Out of the blue aggression episode-

[Sara]

Hi,

I have a yr old (spayed) mutt that I adopted at 4 mos of age. She has always been very sweet to both people & other dogs. Last week I was at my brother's house. He has a 6 yr old mixed spayed female & a 2 yr old neutered rottie. The dogs have been around each other many times since I adopted my dog (Trix). Any way last week at my brother's I was lying on the couch watching TV with the dogs laying on the floor in a row- 6 yr old female, Trix, 3 yo rottie. All of a sudden Trix did this yappy growl thing & went after my bro's 6 yo female. My bro's dog went back after her. My brother escorted his dog into his bedroom, and I left with Trix. No blood was shed. It was more like a lot of in your face yapping & growling. I was very shaken. This was so out of charecter for Trix & I as far as I could tell it was completely unprovoked.

I'm definitely going to keep on eye on Trix. She's been around other dogs since this incident & has been fine. Besides being cautious with her is there anything else I sould do. And any idea where this sudden aggression came from?

Thanks,

Sara

[Daniela Jantzen]

Hi,
....
All of a sudden Trix did this yappy growl thing & went after my bro's 6 yo female. My bro's dog went back after her. My brother escorted his dog into his bedroom, and I left with Trix. No blood was shed. It was more like a lot of in your face yapping & growling. I was very shaken. This was so out of charecter for Trix & I as far as I could tell it was completely unprovoked.


Hello Sara,

the one thing to keep in mind with dogs is: there is always a good motive for pretty much every behaviour they display throughout their lives.
It might have been a resource the two were quarreling about, it might have been bad doggie manners (e.g. direct stare) by one of them etc.
It is hard to tell without more details and especially with no one really knowing what was going on (after all, your attention was focused on the TV, not the dogs, correct?).
Think back. Try to remember as many details as possible. Which dog was laying were? Which dog moved where to? What were the overall body postures before, right before and after the fight? Who was going after whome precisely? etc.
The more you know, the better your chances to understand what was going on, the better your knowledge on how to prevent similar situations from occuring again.

And please, don't think bad of Trixie. "Aggressive" behaviour (keep in mind that no blood was drawn, so this was probably all show over status/ressource etc.) is absolutely natural to dogs and common until a solid relationship is formed amongst them (well, at least as solid a as a relationship amongst females can be :wink: ).

Danny

[Sara]

Hi Danny-

I agree with what you've said. And I think that this was "dogs being dogs"- especially 'bratty' female dogs. But it did seem to me (as a human) unprovoked. I'll answer your questions-maybe something will jump out at you that I missed.



"Think back. Try to remember as many details as possible. Which dog was laying were?"

Trix was between the two dogs. there was 6-12 inches between each dog.
There were not any toys near the dogs & the dogs had their heads on the ground facing me.

"Which dog moved where to?"

Trix got up & went after my bro's dog(Sasha).Sasha as fas as I could tell hadn't moved & was still lying down. They were having their "episode" until my bro took his dog away.

"What were the overall body postures before,"

Peacefully laying, with heads on the floor.

"right before and after the fight?"
right before- Sasha was lying on the floor & Trix did her yappy thing but I did not notice her body posture. She was lying down then all of a sudden got up.
After the fight Trix's hackles were raised, but her body posture went back to 'relaxed' pretty quickly.


"Who was going after whome precisely? etc."

Trix went after Sasha. Neither dog 'backed down'

"The more you know, the better your chances to understand what was going on, the better your knowledge on how to prevent similar situations from occuring again."

Yes I agree, but in this case there didn't seem to be any obvious triggers.

Thanks,

Sara




And please, don't think bad of Trixie. "Aggressive" behaviour (keep in mind that no blood was drawn, so this was probably all show over status/ressource etc.) is absolutely natural to dogs and common until a solid relationship is formed amongst them (well, at least as solid a as a relationship amongst females can be :wink: ).

Danny[/quote]

[Daniela Jantzen]

Hello Sara,

thanks for your info! :)
I still assume there had been an interaction between Sasha and Trixie right before the fight.
Doggy communication for most times is VERY subtle. Even the slightest movements and blinks can matter the world to them. While we can use this for our benefit by adjusting our body language accordingly during training sessions, it is always hard to recognize the slight and very quick interactions in dogs (video tapes in slow motion usually help tremendously when judging behaviours and interactions).
Ok, let me jump to conclusions now to help you understand how such situations can occur:
I can only assume that one dog might have been leaning over to the other one ever so slightly, receiving a hard glance in return which was being ignored and "boom" - there was your fight.
In this case, the ressource which led to a fight might have been space. Maybe just a few inches of space, but space nonetheless. Or, in canine speaking: "To you, it might be just a few inches. To me, it means the world!":wink:
Ressources to fight over can vary from dog to dog, from situation to situation, from motivation to motivation. What might have been a valuable ressource one second ago can turn to "oh who cares anyway" when the dog's need for the resource is satisfied.
The next time, ensure all dogs are laying down on their blankets in their individual corners and stay there and you should be good to go! :)

Danny

[Sara]

Thanks Danny!

Hello Sara,

thanks for your info! :)
I still assume there had been an interaction between Sasha and Trixie right before the fight.
Doggy communication for most times is VERY subtle. Even the slightest movements and blinks can matter the world to them. While we can use this for our benefit by adjusting our body language accordingly during training sessions, it is always hard to recognize the slight and very quick interactions in dogs (video tapes in slow motion usually help tremendously when judging behaviours and interactions).
Ok, let me jump to conclusions now to help you understand how such situations can occur:
I can only assume that one dog might have been leaning over to the other one ever so slightly, receiving a hard glance in return which was being ignored and "boom" - there was your fight.
In this case, the ressource which led to a fight might have been space. Maybe just a few inches of space, but space nonetheless. Or, in canine speaking: "To you, it might be just a few inches. To me, it means the world!":wink:
Ressources to fight over can vary from dog to dog, from situation to situation, from motivation to motivation. What might have been a valuable ressource one second ago can turn to "oh who cares anyway" when the dog's need for the resource is satisfied.
The next time, ensure all dogs are laying down on their blankets in their individual corners and stay there and you should be good to go! :)

Danny