Remy's becoming aggressive

[Remykins]

I haven't posted here for a while, but we're having a problem with Remy that I'd appreciate input on. Remy turned 3 a few months ago. With our family, Remy is better behaved than ever. Our problem is that over the last few months she's become aggressive with other dogs at the dog park and the dog beach. She started by being "protective" of our bench at the dog park -- snarling at other dogs when they tried to climb on. Otherwise, she played just fine. Today, though, she snarled at several other dogs when they came up while we were playing on the field (we then left immediately). She was excited to go to the park, but didn't seem interested in playing with the other dogs at all. She acted the same way at the dog beach this week. She was "protective" of our towel area but also snarled at several dogs that came up while we were playing by the water. Previously, she never had any problem at the dog beach.

I don't think that Remy was frightened of the dogs, since she was bigger than most of them. She seemed more irritated that they were bugging her. I can understand if she's less interested in playing with other dogs as she gets older, but I don't want her to be aggressive. Right now, I've been dealing with it by giving her a time out, putting her on the leash, or leaving the park. She's been to the vet recently and doesn't appear to have any health issues.

Can you give me some suggestions? We really enjoy taking Remy out to the park and beach, but don't want to unless she is well behaved. Until she was 2 1/2, she never acted this way. Thanks.

[MaxandMe]

HI, 1st i'd check to make sure there is no illness like ear infections etc as sometimes that can cause a dog's behavior to change.

2nd ....has there been any changes in your house like routines, moving furniture, new visitors etc

if this continues you might want to consult with a trainer and/or behavorist trainer that might shed some light that can help.

Another thing you might do is also keep her on leash and/or correct her quickly as a mom dog would so while at the park. ALSO letting another dog she doesn't know snif her 1st then let Remy snif that dog might aid in her being less unsure of them as this is how dog's say hello and it can reduce any tension etc that Remy is exhibiting lately.

Around 3yrs old dogs start to mature and sometimes are like this temporarily then mellow out again later on as MAX was like this for awhile but more so with people then again I had spinal cord surgery and he's also protective if i am not doing well along with being a Medic Alert dog for me.

I will say he's now 4yrs old and just as of lately he's now gentle as a lamb with other dogs and strange people again and the gentle giant i know as my baby.

keep us posted and i hope this is just a phase of growing up for Remy.

[lindamarie]

First, listen to all of annmarie's suggestions and advice.
Then, I'd like to add a few things I discovered about Bogart that may or may not be applicable to your situation.
I suffer from PTSD which means that at any given time, I may have huge panic attack to put it mildly.
Bogart picks up on this. I have sent an email off to his trainer as she witnessed this this past week at a "brush up" maintenance class we attended.
If I am at the other end of the leash and I see another dog, I immediately have some anxiety. It's because ONE time, Bogart did what you said Remy did. ONE TIME!......and now I get nervous. So, Bogart sometimes does react and snarl at other dogs, because ME at the other end is throwing off signals of distress. The more it happens, the more signals to him I throw!
So, if my husband is around, I hand him the leash! Bogart is then just fine.

I also heard that when a dog is ON LEASH, they are more protective then when off leash. See......I find it very difficult to let Bogart meet another dog off leash. I want to control everything.
My husband, on the other hand, allows Bogart to sniff and do the p-mail thingie and things work out!
I don't know how I will personally ever get over this, but I'm trying.

Could you possibly be starting to show some anxiety after so many times and now you too are sending signals?

[Remykins]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm feeling a little better about Remy now, since she's acted normal toward other dogs on walks the last 2 days (I was getting worried I had a doodle Cujo). But I still don't know about visiting the dog park again. I might take her and then do what Annmarie said and keep her on leash so I can correct her quickly. She was off leash when she was misbehaving and I had to grab her and put her on leash to correct her. Remy's 30 pounds and we go to the little dog section of the dog park, so Remy's usually one of the biggest dogs there. Remy does get nervous around unfamiliar big dogs, but all the dogs she snarled at at the dog park and beach were either smaller than her or puppies.

I'm not sure if she's picking up bad habits from other dogs (we have a lot of poorly trained dogs in our neighborhood who lunge and bark at every dog they see) or maybe she's become an adult and thinks it's her job to put everyone else in their place. Or maybe she's just not as interested in playing with other dogs since she's matured? Whyever she's doing it, she must think she can get away with it and I haven't been responsive enough about correcting her. I'll try to be stricter with her when she's around other dogs and hopefully this will be a phase that will pass. Otherwise, we'll get a trainer to work with us. I read a lot about aggressive dogs on the veterinarypartners.com site and it was very discouraging, I definitely don't want Remy to be like that. Thanks.

[MaxandMe]

ok what LINDA SAID IS TRUE along with when i did very formal OB training classes with Max and more.

IF i am anxious nervous etc MAX will pick up on this immediately and be more protective
HE is also this way since my spinal cervical cord and nerve repair surgery,

it's not just with dogs, it includes people too.


so what i am trying to say is when you're relaxed and let dogs be dogs sometimes it works out better.

i do the On leash hello sniff thing like Linda's hubby does as does communicate differently than us. SNIFFING the butt well it's how they say HI and see what the other dog is about. BUT IF YOU are nervous in any way then your dog may react in a way as you described orginally

[ozzierobbins]

My Labradoodle has also started getting very protective/aggressive. He is 2.9yrs old.It is so sudden that we often don't have time to react. It is so shocking as he is such a normal, clown like, passive temprement - other than when he is at the local pub sitting with us in the garden and he sees another dog walk by he goes beserk and snarling. We are now taking a small sports type water bottle with us(it has a squirty cap) and if he starts being agressive we squirt him on the nose/face with the water. This shocks him out of it and he forgets what he was doing. We say NOTHING when we do this so he doesnt assocciate the action with us and he doesn't know where the water has come from but its enough to snap his focus. Try it, you may find it works long enough to break him of the habit! Good Luck Barbara Robbins

[MaxandMe]

Originally Posted by ozzierobbins

My Labradoodle has also started getting very protective/aggressive. He is 2.9yrs old.It is so sudden that we often don't have time to react. It is so shocking as he is such a normal, clown like, passive temprement - other than when he is at the local pub sitting with us in the garden and he sees another dog walk by he goes beserk and snarling. We are now taking a small sports type water bottle with us(it has a squirty cap) and if he starts being agressive we squirt him on the nose/face with the water. This shocks him out of it and he forgets what he was doing. We say NOTHING when we do this so he doesnt assocciate the action with us and he doesn't know where the water has come from but its enough to snap his focus. Try it, you may find it works long enough to break him of the habit! Good Luck Barbara Robbins

WOW glad to hear it works!!

ohhhhhh how i wish here in America people were different the only dogs allowed in retaurants are service dogs as most people needing service arent' in a pub.