Being Aggressive

[Guest debymw]

we have had our new boy about 6 weeks. When he came to our home he was very loving, roached all the time, played with stuffies. He was fixed about 4 weeks ago......now this past week he has tried to attack 3 of our other greys. Also started growling while he is laying in the living room and one of the other greys walks by. I have started putting his muzzle on him at night just in case as they all sleep in the bedroom. We do crate during the day while we are gone. We are a bit concerned about his actions now. He has been to meet n greets and had no problems. Just seems this week he has started this. Not sure if maybe he is trying to find his place in the pack? Any suggestions on how to stop this attitude? Giving him up is NOT an option. When he has the muzzle on he never growls or tries to attack the others.

When we take his muzzle off we watch him very closely and if we hear a growl he is told NO in a very stern voice.

Any suggestions would be great!

Our pack consist of 3 females and 2 males.

[msjpk]

My first thought is that he might be in pain. I would take him to vet and rule that out.

Others could chime in about the pack order. Good luck!!!

[greytpups]

Do you know what is triggering the growling? Growling is his way of communicating so be careful you're not taking that option away from him because it could lead to escalation of the behaviour. He's giving you a warning that something is wrong so you can correct/change it.

 

How does the rest of the pack react? Without having enough details in your post, I'm going to suggest NILF training and careful observation to try and determine any triggers, such as space aggression, resource guarding etc.

 

You may get more help if you could list situations or circumstances when the growling occurs.

[Guest debymw]

Do you know what is triggering the growling? Growling is his way of communicating so be careful you're not taking that option away from him because it could lead to escalation of the behaviour. He's giving you a warning that something is wrong so you can correct/change it.

 

How does the rest of the pack react? Without having enough details in your post, I'm going to suggest NILF training and careful observation to try and determine any triggers, such as space aggression, resource guarding etc.

 

You may get more help if you could list situations or circumstances when the growling occurs.

[Guest debymw]

Noticed on one occasion when he was on his bed that he did have a stuffie. The first time he attacked one of the females they were all in the kitchen and were being told to back up. They bummped into each other. The other time it happend once again being told to back up as they were all trying to come into the bathroom. we have also noticed that if one of the others goes over to pick up a stuffie he will run over and grab it very quickly. He makes sure to butt them out of the way. Seems he is getting very protective of the toys. While he was laying on his bed the other greys were just walking around the living room and not near him but he was watching them and growling. He does not seem protective of his food as I can stand there and pet on him or take his dish and he does not growl. Of course now I have a couple greys that seem to want to stay away from him. The other greys have not growled at him or been aggressive in any way toward him.

[Guest PhillyPups]

First, having multiple greys, if I muzzle one, I muzzle all, you did not say if you were doing this or not, but I would not leave him defenseless.

 

Secondly, I would have him checked out at the vets, including his vision.

 

Thirdly, he is new and settling in. If he was not fostered, he never had toys of his own before, never lived loose with other greyhounds since he left the farm, there are a lot of new things in his life. Are the other greyhounds giving him any subtle signals? I had one I called the grumpy old man, if anyone walked near his bed he would grumble, it was his way of saying watch out, I can't get out of your way as fast as I used to.

 

If no snarky snapping comes with the rumble, I would let him get a couple of "grumbles" out to speak his voice, it may take him time to trust the established pack, he is, after all, the new kid on the block. If you take away his voice all he has left are his teeth to warn others.

 

Good luck with him. If he was fostered ask your group about his behaviors in his foster home, that may help you understand him better.

Edited December 27, 2011 by PhillyPups

[Guest debymw]

First, having multiple greys, if I muzzle one, I muzzle all, you did not say if you were doing this or not, but I would not leave him defenseless.

 

Secondly, I would have him checked out at the vets, including his vision.

 

Thirdly, he is new and settling in. If he was not fostered, he never had toys of his own before, never lived loose with other greyhounds since he left the farm, there are a lot of new things in his life. Are the other greyhounds giving him any subtle signals? I had one I called the grumpy old man, if anyone walked near his bed he would grumble, it was his way of saying watch out, I can't get out of your way as fast as I used to.

 

If no snarky snapping comes with the rumble, I would let him get a couple of "grumbles" out to speak his voice, it may take him time to trust the established pack, he is, after all, the new kid on the block. If you take away his voice all he has left are his teeth to warn others.

 

Good luck with him. If he was fostered ask your group about his behaviors in his foster home, that may help you understand him better.

[Batmom]

... stuffie. ... bummped into each other. ... once again being told to back up ... if one of the others goes over to pick up a stuffie ... very protective of the toys. While he was laying on his bed ... growling.

 

Wouldn't hurt to have a vet check and see if your group can recommend a behaviorist to evaluate his interaction with the household.

 

That said, the signs so far are that he isn't a good fit for your household and it would be safer for all if he found a home more suited to his needs. You say that rehoming him isn't an option but it seems unfair to make both him and your other dogs unhappy and to risk injuries. Does he have some "extremely hard to adopt" feature that would prevent him readily getting another home?

 

I wouldn't "NO" him for growling. You WANT him to communicate with the other dogs rather than merely lashing out. I WOULD manage his and their interactions so that he doesn't feel the need to growl at them, and reward him for calm and gentle interaction. Keep in mind that if you muzzle one, you MUST muzzle all. Muzzling one dog in a pack is a recipe for a big vet bill and possibly a dead dog.

 

Best luck.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Uhh, he "tried" to attack the other greys, or he "DID" attack? Without more info, I would agree with others that you should allow some grumbling, otherwise you could cause future problems by taking away some of his ability to communicate. Sounds to me like one of my boys that will grumble at fosters when they are at our house. He even will air snap if the foster gets within a foot of him when he is on the couch. Sounds bad, but really, its nothing more than a human saying "dont step on me!" If he was trying to attack, you would have blood.

 

Chad

[Guest debymw]

He was my foster. I failed fostering once again.

WHen he first came into our home he was roaching and playing fine. Of course the first day he was here I heard a few grumbles from the others but that quickly went away. He seemed to be a very happy go lucky boy. He just turned 3 in november. We have muzzled all just for everyones safety.

 

Uhh, he "tried" to attack the other greys, or he "DID" attack? Without more info, I would agree with others that you should allow some grumbling, otherwise you could cause future problems by taking away some of his ability to communicate. Sounds to me like one of my boys that will grumble at fosters when they are at our house. He even will air snap if the foster gets within a foot of him when he is on the couch. Sounds bad, but really, its nothing more than a human saying "dont step on me!" If he was trying to attack, you would have blood.

 

Chad

[Guest KennelMom]

Sounds like he's probably just testing boundaries. Muzzle for now and see what happens. New dogs tend to so this in our house and the rest of our dogs ignore them. In a week or two, they usually get over it.

[Guest debymw]

He did attack, but did not hurt anyone as we were standing there. a quick swat on his hind quarters and he stopped. If it was just a snap I dont think I would be as worried. But seeing him go after the others has scared me a bit.

[Guest debymw]

... stuffie. ... bummped into each other. ... once again being told to back up ... if one of the others goes over to pick up a stuffie ... very protective of the toys. While he was laying on his bed ... growling.

 

Wouldn't hurt to have a vet check and see if your group can recommend a behaviorist to evaluate his interaction with the household.

 

That said, the signs so far are that he isn't a good fit for your household and it would be safer for all if he found a home more suited to his needs. You say that rehoming him isn't an option but it seems unfair to make both him and your other dogs unhappy and to risk injuries. Does he have some "extremely hard to adopt" feature that would prevent him readily getting another home?

 

I wouldn't "NO" him for growling. You WANT him to communicate with the other dogs rather than merely lashing out. I WOULD manage his and their interactions so that he doesn't feel the need to growl at them, and reward him for calm and gentle interaction. Keep in mind that if you muzzle one, you MUST muzzle all. Muzzling one dog in a pack is a recipe for a big vet bill and possibly a dead dog.

 

Best luck.

[Guest debymw]

My concern is that when he arrived in our home for the first 5 weeks he has been wonderful...got along well with all the others. Seems it has just been a sudden change in him. even the situations where he attacked one of the others, he has been in the situation previously and never acted this way.

I feel giving him up is not an option as the time he has been in our home he has been a good fit. Also if I had to call the group it would not be good. There is not a lot of support. Giving him up would probably cause some issues with the group. Giving him up would also mean not being able to adopt ever again.

I do think taking him to the vet may be a good idea, see if anything is hurting. Possibly could be the problem. Have some blood work ran.

Just frustrating since he was such a good boy...then all of a sudden changed.

[OwnedBySummer]

Didn't I read somewhere something about the thyroid and aggression?

[TheFullHouse]

First off, I would pull up all the stuffies and put them away. I can't just have stuffies lying around here either. We pull them out for supervised play when we're in the room to supervise. Not the way a lot of people want to live but having had a couple of incidents where stitches were required years ago, I learned better to have supervised play than none at all.

 

As far as the bumping goes, in my opinion he was letting the other dog know to stop. If he's having space issues with the others when they crowd around for what ever reason, I would call him first and keep him next to you before handing out whatever it is you're giving them. My Valentino was exactly this kind of dog, he needed to be first, he didn't want anyone near his bed and he didn't want to share anything. It took me almost two years to get him where he is today and now he shares everything, doesn't need to be first and the others can even share a bed with him but I had to stay on top of the situation all the time. I had the time to do that, I worked from home. If I had a full time job I'm not sure how it would have turned out. He is still what I consider to be the top dog in the pack because I did allow him to let the others know when they were pushing the limits with him so I didn't take his voice away totally but I did let him know when he was as I saw it, being unreasonable. The only fight he has had while here with with his littermate Arrow and that was shortly after joining the family. I reacted very strongly to that incident and watched him like a hawk for quite a while after that. That was 7 years ago and he hasn't had another one since that time.

 

I don't know if you have the time to deal with him and keep your pack safe. I wish you lots of luck and hope things work out the way you want them to. Keeping your existing pack safe is first and foremost the most important thing.

[Guest PhillyPups]

Judy's post reminded me of when I brought TigerPower home. He was known aggressive with a serious (human) bite under his belt.

 

For about the first 6 months, all treats were given with Ti and me behind a baby gate. As I gave everyone their treats, with my other hand I rubbed his ears, he got his treat last, but he learned he always got his treat. He became the sweetest dog, but many of my friends would hear, if I was on the phone, "Ti, let Stepper by", or "Stepper let Ti by", because they both loved to lay in the narrow hallway. It is just part of having a larger number of dogs.

 

Living in a home with 6 hounds, there is always some verbalization, no attacks,just verbal warnings. If someone gets too close to JohnWayne on the couch, he will bark a "back off", after the first, I go ah ah ah, it's okay JohnWayne. If Gizmo gets too crazy, mama dog, LadyLu will woof woof woof at him, but she will also clean his ears, and mother him. She is a brood with 35 puppies,and her youngest are older than he is.

 

Keeping the pack in line is my job, they all learn. I have a very stable pack, as does Judy, but they will vocalize their displeasure.

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Brandiandwe]

Just a curious newbies question. You mentioned he was 'fixed' about four weeks ago and that the aggression started after that. Could there be some sort of hormonal thing going on? They haven't quite balanced out yet? Thinking of horses and sometimes colts get a bit more bolshie after gelding before settling down.

[Guest debymw]

Im not sure if it has anything to do with it or not. I know he has been very laid back and happy. from the day we brought him home he acted as if he lived there forever. Got along great with the others. Just all of a sudden something snapped. I can see where he may be trying to find his place in the pack. I have started putting his bowl down last, we plan on putting away the stuffies for a bit and see if that helps in any way. I have never had a problem with fights over them and just in case dont want to have one. Everyone has given some good advice and I think if I take a little from everyone it will turn out fine. I cant believe he is not a good fit in the home ...as he was there for 6 weeks and has been perfect in every way. He is so adorable and I wont give up on him. I have a female that had some issues and we have overcome those, so I think is probably minor to the things we dealt with. I want to make sure he finds his place in the pack and hopefully soon we will again be one big happy family!!!

[GeorgeofNE]

Uhh, he "tried" to attack the other greys, or he "DID" attack? Without more info, I would agree with others that you should allow some grumbling, otherwise you could cause future problems by taking away some of his ability to communicate. Sounds to me like one of my boys that will grumble at fosters when they are at our house. He even will air snap if the foster gets within a foot of him when he is on the couch. Sounds bad, but really, its nothing more than a human saying "dont step on me!" If he was trying to attack, you would have blood.

 

Chad

 

 

I'm with Chad. What does "tried to attack" mean? If you're talking about a growl/air snap, that's pretty normal stuff in a new pack.

[GeorgeofNE]

Uhh, he "tried" to attack the other greys, or he "DID" attack? Without more info, I would agree with others that you should allow some grumbling, otherwise you could cause future problems by taking away some of his ability to communicate. Sounds to me like one of my boys that will grumble at fosters when they are at our house. He even will air snap if the foster gets within a foot of him when he is on the couch. Sounds bad, but really, its nothing more than a human saying "dont step on me!" If he was trying to attack, you would have blood.

 

Chad

 

 

I'm with Chad. What does "tried to attack" mean? If you're talking about a growl/air snap, that's pretty normal stuff in a new pack.

[Guest debymw]

I should have probably worded that differently. He actually did attack. But there were no injuries. as a swift smack on the hind quarters he stopped. He was actually on top of one of the females trying to bite her head. She was a little scared after the fact needles to say. as we have never had this happen. He was growling as he was trying to bite her. So for some reason he was not a happy camper at the moment. Same when he jumped our other male.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I should have probably worded that differently. He actually did attack. But there were no injuries. as a swift smack on the hind quarters he stopped. He was actually on top of one of the females trying to bite her head. She was a little scared after the fact needles to say. as we have never had this happen. He was growling as he was trying to bite her. So for some reason he was not a happy camper at the moment. Same when he jumped our other male.

 

So...to clarify...

He behaved just fine for 1 montha and this agressive behavior ONLY started since he was neutered two weeks ago?

 

THat sure is one heck of a coincidence.....

[Guest Gemma]

Vet visit first, with a thyroid check. Once a medical cause has been ruled out, you'll have a better understanding of where to start with behavioral assessment and training. Good luck!

[greyhead]

Vet visit first, with a thyroid check. Once a medical cause has been ruled out, you'll have a better understanding of where to start with behavioral assessment and training. Good luck!

Agree with this. Our first grey was fine the first month and then started with the growling and snapping -- at us! (We had no other dogs at the time.) A full thyroid panel showed him to be hypothyroid, and the aggressive/defensive behaviors disappeared as soon as treatment began. (I should add that he was having mild seizures and losing stamina after walking half a mile, so this wasn't his only symptom. But in my opinion it was the symptom of greatest threat to him.)

 

New research (with mice) has shown that depression can easily follow neutering. (And depression can involve grouchiness.) It stands to reason that neutering changes the hormonal balance, so that what was adequate thyroid (or other) hormone beforehand is no longer adequate. Since greyhounds have lower levels of thyroid hormones in general than other breeds, there may be greater chance for this kind of vulnerability to occur post-neutering. Just a thought. Hope it's that simple.