# Breeds known for Dog to Dog Aggression



## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

I know a little bit about different breeds, such as looks and general stuff. If I'm looking into one I research and learn as much as I can and discount the breed on traits that I will not accept.

I must admit I did miss the one about GSD tending towards same sex aggression, but then I was only interested in one dog. 


Another thread made comments about Doberman's being known for dog to dog aggression.

What are other breeds with this trait?


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

pretty much any breed can be dog aggressive. 

Depending on which person you ask, the German Shepherd is known for being dog to dog aggressive as well.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

As a "rule", Hounds can live well together as they were bred to hunt in packs (Beagles spring to mind). 
My Dachshunds get along with each other, and sometimes other non-dominant Dachshunds, and Bassets, but hate larger dogs. 

I have an AKC big book of dog breeds and each has a little "at a glance" description which rates coat care, stranger aggression, other dog aggression, etc. on a scale from, like, 1-5. 1 would be "little coat care", 5 would be "intensive coat care" (think Puli). 
Anyway, a 1 on dog aggression would be, "gets along great with other dogs", and a 5 would be "known for other-dog aggression" (think many Terriers, GSDs, etc.) 

There's also "stranger dog" aggression (outside dogs), vs. in home aggression, that is, their own pack members.

My dogs tolerate all the members of their pack, but don't like outside dogs coming in. We have to be careful with introducing the foster dogs, for instance. 

So it's not real straightforward and it's not really set in stone. There's many facets to "other dog aggression" including individual temperaments and male vs. female, hormones, etc.


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## Rott-n-GSDs (Jul 7, 2010)

Some of the livestock guardian breeds (like Great Pyrenees) were bred to be territorial to protect their flocks... that territory nature can transfer over to other dogs (since they would be considered a threat to the flock).

I own a Rottweiler and they are also prone to same sex aggression... I also own a male GSD and they get along fairly well but have their moments. There are always dogs in every breed, even those more prone to DA or same sex DA, that will break the "rules" and be completely dog friendly. Apollo's mild DA is getting more noticeable as he matures. He's fairly obedient but I have to be on the lookout for other dogs when we're out... he will not back down from a challenge.

Pit bulls are another "breed" known for DA... but again some of them are completely fine. Akita is probably near the top of the list of breeds known for same sex aggression and many breeders will not place males in homes with other male dogs.

I don't think GSDs are on the same scale as being prone to same sex aggression as some of the other breeds (like Dobermans, Rottweilers, Akitas, etc.), at least that hasn't been my experience or the experience of some other owners I know personally.


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## Ava (Mar 18, 2011)

Here's an article based on a study by University of Pennsylvania.

The Most Aggressive Dog Breeds; Dachshund #1?? For the Love of the Dog


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

Interesting list and stats.

Great dane, Austrialn Cattle Dog, JRT and Pit Bull all scored very high on dog to dog aggression (greater than 20%), granted the sample size varried a lot.

I have heard that about great danes before, including from my sister who had one.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Pit bulls (and for that matter, most terriers) are notoriously DA.

Dobermans--I have seen a number of male Dobes who have no compunction about fighting with females.

Akitas.

Some of the LGD breeds (Great Pyr, etc) are prone to dog-aggression; as was mentioned above, they view strange dogs as a threat to their flock and will not hesitate to fight, should a stray dog wander onto their property.

Any dog, of course, has the potential to be dog-aggressive. I have a client who does rescue, and her most DA foster is a little female Cocker. GSDs can be dog-aggressive, though thankfully, none of mine have been.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

At one time I had as many as 7 adult Aussies. Never, ever had dog on dog aggression. That included 3 males and 4 females. But..throw in one Golden Retriever, and the entire pack fell apart.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

We rescued an Aussie with intense dog-dog aggression.

Oddly enough, many of the strays in our area don't have a lot of dog aggression, especially if raised outside and lived outside where many of the migrant workers in our area have multiple dogs and they all run as a pack, all neighborhood dogs, so many you cannot tell which dogs belong to which house. Many of those dogs are quite well-rounded in the "getting along with other dogs" category.

Of course much of our (collective) observations are based on artificial pack structures. Temple Grandin's book "Animals in Translation" touches on this.


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

I had a young Dobe bitch that became aggressive towards my older Dobe bitch. There were some scary fights. The fact that the younger one that started it was always on the losing end didn't stop her from picking the next fight. 

Not fun.

I ended up rehoming the little troublemaker to a girl that had no other dogs.


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

Many of the herding, guarding and terrier breeds have a higher than average risk for dog aggression. Within those groups, some breeds or more or less likely to have dog aggression issues and the potential issues can differ from breed to breed (same sex aggression, territorial aggression, reactivity, etc).

Most sporting and hound breeds, with some exceptions tend to be more accepting than average of other dogs in most situations. It was important they be adaptable to other dogs due to the work they were bred to do, so they were selectively bred away from tendencies towards dog aggression.


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## Germanshepherdlova (Apr 16, 2011)

Caledon said:


> I know a little bit about different breeds, such as looks and general stuff. If I'm looking into one I research and learn as much as I can and discount the breed on traits that I will not accept.
> 
> I must admit I did miss the one about GSD tending towards same sex aggression, but then I was only interested in one dog.
> 
> ...


Chow Chows.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Germanshepherdlova said:


> Chow Chows.


I don't think Chows are dog-aggressive in particular, I think they are just plain aggressive, towards anyone and anything.


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## Goose (Jul 21, 2011)

Freestep said:


> I don't think Chows are dog-aggressive in particular, I think they are just plain aggressive, towards anyone and anything.


 
I grew up with my family raising the Chow Chow breed. I had 5 at one time. They were more gentle with the family (including kids) then my GSD is right now. (My GSD is 1.5 yrs old) Less nipping and less energy (which gets my GSD into trouble). However, they were very protective of ANY strangers and will protect accordingly. Even more than my GSD. However, my experience was always that they were gentle, loving and obedient with our immediate family memebers. Other than fighting for their pack order from within, they never had aggression issues with our family/kids. Some of the most loyal dogs ever.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Goose said:


> I grew up with my family raising the Chow Chow breed. I had 5 at one time. They were more gentle with the family (including kids) then my GSD is right now. (My GSD is 1.5 yrs old) Less nipping and less energy (which gets my GSD into trouble). However, they were very protective of ANY strangers and will protect accordingly. Even more than my GSD. However, my experience was always that they were gentle, loving and obedient with our immediate family memebers. Other than fighting for their pack order from within, they never had aggression issues with our family/kids. Some of the most loyal dogs ever.


Heh. I knew my post would bring a Chow-lover out of the woodwork.  Everyone who owns Chows loves them, because they are "loyal" (read: vicious to everyone except the family). Seriously, having worked at a veterinary hospital I have had more experiences with Chows than I care to remember--and of course, always being a stranger to said Chows, I was never on their good side to begin with--and even less so when attempting to perform necessary procedures that the dog does not like.

FWIW, I have seen Chows bite their owners on more than one occasion.

I am sure there are nice ones out there, I just haven't met very many.


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## atruepastime (Mar 12, 2011)

While the breed of a dog plays a part in dog aggressive tendencies, I think blood lines and genetic selection play a bigger part when it comes to genetic dog aggression.

FOr example a game bred pitbull from fighting bloodlines is more likely to have dog aggressive tendencies because its been heavily selected for in his genes. A show line pitbull with a massive chest and a brick of a head is bred for looks rather than gamey temperament and so is less likely to be dog aggressive as the dog needs to be around other dogs in the show ring (in the past pitbulls needed to have won some fights to meet the breed standard, no doubt that has long since been altered). 

I think instead of labelling entire breeds as dog aggressive the approach should be scientific. We know that temperament has both a genetic and environmental basis, thus selecting for gsds (or pits, dobes, sharpeis, chihuahuas etc.) for non-aggressive tendencies to other dogs by breeding animals with an ancestral history of being non-aggressive to other dogs, you increase the likelihood of producing genetically non-dog aggressive progeny. Depending on the stock from which the dogs come from there is an increased or decreased likelihood for genetically antisocial temperament, or health problems, or nerve issues etc. if the breeding has been done in a purposeful manner with these aspects being kept in mind.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

atruepastime said:


> A show line pitbull with a massive chest and a brick of a head is bred for looks rather than gamey temperament and so is less likely to be dog aggressive as the dog needs to be around other dogs in the show ring (in the past pitbulls needed to have won some fights to meet the breed standard, no doubt that has long since been altered).


I don't think that can be used as an accurate point because show dogs are under control in the ring and know they have a job to do, like at an obedience class..dog reaction can be controlled and dogs can learn to tolerate being near each other without losing their brains. I guarantee you the group of people who are in a conformation ring with a bunch of intact male staffies or APBT's would never let them all off leash to romp around in a room together. I am not discounting the fact however that there are lines that are more hot or cold than others.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

I can speak about the pit bull and doberman from experience. 

Bully breeds are generally genetically pre-dispositioned to have some degree of DA. All of the pit bull experts will tell you never trust a pit bull not to fight. 

Dobermans are prone to same-sex aggression. Ethical breeders will NOT sell two littermates together and will not place a puppy or adult in a home that already has a dog of the same sex, UNLESS you prove to be a responsible and experienced owner and know exactly what you are getting into(possibly a life of crating and rotating).

Many people think it's better to start out with a puppy of these mentioned breeds because they can raise it up and socialize it to all types of dogs and be ok. The problem with this logic is that as a pit bull or Doberman matures, their DA can kick in and all the socialization in the world will not have mattered. I can tell you that my 22 month old male Doberman is not as dog tolerant as he was at 5 months of age. I have socialized the heck out of my Dobe and he has lived with both male and female dogs with no issues, he is very obedient and works with a Schutzhund trainer, I am training with him to be in the show ring and he can walk past a barking, snarling, pack of male dogs and not react in the slightest bit. He cuddles with my boyfriend's male GSD. However, if the wrong male dog crosses him off-leash he will assert himself.


If you want to own a breed of dog that is prone to DA and you are real worried about it, I think the best route is to adopt an adult dog in rescue whose personality with other dogs is already known.


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## atruepastime (Mar 12, 2011)

MustLoveGSDs said:


> I don't think that can be used as an accurate point because show dogs are under control in the ring and know they have a job to do, like at an obedience class..dog reaction can be controlled and dogs can learn to tolerate being near each other without losing their brains. I guarantee you the group of people who are in a conformation ring with a bunch of intact male staffies or APBT's would never let them all off leash to romp around in a room together. I am not discounting the fact however that there are lines that are more hot or cold than others.


Good point MustLove GSDs I can agree with that, I'd say most people in the conformation ring with almost any breed of intact male dog or intact female dogs for that matter wouldn't allow them all to play off leash in a room together, if they had any sense. 

I guess the point I was making as you picked up was that genetic dog aggressive temperament is not linked by Quantitative Trait Locus to physical appearance in dog breeds.. i.e. there is no genetic link between what a dogs physical appearance looks like and specific temperament traits, so scientifically there is no truth in saying that certain breeds are genetically aggressive by default, because of the breed per say. So rather than targeting whole breeds it would be more effective to isolate within bloodlines, dogs or pedigrees that have a genetic tendency for dog aggression and use that as a bench mark for true genetic dog aggression. 

Also there is the fact that sometimes what is actually a fear based aggressive response to other dogs (despite environmental measures being taken to socialise and neutralise reactivity) may in fact be a sign of genetically weak nerves rather than true genetic dog aggression, and the dog is reacting aggressively as a coping mechanism to stress rather than actually wanting to engage and destroy the other dog.


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

Freestep said:


> Heh. I knew my post would bring a Chow-lover out of the woodwork.  Everyone who owns Chows loves them, because they are "loyal" (read: vicious to everyone except the family). Seriously, having worked at a veterinary hospital I have had more experiences with Chows than I care to remember--and of course, always being a stranger to said Chows, I was never on their good side to begin with--and even less so when attempting to perform necessary procedures that the dog does not like.
> 
> FWIW, I have seen Chows bite their owners on more than one occasion.
> 
> I am sure there are nice ones out there, I just haven't met very many.


 I know quite a few people with similar backgrounds who feel that way about GSDs...


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