Help! Is this an aggressive dog?

[2greyhoundMINI]

Let me back-track by saying we had the neighbor and her young greyhound over the other day. 
The 3 were fine in the yard, but once they came inside Amelia went after the other dog and bit her. 
We chalked it up to her possibly being territorial and since the other grey wasn’t injured we dropped it.

Well tonight, and just 10 minutes ago, Amelia went after and bit Carmen. Nothing weird, just a normal, quiet night. The 2 were standing next to each other and suddenly Amelia showed her teeth and lunged at Carmen. 

I’m not sure what to make of this now... is she trying to establish dominance? Or does she want to be the only dog which causes a problem. 

Any help or advice is very appreciated... I’m pretty upset right now

[2greyhoundMINI]

Let me add I had just sat down with a snack, so I don’t know if this was food related. There was no food involved with the neighbor’s dog incident. 

[racindog]

As a K9 Handler I would NOT call Amelia an aggressive dog. I would however say that she is a little dog aggressive and so I would not allow her to freely interact with other dogs without being muzzled.  And of course if she is muzzled than the others would need to be muzzled also. No biggie! Just muzzle her as appropriate. I can assure you she won't care as long as you don't use it as an excuse to baby or feel sorry for her wearing it.  I doubt if she can be changed and I personally wouldn't try because IMO there really is no reason to. She is just being a dog. Some dogs are snarky with other dogs. Some dogs are dangerously aggressive to other dogs and attack them brutally. So you can see that Amelia is well on the "good" side of the spectrum. The other reason I would not try and change her is that it could interfere with the engagement and relationship you have and I would not risk damaging that for something as minor as Amelia's snarkiness.  If she was aggressive she would have brutally attacked them or at least done significant damage so fear not she is still a very good girl.  The level of snarkiness you described above IMO is just dog communication.  To me it would just be a minor management issue-thats why they make muzzles.

 

[2greyhoundMINI]

Thx for the reply!

Of course the rest of the evening the 2 acted as if nothing happened. And they both seem fine this morning. 

As another precaution we will not be eating in the family room for a while so we make sure it's not a food aggression issue we are starting. 

Otherwise they have interacted fine AND eat side-by-side. They even slept near each other last night. 

Muzzles are on stay-by if we need to use them and we have no issue using them. 

Thx again!

[smt]

Others with way more experience and insight can weigh in on the question of aggression (though it was encouraging to read what racindog had to say).  I just want to offer up some empathy.  Especially after such a great start to things, I can only guess how upsetting this must have been for you, given that it seemed to come out of the blue.  Hopefully it is just Amelia having a snarky personality quirk.  I know some very fine people who can be snarky at times, but are otherwise lovely and lovable.  Stands to reason that the same can be said for our pups.  I had a pug a long time ago who had been an only dog for many years.  When my partner and I moved in together and blended the canine family, my pup was a total and annoying pill towards my partners sweet golden retriever.  There was some growling and snapping but nothing ever super serious.  

Given that the girls seem to have moved past it and are calm and settled, I am wishing the same fo you

 

[2greyhoundMINI]

1 minute ago, smt said:

Others with way more experience and insight can weigh in on the question of aggression (though it was encouraging to read what racindog had to say).  I just want to offer up some empathy.  Especially after such a great start to things, I can only guess how upsetting this must have been for you, given that it seemed to come out of the blue.  Hopefully it is just Amelia having a snarky personality quirk.  I know some very fine people who can be snarky at times, but are otherwise lovely and lovable.  Stands to reason that the same can be said for our pups.  I had a pug a long time ago who had been an only dog for many years.  When my partner and I moved in together and blended the canine family, my pup was a total and annoying pill towards my partners sweet golden retriever.  There was some growling and snapping but nothing ever super serious.  

Given that the girls seem to have moved past it and are calm and settled, I am wishing the same fo you

 

Thx for the well wishes and sympathy! 

[greysmom]

If you want to pursue this I would begin by keeping a diary of the incidents with as much info as you can remember of the past ones, and try to be complete in future (hopefully none) episodes.  

If it does happen again I would seek out an experienced canine behaviorist, and depending on what this person said, maybe a canine neurologist.  We don't see it a lot in greyhounds, but every once in a while unexplained "aggression" can indicate a brain tumor or other physical abnormality.  Which needs a CT/MRI to diagnose properly, so start a savings account for that expense.

I hope it's not that and it's just new-home-snarks and things settle down again soon!

[2greyhoundMINI]

52 minutes ago, greysmom said:

If you want to pursue this I would begin by keeping a diary of the incidents with as much info as you can remember of the past ones, and try to be complete in future (hopefully none) episodes.  

If it does happen again I would seek out an experienced canine behaviorist, and depending on what this person said, maybe a canine neurologist.  We don't see it a lot in greyhounds, but every once in a while unexplained "aggression" can indicate a brain tumor or other physical abnormality.  Which needs a CT/MRI to diagnose properly, so start a savings account for that expense.

I hope it's not that and it's just new-home-snarks and things settle down again soon!

I am hoping these were 2 isolated incidents due to her still acclimating to her new home and maybe a bit of wrong decision on our part.

But I will keep notes.

Hopefully it's not neurological... our last girl had a brain tumor. Went through the whole MRI, etc with her. She actually never had any aggressive issues. The mass caused seizures with her. 

I appreciate the response... thank you!

[MaryJane]

Maybe not keep muzzles on standby and instead have dogs wear them until you get some history on how this is going to proceed.

[HeyRunDog]

It could be just the two of them sorting out the pecking order in the pack. Perhaps in some way the younger one had overstepped the mark. I would keep an eye on them but try and carry on as if nothing had happened and stay relaxed in case Amelia picks up on your tension.

[2greyhoundMINI]

Last night we carried on as usual. Thankfully it was a very uneventful night.

We did eat at the table in the kitchen this time to be safe. While we did both hounds laid next to each other on the kitchen floor quietly. 

Carmen does seem a little cautious around Amelia now when inside. I am hoping she loosens up a bit with time. 

She also didn't try to steal Amelia's spot on the couch last night... this may be a good thing moving forward. 

Thanks everyone for the replies... keeping an eye on them for sure since everything is still very new. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by 2greyhoundMINI

[dante2zoe]

I had that happen, except the bite results were quite different.  Fancy had to undergo surgery to repair the tear.  Then, 8 days later, Paris nailed her again.  We ended up seeing a behaviorist, placing Paris on medication, and practicing loads of NILIF.  In our case, the trigger appeared to be a hospice foster that we had and Paris redirected her frustration onto Fancy.  After our foster passed, things calmed down considerably.  We have slowly weaned Paris back on her meds because you just never know, and still practice NILIF with her.  We did get another 3rd hound, a male this time, and we haven't had any issues.  However, after that experience, I will never ever take calm for granted again!  It was quite the scary and stressful experience.  It also took Fancy months to fully relax around Paris again.  

I so feel your pain and trepidation.  Hope all goes well from here on out.  I would make her earn everything though - a tired mind seems to help keep them calm.  

[2greyhoundMINI]

6 minutes ago, dante2zoe said:

I had that happen, except the bite results were quite different.  Fancy had to undergo surgery to repair the tear.  Then, 8 days later, Paris nailed her again.  We ended up seeing a behaviorist, placing Paris on medication, and practicing loads of NILIF.  In our case, the trigger appeared to be a hospice foster that we had and Paris redirected her frustration onto Fancy.  After our foster passed, things calmed down considerably.  We have slowly weaned Paris back on her meds because you just never know, and still practice NILIF with her.  We did get another 3rd hound, a male this time, and we haven't had any issues.  However, after that experience, I will never ever take calm for granted again!  It was quite the scary and stressful experience.  It also took Fancy months to fully relax around Paris again.  

I so feel your pain and trepidation.  Hope all goes well from here on out.  I would make her earn everything though - a tired mind seems to help keep them calm.  

I have to ask... what does NILIF stand for?

I am VERY thankful Carmen was not injured from the bite... or scare. 

Carmen (both are, but especially Carmen) is extremely smart. She seems to be giving Amelia plenty of space right now which I think is pretty darn smart of our little girl. She's not giving her an excuse to lash out at her. 

I do hope as they continue to settle that both feel more confident and this will not become the norm. 

Thx for the share and advice!

Edited November 14, 2019 by 2greyhoundMINI

[BatterseaBrindl]

NILIF = Nothing In Life Is Free

You've been given excellent advice. It's early days yet and the settling in process can be hard.

We have had our 2.5 yr old Galgo/Grey mix here for 3 months now ... he's a little firecracker .... and pack dynamics are still changing. 

[2greyhoundMINI]

31 minutes ago, BatterseaBrindl said:

NILIF = Nothing In Life Is Free

You've been given excellent advice. It's early days yet and the settling in process can be hard.

We have had our 2.5 yr old Galgo/Grey mix here for 3 months now ... he's a little firecracker .... and pack dynamics are still changing. 

Ahhhhhhhhh got it!

I'm chalking a lot of this up to newness. 

The husband went home for lunch to let out the pups and he reported they happily chased each other around the yard. 

 

[EllenEveBaz]

My Milo's usual method of operation is to be a devious weasel and do all sorts of tricky things to get whatever another dog has.  "Look -- a squirrel!  Ha ha -- got your place on the couch!"  The only time he barks/snarls/lunges is when I am eating on the couch.  He has never tried to bite the other dog in this situation.  But I make him get off the couch when he does it, just to give me the illusion that I am in charge of who is near the food.  

[2greyhoundMINI]

Things have been fine since...

This morning when we were trying to wake ourselves up and the girls were jumping all over excited Amelia growled at carmen for a second I think to tell her to calm the H down. They had slept perfectly quiet next to each other all night up to that point. 

I really do think she's trying to say, "hey I'm top dog".

Will keep you all posted on more updates. 

BTW- today is only 3 weeks since we adopted them both. 

[smt]

Hi there, just checking in on the girls.  How is Amelia doing with Carmen?  

[2greyhoundMINI]

33 minutes ago, smt said:

Hi there, just checking in on the girls.  How is Amelia doing with Carmen?  

Thx for asking!

Things are good... Amelia definitely has her "alpha" place now. Carmen is friendly with her but in "their room" she lets Amelia be in control which is good.

Outside they are s cute... they started utilizing the whole yard to do zooms and chase each other. Carmen usually initiates and Amelia says, "no way your butt is beating me!" and takes off after her (usually passes her). 

So it seems it's only the one room where Amelia seems to want to show she's boss and Carmen is very smartly letting her have it. 

Fingers crossed this remains the case.

[smt]

Awesome report!  Thanks for updating us.  Amelia sounds like she has the "big sister" act down.

[2greyhoundMINI]

3 minutes ago, smt said:

Awesome report!  Thanks for updating us.  Amelia sounds like she has the "big sister" act down.

As long as they both go with these roles it's pretty low key.