Greyhound aggressive toward other breeds

Our grey, who is always on-leash, is sometimes aggressive toward other breeds, particularly if they are off-leash. They're not running away (thereby setting up a chase scenario), but running toward him, usually getting up in his face. Their body language is playful, his is not. If I see them coming in time I've asked the owner to please leash their dog and when they say, 'my dog is friendly', I tell them, 'but mine is not'. Usually those off-leash dogs are also not good with recall. I will try to calmly walk my dog past them and use 'watch me' and a treat once we're past the other dog. I also try to keep as much distance as possible between the 2 dogs while walking.

He is well behaved at home and is great with other sighthounds. We've had some close calls though with other breeds. What else should I be doing?

Puggle/Pitbull Spontaneously Attacks Elder Labrador

by John D
(Massashusetts)

We have three dogs, two labs and a puggle pitbull mutt. Most of the time they are very playful and get along great.

However, four times in the last year the puggle/pitbull has suddenly attacked the older Labrador by siezing her by the neck and shaking; breaking the skin. This Lab is a bit frail and simply whimpers in a terrified manner. There is no doubt that the pitbull would have killed her unless I forcibly separated them.

Each time the attacks seem to come out of nowhere. There is no food involved; and the dogs are essentially at rest.

The last two attacks occurred in the same week and I'm becoming increasingly alarmed. I brought a shovel into our bedroom to separate the dogs. This morning I had to use it. My wife and the two dogs were on the bed when all of a sudden the pitbull went for the labrador's throat. I whacked the pitbull with the metal flat of the shovel four or five times until she let go (without being particularly upset or hurt).

The other labrador is younger, stronger, easy going and a little dense. There doesn't seem to be any animosity between the pitbull and that one.

I wonder if the weakness and vulnerability of the older lab triggers a kill instinct in the pitbull. Is that possible? Because of the unpredictability of each attack, I'm thinking seriously about turning the pitbull over to animal control. Does anybody have any ideas for me?

My Aggressive Dogs

by Holly
(England )

We have a 9 year old staffy and a 18 month canary cross staffy. They have been getting along pretty well, they do play fight. Our canary dog always starts it but now our dogs have started fighting and our staffy has turned more aggressive.

We have seperated both of them but now when they see each other they go mad. We tried muzzling them but they manage to take it off and they start growling at each other.

We don't want to get rid of them. Is there any solution to this, other than getting rid of them?

Aggressive Chows - 3 Brothers, 2 Do Not Get Along

by Lynn
(Wisconsin)

Little Stuff (light red), Fozzie (red), Bear (black)

We have 3 chows - they are littermates. They just turned 1 year old about a week ago. We got Little Stuff at 7 weeks of age, Bear at 9 months, Fozzie at almost 11 months old.

Bear and Fozzie were owned by a person who then decided they didn’t have time for them (first Bear, then Fozzie). I've heard that Bear and Fozzie did fight at times and I don’t know the exact conditions they lived in. Little Stuff was neutered at 6 months old, we had Bear and Fozzie neutered as soon as we got them. Little Stuff gets along fine with both Bear and Fozzie. However, Bear and Fozzie do not. Bear attacks Fozzie for no reason (we don’t have them all together now – we alternate keeping either Bear or Fozzie in a separate room with a gate in the doorway). We walk Bear on his harness and leash multiple times per day through the house and there are times he can lay quite close to Fozzie with no problem but at times you can see/feel him wanting to attack Fozzie again.

From the time we had them all loose together in the house, we know that Fozzie does not want to fight but will if he has to. (One time the attack happened under the kitchen table and it took me a little longer to be able to get at Bear enough to pull him off of Fozzie.) I do not want to/will not re-home any of these dogs. I want to do the right thing to get them to get along or if not get along, at least tolerate one another so they can live together. I never bring them outside together because we have a large fenced in yard and a fight could break out too far of a distance from me. I realize I am lucky that I have not gotten bit when I have pulled Bear off of Fozzie. It just makes no sense – when we did have them all together, they could pass one another in the doorway 9-10 times, then in a split second, the 11th time, Bear would instantaneously attack Fozzie – no advance warning whatsoever.

I have spent countless hours researching on internet for ideas but don’t want to try the wrong thing. Do you think having Bear on his harness and leash being near the one he attacks is helping at all (we've been doing this for about a month now - at least that way, they are all in all of the rooms of the house "sort of" together)? We have been doing that as often as time permits. Of course, I have been making sure absolutely no fights whatsoever can happen when I do this and I can tell that Fozzie is much more relaxed and the Bear is growling less often at him. However, I am careful not to let them get too close when I can feel his tension. He definitely isn’t a mean dog in general – the way he gets along just fine with Little Stuff shows me that – it’s just Fozzie (that he used to live with!) where the problem lies. I really don’t know how much help/progress we are really having with having Bear on a leash. Since we do not allow him to get in the position of attacking his brother, I don’t know how much, if anything, he is learning. If I let him walk with the leash attached and he did attack Fozzie, I could grab the leash and stop it immediately – but I don’t know if that would be a good thing or a horrible thing. In one way, I think it would be good in the fact that when I immediately stopped it, he would actually realize what he is doing wrong. But I also think it would be a horrible thing because that is almost as if I were permitting it to happen, even if only for a few seconds.

I am torn about this because I don’t feel like he really knows what we’re attempting to do here but at the same time, I keep hoping that the longer he does not attack him, the more his “habit” will be not to attack him. Yet he does sometimes still growl at Fozzie quite meanly. (I think he would attack Fozzie if he had the chance - when he's on the leash he knows he can't do it.)I am confused! And of course I don’t want Fozzie traumatized either. Any help would be appreciated so very, very much.

My dog loves people but, hates other dogs.

My dog is very trusting of people. She will roll on her back to strangers so they can pet her belly. When she sees another dog that's another story. She starts growling and barking. She also tries to attack. How do I stop this? I would really like to be able to take her to the park without having to worry about seeing another dog. Can she be trained. She is about 4 years old. We rescued her from a shelter, so I have no information about her background.

Aggressive Mixed Breed Around Other Dogs

by Cory
(Saskatchewan Canada)

We got a mixed breed dog from a shelter yesterday and he was the sweetest thing. However, today he has decided that all other dogs need to be attacked. He tries to run at any dog behind a fence, and heaven forbid a dog comes into our house or yard. He totally freaks out.

I am worried that he will bite someone who tries to break it up as well as the fact that I will spend the rest of the dogs life scared to take him anywhere. He is at the vet getting neutered tomorrow but I am not sure if we will keep him since his behaviour is so unpredictable. The shelter employees tell me that the dogs just need to "work it out themselves" but that does not sound like good advice to me. Any ideas - I really like the dog and would prefer to fix this than abandon the dog.

Pack leader attacking her pack

by Jesse
(Calgary)

I'm having a serious problem with one of our dogs. We have five and most are fine except for the pack leader. She is a 6 y/o German Sheppard/Chow who has been showing signs of serious aggression.

She is the leader of the pack but lately has started to attack one of the smaller and timid dogs. She did this two weeks ago and I truly believe she was trying to kill our smaller dog. While trying to stop the attack, my mom was bitten and needed 12 stitches. After this initial attack, we have been vigilant about not allowing any dominant behavior, no barking growling or any displays of aggression have been tolerated by this dog. This however has only made things worse as she has now started sneaking around and hunting our smaller dog. This is behavior she has shown in the past but we were able to break her of it, however, it has reappeared with a vengeance. There have been two more attacks in the last three days.

We have been dominant with this dog, trying to show that we are the head of the pack, but it just isn't working with her. My parents have decided that they can no longer keep her as they believe she will kill one of the other dogs. I'm not ready to give up on her as we've had her her whole life. But I've researched and all the suggestions I've found are things we've tried that haven't worked.

Is there anything we can do to try and curb her behavior? Or is she a lost cause that should be put down before she kills another dog?

Aggresive Towards Other Dogs While Around Food, Eating Toys.

by Diva
(Oceanport, NJ)

Charlie 12 weeks old

HI

Charlie is a 6 month old rescue from Puerto Rico.. He is of questionable lineage..has some pit features but also other breeds.. I adopted him at 12 weeks old. An old photo is attached.
Currently I live with family,in a house with a 13 year old female siberian and a 2 year old male yorkie-poo..All the animals are neutered and spayed. I understand Charlies need for dominance and to assert himself.

Since I adopted him he has been separated from the other two during meals. First, because he was distracted by them and now, because he still eats 3 meals a day.

Recently, he has begun to display aggressive behaviors towards the other two dogs if he has a bone, if he is with his toys in my room and they come in, or if they walk near him while he is eating. He growls and will pounce. The Siberian asserts herself and simply continues on her way. The Yorkie-poo is small and will go back at him. There have been a few world war III episodes and we are afraid one of the dogs will get hurt. They get along fine all other times of the day, Its just meal times, and with a few of the toys/bones.

Any suggestions on how to eleviate this behavior?

Diva Ciani

Aggressive Around Other Dogs

by Sandy
(Wangaratta, Australia)

Hi,

I have a 2 year old male staffy who has become very aggressive towards other dogs. It all started when he was around 8 months old him and his brother would play with each other all the time until they both had a little scrap over a toy. A soon as this happened i took him to the vet and had him neutered in hopes that this would help prevent this from happening again. All was going well for months no fighting.

I would take him for walks every night with a friend and her two staffys male and female and nothing. They would be let off there leashes and run and play. I also have his mother as I bred him. I had no problems then out of the blue for no reason that I could see him and is mother had a fight and from that point it grew worse he would only have to look at her and then pounce.

Now sadly the mother is at a friends place because i can't seem to break him out of this and every time he sees another dog all he wants to do is attack it.

He is a very loyal dog and loves people the strange thing of it all is he does have one dog that he adores and its a male Jack Russell he plays sleeps and eats with him and has never growled at him.

Please help

Thanks sandy

Dog Aggression Between Former Doggie Friends

I have an alaskan malamute who is 2 and suffers from epilepsy. She is being treated and hasn't had a fit in six months or so. I also have a 12 month female akita who until recently was a great mate for the malamute.

However, now instead of play fighting as they had in the past etc.. The younger dog is attacking the malamute who doensn't have an aggressive bone in her body. The akita is vicious in the attack and tears hair and occasionally flesh from the Malamute who just wants to run and hide.

I can get the two of them together if we are in controlled circumstances but when in the yard or when the akita thinks I am not watching she tries to attack. I thought at first it was a domincance matter but I am not sure. I wonder if its a sign of the older dogs epilepsy as in the past I was sure the younger dog could tell when a fit was on the way and she would then attack the older dog during the fit if i wasn't around or if i didn't get to her quick enough. That type of attack was very limited and she didn't really seem to be overly agressive just worried and biting to see what was happening.

Can the younger dog tell about the epilepsy. So I had the drug levels checked and they are at the bottom end of the thereputic level and it seems the younger dog only started attacking again when the level dropped. Any help would be very welcome as would love to see them back to their old friendship.

Don

Interdog Aggressive Chesapeake "Haka"

by Lani
(Anderson, CA)

We just got from a good home with mom on site(only had him for 5 days) a 12wk old Chesapeake bay retriever(Haka). The dog has been excellent in every way: no whining, crate trained in one day, played with toddlers with no issue, good with our baby, learn to stay "off" and not jump in the 5days. Problem is he aggressive towards our jack russell(Liko) we have had for years.

They are both males and the puppy only shows aggression while you go to pet Lidko or feeding time. I noticed the problem right away and had it fixed with me. The Chessie(Haka) has shown signs of knowing and accepting me to be Alpha.

My wife has been home with the dogs while I have been at work now for a day(I work 48hr shifts)and cannot stop the aggression toward Liko. She tried discipline by grabbing Haka by his scruff and he nipped at her just to break free and go after Liko. It has gotten worse to the point where any time she walks into the yard Haka goes after Liko.

She now has the dogs seperated with Liko in the house and Haka in the yard. I have not had time to work with Haka on any obedience or hunting work and hope that will help.

Any other suggestions out there?

Fighting Yorkies.

by Michele
(Cumming, Ga.)

We are the now the "parents"of 5 small dogs. We rescued a female maltese and upon the death of our beloved Yorkie, we acquired 2 male Yprkie litter mates and all was peaceful. About 2 years later, we rescued a 3 or 4 year old male Yorkie/Silky mix. Since we were both working fairly long hours, we didn't realize there were undercurrents of hostility between the males until a fight broke out. Being inexperienced with fighting dogs, i did all the wrong things and ended up with a bite wound.

After that we were more aware of the behavior and did separate the dogs when not supervised. While there was still an occasional fight, we did learn warning signs and the fighting seemed to be a very rare event. Because I have been retired for several years, we said "yes" when asked to rescue a 3 year old female yorkie that had been surrendered to the Humane Society. Since her addition, we have had an increase in fights. She was involved in one but primarily it is the same trio-the males. The last fight was several days ago and obviously I forgot all the rules of breaking up fights because I was the only one injured (the bite did end up requiring medical attention). We have noticed in the last couple of weeks that the 2 primary fighters (the full blood Yorkie, Wrangler and the 1st rescue, Rusty) have been "circling"each other with their tails held high. We do immediately walk between them to back them away from each other but it is obvious they are sending each messages.

We are concerned about this increase in unsettled behavior. These dogs ARE NOT aggressive toward people unless one can be harmed by a wagging tail and licking. They are extremely friendly toward humans and have gone to "camp"and have never been aggressive toward other dogs. We do know that Wrangler does not really like his routine changed and we have been back and forth between our primary residence and our lake cabin when the weather permits. We are unsure whether this has upset him to the point that he feels the need to act out. We are willing to do anything to help these guys live peacefully together. Typing with one hand is getting old and I certainly don't want to see any of them get injured again.

Brothers fighting

by Jeff
(New Castle Pa)

I have two male shitz tzus brothers. They were ok until two years old, they started fighting. They would fight once every two months. I would get them apart half hour later everything was ok.

About two weeks ago they would fight every day. I get them apart they start again. I have four dogs neither one bothers the older ones which are five and seven years old. The two that fight are four years old. What is the best way to stop them? Thanks Jeff

Fighting between my oldest and youngest dog.

by Dawn M
(Tyler,TX, USA)

This evening my 6 year old Labradoodle and my 2 year old pit mix got into a fight. The 6 year old Labradoodle started growling at my 2 year old pit mix.
This led to a fight. The 2 year old left 3 bite marks on the 6 year old. My husband ended up getting bit by the 2 year old pit mix trying to separate the two dogs.

What should we do about this ?