dog living in two places= aggression?

It could be that....a lack of stability and leadership. But fill us in on some other info like his age, breed, is he fixed, has he been socialized and obediance trained. Also how and when is he dispalying his aggression? Is it food, toy, animal, or human aggression? What is his exercise schedule like?

 It might be, your boyfriend might have an idea of setting rules boundaries and limitations in his house and you maybe are totally different in yours, that confuses the dog, an example: a dog is allowed to sleep on the couch in one house and not in the other, if you add some more you can expect the dog to dont know which rules he has to follow and which wont, why he is getting away with some things and suddenly is the opposite? you and your bf have to sit down and talk about it, or having the same rules on both houses or having the dog living in one house only

Bacon is 1 year old, new to the family, boston terrier, male neutered. we aren't sure about his past, all they told us is they did socialize him (he does seem good with other dogs) and he was never taken to an obedience class. they told us he was house broken, although we don't believe that, and they also said they limited his toys and his space (kept him in one room only) because they thought it seemed like it was sensory overload for him. since he's come to live with us, he has had pretty much unlimited room and free roam of the furniture at both houses. he's also had as many toys as he wants. my boyfriend and i try to be consistent and talk about rules of the house, etc. both house rules are pretty much the same. he is not aggressive with toys, food, or anything like that. he's never shown aggression with me, only submissiveness. the one major time he was aggressive with my boyfriend was when robbie (the bf) was taking him out and accidentally dropped the leash. bacon got loose and ran and when robbie finally cornered him and bent slowly, talking in a calming tone, to get the leash, bacon bit his hand, drawing blood on the knuckles. this was about a week ago. since then, he's showed aggression toward him one other time, this time bacon peed on the floor and then hid behind the couch in the corner and would not come out. robbie was worried he would bite him again and tried luring him out with treats, but to no avail. when i got there, about 20 minutes later, robbie had left and bacon was laying on the couch. i approached him and he seemed fine. other than the aggression towards robbie, he has also shown some aggression to a few other men he's encountered. but only a few, not all the men he meets is he aggressive towards. i heard they go through a fear stage around a year old and one of the first men i took him to see approached him quickly and scared him. could this have anything to do with it? he does get adequate exersise as we have a huge backyard and take him for daily runs.

thanks so much for all the help... i really appreciate it, being a first time dog owner this is all so new to both my boyfriend and i.

by the way... just a few moments ago, he peed on the floor and we clapped at him, telling him, no (not in a very aggressive voice or anything) and he ran and hid under the bed, and is now being aggressive again, this time with both robbie and i. robbie said it seems like only when he knows he's done something wrong is when he gets aggressive. hope that helped.

this doesn't sound like aggression at all- sounds like defensive fear behaviors and submissive urination. Having a large man corner you and bend over you can be quite terrifying for a little dog- especially if you barely know the man.

My thoughts are that Bacon was probably not house trained in the appropriate way by his previous owner. The fact that he runs and hides suggests that he is fearful to me. Fearful of being yelled at, hit or maybe have his nose rubbed in it. Lots of people train this way unfortunately but if this is the case with Bacon, you can see the results. Fear aggression! It maybe more apparent with your BF if Bacon was mistreated by a male. I would suggest starting the house training all over again. Make sure he is taken outside on a regular bases so he can avoid peeing in the house. Peeing outside should be rewarded with LOTS of praise and treats. If he does have an accident in the house you can calmly pick him up and take him outside. Do not physically or verbally correct him. If he runs and hides, just ignore him and clean up the pee. Wait until he comes out on his own. I would be very careful being anything but positive with Bacon (especially your BF) until Bacon totally trusts you. He may have come from a home where he was somewhat abused and has developed a real fear of being punished.

Good luck and welcome to the forum. 

thank you all so much for your help! we have gone TWO WHOLE DAYS without a mistake in the house!!!

Yay for Bacon!!!!!!! 

Good job, Bacon!!!

Changing households can definitely be stressful for dogs, so if there are any underlying insecurity/fear issues moving around would quite likely make them worse. Whatever you're doing must be working since he's getting better, so good job to you, too. Just remember he's more afraid of you than you are frustrated with him :-p

thanks for the help! cita, what kind of puppy is rascal? he is SOOOO cute!

Thanks :) he's a papillon, and quite a handful. He's had some place-changing-exacerbated issues, like your dog, but we've been working hard on it and he's getting better. Hiring a professional to work with us helped unbelievably! 

It could be the fact, if in fact, while over at your boyfriends (I'm assuming) there are no other pets.  If this is the case, then he's used to having everything to himself.  Then when he comes to your home, he has to share, or the other dog is just there to come a sniffin' to see what he has and he don't like that.  Kind of like a kid, when you're an only child your not used to sharing, then your parents have the nerve to have another kid, and now you have to share your toys!  How dare they!!!  These are my thoughts, after all dogs are so much like children, trust me I have 3!  It never gets easier!  LOL  Good Luck!!!