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Aggression issues... need advice (long)

840 views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  ashleylp 
#1 ·
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.
 
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#2 ·
What was your goal -- what were you trying to achieve by having a visiting dog eat near Remy?

How is Remy supposed to communicate with a bratty 12 week old puppy that is trying to eat out of his bowl?

Sticking your hands in his food bowl is MILES and MILES different then a puppy sticking his nose where it doesnt belong.
 
#4 · (Edited)
" 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."

Why is it okay for a loose dog to run up to Remy? Why can't Remy tell a dog that he/she is rude? What would you do if someone ran up to you and got in your face? Is that okay too?
Growling is a communication letting the other dog know what it has done is unacceptable.
By you correcting- stopping the growling at rudeness, what do you think will be Remy's next step to get that to stop?
You probably didn't see them but Remy probably gave off suttle signals to the dog before the growl which the dog ignored.

"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."

What would you do if someone grabbed your laptop as you were typing and took it away from you?
What would you do if you were at a restuarant with a plate of food you had in front of you and someone walking past put their fingers in your food and took a bite?
Would you smack their hand away? At that point should your boyfriend grab you around the waist, lift you from your seat and yell no in your face?

The boxer's play style may be over the top for Remy. It may be teaching him things you don't want. I would limit the play for now.

As Mary said you need to think out what goals (broken down into small pieces) you want for Remy and work toward them always with the thought of not making things to hard that he fails. Set the situations up for success.

I want to add:
Ashley, you have done wonders building up the bond between you and Remy. Something that is really important to you!

Do you think Remy will want to come to you if you continue to correct him?

IMO, what you should have done when Remy growled at the loose dog is to call him to you start moving away from the dog giving Remy tons of praise for coming to you.
Don't feel you are the only one that has done this. Many of us in these sudden stressful situations have done the same. But there is unintentional teaching and fall out from what we do. It sounds silly but to protect our dogs from others and ourselves we need to have contingency plans for all the what ifs that may come along.
 
#5 ·
I agree with everyone's opinion so far. I don't believe Remy is being aggressive but correcting bratty playmates that seemed to in his face. When we have visiting dogs all toys and bones are put up and they are fed separately.

Boxer are a very intense and have a lot of energy (our DD's SIL has two), Remy probably had had enough and was communicating that to her.
 
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#6 ·
Thank you all so much for your perspective... I had really never thought of it this way. I've always heard horror stories about super aggressive dogs displaying advanced forms of these behaviors and didn't think about these little things just being warnings and good dog communication! I really appreciate it..... this puts my mind at ease.
 
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