# Vizsla puppy aggressive towards our Mini Dachsund.



## RugersMom (May 31, 2012)

We have a 6 mo old Vizsla puppy, Ruger. We brought him home at 6 wks of age. We have a 11 yr old min doxie and Ruger has been aggressive towards him for the past few months. It almost seems like a jealousy or possessive behavior. I try to keep him from attacking him, but it's hard to be with them in the same room all the time. My concern is Ruger is going to end up hurting Oscar. Any suggestions on how to handle this problem?


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Have you taught Rugar the "leave it" command? It works really well for us when Riley is pestering our cat or my mom's tiny little chihuahua. 

http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/leave-it.html


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## VbarK Vizslas (Jan 31, 2012)

How are they getting along now? Maybe time to 'clip' Ruger. Odin tries to play with our doxies and he is just to rough. The black and tan doxie puts him in his place but the other one just runs from him. We keep the doxies in a separate room when we can. The black and tan one goes in Odin's kennel and won't let him in. So he sits there and barks at her and whines. Kind of funny. Keep me posted.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Does Ruger have a crate? He has to learn some manners, he should respect the older dog. Whatever you do not allow Ruger to continue his behavior. 
I would put a training collar on Ruger and walk him around the older dog... if he barks or lunges I would snap him back and go around again and again until he learns. 
Further more I would teach him sit, down and stay, leave it (as mentioned before by threefsh)


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Just to be clear, Ruger isn't trying to play with the other dog, is he? How is he around other dogs? Vizlas play really rough, and it can be construed as aggression, especially if they play growl or bark. When my dog really gets going he could bring down the house if he wanted to. 6 weeks is a little young to bring home a pup--he might have missed out on some important social cues from his littermates. Now it's up to you and your other dog to teach him those cues!  So he might be trying to play, but doesn't understand that Oscar doesn't want to play, can't play that rough, and is unable to stand up for himself.

If it is play and your dox doesn't like it, but also isn't correcting it, you need to curb the behavior. If it's aggression, then you also need to curb the behavior. As threefsh mentioned, "Leave it" is a great command for them to know. Until he learns that, or if he doesn't listen to it, a little time-out in the crate is ok (don't yell or act angry when you put him in the crate, otherwise he might grow averse to his crate). I used to give my dog time-outs when he was that age and not responding to anything. 

If your dox is too intimidated to handle Rugar, it also probably wouldn't hurt to socialize him to other dogs in a controlled environment. They might be willing to correct unruly play or aggressive tendencies, and he'll learn that they're not acceptable to other dogs. Do you have friends with dogs? Or you could take him to a puppy obedience class--they often have structured play, since there are some things that dogs just learn best from other dogs.

If the episodes are triggered by an object (that is, he is resource guarding) there are steps you can take to teach him not to react that way. Resource guarding is really normal dog behavior, but if it leads to aggression or fights, that's a problem that needs to be trained away. Here's a link for more about resource guarding: http://dogtrainer.quickanddirtytips.com/resource-guarding-dog.aspx.

Further insight into your dog's potential aggression would be great! We can give you more detailed advice then. Keep us updated!


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