Why does my younger dog attack the older one when I pet the other?

I hate to hear that about Cooper. Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety , resource guarding or a combination. Pets can also shift around within the pack hierarchy. Being overly aggressive may be a sign that Cooper is uncomfortable in his current pack role. Unless you are very familiar with reading canine body language and training, I recommend to work with a professional trainer. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say before a bite happens. You can find many books written on the topic. One thing you can do at home is to give Cooper (and all the dogs would benefit as well), lots of exercise, routine and structure. A physically tired dog typically has less behavioral issues. Dogs also tend to thrive in a controlled environment. This can be a tough situation. You may want to separate the dogs any time you are not home to avoid injuries. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Aggression issues within the household can be scary and dangerous, particularly in situations like this where one dog is much older and younger than the other. I would approach this situation with a lot of care and patience. As you have asserted already, it would appear that the Springer seems to be guarding or possessing the house. In order to truly dissect this situation, I would need you to really think about where these incidents have been occurring within the house and how they might be preceded. Think about if they tend to occur in one area more than another, if they are only occurring when other people are around, if they are only occurring before or after some sort of event or instance, etc etc. If you can't identify any patterns, you either have to keep the Springer on leash inside the house until she can be retrained or keep the two dogs completely separate. This would be the only two options to keep the 10 year old safe and sound. I would be happy to speak with you in some more detail regarding the behavior issues in a consultation. These tend to be quite complicated and will require more time and details than I am able to write in this small area. Good luck to you either way.

Hello, sorry to hear about your pups. It sounds like your younger one has some possessive aggression towards your older dog. Even if the biting isn't harmful now, it is a sign of potential aggression which can eventually escalate to something more serious. It sounds like this is triggered by you, treats and toys. There may be other things that can also trigger this behavior such as their food, a certain couch, bed, etc... This may be a difficult behavior to modify, but here are some facts and hints about aggression and how to manage it. Hope this helps and best of luck. Introduction Aggression is a common problem faced by many dog owners. It is commonly misunderstood to be based in dominance. In actuality, there are various reasons that dogs can react aggressively. Most commonly these acts are based in fear or anxiety. This handout, will attempt to help you differentiate whether your dog’s aggression is based in dominance or another stimulus, like fear or possession. However it is not meant to replace visits and discussions with your veterinarian. Common types of aggression • Fear aggression: Many commonplace human behaviors are threatening gestures to dogs, but their reactions are often times very subtle and easily missed by most people. Anything that can cause your dog to feel distressed or uneasy can illicit an aggressive reaction. Such things include: sustained eye contact, pressure over the top of the head, lifting the dog, bending over the top of a dog, certain force-based training techniques, or trying to take something of high value away from the dog. • Territorial aggression: Dogs can react aggressively when a person comes into an area that it regards as its home. There is often a basis of anxiety in dogs that have territorial aggression. • Possessive aggression: When aggression is directed toward a person that the dog views is approaching something of high value (food, toys, family members). • Redirected aggression: When the dog is frustrated by the inability to reach an object or person that elicits its aggression and instead acts aggressively toward a person that is within reach. • Dominance aggression: True dominance aggression is very rare. Most often aggressive acts are based out of another type of motivation. Usually what is assumed to be dominance aggression is actually based out of fear or anxiety. What is your dog’s motivation for its aggression? It is important to watch the body posture of your dog during a time of aggression to determine the underlying emotional state of the dog causing the aggression. Here are some examples of what to look for: Fearful or submissive postures • Avoiding eye contact • Lowered head and tail • T ense body posture • Ears to the side, back or down • Horizontal lip retraction • Licking lips • Yawning • Crouched body posture • Moving slowly or freezing • Submissive urination Dominant postures • Sustained eye contact • Ears erect and forward • Vertical lip retraction • Forward-leaning body posture

Younger dogs often want to become dominant when the lead dog gets older. This unfortunately is natural behavior. I recommend you crate the younger dog at night to prevent injury to your older dog. He will get his time to lead when the older one is gone but you need to protect your older dog from injury and let him enjoy his final time without stress. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your dogs.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having these problems! Aggression or fighting between dogs in the same household is a complex behavior issue that's very difficult to address without evaluating the dogs in person, because there are so many factors to consider - it's important to assess both dogs' personalities, how they interact with each other when they're not fighting, how severe the fights are when they happen, what seems to trigger the aggressive behavior, etc. For this reason, I would strongly recommend getting in touch with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can work with you in person to help determine why the aggression is occurring and put together a detailed treatment plan to address the problem. In the meantime, I would recommend keeping the younger dog on-leash whenever he is around the older dog to prevent any bullying or harassment, or using a baby gate or other barrier to keep the dogs separated until you are able to get some hands-on guidance in how to help them.

I hate to hear this is happening. I;m sure it's not only scary but stressful as well. Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety, resource guarding or a combination. Most people are not familiar with reading canine body language and training. Because of this, I recommend to work with a professional trainer. Researching on your own will also be helpful. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say. You can find many books written on the topic and there is a trainer named Victoria Stilwell who I think is particularly helpful. Also, dogs who are spayed and neutered are less likely to fight though this is not always the case. I recommend to discuss having both dogs altered with their veterinarian. Best of luck.

That sounds like a tough situation and I hate to hear this is happening. Most humans cannot correctly read canine body language without additional training. Unless you know what the dogs are saying to each other, it's impossible to know how to modify and train the dogs behavior. Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety, resource guarding or a combination. I recommend to work with a professional trainer. This will give you the best and fastest results. Researching on your own will also be helpful. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say. You can find many books written on the topic and there is a trainer named Victoria Stilwell who I think is particularly helpful. Best of luck.