When we got Remy at 8 weeks there was another girl who lives in our apartment complex who had a female boxer mix puppy two months older than him. We became friends and after Remy was fully vaccinated (and her too) we started letting them play about every other day. They get along great! Recently, however, she has become increasingly aggressive. She is very possessive and will growl and snap at other dogs if we take them to the park. She is also very food aggressive.
Our friend thinks that her dog is perfect and refuses to discipline her/correct her when she does this. She just gives her treats to 'distract' her, etc. making the problem worse.
She had never been aggressive with Remy before but recently tried to bite him while they were playing with toys. Now Remy has started picking up little aggressive habits. The other day a loose dog ran up to him in our complex (yes, they aren't supposed to be off leash, but that's okay) and he growled at it meanly. There is a new 3 month old puppy that another friend has that he's around a lot and he growled at it when it tried to play with a toy he had. Lastly, tonight, we fed him and the puppy near each other (for the first time) and he growled and tried to snap at the puppy for getting too close while he was eating.
We have never had any issues with food aggression in particular... we have fed him by hand/ stuck our hand in the bowl often since he was a pup. We have started greatly limiting play with the boxer mix. Is there anything else we can do? I NEVER want him growling/snapping at another dog. All three times I have disciplined him rather harshly (much harsher than normal) by pulling him back by his collar and telling him NO! and removing him from the situation to allow both of us to calm down. Do you think this was wrong?
I just need some advice as we do not want a dog that is remotely aggressive/possessive.
Our friend thinks that her dog is perfect and refuses to discipline her/correct her when she does this. She just gives her treats to 'distract' her, etc. making the problem worse.
She had never been aggressive with Remy before but recently tried to bite him while they were playing with toys. Now Remy has started picking up little aggressive habits. The other day a loose dog ran up to him in our complex (yes, they aren't supposed to be off leash, but that's okay) and he growled at it meanly. There is a new 3 month old puppy that another friend has that he's around a lot and he growled at it when it tried to play with a toy he had. Lastly, tonight, we fed him and the puppy near each other (for the first time) and he growled and tried to snap at the puppy for getting too close while he was eating.
We have never had any issues with food aggression in particular... we have fed him by hand/ stuck our hand in the bowl often since he was a pup. We have started greatly limiting play with the boxer mix. Is there anything else we can do? I NEVER want him growling/snapping at another dog. All three times I have disciplined him rather harshly (much harsher than normal) by pulling him back by his collar and telling him NO! and removing him from the situation to allow both of us to calm down. Do you think this was wrong?
I just need some advice as we do not want a dog that is remotely aggressive/possessive.