# Vizsla puppy aggressive to other dogs



## Rosie1818- (Dec 26, 2020)

Hi everyone - firstly a huge thank you to everyone who runs and contributes to this site. As a first time vizsla owner I have found this forum incredibly helpful.

looking for some advice. My vizsla puppy Jolly is a bundle of fun who came from a reputable breeder. She was one of 9 puppies and was said to be one of the quieter ones (though I would argue she is quite a dominant little personality!)

She’s aged 12 and a bit weeks now and has had her second vaccinations meaning she can begin to go out on short walks. We had been carrying her outdoors for the last two weeks plenty so she could begin socialising and getting familiar with our local area. When seeing other dogs like this she was quiet as a mouse and just inquisitive.

However, since she has been walking on the ground on the lead she has been quite aggressive with almost every dog she meets in the park - big or small, male or female. She always barks loudly, jumps up or on them, sometimes pins them down, sometimes growls and snaps, though thankfully she hasn’t bitten any other dog yet. It’s a bit awkward with other dog owners who quite often swipe up their puppies in fear.

We haven’t let her off the lead yet but do plan to do this when we get her recalling better on the lead as she is very distracted still. At home we have been practicing positive reinforcement rather than any punishment led behaviour and she is otherwise very trainable and a happy little lady in every regard (she nips like a little shark but does largely respond to ‘stop’ now). 

I am wondering whether we ‘threw her in the deep end’ too soon and she maybe needed to get used to seeing dogs on her walks first or keeping meetings very brief at first? My other thought is that she is being protective of us. We should have named Jolly ‘Velcro’ because she really is attached to both me and my partner. 

I would so welcome any guidance or help from other owners of Vizslas on here that have experienced similar. Perhaps I am over-worrying as she is still so young? Thank you very much.


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## ana19 (Jun 26, 2020)

Rosie1818- said:


> Hi everyone - firstly a huge thank you to everyone who runs and contributes to this site. As a first-time vizsla owner I have found this forum incredibly helpful.
> 
> looking for some advice. My vizsla puppy Jolly is a bundle of fun who came from a reputable breeder. She was one of 9 puppies and was said to be one of the quieter ones (though I would argue she is quite a dominant little personality!)
> 
> ...


Without seeing the behavior, I would say she's just playing a bit more roughly, she's not aggressive. On BC SPCA Accredited North Vancouver Dog Training & Behavior Consulting you have a free dog body language course and it also has play behaviors explained so check it out and compare it to her behavior. You'll see there's nothing to worry about. But well done for using R+, it will be worth it in the long run, you'll see!


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## Rosie1818- (Dec 26, 2020)

ana19 said:


> Without seeing the behavior, I would say she's just playing a bit more roughly, she's not aggressive. On BC SPCA Accredited North Vancouver Dog Training & Behavior Consulting you have a free dog body language course and it also has play behaviors explained so check it out and compare it to her behavior. You'll see there's nothing to worry about. But well done for using R+, it will be worth it in the long run, you'll see!


Ana so grateful for your response I will check that out. Thank you!


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

Rosie1818- said:


> Ana so grateful for your response I will check that out. Thank you!


thank you from myself too. i have been reading and watching videos a lot in this topic, but have never attended this training, i will do it now. this area is so important when training dogs, really appreciate sharing it.


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## ana19 (Jun 26, 2020)

Gabica said:


> thank you from myself too. i have been reading and watching videos a lot in this topic, but have never attended this training, i will do it now. this area is so important when training dogs, really appreciate sharing it.


You are very welcome! Dog body language is such an important topic yet we fail to learn enough about it.


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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

The dog school we attend picks puppies with that behavior and places them in their daycare with older dogs for then to learn how to play correctly with other dogs.

If you have friends with secure, non-aggressive dogs you could set up a play session (your pup on a long leash first) and have the older dogs correct his behaviour. But you need to read up on dog behaviour and body language first to understand when to interfere (and when not).


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## Rosie1818- (Dec 26, 2020)

Frida010 said:


> The dog school we attend picks puppies with that behavior and places them in their daycare with older dogs for then to learn how to play correctly with other dogs.
> 
> If you have friends with secure, non-aggressive dogs you could set up a play session (your pup on a long leash first) and have the older dogs correct his behaviour. But you need to read up on dog behaviour and body language first to understand when to interfere (and when not).


thanks Frida, appreciate your response and help. We had a much better day today she met lots of big adult dogs and was really quite submissive. Still a bit of a bully with some (but not all) small dogs but I have been reading up on how to handle the situation better and that has been helping a great deal.


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## InTheNet (Jun 1, 2016)

We are on our third v and all of them play /fight very rough.
Our current 2 year old and 6 month old you would think they are killing each other. I watch their tails Most always the tail is up and wagging which is good. When up and not moving it is a little more serious. When tail is tucked in it is time to separate them. rarely do we have to separate them. Our first male was kicked out of a dog park because he was to rough. But match him up with another high energy dog and they have a blast.


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## Rosie1818- (Dec 26, 2020)

InTheNet said:


> We are on our third v and all of them play /fight very rough.
> Our current 2 year old and 6 month old you would think they are killing each other. I watch their tails Most always the tail is up and wagging which is good. When up and not moving it is a little more serious. When tail is tucked in it is time to separate them. rarely do we have to separate them. Our first male was kicked out of a dog park because he was to rough. But match him up with another high energy dog and they have a blast.


Thank you so much for coming back. This kind of comment really helps put my mind at ease. As I expected I think I just needed to get my head around the behaviour and look out for the signs of trouble vs just normal play. As is usually the case... it’s me the owner not the dog! 🤣


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