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Old October 26th, 2011, 07:35 PM
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chasingtailspet chasingtailspet is offline
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"Now and then" aggression

I have a one year old dog (so she's still in the 'puppy' stage) who is very playful but she's definitely a 'momma's girl'. My friend brought her 8 week old puppy over and my one year old snapped at the puppy (as in teeth showing/growling). My dog has shown signs of aggression but VERY VERY minimal - if she's startled, etc. It's not a daily occurrence - maybe once every other month? She was fine at the start - smelled the puppy and was so excited and then all of a sudden she had enough and snapped. The puppy was getting close to me so I don't know if my dog was telling the puppy to 'back off' or what??

Has anyone dealt with this before? Is there a way to get my dog to STOP acting this way or is this something she'll have for the rest of her life? She loves meeting four legged friends so I don't know what the heck got into her when this happened. I would like to get my dog into doggie daycare so she can be socialized with the other dogs but I am afraid to now after the way she flipped out. Suggestions!?!
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Old October 26th, 2011, 09:31 PM
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luckypenny luckypenny is offline
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Did your girl make contact? Did she physically hurt the puppy? If not, sounds like pretty normal behavior to me. The puppy was likely a little too rambunctious around her and she was just trying to get her message across loud and clear . Next time, if you see your girl getting too stressed, it would be a good idea to give her a break from puppy (try distracting her while puppy is removed from immediate environment and reward her for staying calm).
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Old October 26th, 2011, 11:03 PM
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chasingtailspet chasingtailspet is offline
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Nope - absolutely no contact. Our vet calls our pup the "love hound" she loves everybody but she seems to get in these little "moods" where she's had enough and she'll let the dog know or if another dog comes up behind her and startles her she sometimes reacts but not always. Tonight though she showed her teeth which I have NEVER seen her do before which is why I was alarmed. I kept her close to me afterwards - trying to 'calm' her down (she loves getting her ears rubbed.. calms right down) and she ended up passing out on the floor.
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Old October 29th, 2011, 03:40 PM
violagirl violagirl is offline
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Sounds like my dog and her reaction to puppies. Puppies tend to get up all in the face of the older dogs and the older dogs don't like it.

If you look closely you will probably see a warning look, then a lip lift, then a bit of teeth, maybe a growl..once it gets past that stage, my dog might bite the puppy's muzzle or something like that.

I have found that the more excited the puppy is, the more inclined the older dog is to be annoyed.

I just try to keep puppy away from older dog at first, let the puppy calm a bit before letting them be together. If you see older dog being annoyed, let her get away from the puppy.

My friend has a puppy (see Dogs Will Be Dogs? thread) who is a bit obnoxious, my dog usually is always growling at him etc. Today they came over and everyone was just calmer in general. Puppy stayed out of her face. There was no growling. Even when he came near - as long as he was calm - she was ok with him. Interesting enough, she will let another puppy, a smaller one, come up and lick her muzzle etc and she never growls at it, but it isn't as pushy as the other puppy.
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Old October 29th, 2011, 04:01 PM
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chasingtailspet chasingtailspet is offline
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Overall my pup is very VERY sweet - wouldn't hurt a fly. She was fine initially with the puppy and then all of a sudden she just seems to get in these little "moods" and it's like, "Nope I've had enough!"

I have never seen her bite *knock on wood* anyone/another animal - it just scared me the other night when I saw her show her teeth and snap. The puppy was kind of getting in her face like, "Let's play!" At first I thought it was her showing aggression towards other dogs. The lady who was over with the puppy said that it was just her behavior/personality and that's how she is. When she was a wee little pup, we would give her a bone and when we tried to grab it she would snap, growl and chase after us. Needless to say we snapped her out of that right away and she's 99% good now - if she gets startled when she's eating or the cat comes into her 'bubble', she will snap but it seems as though she's protecting her food (as if she were in the wild??) I don't know... just thinking out loud now.
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Old October 29th, 2011, 06:18 PM
cell cell is offline
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if she is growling she is warning the puppy, outright aggression comes seemingly without indication or provocation. As others have stated by the time a dog gets around 1 year they begin to grow tired of puppy antics and begin to discipline.
My dog has low tolerance for puppies as well, at first it freaked me out thinking he was a nasty dog but he just is quick to discipline. It is not a bad thing this is how puppies learn.
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