Dog Community

dog on dog aggression

Posted : 5/19/2006 9:31:55 PM

I have a large dog family... They have been great together. One of my youngest dogs has always gotten along well with the other dogs, until recently. Within the last 3 months she has started to become very grouchy with the other dogs. If I take here for a walk or to play she growls at the other dogs when we return . She has recently become very protective of her space. If one of the other dogs gets near her while she is sleeping she growls. Lately she has become leary of new people too.. this was never an issue before. It is not constant, but enough to concern me. I am not sure how to fix this. Any suggestions?

p.s. she is smaller than all teh other dogs. ... I am not sure if that might contribute.

mondayblues

Posted : 5/19/2006 10:59:33 PM

as your dog grows up, maybe she is allow herself to be bullied less and less. it could be a dominance issue, your dog trying to climb up the social ladder of the pack. as for being wary towards strangers (which a lot of dogs are), i wouldn't worry about it too much unless she's being aggressive towards them like growling, showing her teeth, lunging etc.

spiritdogs

Posted : 5/20/2006 10:15:55 AM

It's hard to say. Maybe you could describe the history a bit.
How old is she? Is she spayed, and at what age was it done?
How did the other dogs "play" with her before? Was there a lot of give and take, or did the bigger dogs roll her over or stand over her?
How much socialization did she have with people and other dogs, other than your own dogs and friends?
Dogs are pack animals, and they naturally have a suspicion of outsiders, which is why early and continuing socialization is so important, from puppyhood all the way to adulthood (around 15 months of age).

Jeannette Lydia

Posted : 5/20/2006 2:45:26 PM

She is 19 months old. She was spayed at 6 months. There has always been a lot of give and take. When she plays with my male (he was 8x bigger) she would grab him by the neck and he body slams himself onto the ground. None of the dogs have been overly rough or unfair with her.
she has hada good deal of exposure to many different dogs and people. I frequently home foster dogs and we have a good deal of traffic in and out of our home.

Jeannette Lydia

Posted : 5/20/2006 7:24:41 PM

I have always considered myself fairly knowlegable when it comes to dogs and raising dogs.. but socialization had made me realize I have a lot of learning to do!!!

luv4gsds

Posted : 5/20/2006 8:46:29 PM

Is she the first one to go for walks, to get fed first, to be love on first? If she is the first one to do the dogs stuff first then she is seeing herself as the top dog. That is probably why she is doing these things.

Jeannette Lydia

Posted : 5/20/2006 11:06:21 PM

I have always made a point to feed the dogs in a different order, everytime. I rotate the walks and treats and attention. I make sure they know if I am petting one dog they must wait. She never growls at humans or the two eldest dogs. Actually, I just noticed she is only being aggressive with my Basset Hound, the new puppy and (at times) strange dogs.

Amy

Posted : 5/20/2006 11:57:43 PM

I think it's just a dominance issue and because she's a female and it seems that she's surrounded by many male dog's, she's simply trying to give them a message: "I'm not avalible so back off." It's what any girl would do when they're surrounded by men who are just looking for one thing. [

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Jeannette Lydia

Posted : 5/21/2006 6:58:58 AM

6 of my 8 dogs are female and one is only 16 weeks old. The Bassett that she has been the most antisocial with, is female, and they have lived together for a year and half. She is always very nice to my adult male. Everyone is fixed, except the 16 week old male b/c his testies have not dropped. That leads me to belive he has not reached sexual maturity and the drive to mate would not be that strong.