Aggression In Older Dog

[luybell 10]

Hi - Can anyone offer advise?

 

We have a 9 year old male Border Terrier & have another male puppy who is about 13 weeks old.

 

The two dogs are getting along fine. The older one will play for a while but lets the little one know when he has had enough. They seem to have sorted out the pecking order themselves.

 

The problem is the older one has become more aggressive towards other dogs when we are out. He used to be fine & I could let him walk off the lead - he used to love running round. I have just taken them out though & he has had a nasty spat with another dog. He was off lead & when I saw the other dog I went to get him but wasn't quick enough. I feel awful & know I have to keep him on the lead at all times now.

 

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to deal with it? I am not sure what he will be like on his own as I did think about walking them seperately but in the longer term that's not ideal. We thought long & hard before getting another dog & took lots of advise. We were ready for possible problems with him accepting the puppy but I (probably naively) didn't think about how it would affect him with other dogs on general.

[Elizabeth13 10]

Have you thought about muzzling him when you are out so you could let him off lead if the area is empty? That way if someone suddenly appears any damage will be greatly reduced.

 

It's probably just him, as he's got old.

Have you taken him to the Vets lately? It could be he's in pain that you are unaware of and so reacts fearing perhaps a bouncy dog will hurt him further.

 

When dogs get older there tolerance usually can lessen - they are more delicate and feel it, so they don't always want to put up with any nonsense!

[luybell 10]

I thought about a muzzle. Another worry is I don't want the little one to pick up on bad habits & be grumpy with other dogs.

[CHEZZFAYE 10]

id get him to the vets hun my dads bullmastiff started doing this last year it turned out she was in pain as she had got arthritus she was only 2 at the time so this was the last thing we thought of.

 

also could it be he is trying to protect the pup

[Strix 11]

There's a possibility what he's doing is protecting the puppy from the other dogs. Some good experiences of him seeing the pup meet other dogs without incident may help. You could ask on here for other dog owners willing to help with this

[Moonbird 10]

I wonder if he's trying to either protect or impress the pup, not sure what the answer is though