# Possessive to other dogs



## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

I saw a.couple threads about dogs being possessive to other dogs, but the "things" Bruce is possessive over don't quite fit the bill for what I've read. 

So here's the story, a couple days ago me and my uncle, who just got two new puppies(brother and sister) went to a elementary school playground which is fenced in to socialize his pups(and Bruce with playground equipment and such. Oh, and btw, no kids were there and it was fenced in. Anyways we were playing baseball and working on Bruce's retrieve at the same time,lol. So after we finished playing baseball, I walked Bruce to the playground as we were about to leave, and the two pups were following us( they were dragging lines to get used to leashes, oh and their only 14 weeks old) and almost out of nowhere he (Bruce ) starts baring his teeth and just as I'm about to pull him back he bites the female pup on here bottom lip. There was a small tear on her lip (it required stitches ). At first I didn't see the tear and as soon as he snapped I gave him a leash correction and pulled him, not too forcefully, about 300 hundred feet out and made him down and told him to stay. As I walk back to the puppy my uncle tells me her lip is torn, so I tell him to go to my vet and she got her stitches and antibiotics. I paid for everything, but what now I HAVE to rethink getting another puppy as I WAS looking for one for schutzhund. I geuss what I'm asking is , is there anyway I I could get rid of this c aggression or should he be an only dog? And of course any advice as to keep the pup from be a future dog aggressive adult would be greatly appreciated. 
Thanks in advance.


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

Oh and forgot to add, he was perfectly fine with both the pups before this happened.


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

I don't really have any advice to give. 

But Ozzy can get possessive of his tennis balls at the dog park. I think it stemmed from the fact that other dogs would ALWAYS take his balls, since they're small and 'different.' When they took his toy, we had to either follow the dog around and wait for him/her to drop it, or wait for the owner to hunt their dog down and give it back to us. 
He's only shown possessive behavior twice. He would growl and bite at another dog if it tried to take his ball. The first time, I wasn't quite sure what was up. The second time, I KNEW what he was doing. Since he's a small dog, I definitely do NOT want him doing that, because one bite from some of the other dogs could mean some very expensive vet bills or death. Now, if another dog approaches his ball (because he'll drop it sometimes to investigate other dogs), I'll call him to me so he doesn't get a chance to 'protect' his ball. I'd rather have to wait to get the ball back to start playing again than risk hefty vet bills.


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

The only time he see's other dogs is when we go to a park(I don't take him to dog Parks) , or go to petsmart. The only time I'll take him to a DP is when noones there. But he did good with the pup at first, even at my house. He has been to THAT particular park maybe 3 times this week. But before that the last time he was there was when he was about 9 weeks old. My uncle just got the female pup because the previous owners couldn't care for her, but he had the male since he was like 7-8 weeks old and he was fine with him every time they were together.


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

No one else?


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## Jack's Dad (Jun 7, 2011)

It's hard to form an opinion on one incident. 

I have a 5 yr. old and a now almost 7 month old female.

We got her at eight weeks and they get along fine nearly all of the time. Most of the time he is more than happy to share toys with her but every now and then he will have something that our little wild thing wants. He will let her know in no uncertain terms that it's not hers. 
I usually put an end to that by removing her.

You might get him around the puppies where there are no toys around and keep an eye on them. He might be fine with them. 
Dogs coming up from behind can be a problem, and especially when toys are involved.


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

The thing is there were no toys or balls around when he bit her. When there were balls around them I immediately took them away so I could avoid this very thing from happening.


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## Jack's Dad (Jun 7, 2011)

bruce23 said:


> The thing is there were no toys or balls around when he bit her. When there were balls around them I immediately took them away so I could avoid this very thing from happening.


Sorry, misunderstood.

I would still try a face to face meet with proper but relaxed control over eveybody and see how they do.
A lot of dogs don't like puppies/dogs running up behind them because they are vulnerable. Some just don't like it period. 

It may be a problem or maybe not. One incident is not enough to know what all was going on.


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

Ok, thanks for the advice!


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I'm thinking the lack of socialization as a puppy, maybe he just wasn't around enough dogs. Was he playing with the pups at the field? Were you showing the pups more attention then him? It sounds like he was guarding you. In his mind he's thinking we are leaving, why are these puppies coming with? Is it possible one of the pups nipped at his back leg since he was in front of them? Maybe they bit him, it scared him, and he reacted? Puppies are know to nip and try to play and since he hasn't had lots of experience with dogs he doesn't understand the playing part?? Just throwing things out here....


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

He's been around dogs since he was a puppy, and the puppies were in his face when he bit her. But he like when adult male dogs run up on him when were outside, he's okay when there in his face but once they walk away he sort of goes off...


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

He DOESNT like when dogs confront him on walk. Sorry I'm using my phone.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

My trainer has a pug that will bite a dog if a dog gets in her face. The pug has taught the two Rotts that this isn't acceptable and they just stay away from her. Now of course this is a pug and not a huge german shepherd, but maybe he just doesn't want a dog in his face. It almost sounds like he's trying to prove himself....he won't bite a dog his size, he waits until it goes away and reacts, but a puppy is smaller then him....your dog is a bully I say that with a smile because that is what it sounds like and talking to the vet or a trainer might be able to clear it up...hopefully


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## Jack's Dad (Jun 7, 2011)

bruce23 said:


> He DOESNT like when dogs confront him on walk. Sorry I'm using my phone.


Bruce23.

Everytime you post something new comes out. Like the above statement or that he goes off.. when dogs walk away.

It sounds like he has more problems with other dogs than just the original post.

Maybe you should give all the situations with other dogs so that maybe someone can help.


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

Its starting to really confuse me, because when we were at my house he would let both pups lick him on the muzzle and he was not aggressive. And from his actions he'd seem as though he'd never really been around other dogs. Ive never taken him to a fog park while there's other dogs in there. When we went to schutzhund he would see dogs there ..... and my neighbors **** tzu up until he got 3 times the size of him then he wanted nothing to do with him.(the **** tzu would snap at him)


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

I don't think getting a new puppy will be as much problem as you are projecting. First, the new puppy will be part of your pack. Second, if you get a good pup with good strong nerves( as they should be ), then the pup will handle finding his place in the pack. I think things will be fine....btw I get a new pup every year that has to find their way in the pack.....it works out.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I seriously think this dog picks on dogs that won't go after him or defend themselves. Of course he doesn't want anything to do with a dog that snaps at him, he doesn't have the control in the situation--he wants to be the boss. I think its behavioral and can be fixed. I don't know if I would trust a dog with a puppy if he does this out of the blue...that wouldn't be fair to the puppy


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

Ok, thank you both. It really does help


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

@llombardo....sounds like you know this dog personally, therefore you would be closer to this than I am. I was not able to speculate on what this dog does routinely from the info the OP gave us. I just know that most dogs learn to accept pups into their packs, unless they really have issues. Good Luck OP!


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

cliffson1 said:


> @llombardo....sounds like you know this dog personally, therefore you would be closer to this than I am. I was not able to speculate on what this dog does routinely from the info the OP gave us. I just know that most dogs learn to accept pups into their packs, unless they really have issues. Good Luck OP!


No really I don't know the dog but I have dealt with dogs like him Its a mixture of fear and what we will call "little dog syndrome"...Little dogs are known to bark, growl, and bite to prove they are the boss Usually it works for the little dog, but its different when its a big shepherd. That can be dangerous.


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## Bismarck (Oct 10, 2009)

couple things....

NO face to face meetings. the only thing conveyed in a face to face meeting is dominance / submission. nose to butt meeting is the correct way for dogs to meet and to get to know the other dog.

you said you took your dog to sch training???
how far did he get? just doing the ob part i hope.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Bismarck said:


> couple things....
> 
> NO face to face meetings. the only thing conveyed in a face to face meeting is dominance / submission. nose to butt meeting is the correct way for dogs to meet and to get to know the other dog.
> 
> ...


I agree about the face to face meetings, but sometimes this can't be controlled. Especially if a dog is off leash and approaches another dog. How would you control a face to face meeting in a dog park situation or even in obedience class? I see the face to face stuff first all the time, then the nose to butt. Can you train a dog to go for the butt instead of the face? Boy that doesn't sound right


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## bruce23 (Jun 8, 2010)

Well here's the story about Schutzhund and Bruce.

Well when I first got Bruce my sisters were playing softball and ironically there were some people right across the street training dogs. So I'd walk across the street and watch from a distance. Well after watching for maybe a week or two, this guy walks over and asks me to show him the things I'd taught Bruce. So after that he asked me if I wanted to cone over and watch. Well the next week I was signed up. But a little later I had to get his first rabies shot at a vet the trainer/helper recommended. Well long story short, the vet convinced me to get MORE than just the rabies ie: parvo shot. A couple days later he got parvo. After paying for his treatment I called him and told him I was done with schutzhund, plus he didn't/doesn't have the drives for it. When he was younger he was estimated to be 95lbs, now at 2 years he's not even 80lbs. 


PS: I blame the parvovirus


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

bruce23 said:


> When he was younger he was estimated to be 95lbs, now at 2 years he's not even 80lbs.
> 
> 
> PS: I blame the parvovirus


Estimates are just that - estimates, and estimates can be wrong. 

There's nothing wrong with an 80 pound male, my 6-1/2 year old Keefer is 80 pounds too. The standard for an adult male goes from approximately 66 to 88 pounds (converted from kgs), so he's not even at the lower end of the standard. As long as 80 pounds is a healthy weight for him (lean but not overly skinny), I wouldn't dwell on him not being as large as the original estimate. 

It's possible that the parvo slowed his growth temporarily as a puppy, but I doubt it affected his growth long term. Keefer had digestive issues as a pup that caused him to be underweight at one point - he was 7 pounds less at 6 months old than his half sister was, (they were both in the 18/19 pound range at 9 weeks old) but he ended up outweighing her by about 10 pounds once he matured, so that deficit was made up for and more in the long run.


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