Aggression or protectiveness?

TRUBBLE · #1 23rd January 2007, 07:52 PM

I am having a LOT of trouble with our 3yo. girl however I know for sure that my partner and I are largely to blame. Ali has a LOT of attitude, particularly for a female and we noticed this the day we brought her home. However, it seems to have worsened now that we have a 5month old (boxer) at home. We went to obedience classes when she was young but even then and at the end if the courses she was always very 'uptight' & was never intimidated by adult dogs, she almost tried to do the intimidating. As the years have gone by we have become more and more nervous about socialising Ali as she, no matter how relaxed we try & be & no matter how friendly the other dog is, she just wont relax & play - things normally turn aggressive so we have come to a point where we are reluctant to allow her anywhere near another dog! On the upside, she is PERFECT with our 5 month old boy - lets him have her toys, eat out of her bowl, lie on her, do whatever he wants basically.
Is anyone experiencing the same with their babies or any suggestions?. We are stumped.

ELubas · #2 24th January 2007, 07:02 AM

I would check out the threads on this site on aggression-there is a lot of great info for you there. What does your girl do specifically with other dogs? Has she bitten? Starts fights? When you say it has gotten worse since your got puppy what do you mean? Could she be protecting him? Females can be very "pushy"-my girl is. When you say she was "uptight" at obedience how do you mean? I would encourage you to pick up a copy of the "Culture Class" by Jean Donaldson-it is an excellent book dealing with different dog behaviors. Has Ali ever shown aggression toward humans, you guys specifically? I am sure lots of folks will have advice for you after you post a few more details

TRUBBLE · #3 24th January 2007, 12:41 PM

Thank you for your advice! Ali has never shown aggression towards a human before & definitely not towards us. I can see now that you mention it that I do think that Ali is quite protective of Axle however I don't know how to make her relax when other dogs approach them - after all it is our job to 'protect the pack' (if she feels it needs protecting), not hers.
When she meets another dog, no matter what size it is, she immediately gets wide-eyed, will stand over it but when that dog goes to move away thats when she gets aggressive. The thing that we are so uncertain about is that, because she is so strong, we have never let it go any further than that initial aggression so we don't know if that is her just saying she is top dog & once thats established it'll be all play or if its something more than that. At obedience class she was the same - very wide-eyed and tense. There was an adult male (boxer) who had serious aggression problems. All of the other dogs seemed to just ignore his growls & torments however Ali would growl & bark back. Do you think we could have caused Ali to be so highly strung or is it possible for a dog to be naturally like this?

ELubas · #4 24th January 2007, 02:19 PM

Hi. It is absolutely possible for a dog to have a certain nature and it might not have anything to do with you. And even if it did that is the past so you need to deal with the present and the future-stop blaming yourself

Hard to say what your girl might do-I assume she has never played off lead with unfamiliar dogs? I certainly appreciate your reticence to do it as it can be scary. My boy was very protective of my last girl-she was a timid soul-and from the get go he would always look out for her but he was always big so most dogs just gave in to him. Your girl sounds like she may be dominant-lots of boxer girls are. The girl I have now is and with a lot of socialization she has come a long way-but she is younger. Do you have any opportunites to introduce her to good, stable dogs who won't hurt her but will not take her crap either? I think you need to find a way to get this girl some interactions so you will know what her intentions are. She certainly is tolerant of the puppy so it would be helpful to know if she does in fact like to play and just has not figured out how to engage properly with other dogs. I do think you and hubby want to be sure you have the upper hand so NILIF is important for you guys. THis kind of behavior is very interesting to me and I am sure others will post with advice. I will follow the thread to see how it goes. Keep us posted

TRUBBLE · #5 28th January 2007, 02:42 PM

Thank you so much for your advice! Ali has ALWAYS been a dominant dog with smaller breeds, even when she was a 1 month old pup she was trying her hardest to stand over my parents adult maltese and many other smaller dogs. We socialised her quite a bit when she was young and she was fine with dogs that were bigger than her (esp. other boxers) but it seems like as she has grown older she has become less tolerant of 'strangers' (dogs). There is a doggy daycare centre here where I live and the people there are great. We have considered taking her there for short periods of time over a space of maybe a couple of months. Plz tell me if this idea is not a good one - our way of thinking is that she wont feel the need to be protect us & axle as we wont be there and she can just focus on fitting in with the other dogs. If she does show signs of aggression they also have areas where they can isolate her while allowing her to watch play.
We also know of a couple who breed and show champion rottweilers who are willing to work with Ali & socialize her with some of their adult males. Do you think it is a good idea to distance ourselves as much as possible for the first few months so she doesnt show that 'protective aggression' that I think we might be seeing?

ELubas · #6 2nd February 2007, 10:25 AM

Hi again. I think doggie daycare could be good for her, and yes thay often will behave differently away from thier "pack". Just be sure to apprise the daycare folks of your concerns so they can manage it. Same with the Rotties. You want good , stable dogs that will gently correct her but not go overboard

I would avoid intact dogs unless they are very calm.Of course you also need to get to the point where she behaves when you are there. That is where the leadership comes in. Have you thought about doing some obedience with her, as well as practicing NILIF? With my feisty girl this really helped me to teach her how to behave around other dogs and mind her business when I wanted her to. And , yes, separate time for the dogs is always a good idea. Good luck and keep me posted