"Is my dog dog-aggressive?"

[MarMar]

Why NOT to use the "alpha roll":

http://www.peaceablepaws.com/articles.php?subaction=showfull&id=1282181340&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&type=Pat

Yes, please never force your dog to lie on his back. You may think he's relaxed, but more likely he's scared and confused.

[PitbullLover*]

I second, dont force your dog on its back the dog can get scared,confused and agressive because it feels like its been backed into a corner.

[hashbrown]

I am having a couple of problems with Onxy. First when someone stops by our place or I come home from work he goes crazy and I can't get him to stop jumping on me or others. The next problem I'm having is aggression towards animals of any type. It's like when he sees another dog, cat, raccoon he charges his eyes roll back in his head and he goes into complete fight mode. He is wonderful with the family but with other animals he is awful.

A little history, When I got him he was 7 months old and had spent most of his time in a kennel. He is about 13 months old now we live in a very rural setting nearest neighbor is maybe 3 miles away. He gets very little social interaction with other animals and when he does it's a huge mess. I don't even know how to start or should I just keep him completely away from other critters.

[gerry]

hashbrown: The 7 months of some isolation is not by itself an issue. I work with many back-yard dogs where they were cute puppies tossed into the back yard, then dumped at the shelter when they were no longer cute enough, typically near a year old. The are scared of people, adult dogs, other animals and everything else in the world. Yet most come around within a few months. Many of them in 2-3 weeks.

But the first question is whether you have taken your dog through basic obedience training. If not, I'd suggest you look for a dog trainer who is comfortable with these issues. Taking into account, however, that their purpose is not to train your dog, but to train you to do the work.

Also, the aggression you described is likely fear aggression. But, you didn't say if he slightly backs up (defensive), or if he's ready to charge forward (offensive). This is usually anxiety based, simply because he has no experience and doesn't know what to do. If this is offensive or if he panics, you need to be very careful with him. Eyes immediately rolling back could be a panic issue where you should seek help from somebody experienced with this issue.