# My dog showing uncharacteristic aggression towards other dogs lately - help!



## Tina Bendzsa (Apr 11, 2012)

I haven't posted on here in quite a while but hoping to get some advice as not sure where to turn. Up until last week, our dog, Zsiggi, has always been an extremely submissive and playful dog; both around other dogs and people. We've always said how lucky we are to have such an easy, laid back Vizsla. I say laid back, because he seems to prefer to sniff and roll on his back at every dog he sees rather than getting over-excited to run around, jump in and play. We always try to give him 3 walks/runs a day either in our neighborhood or the dog park so he's constantly meeting other dogs. 

Last week, my husband took Zsiggi to the usual dog park, and, instead of cautiously approaching and sniffing each dog as he typically would do, he lunged at and aggressively barked at the dogs around him. Unfortunately, one of those dogs happened to be an alpha male bull terrier who felt the need to put Zsiggi in his place. It took 3 men to pull the dog off of ours who was now shaking and whimpering at the whole experience. We thought it was just a fluke (full moon) sort of thing and for sure he would have learned his lesson, right? Well, today I took him for his usual afternoon walk. He walked past several neighborhood dogs incident free but then snapped at a golden lab puppy just as we were walking past. We had both dogs on opposite sides of the sidewalk on short leashes so can't figure out what would make him suddenly try to lunge and bark at this poor little guy. I was so embarrassed by his actions that I didn't know how to react and now I'm so worried that this new behavior is not going to disappear as I don't know what actions to take to stop this. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!
Tina


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## MilesMom (Jun 21, 2012)

How old is he?


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

It could be age related if he's an adolescent, but a trip to the vet might be in order too. I think it was Huntvizsla that had a dog with thyroid problems that caused aggressive behavior.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I don't know if Zsiggi was briefly on his leash at the dog park or not... but he was on his leash when he snapped at the lab puppy. It could be that his recent behavior developed when he realized that being on leash offers him no means of escape. Sometimes dogs get "aggressive" on leash because they are a little bit scared. They know they can't really run away, and so "the best defense is a good offense." Just a thought. One thing I do know for sure is that dog parks can be risky, and you should never, ever have your dog on leash at the dog park.


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## Tina Bendzsa (Apr 11, 2012)

Thanks for all of the suggestions. At 20 months old, he's definitely an adolescent so it could be that he's acting out (he was neutered at 14 months). He didn't have a leash on him the first time he acted it out and with the 2nd incident both dogs were leashed. I never thought of his thyroid but his vet does suspect a slight heart murmer (supposed to get more tests done to confirm). He's not shown any aggressive tendencies to people at all.

Any tips for handling a situation like this in case we are confronted with this again? Any training strategy we should work on?

Tina


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## marathonman (Jan 15, 2013)

While making sure things are okay at the vet, I would strongly suggest finding a trainer to have a few sessions with to work through these situations. Of course, finding the right type of trainer is key. (positive, positive, positive) 
It's hard to accurately determine what the cause of his "reactive"/aggressive behavior is, whether it's leash or dog aggression, or something else without actually being there. (Although I second mswhipple, dog parks are very risky) 
If I were to speculate going on the information from your original post, as a start I might suggest working spending more time on basic and advanced obedience and tricks. You stated that he's always been laid back, so maybe he needs a little more daily interaction and mental stimulation to keep his mind focused, especially on walks. For the time being on walks, give other dogs wide berths and focus on training to distract when passing. (lots of treats and praise)


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