Re: Biting

In Reply to: Biting
Posted by:  Luanne
Posted on:  September 30, 2001 at 20:27:06

: My Jack Russell is a 1yr. old neutered male. He appears to be very aggressive. He has bitten people including two of my children. We can have no one over because of his agression towards them. He appears very terrirorial and possessive over his food and bones or toys if you come near them or need to take them away. We did not get him from a breeder. We understood that his mother was killing her own puppies and he was taken away early at 5 weeks from her because of that. Could his aggression be inherited from his mother? I do not think it is fair to my family to keep him in this situation. We have contacted a trainer, which as this time is quite expensive for us.What would suggest for us to do at this point? Do we take the chance that this aggression, with training, with go away or can it be so inherited that he will not be able to stay with us? Thank you so much for your help!!!!

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Hi Luanne,

Yes, aggression can be inherited but I can't tell you if your dog inherited this trait, no one can but your best bet is to go with a trainer/behaviorist. I have seen very few cases of inherited aggression in the 17 years that I have been with these dogs most has been enviormental aggression. Your Behaviorist/trainer are the only ones that can evaluate your dog and suggest a recourse for you. I can't see your dog, and therefore can't tell you anything. I can tell you that alot of damage can be done by taking a dog from its littermates at too early of an age, He basically didn't learn to social behavior from his littermates at an early age. Some of this can be corrected with the use of a trainer.