in back to keep him segregated. at home I am not anticipating any more problems because we are fencing in a large area with an entrance gate so a stranger can not approach to the door of the house any longer (which is good because I am surprised my old single pane picture windows haven't collapsed.

[Paul]

It is bad enough he redirects on the other dogs but to do this with you and your wife is not good at all. I do not believe this is normal behavior. Not even my Fila rescue would do this to me. I don't like what I am reading and I think some other Fila people should speak up about this. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but it doesn't sound good to me.

[fj45lvr]

thanks, for reply. Yeah, without a history of being around fila, things like this are head scratchers as to whether this is considered "standard" behavior. Just so we are clear, he doesn't go out of his way to re-direct to the dogs or us but at the time that he is in "attack" mode the other dogs and us are right there next to him, the other dogs are barking next to him and we are normally trying to grab ahold of his collar to hold him back from smashing the window glass. this has happened 2 times in car, 1 or 2 times at home and once while on leash. He can be around strange dogs and shows no agression at all, but not any strange people (people that come up to a close proximity really cause him to explode into this aggressive state. he was with us during christmas tree sales inside a building with clear plexiglass windows that were very low to ground and he only watched people until they came in closer than 10 or 15 feet and then he explodes. His only other sign of aggression has been fights with what was our alpha dog (8 yr old dachshund/pit bull mix) over high quality food and he doesn't instigate it but doesn't back down if and when the dachshund snaps at him and they fight (the young fila dominates him if they fight)....we have another female fila that has also fought with the dachshund too when he tried to bully her and she was around 11 months old, but since this male pup came around the female and dachshund no longer fight, now the fight is between the neutered dachshund (old alpha) and the male un-altered young fila. the young male does try to mount the female and bites her neck and she snaps at him but they don't ever all-out fight (until this incidence with a stranger approaching and they are both barking and he re-directed on her and she resisted) .

in my mind (not at all experienced with dog training or fila) I figure the fence will alleviate the issue as far as the home and a cage for vehicle transport should be a priority. (this would not be breaking the behavior but just prevention from it happening the way it has these few times).... OR to prevent this? a shock collar to zap him if he re-directs? or should the dogs be able to be trained to sit even though a stranger is approaching or they hear a car, or knock on door or doorbell??

[chocolatemoose]

I would have to agree with Paul, it's not a normal behavior for a Fila with it's family.

[Brasileirokid]

This is not only NOT normal but very dangerous. The redirecting at other dogs is pretty bad and the redirecting to its owners is completely unacceptable. The dog going nuts when someone walks by is normal and regular desensitization would work on a stable dog. unfortunately I cant give you any advice on how to correct this or even if it is correctable. Robert on here might be able to give some advice on that or contact the breeder and see what you guys can work out, I am sure he/she would like to be aware of this as well.

[aceoutdoor]

I have seen working dogs(not filas) who are being teased, but unable to get to the agitator because of a fence etc get so worked up they will bite(not fight) a member of their dog pack. Its kind of like a combination of getting their pack member worked up and releasing some frustration of not being able to get to the agitator. Now taking that out on a human member of the family, downright unacceptable and as juan said dangerous. If a dog bit myself or a family member out of anger, he would be taking a dirt nap. Do you have kids? If so that would seal the deal.

[aceoutdoor]

What age was the puppy when you got him?

[girldogue]

I would have to agree with Juan - redirection to his owners is completely unacceptable and not normal in this breed. If it were my dog he would be getting ALOT of on lead training and socialization to work on him away from the others. Also - why are you using a harness on him ? He needs a stout good quality choke chain ( Herm Sprengers are the best IMO) and you need to learn to use it - harnesses give no control .

[fj45lvr]

wow, thanks for replies I guess I have to focus on this more then as a potentially very serious issue, if anything can be done about it. I got the dog at 4.5 months and while he was reluctant to come out of his crate when he first saw us (freaked out from airplane ride) after he did come out he took to us right away and has never been aggressive towards us in any way except this anger with a stranger getting close. I initially took him around public on a leash and sat on a bench outside the small town store till he was about 6.5 months but eventually quit as he came into his temperament, he would be fine with people walking nearby and past us but if they stopped and stared at him he was growling and lunging and I had to hold him back which led me to not continue to go sit down there with him because it scared people and it was a concern something could potentially happen to injure someone. I walked him quite abit in california this december and he generally didn't care about people over 20 feet away while enjoying his sniffing unless they got in closer proximity (so I just plain avoided getting close to any person). He does not show any signs of fearing people and I have no doubt that in the open he would be in front of us to protect from a stranger (however it could be the UPS man just as well as a rare threatening person)

thanks for tip on switching to choke collar are they all pronged? we don't have any kids but we do have a grand daughter that periodically stays with us who is one of the few people he accepts other than us, 2 grown daughters and the grand daughter as his only "inner circle" of people he accepts. grand daughter is 3 and does not like getting sniffed or "slobbed" by him and she avoids being in same room as she is short right now.