Need advice on aggresive behavior

Hi everyone and thanks for readin. Bubba is 1 yr old and Tiny is just over 6months. I brought both dogs home the same day from the same place. Tiny is just a joyful, normal rambunctious pug. Bubba and Tiny play everyday. They nip and run and jaw each other. The first month they came home they slept on top of each other. Bubba is def the alpha. At times when eating Bubba will decide to change spots and forces Tiny to change. It seems each one always wants the toy or chewy that the other one has. Tiny does normal dog stuff where he will chew his toy right by Bubba, and he drops it all over waiting for Bubba to give chase. All pretty normal stuff. The first 2 months were normal. i live in an apartment and it seems to be causing problems. There is always dogs and people about often. The first problem was on a walk a dog was near and Bubba growls and snarles like an attack dog. It sounds scary. If i let bubba go to the dog he carries on that way til he gets to the dog then sniffs and and does normal dog stuff. If bubba sees a dog and i hold him from going near he gets really mad and goes to bite Tiny. (i walk them both at same time). He sees gets mad and basically takes it out on Tiny. Also the other problem that im trying to tackle is Anytime someone passes the front door or dogs across or upstairs from us bark Bubba responds and most times its an aggresive bark. What happens is this. Someone is going up the stairs dog across they way starts frantically barking Bubba starts up sees Tiny and bites his neck and starts shaking his head side to side. Today Tiny was at my feet and someone walking in(the apartment biulding) slammed a door, bubba starting reacting with barking and grabed Tiny by his cheek and went to town. it only lasts a few seconds but it scares tiny and isnt fair to him. It seems that the noises get Bubba anxiety and he takes it out on Tiny. he is not aggresive towards people. If i bring dogs in the house there is no problem. if i Bring them to a house with dogs there is no problem. Its only when we are inside and an outside noise sets him off or when he is restrained on leash and cant get to a dog he sees. The bites seem to be getting more violent. Even after this Tiny will approach Bubba and play with him etc, But They could be both sleeping and a dog in the hallway starts barking like mad and Bubba pops up starts barking and goes right after Tiny and grabs his neck roll and bites down and shakes it like a chew toy. Tiny is screaming in terror and now is starting to get really fet up with it. Im due to have them fixed soon. The snow got my pre op consultation for bubba cancelled last week. So any day now Bubba will be getting done. Until then i cant relax at home because dogs are always barking and peopl are always coming and goin and slammin doors and im always ready to go in and pick up Tiny should be Bubba startled somehow and go after him. I didn mean to post so much and i hope i got the clear picture across and i hope someone could advise cuz i just cant let Tiny get attacked all the time outta no where. And when Bubba bites the spray bottle does not work to seperate him.

Okay. Here goes. A couple of things come to mind immediately.

First--you've mentioned that one of the dogs is special needs. I can't remember if it's Bubba or Tiny. And I don't know what kind of special needs he is, but could that be making him somewhat more reactive than he might be otherwise?

Secondly, the interactions where Bubba gets barky about something then turns on Tiny sounds like transference aggression. Dog gets riled up, can't get to the object that riles him so goes after whatever is closest--in this case, Tiny.

You absolutely need to be protecting Tiny. And you absolutely need to be teaching Bubba that shoving Tiny away from his food is not okay. As the older and bigger dog some of what you are seeing is normal, but just like with kids, they need to have rules and restrictions and I'd start letting Bubba know that some of his "bullying" of Tiny is not okay. I'd be separating them at meals so that no one can steal from the other. And I'd be thinking about not having them together unsupervised. You may need to either start gating or crating them separately when you aren't right there until you can get some of Bubba's "attack Tiny" behaviour under control. I'd also consider having Bubba on leash when he's around Tiny in the apartment so that when he goes to bite Tiny, you can step in and stop it immediately.

I'd also be getting Bubba into some obedience classes as soon as possible. There are many techniques for working on his leash reactivity and his barking at noises outside the apartment, but you need to get some basic skills under your and his belt. They are both still really young so are very teachable and workable.

Begin to get Bubba to focus on you when you hear noises outside the door--use a high value treat to get him to come and respond to you. Look into the Nothing In Life Is Free training options. I've had several dogs that stopped responding to the water bottle or never responded to it. It's a "last resort" option for me as I don't want my dogs getting used to it so that it stops being effective.

We have other folks with training experience here who may chime in.

Bubba sounds like he's very anxious and actually fearful, not so much full aggression.

Get into a good positive reinforcement obedience class with Bubba first and then with Tiny too. Talk to the trainers first and discuss his issues with them, they might be able to do in home assessments and help you out a ton. Try out clicker training, it's very fun and dogs really gain a ton of confidence when working with them. Some good books to read are "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons or "Cautious Canine" by Patricia McConnell or for food guarding "Mine" by Jean Donaldson.

Like Blanche said, keep them separated and under strict supervision so Tiny doesn't get hurt. Walk them one at a time and if you see a dog coming, turn around and walk away and when you're a good distance away reward Bubba when he's not reacting. VERY slowly you'll be able to get closer and closer and keep doing this until it clicks that "hey maybe other dogs are nothing to freak out over!". Plus removing his jewels might help as well, he's what a year old? He's just coming into sexual maturity and all males across all species tend to go a bit wacko during then

Bubba has the same disability as Tiny Tim had...fused elbows.
Timmy was also very "aggressive" whenever he felt threatened. Whenever a new dog came around he would snap at them...he bit a 9 mo pit bull and drew blood at his former foster home which is why he came to live with me. Because he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against a fully abled dog, he tried to keep them at bay through intimidation. Ask Penny Lane...it worked, lol.

I think neutering may mellow him out a little bit but you will need to work on the behavior too. Others will probably have a better idea of how to work on that... with Timmy, I would just put him in a "time out" somewhere away from me and the other dogs which were his "pack". He was soon fine with the dogs in my house.

Pugsavers wrote:Bubba has the same disability as Tiny Tim had...fused elbows.
Timmy was also very "aggressive" whenever he felt threatened. Whenever a new dog came around he would snap at them...he bit a 9 mo pit bull and drew blood at his former foster home which is why he came to live with me. Because he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against a fully abled dog, he tried to keep them at bay through intimidation. Ask Penny Lane...it worked, lol.

I think neutering may mellow him out a little bit but you will need to work on the behavior too. Others will probably have a better idea of how to work on that... with Timmy, I would just put him in a "time out" somewhere away from me and the other dogs which were his "pack". He was soon fine with the dogs in my house.

Well, then, the reactivity on leash makes all kinds of sense.

and Mandy, I'm saying the dog IS aggressive--but the reaction is interpreted that way regardless of what it's based upon--fear, excitement, etc. The turning to bite Tiny likely is transference.

Sorry--that should have read "I'm NOT saying the dog is aggressive....."

Thank you so much for the feedback and hi roxanne! I was thinking the disability may play a role in this behaviour. And well put, he def seems to bo transferring anxiety,fear,anger. 3 days ago his was chewing his toy and they Bichon across the hall went nuts and Bubba totally amped up his attack on chew toy physically and growling too. If everyone is home Bubba hears a dog bark his hair goes up, he starts barking, then looks for Tiny. Not sure if its promising but the situation has happened also and Bubba did not react at all. My observation is he needs to be in that mood and have the set off stimulation. Both ingrediants must be present or nothing happens, and he def has 3 definable moods.Happy active licky, sleepy snuggly, and hell bent trouble.(thats also when he follows down the hall and gets your pants leg and plays pug of war with it). I have attempted to reinforce good behavior but im not an expert and im sure im making mistakes despite all ive read. Obedience class my be really good. Also Bubba came from a Back Yard breeder type and im sure had to be tough at times with all the other dogs around. The first 2 months he always took treats and went away and ate them with his back turned. Same with the feeding mouthful by mouthful he would walk away and eat with his back turned(in otherwords protecting it). I am gonna try the leash at home thing it works keepin them seperate outside.

northernwitch wrote:and Mandy, I'm saying the dog IS aggressive--but the reaction is interpreted that way regardless of what it's based upon--fear, excitement, etc. The turning to bite Tiny likely is transference.

Oh that wasn't towards you, it was towards the OP. Yes it's aggression but of a fear/anxious type, i just didn't want them to confuse it as "my dog is aggressive and blood thirsty".


I'm also going to go and suggest that since he came from a BYB you might want to get his hearing and eyesight checked as well as a full workup. No dog is a bad dog, but some dogs have bad genetics. Sensory problems can cause aggressive responses and if he's from less than ideal breeding then he very well may have defects. Also neurological problems are a definite possibility in aggressive responses.

MandyPug wrote:

northernwitch wrote:and Mandy, I'm saying the dog IS aggressive--but the reaction is interpreted that way regardless of what it's based upon--fear, excitement, etc. The turning to bite Tiny likely is transference.

Oh that wasn't towards you, it was towards the OP. Yes it's aggression but of a fear/anxious type, i just didn't want them to confuse it as "my dog is aggressive and blood thirsty".


I'm also going to go and suggest that since he came from a BYB you might want to get his hearing and eyesight checked as well as a full workup. No dog is a bad dog, but some dogs have bad genetics. Sensory problems can cause aggressive responses and if he's from less than ideal breeding then he very well may have defects. Also neurological problems are a definite possibility in aggressive responses.

Typo there, Mandy. My statement should have read I'm NOT saying the dog is aggressive. But likely fearful as you said. I just wanted to make sure the OP didn't think I was labeling his dog as aggressive.

I have had both Bubba and Tiny vet checked. I actually have a friend that is Vet and i trust her. She did say that Bubba has corneal scratches on both eyes. Im pretty sure that is what she said dont take this as fact. But the facts amount to Bubba having blind spot or poor eye sight dead center of his vision on both eyes. She said most likely what ever he looks at straight on is gonna be cloudy. Shr did not however reccommend a fix or repair for it.

The poor eyesight could also play a role in this since he can't always see what's out there and can misinterpret things.
Gawd he sound so much like Tiny Tim it freaks me out!!