# Aggression



## aitkenan (Mar 11, 2020)

Recently, my almost 1 year old vizsla has been getting very aggressive towards me (female) when my husband Is away for work during the week. Specifically, when I go to put him in his kennel at night. He has bitten me more than once. I understand I need to assert my dominance over him but when he gets aggressive I have to protect myself. 98% of the time he is a very well behaved, sweet sweet boy, but when he gets aggressive I am terrified. I know enough to know that dogs can sense fear and I try my best to be dominant and strong. Any advice on this issue? Anyone else ever experience this with male vizslas and female owners?


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

aitkenan
That is a very, very, serious problem, and definitely not to be rationalized in any manner whatsoever.
I have had 3 males previously and two females, and I currently have a 5-1/2 month old male.
All of the males, including the 5 1/2 month old have "tested me" to determine who is actually in charge. The females did not. With the males the real test came at 14-18 months old. They can never, ever, ever, be allowed to actually "bite". That is a cardinal sin!! They have all threatened, and sometimes "snapped" at me in bluffm but an actual bite. Absolutely not.
The first thing you should do is schedule a Vet visit to determine if there is an underlying cause, ie pain in a joint, or the spine. Once that is ruled out, it's "game on".
Every one of the males "found the wall". This was a no BS, quick as a snake ,correction that I set them up for. It was very physical. 
This is not something that you do, if you have never been walked through the process. Enlist the aid, or pay a trainer, to get you through it. Do it now.

Mike


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

I would start with a very thorough vet visit. Any possible blood test and any other ones needed to follow. If you are absolutely sure it is not physical, try and locate a behaviorist.

I have 2 boys, 4 years and 22 months old. The last time any of them was biting me was during their teething shark phases. The maximum amount of ‘testing’ my authority has been leash pulling or not coming immediately when called. If i ever had to experience what u are describing i would follow the regimen above and see whether there is an undelying issue with the dog withelp of professionals. 
I don’t ever hit my dogs or apply any form or harsh physical corrections. I do believe on trust based relationship, caveat being the dog is physically and mentally healthy.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Hopefully he is testing his boundaries, and it's not a ongoing problem. I too would have the vet do a thorough check, including blood work. You didn't say if he was breaking the skin ( puncture marks, drawing blood) or mouthing you.
Have you reached out to the breeder?
I would be asking if they have seen this in any of their dogs. If they did, how was it resolved. And if any littermates are having the same problem. 
Helping with rescue, we have had some Vizslas come in with hardwire issues. They are viciously lashing out, not just a bite. One had to be put to sleep, as we could not figure out his triggers. He was unsafe to foster, and could never be adopted. We have a second one that has been working with a trainer, and behaviorist for the last two months. The jury is still out, on if he can be saved. He is the most friendly outgoing dog, until he is not.
They have figured out a couple of his triggers, and are working on them. He does very well, and then has set backs. Every time I ask about him, I brace myself for the answer. I was the one that made the decision to pull him, after a meet and greet at the shelter. He spent two days with me, before going to the trainers. As no vet would board him, due to kennel aggression.


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## aitkenan (Mar 11, 2020)

Thank you for your response! Maverick has has multiple blood work tests done and nothing has ever come of them. The two times that he has bitten me, he has broken skin and bruised my arm and hand. I definitely sense that he is testing me. I can tell when his mood shifts from “playful retaliation” to aggression and having been bit, I probably don’t act as a should to ‘show him who’s boss’. We have sent him and still go with him weekly to standard training classes (sit, place, come...etc) and he excels at those in every area.

I make it important to give him plenty of physical and mental stimulus throughout the day. He is very good with other dogs and people. He has never been aggressive towards other animals or people. I have noticed that this occurs moat often after days of him being in his kennel for many hours while at work. It’s almost like he gets anxiety having to go back in for the night.

Again, this is a very rare occurrence but when it happens, it happens. I will definitely be looking around Austin for some behavioral trainers. My dog is a part of my life and I certainly don’t take this lightly but I am determined to try everything to figure this out.


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## jrobitaille (Jan 5, 2020)

aitkenan said:


> Recently, my almost 1 year old vizsla has been getting very aggressive towards me (female) when my husband Is away for work during the week. Specifically, when I go to put him in his kennel at night. He has bitten me more than once. I understand I need to assert my dominance over him but when he gets aggressive I have to protect myself. 98% of the time he is a very well behaved, sweet sweet boy, but when he gets aggressive I am terrified. I know enough to know that dogs can sense fear and I try my best to be dominant and strong. Any advice on this issue? Anyone else ever experience this with male vizslas and female owners?


My 1yr old male (Uther) rarely challenges my husband but has no issue with constantly challenging me. With my husband retired, they spend a lot of time during the day together, often starting the morning with a 7-10km walk. Recently Uther has decided that he feels that he can walk himself and has started to jump at me and nip at my hands and clothes during the walk.  I realise that he is testing his boundaries on who is the alpha during the walks. With the Covid-19 having severely limited access to playmates and playing fetch in local parks, his 10+ lm walk in the morning and 5km walk in the evening are just not enough to burn off his energy (he was walking 3km at 10 weeks). He has increasingly been testing my authority during our quarantine and so I fall back to three words to guide me during the trying time "Persistent, Consistent, Insistent". When he is being a real jerk, I am insistent that he obeys me and I don't take any slackness in his performance. We repeat it over and over again (often with him getting very frustrated and barking at me), but I never show any emotion or get angry. There are days that I have counted to 200 over and over again because he can really get my goat going with him being such a pain, but when he succeeds, he is rewarded, and then we repeat until he can do what I want at least 3 times in a row. This helps to get him focus (and distracted from being such a jerk in the first place). Vizslas require a firm hand with consistent positive reinforcement. I can't wait for when he "settles down" - my husband I were laughing last night because I told him that I was the one to take Uther to the vet to get neutered so Uther would finally realise who was the boss. I then said that I should pin my husband and dominate him in front of Uther so Uther can see that I am top dog in the house...LOL. Persistent, Consistent and Insistent.


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## Bolt (Oct 29, 2020)

gunnr said:


> aitkenan
> That is a very, very, serious problem, and definitely not to be rationalized in any manner whatsoever.
> I have had 3 males previously and two females, and I currently have a 5-1/2 month old male.
> All of the males, including the 5 1/2 month old have "tested me" to determine who is actually in charge. The females did not. With the males the real test came at 14-18 months old. They can never, ever, ever, be allowed to actually "bite". That is a cardinal sin!! They have all threatened, and sometimes "snapped" at me in bluffm but an actual bite. Absolutely not.
> ...


Hi Mike,

I am having the exact same problem the OP has posted. We have a very sweet puppy, Bolt. He sits when asked to stays to get his treats and food, and I have been taking him to Puppy Manners training sessions where he is pretty good and is moving up the class levels. What has changed is if he is sleeping and we walk into the room, he growls and bites us. The bits have varied from pressure applied to make the skin black/blue or draw blood and this morning he bit my husband's left hand to the extent that he had to apply pressure to stop the bleeding after a few minutes. 
Bolt is 10 months old and tis behavior started 3 weeks ago. He has always had resource guarding since we brought him home at 8 weeks so we give him his food and walk away.
From your comment above, what do you mean by "found the wall". What other advice can you give. I am taking him to his vet and will probably look for a behaviorist.

Thanks for any advice you can give.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

"Find the wall" is a metaphor, but at times it has been literal.
The context in which I am using it is a behavioral boundary that they are simply not ever allowed to pass. Such as biting and aggression, or assertiveness. 
5 of the 6 Vizslas I have had required a very overt, very loud, and very threatening correction when it came to trying to threaten me, or impose their dominance. All of them happened between the 14 and 18 months stage, or there about. This isn't the normal growling, posessiveness that they all display from time to time with toys and the errant sock they find. A hold over from instinctive litter mate play. This is a serious warning on their part.
I am not physically abusive. I don't beat them, whip them, yank them by their collars off their feet. None of that. It is a very quick, very physical, very loud vocal response on my part. Unfortunately, they all seem to try and squirt away, once they know they've had it, so their have been times they literally bounced off the wall trying to get away. 
I do not believe in beating dogs, or "punishing them", or abuse in the guise of "they earned it". They do not possess the mental faculties to understand those types of actions, and it will only get worse. They most assuredly understand a very loud, threatening, display and that if I push them out of their space, they have yielded and I have made my point.
Once it's over, we go back to playing, or whatever. Lots of praise, lots of positive physical attention.
At 10 months old, your boy is beginning to establish his understanding of "boundaries". This is the time for you to be absolutely clear with him. He's going to push you, and try to get his way, you just need to be firm, unyielding, and fair.


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## Bolt (Oct 29, 2020)

gunnr said:


> "Find the wall" is a metaphor, but at times it has been literal.
> The context in which I am using it is a behavioral boundary that they are simply not ever allowed to pass. Such as biting and aggression, or assertiveness.
> 5 of the 6 Vizslas I have had required a very overt, very loud, and very threatening correction when it came to trying to threaten me, or impose their dominance. All of them happened between the 14 and 18 months stage, or there about. This isn't the normal growling, posessiveness that they all display from time to time with toys and the errant sock they find. A hold over from instinctive litter mate play. This is a serious warning on their part.
> I am not physically abusive. I don't beat them, whip them, yank them by their collars off their feet. None of that. It is a very quick, very physical, very loud vocal response on my part. Unfortunately, they all seem to try and squirt away, once they know they've had it, so their have been times they literally bounced off the wall trying to get away.
> ...


Mike, thank you for this valuable right on time advice. We have started showing him who the boss is by raising our voice in a commanding way and not being obnoxious. When he growls we do corner him and say no and then when he stops, we say good boy and give him treats and get back to playing with him.
Thanks again.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

I spend a good amount of time around horses, and it's really kind of the same thing. A horse can physically overpower a human with no effort, so another way has to be found. It's a game of bluffing.
Many of the techniques I've been taught to use with horses, I apply to dogs, and the reverse.
Be careful with the "cornering". Always try to leave a path, both physical and mental, for escape if the pressure gets to high, or you risk kicking off the "Flight or Fight" syndrome.


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## Bolt (Oct 29, 2020)

gunnr said:


> I spend a good amount of time around horses, and it's really kind of the same thing. A horse can physically overpower a human with no effort, so another way has to be found. It's a game of bluffing.
> Many of the techniques I've been taught to use with horses, I apply to dogs, and the reverse.
> Be careful with the "cornering". Always try to leave a path, both physical and mental, for escape if the pressure gets to high, or you risk kicking off the "Flight or Fight" syndrome.


I agree, cornering will trigger other modes of self protection. This is our first pet and we are learning as we go. In the process of getting professional help too.


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