# Lilly's aggression to other dogs and how to deal with it



## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

Lilly (our 3 year old spayed Golden) was invited to go to the neighbors this evening. They have visiting, well behaved female dogs over the weekend, a 3 yo and a mellow 8 yo boxer mix. The plan was to have a play date together on Sunday and to introduce them today.
Well, it didn't work out the way we thought....

Lilly was still on leash when we got there. The older came straight running to her and Lilly quickly got tense; growling...so our neighbor called the dogs back and we unleashed Lilly, because we thought, may be the leash made Lilly tense while the 2 others were running free.

Well, we went to the garden....they sniffed each other. Everything seems to work out. About 3 minutes after the 'sniffing period' the older visiting dog approached me to greet. Lilly got right into it, growling first, barking and wanted to attack the dog right away. Thankfully the boxer mix dogs were well behaved and when our neighbor said: 'back off', she backed off and my husband was able to hold Lilly.

It looked like resource guarding to me.....but who knows?

We kept the visiting dogs later on in the house, my neighbor and I went in at times to cuddle them while there was always someone (or two) outside with Lilly playing with her as well. But we also made sure that she saw that I interact with these dogs (through the window) and she seemed to be okay with that.

Any training advices? Is this now the time to get a behaviorist? It is so hard to work on this issue. It is hard for me to approach random dogs (on leash) to see how they work it out. And I do not want to set other dogs at risk, while she is unleashed and not as much in control by me.

Since we had issues before, I try to avoid interactions with other dogs. Sometimes we have them while she is on leash (with a littler conversation with the other dog owner) and she does do well with some, not with others (I would say 50:50). 
We just go to the doggy park or play ground to throw balls when there is no other dog around.

By the way: She is doing great with day hiking with 6 other dogs 3 times a week. It seems like this is her pack and she respects those dogs.

Any advice is highly appreciated!

Thank you,

Heike


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

No advice sorry, just to say hi to sweet trouble Lily and bump up the thread.


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## Riley's Mom (Jul 6, 2008)

My 6 year old male doesn't always like other dogs either. He was wonderful with all other dogs till he was about 2 1/2 years old. Now he doesn't tolerate puppies at all and other dogs depending on how they greet him. He tends to like more laid back type of dogs that ignore him. He does have his "friends" that he loves no matter how long it's been between visits. I can usually tell right away if he is going to like the dog. 

For the most part I only let him hang out and play with the dogs I know he likes. I still take him lots of places where there are other dogs but I usually tell people he doesn't like other dogs so they will keep their dog away. 

It is what it is and I am disappointed that Riley turned out like that but he is very much under control and doesn't fire off or start trouble unless somebody gets in his face and even then sometimes he just sniffs and we move on. 
I will tell you that you will probably never get your dog to like all other dogs but she should still be controlable around them. I know it stinks having a Golden and everyone just automatically thinks they like all other dogs but some just don't.


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## Joanne & Asia (Jul 23, 2007)

Your description of Lily sounds very much like Asia. Her issues with other dogs started at about a year and a half. She also goes on hikes with her hiking group pack and has no issues there. She had no issues when she has been boarded at a local kennel where there is alot of dgd to dog interaction. It seems to be only when I am there so I think she feels she needs to ne protective of me and she does seem to guard me at times. Our trainer says she feels my anxiety and I';m sure that is true.

She has had some dominanace issues and using the Nothing in Life is Free method helps with that. She is loving around all people big and small with no agression. She is 7 now and we still struggle with this and I am never sure how she will react when we meet new dogs so am always cautious and she is good around 75 percent of them I would estimate. We avoid dog parks which is sad because she used to love to go and is so social with people. The only suggestions I have for you is to bump up the obedience training and ensure you have her under control when she meets new dogs as you are doing. It is an issue I continue to get frustrated about with her but have come to realize it is not going to go away completely so must make adjustments to ensure any opportunity for aggression is taken away but it is not easy to do. Probably not a bad idea to have her assessed by a behaviorist though just to rule out anything else that may be going on.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

You can never trust a dog again once they have shown aggression. That's the most important thing to remember. No matter how much better it looks like they are getting, never completely trust them. I know my friend has had relapses with her dog because it looks like she is doing better, they let their guard down, then someone gets hurt.

The most important thing you can do is to develop strong obedience skills, learn how to read your dog, and never put her in situations that make her uncomfortable. It's your job to protect her.


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## Joanne & Asia (Jul 23, 2007)

GoldenSail said:


> You can never trust a dog again once they have shown aggression. That's the most important thing to remember. No matter how better much it looks like they are getting, never completely trust them. I know my friend has had relapses with her dog because it looks like she is doing better, they let their guard down, then someone gets hurt.
> 
> The most important thing you can do is to develop strong obedience skills, learn how to read your dog, and never put her in situations that make her uncomfortable. It's your job to protect her.


That is very true.


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

Thank you all for the great advice and for your opinion. This is very helpful to me.

Well, it looks like I have to life with it (and I can) and will continue to do all the greeting practices I've done before but it is also good to know that this probably one of her personality trait I can't fix totally. 
Lilly is more submissive or better submissive-aggressive. Like you all just said, she can be the sweetest dog if she is in her pack but she is very insecure around new ones...and she also might feel my anxiety when other dogs approach (which is also hard to stop given the history, thank you 'Joanne & Asia'). I try to talk in sweet voices while we see other dogs on walks, but I definitely can work on my part, too.

Lilly is not perfect, but well trained/ obedient. As a first time dog owner, I took obedience classes seriously and she passed most of the classes (Puppy, Basic Manner, CGC, Impulse Control, Off leash control, Therapy dog) with a 'straight A' . During the Impulse Control Class we had one incident where she attacked another dog when she was about 10 months old...so yes there is a history.

Again: Thank you!!
Heike


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

> Probably not a bad idea to have her assessed by a behaviorist though just to rule out anything else that may be going on.


I made an appointment with a behaviorist (rare breed, he is the only one in Oregon and 1/60 in the US)...we will see what he says, I hope for specific training advices and practice guidelines. I will keep you updated....

Thank you!!!


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

da turpal iz justter tecktin hur mommeeee

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this.


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## turtle66 (Feb 19, 2010)

It's not really that bad, but it is annoying and I do a lot of avoidance tactic not to get her into trouble and I rather would like to train her not to be so submissive, submissive-aggressive and to do less guarding 

I djusda wonna hab da mommee save - dat is awl. Turpal


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