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I've been having a problem with my dog for a while, and finally thought to ask here for advice. Rudy is almost 2 years old, and right around his first birthday, he suddenly developed a hatred towards puppies. He used to LOVE playing with all dogs, but is now much pickier, and a puppy is almost 100% guaranteed to tick him off. He's never hurt anyone, just does a lot of growling, snarling, posturing, etc. - usually I can stop the behavior there. He did get into a full-blown fight once, with a 5-month old female Pit Bull (and yes, he totally started it - she was a sweetie! )... she was unharmed, but he got a cut on his belly, probably just from landing on a twig.
I met with a private trainer a few times, who said this is somewhat common, and gave me tips for helping the issue. He's gotten a tiny bit better, but I still worry when we're at the dog-park or pet store. Has anyone else dealt with or heard about this, and do you have any tips? I'd love to add a puppy to the house someday, and would obviously want Rudy to like him/her. Oh, and if you don't know his background, he's a pure mutt - supposedly has some poodle blood, but looks kinda like an Australian Kelpie or Cattle Dog. He was a rescue, and I've raised him since about 12 weeks of age. Thanks in advance for any help!
I had a situation years ago with my Cleo and her not enjoying children as they move quickly and tend to be high pitched. Remedy? We keep her away as I'm not looking for a lawsuit.
Any herding type dog might tend to bring things to order and if there are other dogs that wish to be the Alpha of the moment then it's easy for discord to breakout. Not to mention that "puppies" are full of youthful energy and most "mature" dogs don't relish being bombarded by them. At work when a client gets a pup to go along with the older dog we tend to board them in their individual kennels so the mature dog gets some respite
I've been having a problem with my dog for a while, and finally thought to ask here for advice. Rudy is almost 2 years old, and right around his first birthday, he suddenly developed a hatred towards puppies. He used to LOVE playing with all dogs, but is now much pickier, and a puppy is almost 100% guaranteed to tick him off. He's never hurt anyone, just does a lot of growling, snarling, posturing, etc. - usually I can stop the behavior there. He did get into a full-blown fight once, with a 5-month old female Pit Bull (and yes, he totally started it - she was a sweetie! )... she was unharmed, but he got a cut on his belly, probably just from landing on a twig.
I met with a private trainer a few times, who said this is somewhat common, and gave me tips for helping the issue. He's gotten a tiny bit better, but I still worry when we're at the dog-park or pet store. Has anyone else dealt with or heard about this, and do you have any tips? I'd love to add a puppy to the house someday, and would obviously want Rudy to like him/her. Oh, and if you don't know his background, he's a pure mutt - supposedly has some poodle blood, but looks kinda like an Australian Kelpie or Cattle Dog. He was a rescue, and I've raised him since about 12 weeks of age. Thanks in advance for any help!
I had a black lab/golden retriever mix (Shasta) who displayed similar behavior you described when I brought home an 8 week-old Alaskan husky/golden lab mix puppy (Blizzard) when Shasta was 9 years old. I got the puppy for Shasta's benefit, to keep her active and healthy in her old age. Shasta never bit or attacked Blizzard, but whenever Blizzard got close to Shasta, Shasta would bear her teeth and growl very menacingly. Shasta had been raised with another dog I owned for 6 years, but for 3 years it was just Shasta and myself. Shasta was also more than 3 times Blizzard's mass. I always treated both dogs equally, giving them both treats and bones at the same time, but Shasta never did like Blizzard invading her "space." From time to time they would play together, but only rarely, and it usually involved Blizzard batting Shasta on the head with her front paw, then running away while Shasta chased her (Blizzard was always faster). Whenever I played with Blizzard, Shasta would come over and growl at Blizzard to get her to stop. I would admonish Shasta on such occasions, but it never seemed to help.
One day I came home from work and found blood splattered across my foyer. Blizzard had attacked Shasta, bitting her on the back of the neck several times. Even though Shasta could've easily caused serious damage or even kill Blizzard, she never bit Blizzard back. I was very surprised, and fortunately Shasta was not seriously hurt. Shasta was always such a b*tch, I figured she did something that really frustrated or pissed off Blizzard that caused the attack. After that, I put a muzzle on Blizzard when I left them alone together. After a few weeks of muzzling Blizzard, I stopped putting the muzzle on her, and there was never a repeat incident.
I assume that the problem was because both dogs were aggressive females. Now that Shasta is gone, Blizzard has become depressed and sullen. So I will be getting another dog, but this time it will be a male. I've learned my lesson.
Had just the opposite....had a Beagle that we rescued....she [and her female owner] had apparantly been abused by the male(?) in the house, so we thought.....she was the OONLY nasty Beagle I have ever had.... when startled[such as getting out of bed in the middle of the night] she would bite.....hard....The first dawg bites I have EVER had in 65 yrs of living with dawgs....
ANYway.....our other rescue dog[of undetermined breed] died and we got another dog....a puppy....a white eskimo puppy.....The Beagle [Baily] immediately fell madly in love with the puppy and NEVER bit again.....The mellowest dog I have EVER seen.....[she died a year later ]
My question was....If she wanted a puppy why didn't she just SAY SO?
Glitch, Blizzard is a beautiful dog.
I have known several dogs that did not like puppies at all.
It happens. What Cleosmom says (about a herding dog wanting to keep things in order) makes a lot of sense to me, and I've certainly seen "puppy dislike" in all breeds.
There was one gorgeous Irish setter who was mean to my little Rosie when she was a pup, and all she was doing was just standing there.
Later, the setter wanted to be friends when Rosie became an adult (a 155 lb mastiff), but she would have none of it--she was still afraid of him, poor thing, we even had to hustle along past his fence during every walk.
My own Elwood isn't crazy about mid-sized puppies. Teeny, respectful ones are okay, but the more rambunctious ones get too much in his face for his taste.
Thanks cil, Blizzard appreciates the compliment. Rosie is exactly the kind of dog I'm looking for now, but a male. It's kind of funny that such a giant would be afraid of anything. I'm looking for an older dog, between 1 and 4. I'm hoping that with such a large, fully mature male dog, I won't have similar problems with Blizzard that I had with Shasta.
Perhaps the age of your dog has a lot to do with it - 1-2 is a very intolerant age. The dogs are setting themselves up and a puppy is a pesky thing and threatens the pack order, of which Rudy was the chief and the Indian until a new pup came along. If he's a herder or has any prey drive at all it can be a recipe for disaster...and with his newfound aggression with pups, I would simply avoid Petsmart and dog parks (which I personally think are just disasters waiting to happen).
You may have a dog that is territorial, jealous, intolerant, or turning into a grumpy old man. He may or may not mellow with age. My best suggestion is to get him into an obedience class where there are dogs of all ages and he simply must conform - and stick to it.
My personal dogs - well, due to high prey drive and the fact that they are so huge, we just don't go the puppy route. The only "puppy" we have brought in was an 8 month old Rottie that weighed 75 lbs. and could hold his own, but he's also blind. My dogs seemed to pick up on the fact that he's different and allow him latitude they wouldn't allow any other dog. I think it's important, though, that Rudy's behavior be evaluated by a professional trainer (read "not at Petsmart") to see if this is true aggression or just being a teenage butt, and male dogs are teenaged butts for several years sometimes.
I'd also advise people considering a second dog - go with the opposite sex. You'll have far less incidences of aggression in a male/female setup that same sex. Biatch aggression is not pretty. Males generally make a lot more noise and do a lot less damage, but it's still potentially a dangerous situation for both the owner and the dogs, particularly if they are large breed. We happen to have 4 males and 3 females, but they range in age from 15 1/2 to 20 months. And we've been very lucky with the dogs we've brought in - I would NEVER recommend 7 dogs to anyone, it just happened....rescue gets in your blood, and I'm a sucker for the underdog. Once aggression is shown, any infraction deserves the highest red alert you can put on your dogs. Perhaps you will only have one scuffle to assert dominance, but the roles of each dog are subject to change at any point.
Well, that was off topic, but anyway...back to puppies and older dogs....I'd definitely have Rudy evaluated and enrolled in obedience and limit his free exposure to other dogs to a minimum until you can decide if he's just being a pain in the patoot or if he truly has other dog issues. Some dogs can only be in single dog homes, no matter how much you train and work with them.
Thanks Sam, and everyone else who offered advice! Rudy does have a rather strong herding drive, which he usually takes out on the kitties... anytime somebody new enters the room, he'll immediately try to herd the cats - much to their annoyance, though usually they just ignore it. He also used to try that on me, by nipping at my heels when I wasn't moving fast enough for him. I corrected him of the human-herding behavior, but we're still working on the cat one. He's getting much better with the "leave it" command, which seems to be the best method for dealing with it. I wouldn't say he has a prey drive, since he's never tried to hurt the cats or other small animals... even with bugs, he'll catch them & then either play with or release them. One time he accidentally squished a moth, and actually looked sad about it.
But back to the puppy issue, I think Sam is probably right about him being a "teenage butt", LOL. We did meet with a very expensive, SPCA recommended private trainer, who didn't think he was an aggressive case... does have food-guarding issues with certain dogs, but she did a great job in improving that, since he now allows my roommate's dog to eat treats with him. Oh, but he's always respected human & CAT authority over his food... he'll stand back when the 9-lb. cat is eating it (she often does), but didn't tolerate the 95-lb. Lab to get near the bowl.
I think getting him into a group class is a good idea, since it would be a controlled way for him to deal with other dogs. I'd hate to stop taking him to the pet store, but we'll try to avoid parks until the issue is solved. Oh, and I have no immediate plans to get another dog, just mentioned it since that may happen in the future... but my roommate has a Lab, whom he gets along well with (aside from the food-guarding) - though Duke is 11 years old, and as is typical to the breed, doesn't have an ounce of aggression in him. Rudy usually prefers being friends with other males, but I would probably get a female if I added a new dog to the house. Anyway, thanks again for all the advice, and I'll keep you posted!
This was very helpful. I have a 1/2 Aussie 1/2 JRT. Who is a bundle of crazy energy. He is 10 mos. old and for some reason he Hates puppies and gets aggressive with them. It's very out of character for him as he is super social and playful. I hope he outgrows it.. Makes me sad
My issue is kinda the same but not. I have a 3 year old female Golden retriever who is an absolute love and super smart but, I just got a 10 week old male English Mastiff. Now my female hates him and growls at him all the time. I don't know what to do. Any advise?
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)... she was unharmed, but he got a cut on his belly, probably just from landing on a twig.
Whenever I played with Blizzard, Shasta would come over and growl at Blizzard to get her to stop. I would admonish Shasta on such occasions, but it never seemed to help.
I was very surprised, and fortunately Shasta was not seriously hurt. Shasta was always such a b*tch, I figured she did something that really frustrated or pissed off Blizzard that caused the attack. After that, I put a muzzle on Blizzard when I left them alone together. After a few weeks of muzzling Blizzard, I stopped putting the muzzle on her, and there was never a repeat incident.
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I'm looking for an older dog, between 1 and 4. I'm hoping that with such a large, fully mature male dog, I won't have similar problems with Blizzard that I had with Shasta.
