Aggressive Dachshund
Answered by: Kerry Hackett
Question from: Christi
Posted on: February 27, 2007

We recently adopted a 1 year old male dachshund. He’s great with the kids and myself which were the ones to go pick him up, but he is getting aggressive towards my husband. Barks when he comes home, every time he goes near him. My husband hasn’t done anyhting to make him not like him, and tries to pet him to calm him, but the dog would rather have nothing to do with him. My husband says he can’t live this way. Since he’s adopted we don’t know his past history, whether he might have been abused in the past or not. Is there anything we can do? I recently saw something on the news about herbs for dogs. Would this help? If not, any suggestions would be appreciated. We are at a loss on what to do. We’ve even tried my husband giving him snacks and treats and he growls at him after he’s done.

Is your new dog aggressive towards other adult males as well? How is he with visitors to the house? It may be that he has decided that you and your children are part of his territory and he feels the need to defend you. This would also be the case if he perceives there is any stress in the house, especially if he sees the stress as being directed towards you, the primary caregiver and purveyor of food. Flower essences may be of help: try a combination of Beech, Walnut, Vervain, Vine, Holly, Chicory and Star of Bethlehem. Put two drops of each into a 50 ml dropper bottle filled with spring water. Add one dropper to your dog’s food twice a day. Flower essences should be available at any good health food shop in your area. In addition, you may want to look at changing your dog over to a good, homemade diet. In my experience, I have often seen behavioural changes take place once off commercial food. Please look at the work of Richard Pitcairn, "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats", "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and "The Barf Diet" by Ian Billinghurst for further information and recipes.

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