does anyone own dalmations can you please tell me at 7 months would a dog normally show signs of being maybe a bit to aggressive as i have two dalmation dogs and it only occurs in oscar... and not.... oliver i also have a springer bitch and dog... and a lab bitch and dog and none of these had the same experience as with oscar

At 7 months you could be getting into the adolescent stage. All puppies go through it to a greater or lesser extent. Often the more dominant ones can be a problem whereas the more submissive one might pass through it without you hardly noticing.

There is really not a lot you can do apart from hoping it soon passes. Quiet calm handling, brooking no argument is my recipe. Dalmatian's are not the easiest in that they are not the kind of dog for blind obedience! Any training needs to be varied or the dog switches off.

Obviously without seeing the dog any advice can only be circumspect. Where exactly and in what way does the agression show? Dog to dog or dog to human? and if to human is that to family or strangers?

Regards, John

more dog to human males in perticular.... I wouldnt say hes out of hand or overly boystous as trainging has been going v well all of my other dogs are of 2 years and over the dynamic duo as i like to call them oliver and oscar are by no means head of the pac all dogs seem to no there standing and get on very well. do you think therefor it could have been genetically inherited from bloodline from perhaps a dog that had bad experience with men????

I'm a great believer in "Inherited Knowledge" in that a good dog from a good working line knows quite a bit naturally before you even start to train him. But I believe that is more the result of generations rather that just the odd generation. For example, if a man kicked a dog then I would doubt it would affect the puppy, (Assuming the original dog was not around the puppy to pass on his fears) whereas if men kicked 20 generations then I believe the fear "Might" start showing.

This sounds more to me as a fear thing? A little timid? Often this comes out as a fear aggression to men partly because of our harder voice and partly because a dog tends to be around women rather more than men. Does he see rather more women than men? Fear aggression is often not recognised because the aggression masks the fear from us. Remember the old saying, "When your up to your behind in alligators it is difficult to remember the object of the exercise was to drain the swamp!"

Regards, John

No not really with the exception of me of course i wont leave my dogs for any longer than two hours without supervisionso im the only femal he sees all the time???? he is ok with my partner perhaps just a stage hes going through.

Could be. In which case you’re back to the adolescent stage that I said about in my first reply. I must admit, this is the most likely. Certainly the time is around right.

Regards, John

Hi,
What do the dogs actually do, and in what circumstances? I have 2 entire male dalmatians (2 bitches as well) and as John says, 7 or 8 months was exactly the time they started becoming bolshy little gits!

What breeding are your dals?
:)

Well its mainly just aggressive barking and the occasional growl...hasnt actually attempted to byte anyone though

My Dalmatian went through a funny stage at around 6 months and lasted until he was about 18 months. If we saw a strange man out on a walk while he was off the lead he would run up and bark quite aggressively at them. It was definately fear induced I could tell from his body language.

He did grow out of it, I found the best way to deal with it was to walk briskly past, apologizing as I went. It was never a problem if he was in a secure environment, just out on walks.

Good Luck
Sandra

This happens at home with guests as well as out and about

How do you react when they bark at guests? What do the guests do? Many dogs (of all breeds) find strangers in their home frightening, especially if these people talk to them. What happens when your guests completely ignore the dog/s?

people it isnt all of them its just one of them oscar and i have chosen all differnt approaches with guests with me there with me out of sight gently... ignoring....reasureing ect...so am swaying that it may just be a bolshy time for him.

Do they bark at people or other dogs? Are they on the lead or off when they do it? Are they all exercised together?

Daytime split into two groups in evening when husband home alltogether. they also have over an acre and a half of land around my home that they all share together all the time no problems there.....

I would try and get guests to completely ignore him, turn their back on him and avoid eye contact at all costs. It could be attention seeking or fear related, it is difficult to tell without seeing him react.

If it becomes a real problem it may be worth contacting the Dalmatian Club who might have a breed representitive in your area that could help. He is only young, so an experienced person assessing him but be able to see something you can't.

Just a suggestion.

Sandra

if all else fails as seems to be i will take you up on that advice thankyou for the reply