[Dailydrool] Need advice on aggressive behavior

[Sandra Graham]

I need some advice on possible next steps with Owen (~5-6 year old Basset
Hound neutered male).

Some history: Owen started out as a foster in our house in March 2009 after
being returned from 2 adoptions because he snapped at people.  Owen was
deemed unadoptable and we have been his forever foster family ever since.
After fostering him for 3 months we identified several situations that would
trigger aggressive behavior. He was then seen by a DVM behaviorist and we
were given some guidelines to follow - basically avoid Owen's trigger
situations. 

We were pretty successful with that until May 2012. Not sure what happened,
but Owens behavior became more aggressive at that time. In May, I tried to
correct some bad behavior and ended up with puncture bite wounds on both
arms and one leg along with a tetanus shot and antibiotics.

I took Owen to the Vet for a thorough exam to see if something medical was
causing the behavior problems.  Everything came back normal. We then had an
appointment with the DVM behaviorist, who made some additional
recommendations and started Owen on Fluoxetine. He was on this for 2 months
with no improvement in behavior, so the Vet switched him to Clomipramine. He
has been on this for about 2 months, also with no improvement in behavior.

If Owen is out of his crate, he has a muzzle on. If he is in his crate, I
take it off. I can no longer identify any triggers that can account for his
behavior change. He goes from being calm to being a terror in an instant. He
attacks me and any dog in the vicinity. If he does not have a muzzle own,
there is blood.

Some background on our home situation: There are 2 adults in the household
and no children. I have been fostering dogs since 2005, mixed breeds as well
as basset hounds. At any given time we have at least 1 foster dog in the
house along with our own dogs. So the pack dynamics are constantly changing
since the dog population is constantly changing. This may be contributing to
Owens behavior issues. I don't know.  Currently we have 4 foster dogs (all
basset hounds 6, 8, 9 and 13 years old), 4 basset hounds that are ours
(Owen, two ~6 year old females, and one 15 year old male) and 5 hunting dogs
(4 males: 12, 8, 6 years and 6 months and 1 female that is 18 months old).
All are altered except for the 6 month old male pointer.

I am out of ideas as to what to do next to address Owen behavior issues. Any
and all suggestions are welcome. If you would prefer to email me off list,
please feel free to do that. Sorry for the lengthy post.

Sandi