Aggressive Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

by Kayla
(Boston)

Our Wheaten, Winston is very aggressive when he is outside.

What happens is every time a car drives by, a person walks by, the mail comes he barks and scratches at the window. You cant even take him for walks around the lake because he lunges at other dogs.

Recently a neighbor was walking back with her older son and went to pet winston who ended up biting her hand. She went to the doctor and has to get a stitch. We are very concerned because the dog can obviously be put down.

How can we break this aggressive behavior and how do we play with him that doesn't include tug of war?

Thanks,

Desperate in Boston

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May 31, 2023
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Wheaton Dog Attack
by: Anonymous

I intervened in a vicious dog attack, a Wheaton attack, and I, too, was bitten. A familiy pet that had been loved, owned since he was a puppy, never boarded or professionally groomed (so we are certain he was never abused) and never experienced anything but love and appropriate training, turned on our 7 year old granddaughter, unprovoked. He was difficult to remove from her head and somehow I was able to place my own body between them. It's like something just snapped inside him, and after I removed him from her, he snapped back into the loving dog he always was with people (not dogs.) He had just kissed her a short while before it happened, and she had given him a cookie. Later, he fell asleep on a futon and when she was somewhat near, totally, unprovoked, out of the blue, jumped off of the futon onto her. He attacked her with full force and violence. She wasn't even near him. It was vicious. Vicious. Our granddaughter spent 4 days in the hospital. This was a few years ago now. I want to reiterate: this was a vicious Wheaton attack, unprovoked with a dog that had never been abused. Our granddaughter, and her sister who was there in another room, and myself will never forget that day. Our granddaughter has scars on her face, but recovered. We thought she would heal at home, but the wounds became infected, and she underwent a procedure under anesthesia to pack medicated gauze into the wounds. This dog developed a hatred of other dogs first and then later attacked her. I would NEVER own a Wheaton. EVER. I know three other people with aggressive Wheatons, all from different breeders. If you have done everything right with your beloved Wheaton and don't know why this is happening, I would venture to say it is not you. It is the, perhaps overbred, breed... or perhaps a breed doing exactly what it was bred to do: kill. We are very lucky to have our granddaughter. It was sad, very sad, to lose a family pet, but really... It's not worth it. I hope this message could save a human life. The only warning sign we had was that he started hating other dogs. Meanwhile I still have PTDS from that day and will never forget it. Thanks to Aggressive-dog-training.com for allowing the real stories to get out.

Jan 23, 2023
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Jeckyll and Hyde
by: Anonymous

We have a 3 year old soft coated male that is usually very loving and playful. However, when he gets food that he shouldn't (for example, someone leaves a bag of bread on the kitchen counter, a trash bag next to the garage door to be taken out, etc.), he turns into a vicious aggressor. He appears crazed and comes out you biting and doesn't stop. I have to grab him by the neck to get him to the ground and hold him down for minutes until he calms down. He is also very territorial with our smaller older male dog. Luckily, we don't have any small children. After reading some of these comments, it saddens me to think, this may only get worse. I'm note sure if this was the cause or possibly heightened his aggression, when he was almost a year old, we sent him for 3 weeks of training at a higher-end kennel /training facility where unbeknownst to us prior, the trainer used a shock collar as the primary training technique.

Dec 15, 2021
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Aggressive behavior
by: Anonymous

My Wheaten is two and is becoming aggressive towards small dogs

Jul 12, 2021
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aggression
by: Long Island NY

We have two female Wheatens. They are 4 years old - 6 weeks apart in age. Got them when they were 8 weeks old - from different litters.
In the past 6 months one has begun aggressive behavior towards the other? Aggression is sudden and for no reasons = we always thought they were two loving sisters.
It's like something snaps in her brain.
Any ideas appreciated.

Mar 18, 2021
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Aggressive Wheatons
by: Anonymous

We have two Wheaton's. One is 6 years old and the other one is 3 yrs old. Our 6yr old has bitten on several occasion only over the past few years when he has been spooked never out of aggression. We recently hired a trainer that has had them for the last 4 weeks. Our younger one has bitten him twice and this is the first time he has ever bitten.

After reading some of the comments I am concerned this will only get worse and our son adores his dogs and it would break out hearts to have to put them both down.

Has anyone had any success with this type of behavior?

Dec 01, 2020
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Wheaten Terrier Aggression
by: Anonymous

Wheaten Terrier Mom..Got him as puppy he is 8yrs old in Feb/2021.
He was always aggressive with Bones..so I never took one away..
When I tried giving him another treat and took the bone away which usually works this time he lunged at me and bit me on arm badly..
July 2020...Sept 25th I got another puppy girl..She accidentally took one of Wheatens bone and I went to take so He wouldn't hurt puppy and Wheaten Attacked me...
Now this is the odd thing..I am telling the puppy No outside and went to pick her up and He lunged at me attacking me my husband took him off of me..Stitches this time..
I feel something happened to him in the brain when he was traumatized with cactus all over him and developed pancreatitis
He was in hospital for a few days and I fed him thru a tube in his nose....
He is such a loving dog in so many ways..
I took him to the Animal Shelter..This is a very sad time..He is my boy..

Nov 19, 2020
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Aggressive behavior
by: Anonymous

We have a 5 year old Wheaten who is generally very loving, but sometimes bites our 13 year old grandson who lives with us. He is big and load at times. He also gets aggressive if I’m sitting at my desk and someone tries to come behind it to see me. Is he protecting me? He also goes nuts if someone shuts a door loudly. Are Wheatons sensitive to loud noises. Recently he let someone new pet him through my car window, then snapped at him?

Jul 09, 2020
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Out of the blue aggression
by: Anonymous

We adopted a 2 year old male Wheatie from an organization that trains service dogs for our son. He was a rehome because his first family had 2 working parents, a 2 year old child, & twins on the way...just no time for a dog too. He was sweet, loving, well trained & well behaved for the first 14 or so months we had him & then all of a sudden he became extremely aggressive toward other dogs, then he became aggressive toward the kids. He bit our son on the arm & that resulted in 15 stitches. We worked with a well known & respected behaviorist as well as the trainers where we got him & developed a strict routine, schedule, & work duties for the dog. Things seemed to be going really well for a couple weeks and then out of nowhere he attacked our 20 year old daughter resulting in 27 stitches to her head & face...she's lucky she didn't lose an eye! After that we had no choice but to return him to the organization where we got him, for our protection & his, which broke our hearts because we love him so much!! He seemed to bond with me & we don't know if he saw the kids as competition or as errant "puppies" that needed to ne corrected, but regardless of the reason we obviously couldn't ignore this aggressiveness and inappropriate behavior. Many people have suggested that when ready we should get a puppy so we aren't inheriting problems we're not aware of so we are currently researching breeds for the future. If anyone has any suggestions (must be hypoallergenic) I'll take them?! In the end if your dog is showing aggression towards anyone, animal or human, do NOT ignore it because it means something isn't right...we still love & miss our boy, especially the kids, but 2 bites is no longer an accident it's a pattern.

Feb 09, 2017
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Wheaten turning agrressive gradually
by: Anonymous

We have a 7 month old male Wheaten that came from a reputable breeder. We love this beautiful, bubbly, smart, personality-plus dog. He started showing weird OCD-like behavior about a month or so ago. We have a cat that does not like him - they have become territorial with each other (our other cat and Shaggy get along fine) and we have a 14 yr old LAB/ChesapeakeRetriever who is arthritic and old and sleeps mostly - but tolerates Shaggy pretty well and vice versa. The OCD-like behaviors are getting much worse. Shaggy picks objects in the house out of the blue (like the mop, a stored piece of metal, a pole grabber) and viciously barks and snaps at then. At first it was just barking hysterically, but now he attacks these objects. Whenever the cat is in the room he will run around the room edge (very large room) with his nose to the ground and run and run and run sniffing the floor. He will go like this for a very long time. I read that distracting them with a toy or other activity is a way to stop it. Yesterday I distracted him with his silicone Frisbee, playing tug of war. He really surprised me with his aggressive play with that Frisbee and his new-found strength to bite and pull! Today we took him to the VET to be groomed before being neutered next week. They had to anesthetize him and said he was scared and very aggressive to them and noted that he suffered from severe separation anxiety from my husband (his alpha-in-the-works). They suggested we bring him for training. I will do that - after checking for behavior therapists who work with aggressive dogs. What is the likelihood of success? We LOVE this dog immensely and certainly don't want to be in the position of having to do the unthinkable........ Is the cat reaction (OCD, etc behavior) a symptom or a cause? What can we do in the meantime (while looking for a therapist)? Should we stop "tug of war" play? HELP!

Jul 11, 2014
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Bi-Polar Soft Coated Wheaten
by: Anonymous

My Wheaten was 8 weeks old when I got her - I loved her and she was as sweet as could be. When she was about 7-8 years old she began to bite my husband and I for no reason at all. She was like a bi-polar animal. She always displayed anxiety when we left the house or got out of the car, trying to nip us. Then when we would move away from her, she might lunge and bite with agressive bursts. This went on for many months, and in the menatime, tried working with a behavorist, to no avail - she continued to bite. Some quite serious bites forced us to seek Vet recommendations and medication. In the end, I was forced to have her euthanized when nothing helped and she became a threat to friends and family. It was the worst time for us as we loved her and couldn't bring ourselves to do what we finally had to do. I wish there had been something more that could have been done. It was like she loved us, and at the same time, could not keep from biting.

Dec 02, 2011
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Find a Behaviorist, Fast
by: Anonymous

Don't give up, this can be fixed! Contact your local humane society and/or animal shelter and ask for recommendations of someone in your area who specializes in working with dogs that have aggression issues. This is not necessarily a person who offers dog obedience classes, though it might be.

Several years ago, I adopted a dog who exhibited aggression and started several dog fights. My local humane society gave me the names of several behaviorists. In one 2-hour, individualized session, I received the support and education I needed to establish a better relationship with my dog. I was given the knowledge of how to handle the problem behavior. With consistent practice and patience, the dog (and I) improved. Then we attended group obedience classes and weekend pack walks. Today, my dog gets along very well with other dogs and we have a solid bond.

Behavior modification is as much about helping you with your actions and reactions as it is about teaching the dog to make better choices. Just be sure you choose to work with someone who employs positive techniques and patience (no alpha rolls, intimidation, etc..)You and your dog can do this! Good luck! -- Florida Wheaten Mom

Nov 28, 2011
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Correct him
by: Adam G. Katz

Hi, Desperate in Boston:

This type of aggression can be fixed fairly easily. You need to:

1. Develop a way of communicating with the dog, so that your commands (in this case, the "No!" command) is both understood AND has meaning. This is done by practicing with obedience commands.

and

2. Establish a proper relationship between you and the dog. This is done by using what we call "Nothing In Life Is Free!"

Adam

Adam G. Katz is the author of, "Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer!" -- which you can find at DogProblems.com.

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