Increasing aggression at night

[JinjaSqueak]

Hi all

my partner and I have recently moved country, and Squeak our grey is staying at my parents house until we get settled and will bring him over in a couple months. 
my sister has recently been staying with my parents with her 9 month spoodle. The spoodle has often been up in Squeaks face trying to play, but Squeak is really tolerant and for most of the time there is no problem. 
lately though, at nights while the puppy has been playing tug of war and growling with my sister, something has been triggering Squeak and he will get up from across the room and growl at the puppy. The aggression level has increased to now nipping and snapping at him. We are trying to watch the dogs and keep things quiet and will start separating them in the evenings as I would hate for something to seriously happen. There is always other rooms that squeak has access to and could go to if he wants quiet, but he doesn’t choose to leave. 
 I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to deal with this and why this might be happening? Is this a sign of anxiety/fear? During the day there is never any problems. 
 

on a side note, has any one had any experience with flying greyhounds, and have they coped ok? 
 

thanks all! 

[HeyRunDog]

He might think that, in his eyes, the spoodle is behaving incorrectly and gives the puppy warning which escalates the more he's ignored. Could your sister when she's playing noisily with the puppy go into another room? 

[Rakete]

I would not let the Youngster constantly harass your dog and be a pain in the ass. 

I do not know how familiar your dog is with staying at your parents place (This might also play a role. Right now there is much change and instability in his life. Another home, his "pack" away. Your dog knows nothing about moving and that this won't last forever and he will be with you again. He might ne quite stressed right now. ) but think about it: Your sisters dog is just a visitor. An impolite one. Some dogs would have reacted far earlier and far more aggressive. 

If the younger one is going to be there more often, there should be stricter rules for the younger dog. And maybe no playing in front of yours. 

Right now the older dog, the "permanent" dog, that with "more rights get's less action and affection if your sister is dealing with her dog only or mostly and nobody keeps the little annoyance away from your dog. Might be quite unfair in a dogs eye. 

As long as they are not used to each other, I would recommend First Dog First. No resources, no bones, no toys without supervision. And no younger dog that is officially allowed (by not stopping him) to get on your boys nerves. 

 

[racindog]

IMO you should not let them be together if there is any growling etc. at any time.  Squeak sounds like a wonderfully levelheaded and socially confident guy! I think you should appreciate that. A lot of people would give anything to have such a social and tolerant dog. Playing tug is an expression of prey drive- a type of aggression- which of course brings in hunt drive etc.  This makes Squeak uncomfortable. He likes things peaceful where there is no conflict. He is a dog and it is not his responsibility to avoid the excitement. YOU should put him in the other room so he is not confronted with it. You also should not let the pup play rough with ANY other dog. One little injury and it could turn the pup into a dog aggressive dog his entire life and talk about what a management issue that would be!  Then you would appreciate Squeaks desire for peace. Squeak is a pretty smart boy. He knows whats best with the caveat that you have to be the one to honor his desire not to be around the prey aggression by putting him in another room or something while they play tug with the other dog. But long story short it is normal behavior-especially for a peace loving greyhound. IMO you should be happy you have such a peace loving hound and remove the excitement from his immediate area. JMO.