echo44 Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 I know its been a while since i posted so first i want to say hi to everyone Mikey and Lucy my BC are getting along great!! Mikey is almost 2 years old and Lucy turned 2 in august. I am still trying to figure out Mikey's reasons for aggresion I noticed an interesting situation a few days ago I was getting out of the car in front of my house and i dropped mikey's leash. No problem since mikey has a great recall and stays out of the street. I didn't see an owner walking a puppy near by. Lucy was still in the car . I got nervous since i know mikey can sometimes act aggressive to other dogs and mikey had already approached the puppy and i was too far away to hold him back. Mikey was very friendly doing the sniffy thing. I let Lucy out of the car and she also approached the puppy. When Lucy approached the puppy Mikey started to growl. The puppy is a male and mikey is a male. I am wondering does mikey feel he has to protect Lucy? This would seem strange to me since Lucy is the boss of both of us Mikey in general is never aggresive to Lucy, other people or myself instead he is usually timid. Loves children ect. Just wondering if anyone had any insight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg's mum Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 I don't have an answer to this but I'm experiencing similar issues with Meg. There are apparently all kinds of reasons dog dog aggression happens and a good chunk of it is very 'normal' I'm told. At the moment my currentl hypothesis is that its a combination of age, emotional state, leash issues and personality. On two seperate pet store visits Meg growled at an Aussie baby, and an old Scottish Terrier in one store and submissively peed on greeting a Sheltie at another store. Come to think of it, it could have something to do ancient British clan wars Hope folks have some answers for us both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellaz Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 Our Jess is quite aloof when it comes to other dogs she totally ignores them. Maybe he's just be protective, I just don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeus and Cody's mommy Posted October 21, 2006 Report Share Posted October 21, 2006 Cody was fine at the rescue where he was when we picked him up around all the other dogs. But ever since we have had him(over a year now) he barks and carries on when other dogs go by the house and he is outside. He has never been around any others in the house, but he has outgrown other issues with protectiveness in the house, so he may have outgrown that, but outside...forget it-no person or animal comes on the porch till he says it's alright...I wanted to take him to socializing classes but there is nothing in this area closeby for us to go to, so we will work it out as we did with his kitty issues when he first came here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlasl Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Come to think of it, it could have something to do ancient British clan warsomg, that made me laugh outloud.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Columbia MO Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Echo, There could be lots of reasons for the timing of the growling. Two based on coincidence: 1) Mikey had investigated the puppy and was just beginning his "usual" growling and Lucy arrived by coincidence. 2) The puppy might have started acting up (rowdy, putting paws up on Mikey, etc.) and causing Mikey to grown at the same time Lucy coincidentally arrived. Two more that have to do with Lucy: 1) If both males are intact, Mikey might have growled to keep another male away from his potential sex object. For example, seven month old intact male puppies have 7x the testosterone level of an adult male! 2) Or if he doesn't like other dogs, Mikey might have waited until he saw Lucy arriving before he had enough confidence to growl a warning to the puppy. Dogs often feel more comfortable acting out aggression when they have their "homies" nearby. The one thing that there is no evidence for at all is for Mikey to be "protecting" Lucy, except in the sense of possibly guarding her as a resource. I'm voting for the last option, which is that the arrival of a colleague gave Mikey the confidence to growl at the puppy. Columbia, MO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Another reason could be he could have been guarding the pup from Lucy. Poppy does that. He guards things from our other dog, (a female)Pepper. Weird things too. My clothes pile on the bathroom floor before I do laundry, petting or combing sessions, empty toilet paper rolls I give him-etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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