What to do about my dog beginning to show aggression?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m in a tough spot and could use some guidance on good behaviors and good places to do research. This could get long, apologies in advance.

I have a Black Lab mix named Daytona I adopted from the Humane Society last year. She’s two-and-a-half years old – seems to be almost entirely Lab, but she has dark brown markings like a Rottweiler or Doberman would have. From the time I adopted her until very recently, she’s been an absolute sweetheart and joy to have. She’s cuddly, waggly, smiles a lot and is just generally a happy dog. She shows no food aggression and will-- with some stubborn resistance – release any toy or bone I decide to take away without snapping or growling.

My boyfriend also has a Black Lab / Border Collie mix, also from the Humane Society, named Dharma. She’s one-and-a-half, and though a bit hyper and nervous, is also sweet. When the two dogs met, they were instant friends and have since been together most days and play hard with one another.

Daytona, from day one, has been a bit of a brat about toys. Her delight is to take another dog’s toy and show off with it, baiting them into chasing her. Dharma rises tro the bait every single time, and Daytona has gotten progressively more aggressive in guarding whatever toy she has. We now don’t let either of the dogs have toys at home (which sucks), but they find sticks and balls to play with at the dog park and the chase will be on.

On Monday, my boyfriend had both dogs at the dark park and they were romping together, mouthing and batting and chasing. Daytona got more and more snappy during this, and suddenly lashed out and bit Dharma’s eye. The eye itself is OK, but she has a 3-inch gash above her eye and a very small one below it, and the vet has her one of those plastic collars for the rest of the week.

Daytona has since been displaying similar aggression, though they haven’t scrapped. She growls and wrinkles her lips and gives those “mean sounding” barks when they play hard. It’s got me very concerned about her, about Dharma, and about other dogs Daytona encounters at the park. I don’t know what to do about it.

Some ideas I have:
– Is she feeling insecure about her place in the “pack” with me? She used to be my one-and-only, now she’s sharing me with Dharma and boyfriend

– When does it make sense to intervene as she plays with other dogs? Right now, I yell a sharp “Hey!” when things start to escalate, and she always stops when I do

Is there anything specific I can do? Do vets offer advice about this type of thing? I love my dog dearly and want her and every creature she encounters to be safe and happy.

2

Daytona has determined that Dharma is the submissive dog and is enforcing her dominance. After a few scraps they will probably sort out their respective places.
Dogs have no notion of ‘fairness’ In their world you’re either one up or one down. You can probably hasten the process along by feeding Daytona first, giving her more attention than Dharma, and either ignoring Dharma altogether or giving her cursory attention. The sooner they settle down in their respective roles the better. Beating Daytona for her aggression or reproving her will probably leave both animals confused about their stations in the household heirarchy.

3

Even though it sucks, I would not let them do any of the playing with toys, balls, sticks or anything. What seems to be triggering the problem is excitement/guarding. I have two dogs in a similar situation (although they are not as good of friends as your dogs sound) and every time they’ve had an ugly incident it was triggered by a ball or other excitement. Both dogs have had to have veterinary care at some point as a result of these fights, one with a punctured eyeball ! (amazingly she didn’t lose her eye). Its just not worth it, if they want to play ball, you be the one to play with one of them at a time, not together.

4

Thanks for the responses. Looks like I need to be very demonstrative to Daytona for a while (well, always, but particularly until they have settled into their heirarchy). Based on your comments, I’m thinking part of the sudden escalation is how much attention Dharma has gotten from me lately. I’m going to focus on keeping my pre-Dharma routines with Daytona maintained and shower her with lots of love. I’ll give my cuddles to Dharma on the sly. Heh.

5

I couldn’t disagree more. I have two dogs (male and female) close in age and related raised as littermates for the most part. When my girl (It bugs me when dog folks say 'bitch") started to get aggressive with the smaller, more timid boy, I did a lot of reading on the topic. Here is the nutshell version: It is your place (owner) as alpha to establish pecking orders AND protect weaker members of the pack. Discipline comes from you and you only. The next time Dayton attacks Dharma either you or your boyfriend should prostrate her and discipline her sternly (you don’t need to beat her, just show your superiority). Daytona will respect your authority and appreciate your role as alpha. Dharma will appreciate your protection.

6

Why does it bug you when dog folks say bitch?

7

no rational reason, it’s just engrained in my mind as an expletive, and unless she’s just shit in my shoe, not something I want to call my little angel.

8

no rational reason, it’s just engrained in my mind as an expletive, and unless she’s just shit in my shoe, not something I want to call my puppy

9

Which is ironic, because it became an expleltive when referring to women because it was calling them dogs.

10

Wonder what he thinks when people refer to their horses’ dam?

11

I have to agree with whole bean.
You need to let your agressive dog know that you are the only member of the pack which is allowed to enforce discipline, and that if she tries she will be punished.

Rewarding Daytona will only make her feel that she is in a position to punish the other dog. Feed your dogs at the same time (and after you, of course) and make it clear that no aggression is acceptable.

12

I don’t ever allow her to be aggressive – she does get rebuked when she is, and she responds appropriately. It’s unacceptable for her to ever harm another dog, and I don’t want her acting threatening, either. I just want to be sure that when she’s out of range or left alone with Dharma that I can trust her not to hurt Dharma or any other dog.

For feedings, they both eat at the same time, and my boyfriend and I hadn’t established any order for who gets food first. I’ll pay attention to that now.

Otherwise, I’m just making sure Daytona knows that Dharma hasn’t replaced her in my affections, and I really think it’s already helping. We had only one “wrinkled lips” episode last night, and they spent some time licking one another’s faces for the first time in a couple weeks. I’m hoping that by being more consistently demonstrative with her, she’ll feel more secure in her place and mellow out.

13

I need to clear one thing up: as I understand it, feeding the more dominant dog first is ok, and recomended by many, as it further establishes the order, on your terms. We feed our girl first, greet her first, leash her first, etc. Just don’t allow them to get out of hand physically and if your concerned about it, you might want to separate them when your not around.

14

I’m here, why don’t you ask me? To speed up the process, let me just say that I think, “why are we talking about horses.”

15

How much experience do you have with multiple dogs in the same house? The reason why I ask is that you could potentially be misinterpreting normal dog behavior as aggression.

I have three dogs. When they play, you’d think they’re going to kill one another: bared teeth, growls, snarls, barks . . . Occasionally one will yipe when a nip becomes too sharp, and the other will back off. As long as no one is getting hurt, there’s nothing wrong with your dogs play-fighting. 99% of the time, they know when to stop (unless they were raised without siblings) and won’t actually hurt one another. Accidents do happen, but usually a yipe of pain is enough to make the other dog release.

Watch their posture for clues about what they’re really feeling. A playing dog will have perked ears, and a wagging tail. They’ll usually do the play-bow to the other dog. A tense posture with ears back indicates aggression, but remember that a small bit of it is normal when dogs sort out their status.

Dogs always fight over toys. That’s simply the nature of dogs. One of dogs’ favorite games is keep-away, and they loooooove to tug-of-war and guarding toys from others. Dog Two might have had no interest in the toy until he sees Dog One in the “it’s MINE” stance. As you said in your OP, if they don’t have a toy to fight over, they’ll make one. I suggest you give them back their toys and let them have fun.

Next, I advise that you let the dogs work out the pecking order themselves. Dogs don’t just learn the pecking order suddenly and accept that’s the way it will always be. They’re ruthless social climbers, and will spend their lives trying to go up a notch in status. You will always have to reinforce an artifically imposed pecking order. In my opinion, it’s better to let them sort it out for themselves.

What I do is simply enforce that I am the Alpha Female. I make all the dogs sit before I put down their bowls of food. Putting down a bow for each dog in the order of the status you wish them to have won’t work. The dog seeking higher status will go for the bowl of food, and you’ll have to correct them. That’s the other dog’s job-- if he/she wants to keep his/her status, it’s up to them to reinfoce it.

16

Again, this is contrary to all I’ve read. I’ll go find some cites.

17

here’s one:
http://www.spca.bc.ca/Animalbehaviour/dogaggression.asp

I can’t find the really good article I read, but I did find a few that support those who say “let them sort it out” (I owe an appology to **Lissa ** and **MK VII ** for suggesting their view contradicted ALL evidence. Sorry) Let me just say, that didn’t work for us, but establishing pecking orders sure did. Good Luck!

18

Thanks, Lissa. This is my first time with multiple dogs in one household, but I’ve lived with dogs my entire life. What Daytona is displaying is more than playing. It begins as playing, but progresses to serious stuff: hackles raised, ears back, teeth bared, with lunging and snapping along with the “mean” sounds. I’m OK with displays and lots of very physical, loud romping, but when it shitfs to an attack leading to a vet visit, it’s gone too far.

I’d say that they have established their pecking order (bf and I are alphas, no question – it’s just between the girls that things need to some reinforcement). I just hadn’t paid attention before to backing up that order to keep things harmonious, and I appreciate the advice here on how to do it.

19

I don’t have too much experience with my dog being agressive towards other dogs, but I’ve been learning, as my brother’s dog is coming over more.

Dolly doesn’t get mean with the puppy but she will take a toy and hide with it. If the puppy comes up and wants it, Dolly growls. I am not keen on Dolly growling at this puppy as I don’t want her getting hurt. So I do intervene. I yell loudly (which scares the puppy hehe) and then Dolly brings ME the toy but won’t drop. If I can’t get her to drop I use some of the dropping techniques I learned at school (pinch the tooth to the gums, gently twist the ear)…she is learning nicely to not play this mean game anymore.

I do like a real mom would do - you can’t play nice with the toy, I get the toy. Helps them learn a little I think.

If Dolly is playing with me and the puppy comes up and Dolly growls, Dolly gets “tackled” (put on the ground and held down by her neck) and held down for a bit. The process really just startles her enough to make her think twice about growling again.

It’s all about establishing FIRMLY that you’re Alpha dog.

And BTW none of the stuff I do hurts my dog or makes her yelp. I do it all gently but firmly, nothing that her real doggy mommy wouldn’t have done.

20

pretty much the same thing I do