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I was over at neighbor friends' place and they 6 mo. old puppy always loved me, and did initially for quite a while - then all of a sudden he became quite aggressive, jumping up, growling, snapping, etc. - we (neighbor and I) have no clue why (to be honest, it was kind of scary and I left right after)
Pup should have Firmly been correct! Hes growing up trying his Pack leadership.
Agree. He's pushing buttons, asserting himself, and starting to test what he can get away with. Its part of growing up. If no one (like clueless owners) has done so before, now's the time to teach him what is acceptable behavior and what isn't. You don't need to be mean about it, just calm, firm and consistent. He needs to learn that no one must or will tolerate rude behavior. If his owners don't understand what's going on either they need to get him into some puppy/obedience classes before they end up with a obnoxious nuisance that isn't nice to live with. It could become dangerous for people and dog. Dogs like this end up losing their homes when owners decide they want to pass the problem they created on to someone else. One nip, lunge, or knock down of the wrong person and they could end up in legal hot water.
Last edited by Parnassia; 06-17-2022 at 01:23 PM..
The neighbor should organize some obedience training and have some rules of behavior for the dog. Dogs don't grow into perfectly behaved citizens without a lot of guidance and training.
If the neighbor won't train the dog and it gets aggressive, stop going over there,
I'm going to add this, though, without having seen what actually happened, some dogs do a play rumble and can get a bit rough when they are playing, with a lot of bouncing and jumping and high speed action. It's impossible to say whether the dog was really aggressive or maybe his play actions were misinterpreted.
My Pensive has a play rumble that would make you wet your pants if you didn't realize that the rumble is an invitation to play. She will swank around with a toy, rumbling, but if you hold out your hand she will gently place the toy in your hand, hoping you will throw it for her. It's a noise that gives you pause and if a dog I didn't know was making a noise like that, I would be cautious. Pensive, though, she is just talking. She has a huge voice and her bark will shake the rafters, so her play noise is also loud and deep.
It's impossible to judge what happened from a story online. No matter what, an obedience class would be good for both the dog and the owners. it is extremely rare for a dog who has been nice to suddenly turn aggressive, so probably a few ground rules about behavior will nip this in the bud.
Adding this: it is also possible that some one in that house is roughhousing with the dog. If that happens the dog thinks that the way to play is to be rough.
I won't allow anyone to play slap-face or tug-a-war with my dogs because it results in the dog thinking that rough play is the way to play. Then the dog gets into trouble by doing what he has been taught.
Neighbor corrected him immediately but twice he tried to leap up at me (and I'm a little under 5') - she put him in the house. He is also super aggressive to neighborhood dogs and they are outside the chain link fence and just being friendly. I did suggest she do something to get him socialized. It was scary though that he could just up so high and bare his teeth in my face and the growling!!!
OP, have you been near/around a female "in heat?" Dogs can smell/sense that.
That's what I was thinking.
The bratty growly puppy phase when they are pushing buttons usually happens around the 16 week mark if I'm recalling correctly.
6 months sounds more hormonal.
Edited to add: I just double checked the puppy phases and 16 weeks is the fearful stage where a previously chill pup might get easily frightened and overwhelmed in certain situations. Six months is the beginning of the pushing buttons phase.
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