# Inconsistent Signs of Aggression - Seeking Help



## Jmjacobs00 (Sep 5, 2021)

Hi,
Fairly new to something like this but hoping to get some actual commentary and guidance to our exact situation. My fiancé and I have a wonderful male golden named Jackson who is just about 2 years old. We each have previously had other dogs and I even had several retrievers prior but he is by far the sweetest and most cuddly dog I’ve ever personally known. We got him from a pretty recognizable breeder as well. 
Although he is the sweetest, and most gentle dog he has had three separate issues over the past year and a half where he has acted out in some form of aggression. The first two were at a dog park where he was under a year old and it was in self defense after being attacked/side swiped so we have not been back since. The most recent time was with our family’s 7 year old golden who has never been in any altercation ever. He and Jackson have also played together countless times and get along rather well. It’s unconfirmed which golden started it but the odds are against Jackson given the prior scenarios. This was over a toy for additional reference.
Some further insight, Jackson has been fully trained with an off leash company and goes to a doggy day care once, sometimes twice a week, so he has plenty of socialization there along with our other families dogs as previously mentioned.
We understand it’s not impossible for goldens to act out but it is very unlikely. What makes it especially difficult is that there has been no consistency as to what triggers this in him since 99.9% of the time he continues to play and socialize as you would expect.
Does anyone have any guidance as to what could be triggering this and how to resolve moving forward?
Thank you


----------



## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Personally I would disregard the dog park incidents as it was a bad situation, according to you self-defense, and he was young. How bad was the fight with the 7 year old? Sounded bad but no blood or was there actual bleeding bites on either one? How were they with each other afterward? My Rukie has a Golden pal across the street. Twice in a two year period there was a nasty sounding skirmish but no injuries. When we hollered at them to stop, they did. I think someone was too rough and someone decided to let them know. Once it was Rukie being the aggressor and the other time it was Dasher. Hasn't happened again in the last year. I really think it was just drawing boundaries but like I said it sounded bad. We never leave them playing alone and Dasher is allowed some treats like giant rawhide that Rukie is not so I run around and pick up anything that might be worth fighting over before they are together. My Tawny was the mildest Golden girl ever and she got in a skirmish with my sister's ball fanatic mix breed. Again no bleeding just snarling and wrestling but ugly sounding. We just nixed the fetching session if they were both out and they got along fine for years. My guess is there's nothing abnormal or problematic with Jackson.


----------



## Anon-2130948gsoni (Apr 12, 2014)

Honestly, if it was just a bunch of noise and nobody has any injuries, I wouldn’t overthink it too much. Dogs sometimes get on each other‘s nerves, just like humans. I’ve always had multiple dogs and every once in a while there’s a dustup, especially over who gets what toy or other valued item, but it’s over almost as soon as it starts and nobody’s bleeding. It just sounds terrible. As the family dog gets older and your boy comes into full maturity, they may be renegotiating who’s entitled to what and when.
I’m not a fan of dog parks because there are too many unknowns health and behavior-wise, especially as it sounds like your dog is handling doggy daycare well.


----------



## Tony G (Oct 2, 2018)

Dog park I'd chalk up to it being a dog park, the second since you said it was over a toy one of the dogs may have been resource guarding that caused it. Ollie my older by 6 months golden gets possessive over large rocks he digs up with me and he brother he will lay on top of them and growl and even get bitey if you try to take it away luckily they rarely dig them up anymore as I think they have got near every single one in the backyard in the last 3 years


----------



## Jmjacobs00 (Sep 5, 2021)

cwag said:


> Personally I would disregard the dog park incidents as it was a bad situation, according to you self-defense, and he was young. How bad was the fight with the 7 year old? Sounded bad but no blood or was there actual bleeding bites on either one? How were they with each other afterward? My Rukie has a Golden pal across the street. Twice in a two year period there was a nasty sounding skirmish but no injuries. When we hollered at them to stop, they did. I think someone was too rough and someone decided to let them know. Once it was Rukie being the aggressor and the other time it was Dasher. Hasn't happened again in the last year. I really think it was just drawing boundaries but like I said it sounded bad. We never leave them playing alone and Dasher is allowed some treats like giant rawhide that Rukie is not so I run around and pick up anything that might be worth fighting over before they are together. My Tawny was the mildest Golden girl ever and she got in a skirmish with my sister's ball fanatic mix breed. Again no bleeding just snarling and wrestling but ugly sounding. We just nixed the fetching session if they were both out and they got along fine for years. My guess is there's nothing abnormal or problematic with Jackson.


Thank you. This is helpful. The fight didn’t draw blood or injuries but to your point was ugly sounding enough where I had to split them up. Feel as though we are all more on edge than they are now as they have since been playing with each other. We are just trying to do what we can to prevent the possibility of causing another.


----------



## Jmjacobs00 (Sep 5, 2021)

Noreaster said:


> Honestly, if it was just a bunch of noise and nobody has any injuries, I wouldn’t overthink it too much. Dogs sometimes get on each other‘s nerves, just like humans. I’ve always had multiple dogs and every once in a while there’s a dustup, especially over who gets what toy or other valued item, but it’s over almost as soon as it starts and nobody’s bleeding. It just sounds terrible. As the family dog gets older and your boy comes into full maturity, they may be renegotiating who’s entitled to what and when.
> I’m not a fan of dog parks because there are too many unknowns health and behavior-wise, especially as it sounds like your dog is handling doggy daycare well.


Thank you. Our trainer said the same thing about dog parks but we continued to take him until those issues. Now we stick with day care and he loves it. That is what I’m thinking happened but still wanted to do some additional due diligence before we have to seek professional help.


----------



## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Has your dog known your family's 7 year old GOlden all his life? Regular interaction? That kind of loud squirmish is not unusual if there's a line that needs to be drawn but would be odd with dogs who know each other. 

Set yourself up for success by making sure that high value toys and bones are put away when a new dog is present. The odds of things being testier indoors where there are tight quarters and less room to escape are higher than outdoor playtime. I would also suggest closer supervision and do some reading on canine body language.

Dog parks are a recipe for disaster and unless you really know what's going on at doggy day care, well, you have no idea. Have you discussed this with the place you take your dog? The level of supervision and number of dogs etc. can make these set ups a good fit or an absolute nightmare. Unless it's absolutely necessary, you may do better to increase your one one one activities with your dog during your free time and stop the doggy day care now that he's not a pup anymore. As they mature, they sometimes aren't as inclined to play with strange dogs that they might have been interested in when younger.


----------



## sevans (Jul 18, 2021)

You don’t mention if your dogs are neutered. If not- it might be something to consider as this could be the start of a dominance issue fuelled by testosterone. Also- perhaps some specific training on sharing toys and food to reduce those triggers. Dog parks are great in theory but often the location of some serious injury due to the poor judgement of some owners. I try to use super clean parks that are less frequented and I only let my dog loose when I either know and trust the other dog(s) / owners(s) or when the park is empty- early AM or late evening. If there are too many dogs- nope and if an unknown dog arrives- we leave.


----------

