We had 5 Dobermans over a 20 year period. Usually 2 at a time. The last one we had, developed Idiopathic Aggression over a 6 month period. This is a form of aggression that is suspected to be a brain problem akin to epilepsy.It is never a treatable form of aggression. The dog loses all control and doesn’t even recognize his owner, snarls, gets dead eyes, and then within seconds, when the dog “snaps out of it” wants to be your buddy again.
We had to put him down last July. I figured out what was wrong with our dog in time to euthanize him before he bit our other dog or one of us. When you research this problem online you would not believe the idiots who LET a dog bite many times and still agonize about putting their dog down. Once I figured it out, I made the only decision that was right and followed through.
I had never heard of Idiopathic Aggression before I dealt with it.
Apparently it is more well known in the cocker spaniel breed and is then called “Cocker Rage” and stemmed from a show winner who later developed Idiopathic Aggression, after he’d spread his DNA all over America.
Idiopathic Aggression appears during age 1-3. Our dog went from sweet to being CUJO for a minute, over a period of about 6 months. The last night we had him, I didn’t sleep. I was glad to give him the pre-euthanasia drugs at home (he needed to be pre-sedated because of this dangerous condition), and get him to the vet and get it done.
There are about 8 breeds of dogs that get this condition more than others. Dobermans were not at the top of the list.
Interesting. Never heard of that.
Interesting info, thanks for sharing it.
I did a search for some more information...
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_6/features/Rage-Syndrome-In-Dogs_5639-1.html
https://wagwalking.com/condition/rage-syndrome
I’m sorry about your dobie, that sucks.
But thank you very much for the information. I had never heard of this.
Thanks for bringing that up. I had never heard of it. My daughter owns the grandogs and surely is aware of this. I’ve heard vets ask her opinion LOL.
So I went and did research on it. Interesting...and somewhat spooky.