My 12 week old boxer puppy has exhibited some rather aggressive behavior recently. We have had him for about 4 weeks. He first started by growling and snapping at my 10 month old boxer who was attempting to share the food bowl.(we do free feed) The older boxer now will not bother him while eating. He tends to follow the older boxer around and antagonize him and gets slightly aggressive but if it gets to be too much the older boxer lets him know. Things seemed to get a little worse the other day as he was gnawing on a marrow bone and in my attempt to pet him and get him used to people touching him while eating (on advice from several books and a trainer) he went ballistic. As this occurred my intent was to take the bone and "No" him and place him in his crate. He would not even let me get close to the bone as he snarled, growled, and showed his teeth. It was a very tense moment and a bit frightening to see a puppy exhibit this behavior. Any suggestions??

Yes, Tell him that you are not going to accept this behaviour. He has won with your older dog and now is doing the same with you. Take bones, toys, food etc away until he learns to behave. At the moment he is still small enough for you to grab him and tell him "Enough". If this was your young child swearing at you for doing something he objected to would you let the child get away with it?

It is quite normal for puppies to torment older dogs and for older dogs to tell them off but it would be better if you managed to stop this behaviour rather than leaving it to your other puppy.

BTW do male Boxers get on as they mature?

Christine

What do you mean by "get on"?

Do they remain friendly or scrap. Males of some breeds can safely be kept together without needing massive vet bills and others can't - just wondered about Boxers?

Christine

All of my experiences with our older boxer and others have been very positive. They tend to be very playful but physical dogs (often "boxing" each other) who seem to know their limits.

Your experience from your posting is only of a young 10 month old. do you know other mature male boxers living together harmoniously??

My experience apart from my puppy of 10 months is of two sets of fully grown male boxers. One set is comprised of the sire of my dogs and the sire's brother. They are virtually inseparable. Another set is of two males who grew up together - and again they both get along very well and are the reason I decided to get a boxer in the first place.

I had 2 litter brothers,yes I know now it isn't recommended but didn't then, they got on fine lost Klan at 31/2 with heart problems, got Tel 16 weeks shared kennel with Kapra fine got Kree at 8 weeks Tel's son all 3 dogs in one kennel fine. Then we moved house and from then on little vibes between Tel and Kree mostly. I don't think Tel liked his son as he got older poor Kree was an aggravating sort of dog. I went on holiday and that seems to have shifted balance Tel and Kree had an almighty fight, Never risked kenneling them together after that Kree and Kapra together Tel on his own but right next door no problems walked together travelled together all fine. Having had Boxers and Beardies it is MY impression that Boxers are often not very keen on other Boxers where as Beardies love each other but that is only my view.
I would nip the cheek from pup in the bud before he gets much bigger, Tel and Kapra would never have behaved like this Kree would. How is older dog about food being taken away etc
Anne

Mc,
I'm not a Boxer person, but I do firmly believe that each dog needs to have his/her own dog food bowl and their "alone" spot to eat food at own pace. There's enough doggy stress without adding to it imo :)

Food, resting spots, and treats are the primary points of contention when one has multiple dogs, esp. same sex. I've had up to three bitches live peacefully with one another despite not really liking one another :rolleyes:

Food was where I really put the law down. The two I now have eat at vastly different speeds. Samma used to try to crowd out Chienne's portion long ago. I almost had some serious fights go on, despite their friendship... I now have them eating back to back and when Samma's finished, she leaves the kitchen automatically.

Where you are trying to get the bone back from your puppy, I agree with you for the reasoning, but it might be a good idea to start the NILIF program (nothing in life is free). Your puppy sits, you put the bowl of food down, then release him to eat. If he starts eating without "permission" (released), you pick the bowl back up. It's easier to start with basic food, than with the special prized treat of a bone. Also easier to grab ahold of for you.
Do some searches on the NILIF program on here, they go into much better detail than I can.
good luck with your puppy.
toodles :Cool:

It's not a good idea to 'free feed' - not only is it causing conflict in your case but you also won't be sure who has eaten what amount etc.... You may need that information at some stage for the vet. Portions should be monitored and regulated - especially when growing up!! :) Give them a bowl each and separate them when you feed.
I agree that you should be able to remove their food bowl without being bitten ~she says knowing that anyone who tried to take her plate away would have to have a fork removed from the back of their hand~
you can make the pup understand who he looks to for food by holding onto his portion and placing it in small mouthful amounts into his bowl and making him wait a few moments for the next bit.
Choose a marrowbone that is shaped so you can comfortably grip one end of it and hold it yourself. Let him chew the other end. Keep lifting it away from him. It's YOUR bone!! Let him chew it - lift it out of reach and stroke him. Then let him chew it a bit again. Any signs of aggression then lift it away from him and put it away for a while. Don't let him have control of it.
He's only young so set the ground rules for the behaviour that you find acceptable to live with. Don't settle for anything less :)

Living with 7 Boxers at present I can assure you as a rule they do like each other usually the reason for any squabbles is food (especially with the bitches). You cannot take it for granted that any two dogs will get on they are like people and can take a dislike to each other, even siblings can be totally different, for this reason when advising people running two Boxers together I always say a dog and a bitch are mostly the best pairing but of course this does bring the problem of seasons into the frame.

We had a very unruly puppy in our first Boxer Bitch she tried this sort of behaviour you just have to let them know in no uncertain terms that you are boss we did this with a sharp telling off and time out in another room for 10 minutes alone, and when let out we ignored her for a while (Boxers hate to be ignored.) We now have a very balanced Boxer bitch who will respect her humans but saying that she runs the pack with a rod of iron but never with aggression.

I know people who run their males together with absolutely no problems it's all down to temperament since using certain stud dogs (selected for their temperament as well as looks) I have noticed a big difference in the type of puppy we are getting (much more laid back) I do think there are just too many males out there at the moment who cannot stand the sight of eachother and unfortunately these are being used widely at stud.

As for free feeding again it's down to your dog and knowing your dogs I know just which ones I can safely leave alone together when there is food about and the ones who I cannot trust completely get fed in their cage but I would keep a firm eye on any youngsters being fed together I usually use a baby gate to keep them apart when feeding two youngsters, they cannot swap and change and you know just who's eating what but they still have the added incentive (in theory) of eating their food before the other can pinch it.