# Aggression towards other dogs



## garofali

Hello, 

First I would like to say hello and thank you for any advice you can me. I have recently noticed a change in my dog Whiskey. He is now 27months old (just over 2 years) and has started being aggressive to other dogs. We have had him since he was a pup and have taken him with us anywhere and everywhere we can. We wanted to introduce him to many different situations as we could for socialization early on and until now it seemed like it had worked well. He is very good with our 3 boys even our youngest who is 16 months and anyone we come across. I do hunt him and he has been neutered. 

We frequent a local dog park to help get him the exercise he needs and this is where we have been seeing the issue. Whiskey has been going to this dog park for over a year so it is not an unfamiliar place for him. With dogs that he has seen before we never seem to have an issue. With newer dogs or situation where there are too many dogs around him (this typically happens at the entrance all the dogs in the park come up to the gate to investigate to new dog coming in). Whiskey will bark, snap, and growl at the dogs around him. I wasn't too concerned about the situation where he is crowed by 6 or 7 other dogs and chalked this up as his way to telling everyone to give him some space. I generally walk him through this point and get him to an open space before letting him off the lead, but sometimes there are too many other dogs and this becomes difficult. However, I have also noticed this in situations where he is one on one with a dog as well. I'm not sure if this is a simply a dominant behavior sort of thing or something more. Either way, I don't particularly like it and it doesn't always go over too well with other owners (as expected). I don't want to stop taking him to the park as it is a great way for him to burn off some energy. However, I can't have him snapping at every other dog that approaches him. 

So my overall questions to the group is:
Is this normal?
Could it be something more than trying to be dominant?
How can I correct this? 
How worried should I be?
Why has this started all of a sudden?
Has anyone else experienced something similar?


Thank you for any help and suggestions
Tony


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## Ozkar

It sounds more like fear aggression. My Astro who is 3 is the same. Any dog that gets in his face too fast will cop a correction. Over time he's fine, but introductions need to be done slowly. He also reacts rapidly to signs of aggression from other dogs. He has never marked another dog, but he will deck them in an instant if they show any aggression. It's fear.


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## R E McCraith

Oz hit some great points - my V's all male & all alpha males - #1 know your pup - #2 the older they get - the more they control - their enviroment - ask the ? - R they protecting them selves or - me - most likely both - never pup a V in a position where there is no way out - go early - go late 2 the dog park - the pup all jammed up at the gate - is still in the survive mode & 2 protect - not the pups fault - may V not reading what a well bred V DOES !!!!!!


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## organicthoughts

Stay away from the dog park. Find some empty woods where he can run. Too much politics between dogs in the dog park. Problems emerge real fast.


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## mswhipple

Hi, garofali... I just wanted to say "welcome" to you and Whiskey!! ;D You've already been given some good advice. I don't take my boy, Willie, to dog parks. However, if that is your only option, my advice would be to go very early or very late, when there are few (or no) other dogs there.


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## garofali

Thank you all for the comments. 

Do do think fear may be part of the issue, but may not the whole story. Our neighbors have two 16 week old puppies mastiffs and they are slightly smaller than Whiskey now, and he acted the same way when introduced to them. Is is possible that fear is playing a role with these puppies too? They were not showing any signs of aggression, move relative slow and are more clumsy than anything at this point. I have started putting him on a lead when around other dogs becuase is behavior is unpredictable. As OZ suggested introduction are being done slowly.

One other data point to add is I noticed if a dog acts submissive quickly, things generally are OK. Again this could be becuase is was allowed the dominant position and/or becuase they are submissive there is nothing to fear.

Either way the behavior change is still somewhat odd to me. If this is fear aggression, why now? As I mentioned we have been going to this dog park for over a year and he has been faced with many of the same situations he is running into now, just handling them differently. Perhaps, as he is getting older he feels more confident is "correcting" another dog.

Getting inside his head, and see things from dog's point of view can be tough sometime. I'm going to try getting him to the dog park earlier to see how he reacts to with fewer dogs as well as see if him being there first and dogs slowly being added as they arrive is better for him, rather than arriving with a bunch of other dogs already established in the park. One other thought is our youngest has been with us as well, there may be some protective behavior happening as well.

I love him very much and he has been a great addition to our family, just a little worried this could grow into a bigger issue.


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## jenscott9

Hi Garofali-
I am having the identical issue with my 2-year-old newly neutered male. He has also been well socialized and plays at a local park regularly with a small group of dogs. 
In the past few months, he has been showing aggression towards younger dogs who range in age from six months to a year old. He growls and snarls and makes a big scene. After about a minute or two, he seems satisfied that he has established his dominance and is ready to get on with playtime. This behavior freaks most new dog owners out and has been embarrassing, to say the least! If my dog sees this same dog on the opposite side of the street, he goes nuts and lunges to the end of the leash, barking and growling and trying to get at him. 
We are going to try two types of corrective action. First is a pinch collar to keep better control of him on leash. Second is a behavior spray called "butt blaster" recommended by the dog trainer from our puppy kindergarten class. 
I too would appreciate any insight or recommendations from fellow forum members. I also plan to send my breeder a message and seek her wisdom!


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## Tulodog

Can I assume that your dog is not yet fixed? Mine is 8-months old and gets extremely aggressive with other young pups especially when they haven't been fixed. My advice is keep a close eye and learn what situations your dog reacts to and keep him on a "short leash" until he is fixed.
Sometimes I let puppies meet him by keeping mine (Tulo) leashed and the puppies can be off-leash.
The play turns to aggression quickly and other dog-owners react negatively- I know the drill. It's stressful when you're doing all you can to train your boy. Time helps all.


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## gingerling

Hi Tony,

A couple of things come to mind that haven't been mentioned. The first is that we often use very clinical terms for what are essentially normal behaviors, like "Fear" or "Aggression", which aren't very accurate or helpful as they add a level of pathology (and drama) that's unnecessary in understanding both the cause and the remedy. Dogs..even our beloved Vizslas..are predators and if they really wanted to be aggressive, you'd know it. I can share a particularly noteworthy example of #2 and a a Big Brown Bear in the woods of Vermont at some other time...but suffice it to say that in dog lingo there's mostly posturing and warnings. When they're truly aggressive, it's quite the sight. You know it.

The other thing is that most Vizslas don't "Grow up" or become adults really until at the earliest 2+ yrs, and often not until 4. I think that's why you...and most often posts here...report this type of sudden intolerance starting after 2. I think this is what you're now experiencing with Whiskey. Grown ups aren't as tolerant of others who don't know the canine "Rules", and they're guarded around new ones until they figure that out. The puppies next door...well, they're balls of hellfire and impulse, which is the antithesis of the typically orderly way adult dogs interact.

The solution here in an otherwise healthy, happy V...is to just avoid those situations that Whiskey doesn't like. Add my voice to those who don't like "Dog parks"..they are human contrivances for our convenience. To an adult dog, they are often crowded, smelly places with unknown dogs competing for status and recognition. Better you should take him off lead in the woods or for a swim at the lake or something that is more instinctual for him.


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## Spy Car

Zombie thread


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