Hi everyone, Had a slight incident today with my staff being agressive to my friend boxer pup, boxer is fine just a scratch on her nose but i just wanted to know what may of been the cause, i have a few ideas but wanted experienced opinions if im right or its something i may of missed out. Read the story, and any thoughts are welcomed and feedback on what to do correct agression.

Staff: 15 months, male, NOT nuetered, very playful with other dogs and been meeting dogs since he was a pup, obedient,
Boxer: 4 months, female, very playful, met a few times with staff and get on very well playing and relaxing.

Story: We was in our local park, dogs playin, running, wrestling , chasing balls for a good half hour. A male labrodor Not nuetered came over to off leash owner said he was fine, dogs where sniffing and playin.lab started playing with boxer more, then my staff got agressive me thinking that natural him being overprotective over boxer so i took my dog before it got really bad. lab went away then my staff went back to playin with the boxer than he stood over her in a dominant submissive position then suddenly got aggressive and nippd her which happen in a few seconds.

After about 5 minutes he was fine with her and just playful but her being nippd was anxious at 1st but came round and they both fine going home playing.

My thoughts maybe he hormones were still high and did it because he was jealous or maybe she did something he disliked and he was correcting her.

p.s.- this is my first dog, and i have alot more to learn but his obedience has never been an issue with male and female dogs, just the third dog adding into the equation today specially with his new playmate just makes me unsure of what caused it.

It does sound like your dog was trying to be leader of his little pack and didn't like the fact that the boxer thought it was ok to go off and play with the other dog. At his age his hormones will be all over the place especially if he hasn't been neutered. luckily for the boxer she was submissive when he stood over her and then he will of felt in control of the situation again, therefore was happy to carry on playing.
He is also older than the boxer and some dogs get abit frightened or silly around younger pups.
I'd suggest that when they play in the future you try and keep their play abit calmer so there's no chance it will spill over into more aggressive play. dogs need to learn to play in a nice way, as not all dogs you come across will be happy with the more over the top dogs and this can course problems. distraction is the best way to do this. watch them and if the play is starting to get abit much then call them , tell them to sit then reward with a treat. this gives the dogs time to calm down and then let them carry on a gain.    
If this happens again then put your dog straight on the lead before it gets out of hand and let him calm down abit.
Have you been to training classes? there are plenty of follow on classes you can do  after puppy training and apart from teaching the dog you get to learn how to deal with different situations.
Sounds like you dog was fine up till now but don't let this continue incase he really bites her next time.
Best of luck i'm sure you can keep on top of this with alittle time and training.  

Thank you for the advice, i think its the leader thing that caused it. yeah i give it ago with distraction when playing and treats because i like him to learn how to play gently and other games, hopefully it will improve. Also i take a look at training classes in my area.

Many thanks.

> I'd suggest that when they play in the future you try and keep their play abit calmer so there's no chance it will spill over into more aggressive play. dogs need to learn to play in a nice way, as not all dogs you come across will be happy with the more over the top dogs and this can course problems. distraction is the best way to do this. watch them and if the play is starting to get abit much then call them , tell them to sit then reward with a treat. this gives the dogs time to calm down and then let them carry on a gain. 

You always give good advice Bear. You have answered my question without me asking it. My 15 months old TT has always been a bit OTT with play and taking dogs in, that can be a problem. I usually shout Oi (how do you spell Oy) and they stop but I like your way better. Distraction. I will go that way next time.

I only give this advice as i take my TT out with a younger TT and he always gets to excited and it sometimes turns into abit of aggression
towards my girl.if you shout then that makes things worst as they think your getting excited as well,so i now keep an eye on them and as the other TT starts to look as if he's getting silly and chasing my girl i call both dogs and make them sit then reward.their so busy calming down because they want a treat they forget what they were doing before.
The other good thing about this is that your constantly practising their recall and they don't realise, so all in all it helps with the problem and training at the same time.
Cheese is my dogs best treat but i mix that with healthier things and because they don't know when there get cheese they come back to me anyway just for the chance their get it.
Another thing that can help in this situation is making sure you are in control at home so that your dog thinks as you as leader, therefore it's not his job to tell other dogs off because your in charge. Do things like call him to you in the house and make him sit etc for treats, make him wait for his food when you put it on the floor until you say he can have it, own your space ie he comes in a room when you say and you call him and give attention rather than him deciding it's cuddle time. All little things but they learn self control as they don't get what they want until you say so they look to you for guidance and don't make their own mind up.
I am by no means an expert and many people will disagree with me i'm sure but these methods have worked with my dogs.
Good luck let me know how things go, glad i good be of some help.

  

Just had a mass brawl. am shaking. Have crated the visiting dog (new today for weekend) for now. I introduced them all individually both today and last week when they came for an introduction, and everything was fine. they were all running around the garden together this morning. The new girl is very gentle and submissive. Rolls on her back when they sniff her etc. No problems at all. then all h... broke loose. I am pretty sure I know what the problem is. tashi, my teenager, is very pushy when it comes to play. She does the play bow, then prods with her nose and barks if nothing happens. This little girl obviously has not had much play with other dogs so hasnt a clue what she wants. Tashi doesnt know when to take no for an answer. I think that is what happend. she prodded to play, new girl said no and the other two took offence at this and laid into her. Luckily it was more noise than anything but I was quite shocked as I thought all was ok. Been doing this for about a year now and first mass brawl. Will crate new girl and let her out with just one of the others and not pup. would appreciate your comments.

Apologies if I have hi-jacked a thread. Not sure now if I should have posted here.

Hi Annie you can start your own thread for advice if  you want :)

To the OP, often ball throwing can also lead to a very high adrenalin situation as I found out with one of my own dogs. Not saying dont' use them but try to keep play and chasing more controlled and only use the ball for a few longer throws but perhaps more searching, that sort of thing.

Thank-you Lindsay. Have got a rotating room thing going now. i just feel so sorry for the pooch. The owners knew there might be problems but they really didnt want her going into kennels.She is so submissive. she is a rescue and seems to me comes with lots of problems. Will have a chat about them solving those when they come to pick her up.

> Another thing that can help in this situation is making sure you are in control at home so that your dog thinks as you as leader

I think I fall down here. Must pick up on that. am not a pushover but can be a bit lapse when girls are begging for cuddles. Take that point and think it is a very important one.

Don't know if this helps but two of my dogs love ball games and things can get abit silly sometimes so i either play with one dog at a time or i use two balls. may sound a funny thing to do but while one has a ball it's mouth then even when she chases the next ball i throw she can't get funny with the other dog as her mouth is full and also can't pick up the other ball so my boy gets to have fun to.
Also don't forget to keep play calm and distract when they get two excited.
This dog your looking after needs time out from your dogs and vise versa. it will be over whelming for this visitor so i think by you just giving her one of your dogs to play with at a time is a good idea.

Yes, am giving her lots of time out thanks to baby gate although bolshy puppy can easily scale that. I have little business cards printed which states, "dogs must be fully vaccinated and get along with other dogs" which is a laugh really as its my dogs causing the problems. This morning, boarding dog safely in hall, lying in the sun, happy and fed and watered. bolshy pup scales the puppy gate and lies near the boarder. No problems at all, she has also been running around the garden with her earlier. Boarder gets up which rattles her tag on her collar, my other girl from another room,  runs up to the gate barking, closely followed by third girl who joins in, neither of which can scale the gate but this is a cue for puppy to go for boarding dog. No harm done as always vigilant. Each dog individually is happy to be with the boarder. Its the combination of the three of them. I can send one up to my daughter's house after bank holiday (she is away now) but in the meantime am playing musical rooms and musical doors to keep them all separate. Beginning to think I am rubish at this although we do have a regular girl who comes in two days a week and no problems. The girl here now is more submissive than I have ever seen a dog before. Dont know if that is the problem.

i know whats it like to play musical rooms, had to do that for over three weeks with my new TT and schnauzer.it took alot of time and patience for the schnauzer to accept the TT and also the TT wanted to play and jump on her and she had to learn not to as thats what frightened the schnauzer. Luckily things have moved on since then although i still have to keep an eye on things incase they get out of hand and they don't sleep together at night but hopefully that will change in time.
Submissive is good but if the other dogs feel she is too frightened they can react to that and become too bossy if not watched. just keep on top of it as your doing now and hopefully things will settle down but if she's only with you for awhile then you may have to continue with how your dealing with things till she leaves.
The most important thing is that the lodger doesn't go away from you with any more problems ie thinking other dogs will attach her. so keep things as calm as you can.

There is a lady near me who does home boarding. She takes quite a while to assess your dog and whether it will fit in with her resident dogs. Firstly you visit with your dog to see how they get on and if all goes well she then takes the dog for an hour without the owner. If this is successful you then leave the dog with her for half a day and finally for a night with you on call if things don't work out. Only after this will she consider taking a home boarder whilst the owner is away. She is licensed for 5 dogs and has 2 of her own. If your dog is to be there at the same time as another boarder she does the above process but includes the other dog in the home trial as well - she doesn't charge for the trial sessions and you supply your own food for these. If she goes out whilst the dogs are in her care she always separates the visiting dogs from both her own and the other boarder.

That sounds really good to me. I do ask people to bring their dogs for a visit so that I can see their dog and see how it reacts to mine. All seemed well on the first visit except this current girl seemed scared of my girls. It was pretty short notice, only two days and the owners were desparate that she wouldnt go into a kennel as she had come home in a dreadful state last time. I think if I had had longer, I would have declined but I was persuaded, but will not do that again. I think the lady you mention has got it just right. I will certainly take a leaf out of her book and do more pre-assessment than I do now. As I mentione before, I have had several dogs over the past year but this one has really been stressful. thank-you all for your support and advice.