My dog is aggressive and bites after foot surgery. What happened?

Question

Why has my adult dog suddenly grown aggressive following surgery for his feet? He had surgery to correct an injured nail and in the process, the vet took care of the rest of his nails too. It’s been at least half a year since the surgery, but he is so sensitive on the feet that he will lash out and bite hard even if he assumes you are reaching for his feet. He’s never bitten children before but recently lashed out at one for it as well. He seems worse than before the surgery. What happened? Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Male | unneutered | 8 years and 6 months old | 18 lbs

C. Rathjens, DVM · Accepted Answer

Poor thing. My two top would be that he was really sore before and/or after the surgery and remembers that being traumatic. Fear-based aggression is very common in dogs. Your comment that he seems worse than before the surgery makes me think perhaps he never loved having his feet touched, and if that's the cause, having an injury could have caused him to think "see, I was right! awful things happen when people touch my feet!" even though I'm assuming the injury itself was unrelated to a person. Since he's gotten to the point of biting, I would recommend talking with his vet about some medications (such a prozac and/or trazodone and gabapentin) to help him calm and then working with a very qualified trainer on desensitizing him to having people touch him. I would also recommend never letting kids interact with him until he's more comfortable, so that no one is in danger. Good luck with this very difficult problem.

My dog is aggressive and bites after foot surgery. What happened?

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