Dog aggression

 Could he be a wee bit jealous of Goose?

When in doubt, a vet visit is always warranted before you make any quick or final decisions. I know he's had a thyroid panel done earlier in the year, but it might not hurt to have it done again just in case.

Likely, though, it is discomfort at another new addition to the home. I would try setting up situations where you can begin to change his *emotional* reaction to the puppy, basically counterconditioning but with an operant standpoint. Do you have baby gates? If you don't, you can use a leash for the same thing, but start rewarding him for any calm behaviours he shows around, or to, the puppy. I would reward him for looking AT the puppy calmly (it's an exercise from Control Unleashed and Click to Calm) and then back to you. I would up his NILIF and work-to-earn stuff for a bit, and design a bit more structure for a while if you aren't already to make it easier for him to see clear boundaries. I would work on rewarding him for calm behaviour while he is in the crate and the puppy is out playing, and prevent puppy from being around the kennel when you aren't training for a while.

He's clearly uncomfortable right now, so that is what you need to focus on. I wouldn't focus on allowing them to play, because right now Aesop clearly doesn't want that. And of course you have to keep your littler girl safe. It's more important now to work diligently to see if you can change his overall opinion of her, while giving him more structure (and lots of puppy-free time as well! That's important) and helping him through this time, as I'm sure it's stressful for him as well.

 Has he been around many other large-breed puppies? Most of your other dogs are smaller, even as adults, therefore even tinier as puppies. Is it possible he's just unsure about this larger puppy-ish thing bouncing around? It might be confusing to his understanding of puppies (puppies should be small, but this puppyish thing is much larger!) Keep in mind, too, that this breed is another Chow, and Chows have infamous problems both being read by other dogs, and reading other Chows. Chows also tend to show far fewer appeasement gestures and calming signals, and have a *tougher* appearance to them even as pups, so there could be a communication barrier between them that is allowing normal relationships to develop. It might take that much extra work to get two Chows to coexist with each other, even though your current guy lives well with the other breeds.

 He does have a fair amount of NILIF rules ..sitting or downing before meals, waiting at the door, no furniture unless invited (he rarely gets on furniture at all, but we do let him take his chews on the couch, as the other dogs will take his things otherwise and he won't chew anything in the crate), but we've definitely upped the rules recently. 

Although he is, in general, a pretty laid back dog the "look at me" type games have never worked. If he's focused on something, we've sat there for 20 minutes at times before he will break his gaze on whatever he was focused on (usually the neighbor dog, as that's the issue we've had the most problem with) and even then he'll break gaze and go on about his business.  He hears what I'm saying, but he will continue to look at what he is focusing on.  Any other time, eye contact is not an issue.  He is not, however, a food motivated dog (even raw lamb, which is his favorite food ever, is not reward enough for something he is truly focused on) and while he appreciates praise, it's not a motivator for him.  

 We do reward calm behavior in the crate when the pup is out, and the past several days he's shown a lot of improvement.  We have a ton of baby gates (we have cats, so there are dog free areas) but our doorways are so oddly shaped that the gates are precariously perched. Our dogs respect the gates, but I'd not trust one to hold if he rammed one while lunging. So, we rely on the crate.  Today we had them both outside, on leash (Aesop muzzled) and that went well until the neighbor dog began to bark. Aesop is very reactive to that dog (it's outside and barks. Frequently and for long periods) so that worked him up a bit, so we ended the session and took him inside, rather than let him continue to work himself up and possibly redirect at the puppy. 

He did live with our elderly Chow for the first 7 months that we had him home, so I'd assume he knew some Chow body language. (he was also with his mom and littermates for 12 weeks) However, his behavior did shift after that first week, once Goose's ears went up fully, so perhaps that is part of the issue.   We do have other upright eared and spitzy/docked tailed breeds, so I"d think he'd be used to weird body signals, but perhaps not.  He's not really been around any puppy aside from Grimm..small or large. (our other dogs, aside from Grimm, were either here first or, in Newt's case, joined the house as an adult)  We don't go to dog parks anymore, so aside from some play dates with friends' dogs, he is usually just around our dogs.And lately it's just been our dogs, since the friend whose dogs he played with had a baby, so a herd of large dogs ramming around isn't their thing.

He's usually pretty nonchalant about dogs/cats/whatever coming into the house.  I really think that, had I added another small dog he'd have been happy as a clam.  Of course, if we hadn't been adding a Chow we wouldn't have added another dog in the first place

Will have another panel run soon as well. 

 I am a newbi here and certainly no expert, but wonder (ala Caesar M videos) if walking the two together with quick collar corrections to Aesop whenever he looks at the pup could help.  I am thinking he might lay Aesop on his side with firm corrections when he reacts as the pup is allowed to come around. 

I think that is what he might do FWIW.  I have no agenda or preferance in training methods.

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 We don't train with collar corrections, so I think it would be confusing to associate the pup with that Same with putting him on his side..while he does know a command to lay on his side (so we can groom, check for foxtails, or just give belly rubs), we don't force our dogs over

Burl

 I am a newbi here and certainly no expert, but wonder (ala Caesar M videos) if walking the two together with quick collar corrections to Aesop whenever he looks at the pup could help.  I am thinking he might lay Aesop on his side with firm corrections when he reacts as the pup is allowed to come around. 

 

I think that is what he might do FWIW.  I have no agenda or preferance in training methods.

 

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No, this is not what to do.  If you leash pop the dog when he looks at the other dog, he could make the association that the other dog is causing his discomfort and *really* start to hate the other dog.  If it were me, I'd feed him roast beef for looking at the other dog!  Then, he gets the idea that the presence of the other dog means great stuff is going to happen for him. 

Please read: http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/Combined_Punishment_Statements.pdf

If you have no agenda, perhaps it's time to broaden your horizons and examine other methods, too.  

I just found this site today, but they have a great downloadable explanation of clicker training - pricey, but worth it IMO: http://www.canisclickertraining.com/ .  I really liked the downloaded videos, too.

Kim_MacMillan

Keep in mind, too, that this breed is another Chow, and Chows have infamous problems both being read by other dogs, and reading other Chows. Chows also tend to show far fewer appeasement gestures and calming signals, and have a *tougher* appearance to them even as pups, so there could be a communication barrier between them that is allowing normal relationships to develop. It might take that much extra work to get two Chows to coexist with each other, even though your current guy lives well with the other breeds.

 We haven't tried him out with the pup this week. It's been too hectic and I thought that a stressful/overly tired attitude would harm more than help. So, he's been pretty content to hang out in the crate while she's out. He's been much quieter while in the crate...ignoring the rowdy play between she and Grimmy and he's been better about ignoring her barking while playing. He will sometimes be a bit lungy/barky, but it's definitely improving.  The neighbor dog has been extra barky this week, which does not help.   (I will forever more scout out any future neighborhood I live in to make sure we aren't next door to outdoor dogs. Good heavens)

We make sure to praise each time we see him ignore the pup's antics/watch the pup calmly. Since we don't leave her unattended, we're usually able to keep a close eye and note when he does so.

I do work/am on call this weekend, but hopefully we can get some out time with them both this weekend. 

I think he is jealous. I also think Aesop will understand if you actually talk with him. Make sure he knows he is still loved a lot. I went through the same thing when I was petsitting a friend's dog for an extended period of time. My dogs would always stare at me like they were saying "Why do you like her?" or "Why dont you pet me instead?". Maybe, just talking to him would work. I explained to my dogs that she is not here to stay, but she needs to be loved on while she is here. They seemed to understand pretty well. Do you give Goose more attention than the rest of them? Or maybe try doing specific things with each dog that you don't do with the others. It is better if you seperate them, for a while unless you are there to supervise. Try to spend more time with all of the dogs as a large group, so they interact better. Also, choose a time when Aesop is asleep and spend time with just Goose, so he is not jealous of your time together. Is he possesive of you at all? I am glad to hear that he is in good health though. Good Luck

 We do make sure to do things with each dog individually..we've always done so and they're used to it :)  We have a wide variety of dogs (although all are laid back) so each like certain things more than others. We also rotate who goes on even short car rides as they all enjoy it. 

For the most part, everyone is out in a group at all times (aside from when we're at work or while we sleep). The exception being the puppy, who is crated when we cannot watch her, and Aesop when the puppy is out. However, Aesop is crated in the same room we hang out in, so that he is still able to see everything. The rest of the time, everyone except Aesop are out wandering around together. Goose and Grimm are quite good friends and play a lot.

Since the pup is crated when we can't watch her or if she needs a nap, etc, (which she's doing at the moment) Aesop is out and about. Currently enjoying a hoof. 

He is not possessive of me. He's actually usually the pushover of the dogs.

 How old is Aesop now?  I would think that could be a factor too.  I believe he is fairly young so may be he just turned that corner where his adult male behavior will be more present?  Just a thought.  I was amazed that at about 2.5 and then at 3.5 we saw different behaviors by Bugsy that had to be addressed.

Glad that he was better today

grab01

 He's actually usually the pushover of the dogs.

That's a telling statement. Sometimes I think that it is the bottom of the run / push over dogs that have the hardest time accepting new comers. The high ranking, confident dogs deal with new comers like they do everything else.

You haven't really said much about the time you give Aesop by himself right now. When I introduced Neiko to my 1 dog household (at the time), I gave Dakota EXTRA attention. We did more of the things that she really liked to do for several weeks after I brought Neiko home. It's a tough time for a resident dog when a new pup is introduced but making life fun fun with lots of individual exercise, mental and physical, can go a long way.

I'm sure that there are some chow breed issues also going on. I don't know anything about the breed though. have you asked around on breed specific email groups or forums?

 He gets his normal evening lovins, feet checks (which he loves), and car rides. He also gets out and about time with chewies with Goose is napping and/or crated. We've made sure to keep more chewies than normal on hand so that he can be entertained if needed. (though he's not big on chewing in crates) He's not a 'doing stuff' kind of dog, so we just up his attention.  He's also praised for any calm behavior when the pup is out.

He's 2 and a half. However, he was already over two when Newt joined the family and he had none of these issues. He's not had any other behavioral issues that makes me think it is an overall temperament issue (no guarding, no possessiveness, not pushing rules). He's still reactive to the neighbor dogs, but that's been an ongoing issue.

There's really only one Chow forum and it's not somewhere, for the most part, where knowledgeable dog people go.  Aggressive behavior of any sort (be it human or dog)is often just shrugged off. Training of any sort isn't often done either. There are very nice people there, but it's not somewhere that you'd get training advice.

I can also note that my first Chow, also a male, didn't have this issue nor have the few Chow owners I've talked to in the area. Even the one with an intact dog. So I think it's an "Aesop" issue, rather than a breed one.  The dogs I've heard of who have had any dog issues have had same sex issues..never with a female, and much less with an opposite sex puppy.Even his breeder has never heard of any issue aside from occasional same sex aggression in mature dogs.

 I'm still fairly certain that if it had been any small breed dog I brought home, he'd not be behaving in this manner.