Author Topic: Aggression  (Read 9426 times)

Offline 2Danes

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Aggression
« on: February 11, 2008, 09:25:40 am »
I am new to this board and hope someone can help me. I have a female 3 year old great dane. We also have 2 hunting dogs and another male great dane. The female dane has started aggressive behavior with the other dogs(especially the female). This has just started in the last couple of months. We are at our wit's end on how to solve this problem. She is great with people and kids and very affectionate with people. It is just the dogs she doesn't seem to tolerate. We have had her since she was 8 weeks old and the others were already here. There have been no changes in the household since we have gotten her. Any suggestions, I would dearly appreciate. 

Offline maxsmom

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2008, 10:13:42 am »
Welcome to BPO.  It sounds to me like she has decided she doesn't like her place in your pack and wants to step up to alpha bitch, so to speak.  How is the other female handling it?  The males will generally tolerate a female alpha and not make too much fuss, the problem will be with the other female, which sounds like what you are describing.  Is the problem food related, attention related or just being pushy and overbearing with the other female in general?  If there is not major battling, blood, major wounds, etc., I would let them work it out amongst themselves. 
Kathy
Max  2 Irish Wolfhound
Jake  2 Great Pyrenees
Cody   3 Tibetan Mastiff
ChiChi 1.5 Caucasian Ovcharka
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Offline 2Danes

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2008, 10:20:24 am »
The males tolerate it and just snap back. It is not food related, it is just in general. Unfortunately, there has been wounds. On Thursday, the female dane made about a two inch gash in the other females neck. They are all very loved, exercised and given lots of equal attention. I know the other female is getting old and can be snappy. But most of the time, she doesn't have to do anything to get jumped.We are trying to jsut keeep them apart as much as we can. In doing that, one of them gets isolated and I am afraig that will only compound the problem. I appreciate your quick reply, we just don't want anyone to get hurt badly. The female dane is about 120 and the other female is about 45lbs. Big difference!

Offline 2Danes

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2008, 11:29:55 am »
No. That has been suggested. The other femaqle has been used to breed. We are going to have them both done.

Nicole

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2008, 11:42:16 am »
Have you had them both checked out for any medical problems? There could be some pain or something associated with this situation that one or both of them is responding to.

I guess I feel like I could benefit from more information. Why does she get aggressive? Is it over food? Is it "unprovoked"? (I put this in quotes, because usually it isn't, there's just something that we as humans don't recognize)

How do the situations begin?

Offline mynameislola

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2008, 12:30:56 pm »
Ditto that the dogs could be helped with a complete physical from a Vet. to be sure that there is no physical cause for the behavior.  One of our dogs (125 pound GSD mix) had sudden "for no reason" aggression and he turned out to have a brain tumor.  His behavior went from odd to dangerous in about a month.

Pack order changes rarely result in injuries with blood, IMO, unless it is an accident.  Until you figure it all out, I would keep the aggressor in a different area or leashed to an attentive human.  Isolation will give you time to determine what is going on without your dogs getting injured.
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Offline 2Danes

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2008, 01:44:34 pm »
No medical problems. Checked that. It does not start over food as they are fed in two different areas. As far as being provoked, we have not seen anything, but that doesn't mean there isn't. The male dane is scared of her even though he weighs 190 to her 120 (of course, he is scared of his own shadow) so, he stays out of her way. The problem is mostly with the other female. We talked to the breeder we got her from and she said her mom got the same way as she got older. She told us she intimidates the other dogs they have. We will just keep looking for answers and for now we are keeping them separate.I really appreciate the replies. 
« Last Edit: February 11, 2008, 01:46:02 pm by 2Danes »

Offline mynameislola

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2008, 02:06:54 pm »
Thanks for keeping us updated. 

I am curious what was done medically to check your dog.  Our dog with the tumor passed the first two checkups with the Vet. telling me that nothing was wrong.  It took a specialist to find the tumor.

Our Newfie with bilateral luxating patellas, graded three and four, also passed a cursory checkup with flying colors.  Our Aussie Shepherd was seen several times before they figured out the bridging spondylosis.

If x-rays of the spine and bloodwork were not done, I'd take her back.
The canine kids:
     Cody Newfoundland
     Wally Italian Mastiff
     Zita Italian Mastiff
     Sparky Chihuahua

Offline 2Danes

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2008, 04:58:45 am »
Bloodwork was normal. Vet did not feel like xray necessary. Feels like it is problem with dogs. She is great around people and even small kids.Felt like if it was pain, agression would be to people also.

Nicole

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2008, 10:09:02 am »
Ok. Well, then I would work on behavior. I would start NILIF. (Nothing in Life is Free) You can google it and find tons of information.

Basically, she needs to understand that YOU not SHE is the boss. She needs to sit before being fed, before getting attention, before getting toys. I would probably not give the dogs "high value" toys in an area where they can't keep them separate. She is clearly calling the shots, and that is not an option for her, so you need to make her aware of the situation.

I hope things get better! Its a lot of hard work. And I know how exasperating it can be when you have a conflict in the pack. That's why we're sticking with one dog right now. Its much more manageable and my stress level is at an all-time low.

Offline jomps

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2008, 03:12:01 pm »
I am sorry for your problem, I have the same problem wth my 2 female Danes. One is 14 and the other one is 2 so you can see how the 2 year old has the advantage. The fights started just looks then escalated to full blown war with the 2 year old almost killing my old girl. $1000 in vet bills later the vet told me to never trust them together again. they are always seperated by 2 gates. The old girl will not back down and will challenge her every chance she gets. The vet suggested a behavior specialist but since my old girl is 14 I figure she will not be here long enough to even be worth it. I also would like to contact the dog wisperer LOL . This is all a alpha dog thing and if you let them work it out the weakest will suffer.
Cathy

Offline arkydo

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Re: Aggression
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2008, 03:25:08 pm »
ok well this is gonna sound cesar millanish but you shouldnt let any of the dogs think theyre top dog just you
we just went through this with our blood hound cuz he's the only male with nuts and he is just starting to feel the testosterone: so this is what i did
firstly exercise as a group, the whole lot sounds like a pain in the rear and it is but they all learn that your calling the shots
secondly whenever she is getting ready to "attack" (not the best word to describe it but blah)step right in front of her and walk at her so she lays down , she doesnt have to roll on her side to submit just lays down and whilst you're doing this dont say a word.
this took nearly a month all in all for Porter to get the message
another tip is whilst you are correcting her dont look at the other dogs cuz you dont want them to think that they are any part of it,sometimes they can feel like your hlping them or protecting them and they'll try helping you (Arkyd)

i dont know if others will agree with this but it worked for me and it doesn't include hitting your dog which is a problem today with dog owners especially out here in levertucky usa lol
« Last Edit: February 16, 2008, 03:26:01 pm by arkydo »