Please Help! Aggressive Puppy

It sounds like the dog isn't fully obedient trained. Dogs can sense the way we are and if you are nerves while handleing the dog it well reflex on to the dog. How does the dog act when it come into contact with other dogs and humans, does its hair on the back raise up really high and well it show its teeth and have its tail tucked with a neurotic bark or does it carry its tail way up high and their hair just raises up around the back of the neck and it bark is much deeper?

It sounds like she has the American Bulldog attitude which are dog aggressive but not human aggressive.
I would start with Nothing In Life is Free, [linkhttp://www.ozarkdogs.com/nilif.htm]http://www.ozarkdogs.com/nilif.htm[/link] Have you thought about clicker training with her?
[linkhttp://www.clickertraining.com]www.clickertraining.com[/link]
It also sounds like she may be possessive and a resource guarder to me.
The Leader of The Pack is a great book to read. Another I would recommend is Don't Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor and The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. Excellent reading to help you our here. Just be patient with her. It will take some time to retrain her brains, or rather her way of thinking but worth it in the end.
Also, is she crate trained? If not, I would also add this to her since you cannot leave her unattended with the other dogs if you are away for some period of time even if it is short.
When I leave my house for what ever reason, no matter how long I will be away, all of mine are crated and most importantly the Pitty's are always crated when I leave, period. Because they are like a time bomb when set off, and for the most part they don't know why they bit the other and are very sorry afterwards over the ordeal. It is for their safe being to crate when no one is home to watch.

Thanks for your replies! I have been around and have gone to training classes with my other dogs so I am an experienced dog owner. I am not nervous around her and both me and my husband work with her and have raised other dogs but have never had this problem. Before she does attack her tail goes straight up and the hair on the back of her neck stands up. It is not fear aggression. She does not bark first, she just lunges. We are working on clicker training and use the nothing in life is free approach and she is always confined to the laundry room if we leave the house and never left alone with our other dogs. we do muzzle her if she is going to be around our other dogs outside but we are always home. We didn't start muzzling her until one attack on our other dog was so bad that we had to take her in to the vet because her throat was so swollen. Now our other dog is afraid of her and wont come out of her crate if Ruby is in the house. Thank you very much for your replies, please keep them coming!

Also, she has been aggressive since she was 4 months old. i thought that was very young to be aggressive. We do not know her parents or where she came from really. Thanks again!

It all comes down to the breed of the dog and the genetics when it comes to aggression. Some people don't approve of muzzling a dog but I do believe there comes a time when you really need to use one. What has you trainer said about rubys aggression? Have you look into protectiveness aggression. I know Neapolitan Mastiff and American Bulldog are very protective of their home and family members. And what I have heard some of them are great with kids in the family home.

She seems to be great with our kids, and my kids love her to death. They can pull ears, tail, sit on her etc and she just goes along. Since I seen her go after a human I don't let them do that any more. They are still around her and can play with her but I am more cautious about what they do to her. As far as the muzzle goes I just feel if I want to protect my other dogs then she has to wear it. The first trainer we had was not very good. She told us this was a pack order issue. She said Ruby is trying to establish her place in the pack which we accepted and tried to work with her on it. She told us it will get better in time. well, it hasn't it has only gotten worse as Ruby has grown and is now stronger than our other dogs. Our other dog who was always the alpha dog NEVER bit anyone or our other dogs (of course me, my husband and children are the alpha's but as far as the dogs she was always alpha until Ruby came along) anyway, my other dog would just give the dogs a look and they would walk away she never bit. Now she tries to give that look to Ruby and Ruby attacks her. But the worst was on our other dog. Our new trainer suggested we have her tyroid tested to see if it was a medical problem, we haven't gotten the results back yet so we don't know if this is the problem or not but I really think it might be her genetics. If it is not her tyroid then they suggest to keep socializing her and training her maybe do private lessons. Right now we do lessons with the entire family, kids included at their place of business.  I am just afraid for my children. When Ruby attacks she grabs on and "shakes" and does not let go. She always goes for the neck and legs. I see from your picture that you have a big dog so you can understand how powerful they are. If that ever happened to my child......... or to anyone else.......... I would never forgive myself.
Thank You again.

I have several big dogs and always monitor them when they are with the kids. Too much can happen too quickly. Ya know what I mean?
 
Hopefully Annie S or T or Someone who deals with this as a trainer can better help you out. Hang in there.

In addition to the helpful comments above I would liek to say that I have a bully breed also and mastiff's have soem of the same charachteristics but seem to be a littel bit more composed then bully breeds. Dogs like this need extreme mental and physical stimulation. They thrive when they are being put to there limits and perform best when they have a STRONG leader who enforces obediance. As mentioned before, training is absolutly necessary. The goo dnews is that these types of dogs are super smart and after they have been trained correctly can make a wonderful companion to you and your family and a obvious protector who will dedicate its life to you! The main point is it needs guidance! Good luck, enroll that pup into some classes pronto and keep us updated!

After reading more I would like to point out that you are handeling this VERY well. I dont believe, like some would say, that dogs are aggressive by genetics, but spurred by particular insticts that may seem aggressive. It means a lot to not lock the dog out of your everday life and it really seems like you are trying to keep it a part of your family while protecting them well. I think you have made a lot of correct steps and hopefully this new trainer will be just what you need! Yes this dog was bred to be a protector and some of the other training methods used on other may not apply to the mental state of your dog. Be sure your trainer does not use force, make sure they understand bully breeds. This pup needs guidance to straighten out its behavior and aggression.....again not force!

It sounds like Ruby has defense drive in her. The reason for the attacks. Some dog all it takes is just a look or any type of body posture. There is a book out called Canine Body Language by: Brenda Aloff I don't know if you have read it or not but its a good book.

Thank You so much! So there is hope for her? I will do whatever it takes to help her.
Keep your replies coming, I feel better about this whole thing with every one!

I cant say that she is ever going to be the kind of dog that you can just let off leash at a dog park, beach, or camp grounds....even with Rory being at her best she can still cause mishcief and she's not even aggressive, she just plays rough. These dogs are appeal to people who like to have a stoic, honorable beast at their sides and while they are great family dogs, great with kids, they perform best when they know their place and what is expected of them. They are like hawks, always have a eye on their surroundings and are forever analyzing things for a possibility of a threat. In regards to her body language, I once read something about bully breeds that may be of help to you. They are bred not to show when they are about to attack like other dogs. That is not to say that they might not show some signs though. Look out for raised ears, a change in her stance, and her alertness versus the typical raised hair and bared teeth. Like I said before, I think you are doing great trying to balance keeping her a part of the family yet restricting her at the same time....defintly keep that up. If you can depend on one thing from this dog it is going to be loyalty, and once she has a understanding of what is expected from her she will obey with a sense of honor......it just takes a lot of work! Pics Pics Pics!

We live in a small town so we wont be worried about taking her to a dog park or anywhere else where there are a lot of dogs, I just want to feel comfortable that she wont attack my kids one day or attack the cable guy or my neighbors who she barks at or my other dogs anymore.  If she wants to protect our family why does she attack my other dogs? They are a part of the family.
Thank you again!

I work at a hotel where we allow cutomers to bring their dogs also. Their was a family staying here who had a Cane Corso (a very close cousin to your dog). The man got the puppy when the lady was pregnant and she was very nervous of what this dog was to become. He had it shipped cross country, payed a great deal of money and was not about to give it up. So the baby comes along, rows into a cute kid, all the while the wife has been cautious and apprehensive around the dog not favoring it at all. The man payed top notch for training and this dog was very obediant.
One day while the husband was at work the kid who was about 3 at this time was on their back deck with the dog, the mother was watching them through the window while doing the dishes. All of a sudden she see the dog, ahckles raised, teeth showing and she thought " my son! I knew it would come to this" she told me she thought her worst fears were realized, she ran outside to see a coyote had gotten into the back yard! Turns out the dog was protecting her family, she had been trying to herd the boy back into the house, never taking her eyes off the coyote.
As she is telling me this we are standing outside in the loading zone in the driveway, the little boy, now about seven has wondered close to the street, the lady tells the dog "retrieve James" and sure enough this big huge mastiff wlaks over to the boy and nudges him over to his mother!
Ther is hope for your dog, she just needs to know her place. Give her a job, training, and more of the kindness and love you have shown her and she will hopefully flourish! a lot of lesser people would have already given up instead of trying to understand this breed humans have made to be so strong yet defiant!