Hello,

My 9 month old boy (American cocker) is with the dog sitter as I'm away overseas, he's been there for just over 2 weeks with my other dog, I've just spoken to the sitter who said that there has been some incidents of fighting with other dogs that she has (she day boards but never a lot of dogs in her large house).

Metsi gets on fantastic with their own cocker but just with some dogs he will instigate a fight, over nothing...not all of them but just some, recently it was a young female retriever and the sitter had to break them up as they didn't seem as though they would sort it out themselves and then the retriever bit the sitter.

Metsi can sometimes try to dominate but when put in his place by other dogs he does submit, Kassie the sitter thinks it could be that he sees her home as his and it's a jealousy thing.

I had a dog come to my own house overnight once, they played for hours when the dog arrives but the next day Metsi kept attacking him.

He is not neutered as he's never shown aggression, humping etc.

If he has had a scrap with my older dog I have stepped in as I don't want her getting hurt, she's getting older and weaker and he's getting older and stronger....she's very placid and does growl at him and he does seem to give her a bit of mouth by barking then backs down.

I'd welcome any advice as I do have to come overseas sometimes and they need to fit in another home where different dogs come and go.

Annee

I would be looking at finding a new home boarder who doesn't take any other dogs on at the same time as yours and doesn't have their own either. Without actually seeing it and having a qualified behaviourist watching and assessing it would be hard to quantify what leads up to him reacting like this. Some dogs can be highly social out and about but then are not so in a home.
There are home boarders out there who are licensed and base their company on your dogs only and no other day care or their own dogs in the home at the same time. Is your boy crate trained so if needs be while you are away now the home boarder can move him away safely from the others to try and relax.

I would place him with a sitter who has no other dogs, must admit I would be most upset to find my dog being met by aggression, surprised the sitter is still taking him. Most wouldn't want that, it's not their job to have to sort things like that out and the other dog owners would be livid if they found out.

In fact if he even attacks your own dog (or is it rough play fighting, different breeds play in different ways?) but regardless if she is old it's no good I would house your AC in a foster home alone and leave your older dog with this sitter for company if she is happy.

Dealing with the aggression/heavy playing is something for you to work on at home, not a job for a sitter to do IMO.

Sounds like he needs a firm voice and distraction techniques, make sure he knows you are the authority figure here, strong eye contact, firm calm voice and trained commands are needed.

If you can find him a sitter who will also back up your training on a one to one basis it will help a lot whilst you're overseas, I wouldn't rely on other dogs putting him in his place it could cause more aggression. It's acceptable in a pack but other dogs are not his 'pack' he will just view 'other' dogs as aggressive, turning him one of two ways.

For now, until he settles with age and training (hopefully, time will tell) IMO he should be with a sitter with no other dogs. (I'm thinking of the other dogs, I wouldn't want my dog attacked)

Personally aggressive dogs I wont deal with on walks, a friend of mine is a home boarder and if there are any issues as part of her contract they go to a local.boarding kennels at the expense of the owner. This dog needs to be kept apart from others inside the home I fell, if he's good on walks then great but he's not behaving well at the home. I'm surprised that they also haven't contacted your emergency contact, I know a few others who have had to do that due to unwanted behaviour.
Carrington has given another option and that's to keep them apart when away with different home boarders so at least your old girl can have some peace. Sounds like he's really going through his young upstart Kevin stage and needs strong firm boundaries right now.

Thank you all, he's really happy at the sitters and have had no issues before, I've been really stern with him as the breeder told me to not baby him.

I've been away for just over 2 weeks and they've not been left this long there before, I really think it's the "Kevin" stage too and he's just pushing to see how far he gets, if I've had to "have a few words" I've put him on his back and growled at him....he immediately becomes floppy and has never fought back.

In over 2 weeks the sitter has had just a couple of incidents but 95% of time he's a happy playful boy who loves other dogs....2 incidents is of course 2 too many.

The sitter has one dog herself and Metsi adores her, maybe he's jealous of others getting near his "girlfriend"

I'm going to speak to a trainer too who was his puppy trainer.

Thank you all....I don't really want to seperate him from the sitter etc but clearly until he can behave himself I may have to have a one to one sitter.

How long does the "Kevin" stage last ?

Annee

It sounds chaos that I a) wouldn't want my dogs in and b) feel sorry for the other people that are sending dogs there!

I have been very lucky that I have always managed to have friends or family look after my dogs when I'm away. I am dreading the thought of having to consider more commercial arrangements, not (just!) for the money element but because there are so few people I would trust with my dogs. Random dogs from several homes in one domestic setting would NOT be something I would consider.

Annee, I'm refraining from commenting too much in hope that someone much more qualified will come along, but you need to look at how you're handling his 'naughtiness' in day to day life, pinning him on his back and growling at him isn't the way to go. You want to be carefully and considerately coaching him through this difficult time, and creating a bond of trust and cooperation. Hopefully someone will be along to be more helpful, just wanted to highlight that. If you do a good job teaching him how to behave in life in general, and explain the situation to a decent sitter who will appreciate that if not work with it, you will be setting him up for a less problematic future.

As for your current situation, I agree that finding an experienced less dog-busy, or even better dog free sitter would be advisable, whilst you help him through the dreaded Kevin stage.

I have had dogs that I've had to 'manage' whilst sitting and it's not ideal for anyone.

I've put him on his back and growled at him....he immediately becomes floppy and has never fought back.

Annee, this type of training belongs in the stone age. You are not a dog! Your dog knows you are not a dog, obviously he is shocked by your behaviour, which is why he doesn't fight back at the moment with you being bigger too, but if so inclined when he gets older, he will, he'll bite you and then you'll blame him.

Act like a human, that's what you are, you're the authority figure you become that by training positively, praising good and wanted behaviour, using time outs and distractions for unwanted behaviour. Don't make him aggressive.

You need to start again,

> I've been away for just over 2 weeks and they've not been left this long there before, I really think it's the "Kevin" stage too and he's just pushing to see how far he gets, if I've had to "have a few words" I've put him on his back and growled at him....he immediately becomes floppy and has never fought back.

You are making this worse.  As Carrington says, you are not a dog and he knows it.  This behaviour, from us to them, is extremely threatening.  it ramps up the stress at lightning speed and yes, he'll stop squirming because it's safer for him to do so in the face of such a threat but in the long run, all it's doing is drastically increasing the amount of stress he feels and associates with being around other dogs. 

You're concentrating on the wrong side of it - trying to correct the 'bad' when what you need to be doing is distracting and preventing the 'bad', calmly remove him if the 'bad' does happen, and heavily rewarding the 'good' (anything that is not aggression/bullying).

Please believe me when I say this, from my own dogs and experiences, you will only make things worse until you switch your approach.  And make sure whatever dog sitter you use is doing the same.

Ok,

Thank you all.

I think I've now got it that I'm going things incorrectly....I was given  this advice and according to you all its wrong.

I don't need lambasting as I feel I have been so I can we all just now take it that I will do as I've been advised and change things.

Annee