treatment using 5 HTP for my big dog !!

[Rosco34]

I am looking for any advice on or help with a French Beauceron Shepard dog. He is large for the breed weighing 55 Kgs and is taller than most. He is very fit and powerful. But he suffers from boughts of sudden aggression with strangers. He has bitten two people and recently attempted to snap at the hand of a vet who was sent to our home to assess him after a recent complaint was made. He is now labelled an aggressive danger with phsychology issues.As a result we have been asked to put him down or risk serious prosecution if we do not comply. Only medical treatment and training can avoid this.He is four and a half now. Originally bought by my parents in law who are elderly and not dominant, he lives in a large home with acres of space beside a very calm Pyrenee mountain dog , female. I arrived here to live on the same property ( diff house ) when he was 1 yr old. Bad habits had formed and he did not obey. His father was a large and very aggressive dog too. We trained him using professional help, had him neutered at 3 , used electric collars, and all sorts of technics to calm him. He is quick to fight when encouraged but seems never to attack unless set upon or in a new and stressful situation. He is obviously very protective of the home and his two bite victims were on the property when he snapped. They are single bites and not prolonged but his size makes it so dangerous. He is generally very obedient with us but he has a mind of his own. When he tried to bite the vet it was on a leash and led calmly up to the vet who put her hand out and said high. He snapped immediately and just missed the fingers. He is a lovely dog normally and he loves us all apart from my three and a half year old little girl who came a year after he was born. He growls at her all the time and seems to hate her. I never leave them alone.
So there is the background. The dog is essentially on death row now and the cheque for the vet is written. I love him so much and he is such a beautiful and healthy ( physically at least ) animal that it is killing me to put him down.
QUESTION. Can this odd form of aggression be treated chemically. Is , for example , 5 HTP a possible aid a last ditch effort ? Has anyone got any advice. I am so torn and wish a lovely strong work hound like this was never purchased for a family enviroment in the first place. Any opinions at all are welcomed . Thanks very very much.
Ps I am Irish but live in South West France.

[Godlovestheanimals]

I would try giving the dog benydryl which is an antihistamine which makes the dogs more drowsy.  We have a 1 1/2 yr. beauceron male that is fearful of storms and strangers and I have just started giving him one 25 mg. tablet each morning in a spoon of food.  If a storm comes, I have to increase that dose.  If your dog is very large, it might take 3 tablets.  It will take the edge off of his fear/aggression.

[Rosco34]

Thanks for your thoughts Jerry ! They are very hard on animals in France and not as loving and close to their pets as the average Irish guy or American.
   The medication route is a possibility but will have to get permission from the vet to trial it !! Seems mad. He is my animal. He is never off the property unleashed and has never attacked anyone but people who arrived through the gate without warning ! Its harsh over this side and if there is a slight threat they tend to just terminate it. Smelly ungrateful French !!
Thanks again

[Jerry_NJ]

Sorry you haven't gotten any help so far.  I don't have any personal experience that I can share, but I can share that I have read posts here in which I recall Prozac (sp?) being mentioned to calm a dog down.. a prescription would be needed.  I know the drug name in human use for depression which doesn't strike me as something that would be calming, but perhaps when depressed a "downer" helps by making one "groggy" ... talk to a vet about psychotic (I'll call them) medications for dogs - to calm down aggression.  Didn't the vet who recommended putting the dog "down" have any alternatives? ?

I live in the USA so my experience with vets may be totally different from yours.  

Hope you find some help, always sad to put an animal to death..but the size of the subject do could make him very dangerous.  If my 20 pound Westie got aggressive the worse thing he could do is bit a human on the lower part of the leg.