Being mean to puppies

Brittany Ernst · Sep 27, 2014

Rootbeer is almost 11 months old. He is neutered and has been since 9 months old. He gets along with other dogs well most of the time. When we go to the dog park he runs around with the other dogs but if theres a puppy younger than him he with greet it the way he greets every other dog and then out of nowhere snap at it and turns into a little gremlin. Just to dogs younger than him though and it started when he was around 7 months old. We usually tell him no, pick him up and then after a minute let him back down. If he continues we leave the dog park. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this or could explain to me why he might be doing this? Also if anyone has suggestions on how to handle this I'd love to know because while he hasn't hurt any dogs its embarrassing and impolite of him!

davidh · Sep 27, 2014

Well without seeing him do it, it;s hard to tell if it's just play or he is aggressive to them. It's unusual for one to be aggressive toward a younger pup, but they can play rough.

Schimpfy · Sep 27, 2014

It sure is nice reading about an owner who has manners and wants what is best for her pup, wish I could help i can only think about maybe getting Rootbeer more socialized with younger pups under strict supervision of course

blushy · Sep 27, 2014

Sounds to me like a dominance issue.

I would call a puppy school and ask if there is a class that he can attend with all puppies younger/smaller than him.

They may even specially arrange something to see exactly how he responds.

Glad you're actually trying to solve the problem instead of ignore it.

Best of luck and keep us updated!

Brittany Ernst · Sep 27, 2014

Its definitely aggression. He does play pretty rough but this is different. He all of a sudden jumps and tries to bite them and makes growling gremlin noises different from when he plays.

Brittany Ernst · Sep 27, 2014

Schimpfy said:
It sure is nice reading about an owner who has manners and wants what is best for her pup, wish I could help i can only think about maybe getting Rootbeer more socialized with younger pups under strict supervision of course

He has been around dogs all shapes/sizes/ages since we for him at 8 weeks. Randomly at about 7 months this started happening after a younger/larger puppy wouldn't stop annoying him. I'm not so much worried about the other dog getting hurt because he has a hard time actually biting onto them and I always keep a close eye on him so I am able to come swoop over and pull him away but I feel like the puppies owner gets worried and angry understandably. Im unsure what the best way to get him used to puppies is!

Brittany Ernst · Sep 27, 2014

blushy said:
Sounds to me like a dominance issue.

I would call a puppy school and ask if there is a class that he can attend with all puppies younger/smaller than him.

They may even specially arrange something to see exactly how he responds.

Glad you're actually trying to solve the problem instead of ignore it.

Best of luck and keep us updated!

I have been thinking he may be trying to assert dominance. He is actually somewhat submissive with the older/larger dogs and seems to prefer them. Sometimes the puppies are crazy and don't know their boundaries and I can understand him correcting them for that but other times its completely unprovoked at least from what I can tell.

Thats a good idea except I'm not sure a class full of puppy owners would be very open to having my little bully of a dog around. He doesn't have a problem on leash around puppies, its not till they actually begin to interact that he acts this way and its usually not right away.

blushy · Sep 28, 2014

Brittany Ernst said:
I have been thinking he may be trying to assert dominance. He is actually somewhat submissive with the older/larger dogs and seems to prefer them. Sometimes the puppies are crazy and don't know their boundaries and I can understand him correcting them for that but other times its completely unprovoked at least from what I can tell.

Thats a good idea except I'm not sure a class full of puppy owners would be very open to having my little bully of a dog around. He doesn't have a problem on leash around puppies, its not till they actually begin to interact that he acts this way and its usually not right away.

No I meant if you call they might want to see him in action with even possibly one puppy? Just to see if it's aggression, or dominance, or what.

Wouldn't hurt to ask.