[Dailydrool] Use of Alpha Rolls in Aggressive Behavior?

[Karen M.]

Bazzle (4 yrs and neutered) has been having issues with aggressive behavior 
that results in escalating,
unprovoked, vicious attacks on the the gang and on me. As far as I can tell 
there is no trigger to his behavior.
He can be sound asleep, quietly standing near one of the gang wagging his 
tail or hear a car go by when he
triggers.   As it is now the gang is scared/terrified of him.   There have 
been quite a few times he has turned on
me when I used the baby gate to separate him from his victim.

So Bazzle is no longer allowed around my granddaughter or any other visitors 
because I don't trust him but I
also don't fear him either.   All his labs, including thyroid and his neuro 
eval have come back negative.  The
diagnosis is now behavioral.   Bazzle at this point has very little freedom 
and is tied to me most of the day.
He has also lost his freedom to sniff around on walks for now.  I have to 
say this seems to be helping control
the behavior as I can quickly correct him if he starts growling or attempts 
to charge.   Doc suggested adding
alpha rolls in addition to basic training methods but I am reading 
conflicting thoughts on its use.  One side
suggests that the alpha roll is to make them submissive to me but others say 
that using this just makes the
dog think of me as a predator.    So my questions are:  Is this a good tool 
to use?  If it is, when and how do I do
the alpha roll properly.  I am pretty positive that I am doing it wrong 
right now because Bazzle  seems to think he
is just getting a belly rub.

We have gone back to the basic training but is there any other suggested 
methods I can add to these?  As much
as I would love to hire a trainer, I really can't afford to do that right 
now.  I  refuse to give up on Bazzle.  He can
be a wonderful and loving basset boy when he wants to.  Doc and I are 
discussing the use of medications and will
decide in the next 2 weeks if that is an option we should also use.  For now 
he is to stay on Melatonin 3 mg twice a day.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Karen and The Dog House Gang