Aggression & marking territory

BUSTA · 03-11-2010, 11:16 PM

I have a 2yr old neutered bassett. Adorable. We now have a 1yr old male lab and a 7 yr old femal mixed breed. Busta is very aggressive when it comes to food and going into the back yard. He is only like this towards the lab. He lunges at him growls at him and then it's on. I having the feeding somewhat under control by putting them in different areas but when he is outside and I let the lab out he attacks him.

Secondly, he urinates in and around his bowl after he eats and when he comes into the house he will walk up to anything and pee on it!!!

Help...not sure what this all means; I read they were very relaxed dogs.

Mikey T · 03-11-2010, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Busta is very aggressive when it comes to food and going into the back yard. He is only like this towards the lab. He lunges at him growls at him and then it's on

What sort of introduction between the dogs was done?
Introducing a New Dog to the Household

Hmm why are the actions of the lab getting a free pass? Such as why is the lab near busta food bowl when busta is eating out of it. The reason I mention this is because in any dog vs dog conflict it takes two dogs for it to occur, if at any time one backs down there is no conflict.

Quote:

. He lunges at him growls at him and then it's on

What actual damage has busta inflicated on the lab? A lack of puncture wounds is a clear indication busta actions are not to cause harm but to put the lab in his place.

Is the lab neutered I get the impression it is not, this could be a big part of the problem
see Social Hierarchies

Quote:

The termination of this 'puppy license' is cued by rising testosterone levels in male pups at four- to five-months of age, which reach a peak around 10 months (4-5 ng/ml) before declining to adult levels (1-2 ng/ml). When puppies approached adolescence, they were continually harassed by adult dogs. Male adolescents were especially targeted by adult males. This stressful phase of social development is mercifully short, because the pups quickly learn to display active and exaggerated appeasement in order to allay harassment by adults, i.e., the pups learn their station in life before they become serious competition on the social scene. Even so, several maturing adolescents, especially the high-ranking males, started to challenge older, low-ranking females. In our studies, all challenges against adult males were unsuccessful, even though, when full-grown, most of the new generation turned out to be larger than the old guard.

Again going back to possible inappropriate behavior of the lab or anticipation of that behavior.

some resources that could be of help

He Just Wants To Say "Hi!"
Aggression or appropriate response to rudeness? Far too many dogs suffer because handlers & trainers don't know the difference between the two

access to above link will likely require signing up there is no charge and no spam etc it is done as a means to maintain copyright protection of the article. But I think this may be a large part of what is going on, knowing the behavior of adolecent labs and give Busta has no problem with the other dog a large part of what you are observing could be apporpriate reasponse to rude or obnoxious behavior on the part of the lab.

The Aggressive Behaviors in Dogs group

FIGHT! - A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE TREATMENT OF DOG-DOG AGGRESSION

and a accurate review of the book

Quote:

Donaldson's writing is intelligent, straightforward, and presumes a working knowledge of behaviorist terminology. From the outset, she rejects the temptation to buy into anything other than a behaviorist approach to the topic. Her observations about the current understanding of canine dominance hierarchies are pithy and amusing, as she highlights how little is certain, despite various assertions to the contrary. Donaldson's point is well taken that "a disciplined focus on what the dog is doing (or not doing) is usually more fruitful" than speculating on the dog's thoughts and motivations

Quote:

I read they were very relaxed dogs

Very dangerious to assume a particular indvidual is going to match the standards of the group. Just because the average tends one way does not mean the tendecies of any one individule do as well one need to evaluate the individule dog not the breed.

Quote:

when he comes into the house he will walk up to anything and pee on it!!!

Quite simply he is not house trained. Why is he allowed free reign of the house when this is the case. That said introduction of a "threat" can evoke teritorial tendencies in some dogs, but as mentioned in the quote above speculating at the cause is general futile greater sucess occurs from focusing on correcting the behavior.

FEELING OUTNUMBERED? - HOW TO MANAGE & ENJOY A MULTI-DOG HOUSEHOLD
there is a dvd as well for those that learn better with visual, howver I have not seen it so can not make a reccomendation

Fair Review

Quote:

The guiding premise of the booklet is the value of teaching "polite, patient, and respectful" behaviors and making a conscious effort to reinforce these in situations where dogs might otherwise be pushy and demanding. The authors point out that, left unguided, many dogs will get pushier as they grasp for their own rewards, resulting in a mob of rude, potentially contentious dogs

...
To their credit, London & McConnell don't focus on identifying and favoring the most dominant dog, nor on allowing dogs to work out their own conflicts. Rather, they stress that, "The best way to prevent status-related aggression... is to be a calm and confident leader, projecting a sense of benevolent power."

Dogs Aggressive in Yard

Take Care When Training Aggressive Dogs

Multidog Household

Dealing with Dog-Dog Aggression

Living with a dog pack

Food Bowl Guarding

03-11-2010, 11:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
BUSTA Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1	Aggression & marking territory I have a 2yr old neutered bassett. Adorable. We now have a 1yr old male lab and a 7 yr old femal mixed breed. Busta is very aggressive when it comes to food and going into the back yard. He is only like this towards the lab. He lunges at him growls at him and then it's on. I having the feeding somewhat under control by putting them in different areas but when he is outside and I let the lab out he attacks him. Secondly, he urinates in and around his bowl after he eats and when he comes into the house he will walk up to anything and pee on it!!! Help...not sure what this all means; I read they were very relaxed dogs.

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