Hello

I'm after some advice please, if I explain first I have 2 entire giant breed males, both fantastic temperament, (B) one we've had since a puppy he's now 4, and the other (W) we brought in at 12 months (now nearly 3), never ever had a cross word between them.

Basically (B) has always in our opinion is top dog, he was always submissive to our first dog that we lost 2 years ago, i'm of the thinking that he's not happy being top dog, in the last few weeks our 3 year old has starting mounting the first one, only after mealtimes which is very weird?!?!? (B) doesn't seem to mind and lets him do it, obviously we then step in to stop the behaviour.

Well last week (W)was fast asleep as (B) got up and walked past him, (W) ,woke up growling at him, and snarling, never got up and had a go but still seemed quite scary and out of character, we thought that he might have had a bad dream as he seemed sort of tired looking and maybe he wasn't realising what he was doing?!? B was fine and they were normal afterwards.

Anyway then Sunday night W was laying at the foot of the doggy sofa, and B (I think) went to sort of step over him to get on it well W was eyeballing him and growling then suddenly he shot up, grabbed B by the neck, the noise was horrendous, B didn't retaliate at all, I thought W was going to kill him, he had hold of him for about 20 seconds I suppose, seemed a lot longer :0(

We called W away and he came trotting into the kitchen, so we put him out in the garden, checked over B no wounds, no blood just a wet neck, I'm just thinking surely if he was being really aggressive there would have been wounds and bleeding, it just sounded awful.

We left him in the garden for about 20 mins, then took them all out for a walk, we let them meet each other outside, and they were absolutely fine, playful and happy to meet each other, took them for 40min walk, and then let them off to have a play they were a 100% with each other

We've never had anything like this happen before and scared us both to death, after having the breed for nearly 10 years.

I'm assuming this is a dominance thing, as B didn't retaliate then it's W putting him in his place, we haven't had anymore issues since then, we're hoping it won't happen again, but if it does it will be the same kind of thing we hope, people say it always sounds worse than it is!!

I'm thinking am I being really soft, and these things do happen and not to worry too much.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thank you

I don't think it's a dominance thing.  I would, however, get both odgs (but primarily W) a thorough health check.  The 'attack' after B stepped over him suggests some sort of pain to me - it's exactly what my oldest dobe would have done (aside from making contact, but that's just her) and she has osteoarthritis.  She is very sensitive about her feet and if she thinks one of the others is going to touch them or step on her she lets them know about it.

Are they both very active?  I am wondering if W has hurt himself somehow.  For things to have suddenly changed like this suggests a medical issue.

Re. the sleeping - some dogs can suffer from waking aggression and will just snap when they wake/if they are woken.  But aga, this could be medical in cause - Soli does this also but it all stems from the foot thing, she's so worried about being hurt that any physical contact while she's asleep results in this "spontaneous" aggression.  She doesn't do it on normal waking and very rarely to me unless she thinks I'm one of the other dogs by mistake in bed.

Sounds totally like a dominance asserting his status thing to me.

The mounting after meals is a sign of this and nto weird to the dogs at all.

No damage is being done and B is accepting it.

My view would be to not interfere as such but distract from any behaviour you find unacceptable.

I have 3 males - 1 neutered, 2 entire.  We don't get much assertive or dominant style posturing BUT any that we do get occurs in pre-walk excitement and, crucially to your comments, after meals.   The post-food one is a bit like kids having a sugar rush, the dogs are awake and excited but unsure how best to direct it so we get a bit of pushing and strutting.  Each dog seems to know their role in this session and it quietly fades until all fall into a postprandial snooze :)

A gradual shift in roles is not unusual, and can be watched but otherwise ignored, but I would be looking for some other clues if this is a sudden change.  If W is really upping his game then I'd check B for illness but a 'once over' for both might be wise.  However you may just find this is a short intense period and it will subside soon as each makes some adjustments for the other.