Dog to Dog Aggression - Random Thoughts

As I'm sure many people do, I enjoy watching dogs interact with each other. As a trainer, I often receive calls to help dogs that don't always get along with other dogs. Over the past years I've observed a few interesting interactions with my own dogs that I thought I'd share.

The youngest dog in our home was adopted about 2 years ago - he was a stray that had only been in the shelter 1-2 weeks. The day I was at the shelter looking for a new addition to our family, I took our older dog who had been in our home about 4 years. After evaluating about 6 of the shelter dogs, I introduced my top choice to our existing dog. The meeting was uneventful except for the youngster's high energy and desire to rough-house for play.

After filling out the required paperwork, we packed up and headed home. About 60 secs away from the shelter, the youngster began annoying our older dog who responded with growling and snapping - we were about 15 seconds away from a dog fight in the back of my vehicle. I quickly pulled the car over to provide a brief and "to the point" meeting for both dogs. Afterward, they both lay calmly in the back of the vehicle for the remaining 30 min ride home.

Once home, it was clear to my older dog that the youngster was "off limits". In doing this, I assumed responsibility for the youngster's behaviors, especially those regarding his interactions with my older dog. Over the coming weeks and months, there was a lot of work in calming the young and overly enthusiastic dog - he needed to learn house rules and better social skills with our older dog. We never had any other dust ups or fights.

Fast forward 2 years later and we were visiting family for a holiday meal. Our dogs were invited over, and our relatives had 2 dogs of their own in their home. All of our dogs had met previously, but one of the dogs in this home is a female who can be a bit controlling. In fact, the first meeting between her and our youngest dog almost resulted in a fight as well. Over the past year, we've managed several visits for these 2 dogs (although limited due to schedules), and they're interactions continue to improve but still require some supervision.

In any event, after dinner the dogs were playing. This was nice to see, because it was a first in 4-5 times they had been together. But after a few minutes things were winding up, and some problem growling by the female was beginning. As I headed over to deal with the two of them, I was heartened to see my oldest dog beat me to the scene and split the two younger dogs up. My oldest was now "looking out" for his younger house mate, a dog he once wanted to fight as well.

So what is the point of all of this? Well, I often believe some of life's lessons are embedded between the lines. In this case, I always contend that early and clear direction from owners can have lasting impacts on how dogs interact with other dogs (especially those in the same home). Letting dogs sort things out for themselves, or not identifying and effectively addressing behavior that can escalate, is a common thread I observe in many dog to dog aggression cases.

Also, helping dogs that lack social skills requires work from owners. Just cutting dogs loose to interact with other dogs void of human guidance (at a park or a home or a day care) is a recipe for worsening these problems, not helping them. Getting my 2 dogs to be calm and nice didn't happen overnight - but it did happen.

Providing firm leadership in a home gives dogs every opportunity to develop a healthy relationship with each other, and with their owner(s)! It was very heartening to see my oldest dog come to the defense of a juvenile dog he once wished could go. Interactions between dogs are ongoing, quick, and dynamic. If you want to help your dog be better behaved around other dogs, it requires ongoing supervision and timely, dynamic feedback.