Agression-PLEASE HELP.

[JeanneR]

Hello,

We have a 16 month old beagle boy. We have had him since he was 10 weeks old. He has become unpredictably agressive with everyone. Last night for example, my son was sitting on the sofa-pup laying under coffee table and he was growling andjumping out from under the table at him for NO REASON. He does this with everyone in the house.

I love him so much, but he will have to go if i do not get this resolved!

[Hoytman]

He thinks he's the boss. You need to let him know he's not. I've had good luck just pinning him to the floor when he gets aggressive, until he backs down. Also, take away some of his priveleges. E-collars are great for this sort of problem. Most beagles are pretty easy to break of this sort of thing if you stop it soon. You could also pick up his food after he starts to eat, and hold it away for a while.

[Naynay]

We started with our beagles when they were very young, in many ways by treating our family as the "pack". We would get down on the floor and play with them as they would with other dogs. When wrestling with them we would always make sure we got the last 'pin' - and quite frequently my other half would do this by pinning the pups by the throat as a dominant male would do. I don't know that I would feel comfortable attempting this with a dog who is currently showing signs of aggresion though, as I don't know how he would react. . .

[Robert W. Mccoy Jr]

Scoop his little but up by the hair of his neck and let him know who is the boss when he does that .

I have never ever had a beagle that was an adult show any signs of aggresion towards a family member.

They grow outta that with a little help.

They are pack animals and they do need to know there place but It's really not that hard.

With a little effort. Take him out side teach him the down command.
By pushing him down and saying it very stern.
Also get him lead broke and teach him what no means.

After that he will know who is Boss.

Just think of him as a teenager right now .
They just need sometime and alot of training.

[show dog]

Is your dog neutered? If not, maybe he should be. Those male hormones can cause behaviours that most don't like. Take him to school and do some obedience work with him. Give him a job, less time to think about harassing the family. Exercise him and then he will be too tired to be a problem in the house.

[Boomer]

Also, cut-down or eliminate furniture freedom. It often helps in such instances. He also may be making your coffee table his "den" and protecting his territory. Give him a crate or somewhere else to go when he wants to be alone.

[JeanneR]

Thank you all for the helpful insight. We will try working with him.

I'll keep you posted!

Jeanne

[Mistrisha]

Two words that made a big big difference in training our dog

Squirt Bottle

When he starts growling squirt him right between the eyes and say NO!

[mmccluskey]

What worked for us a muzzle. When ever the pup started biting, or showing signs of aggresion we would put it on...he instantly went in the corner a pouted. We would only have to leave it on for a short time (15 minutes or so) and it quickly got to the point where we only had to pull it out and show it to him.

They make some pretty "humane" muzzles. The one we got was made from a nylon webbing, was adjustable, and most importantly, the end was open so as to allow the dog to drink, etc.

This whole period only lasted for about 3 months...worth the 10 bucks!

[Tricolor]

Dear Jeanne,
Your dog sounds exactly like mine!
My male- Sammy, is just the cutest little guy ever. There's only one problem- he is also very aggressive at times. He is also 16 months old. He is in a pen with five other beagles- two are his parents and the other two are his sisters. They have plenty of space to run around in- the pen is 75 feet by 45 feet. They have a nice dog house (insulated, off the ground, paneling inside, etc.) They all have lots to do to keep them busy- toys, things to climb on, etc. Frequently, we take them to the Beagle Club to which we belong to run rabbits. (At least 2-3 times a week.)
Sammy can be a hellion, though. He doesn't kiss/lick, and he growls at us sometimes when we pick him up or when his penmates come near.
I disagree that shaking works. When we do this (my husband used to be a firm believer in physical discipline,) Sammy gets even more aggressive! (Bears teeth, hair stands up, snarls, etc.) I'd be willing to try the squirt bottle and I have an appointment to have him neutered in a week. We've had him and his two sisters since our other female gave birth to them 16 months ago. This dog has had nothing but the best. No one has ever been "mean" to him and we've given him nothing but love. This just started after we moved back to PA after living in KS for three years (where he was born.)
To all of you out there- any ideas?
Thanks much,
Tricolor

[Bev]

Tricolor, You say Sammy is aggressive "at times". I would be interested in knowing exactly which times he's aggressive. When did the aggression start (chronological age)? Who is the 5th dog in the kennel with him? Is he ever sweet and normal (as beagles go)? You say he doesn't lick/kiss - does he growl or act aggressive every time you approach him, or just when trying to pick him up? How does he act/react with his sire in particular? Take a couple of weeks and log the times and instances when Sammy's unnecessarily aggressive, what was going on at the time, how the others (the other dogs AND people) reacted. This may reveal some patterns and allow us to identify exactly what form of aggression he is displaying. I would need to know that before I could give you specific advice to turn the problem around.

There are many separate types of aggression and over 90% of aggression problems occur in males. I will list just a few; Dominance Aggression, Inter-male Aggression, Possessive Aggression (including sibling rivalry and competitive aggression), Fear Aggression (category where most fear-biters fall), Protective/Territorial Aggression, Predatory Aggression (category where most deer-runners and car-chasers fall), and Idiopathic Aggression (for unexplained reasons).

If you don't feel the other hounds in the kennel with him are in any immediate danger, leave him in that setting to do your note-taking. If troubles escalate, separate him from his siblings (and father).

The advice given from the others is good. Since Sammy is required to live outdoors unattended with other dogs (like mine are), you may need a different approach. Could be a hormonal issue, could be a social issue. Neutering him will not fix aggression problems. It may keep the wandering and "hunching" behaviors to a minimum, but that's all I would expect from the surgery. If you aren't planning to breed him (you may not want to depending on what type his aggression problem is) neutering always has its health benefits, anyway.

If you can give me some more specifics, I'd love to try and help. We have a primarily male kennel here - 17 hounds and 14 separate kennels in use. What does that tell you, LOL!?

[Tricolor]

Bev,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my situation. I find the whole topic of animal behavior extremely interesting. It is so amazing to me that beagle siblings, who were raised together from birth and are treated relatively the same can have such different personalities- just like human children do.
Anyway, I will definitely start keeping a log as to the types of behavior Sammy is exhibiting/when/etc. Until then, here's a few answers to the questions you asked:
1.) Sammy used to be sweet ALL the time. After we moved to Pennsylvania (when he was about 7 months old,) his behavior started to change in that he seemed to be "challenging" his father more. At 12-13 months of age, he seemed to be very intolerant of his penmates- if he was sitting with me, he wouldn't want them near also, he would growl at them if they got "too close" to him, etc.
2.) The fifth dog in the pen is our oldest beagle, Jack, who is approx. 12 years of age. Sammy likes Jack and follows him around the pen constantly. Jack is mostly a house dog, but is in the pen when we leave. Sammy and Jack get along- Jack is very laid-back and doesn't really care about too much of anything.
3.) I'd say Sammy is "normal" about 75% of the time. He likes me, comes to me when I call him, wags his tail when he sees me, jumps up at me (in a playful way) and likes to play with his one sister in particular. I just find it odd that he's not much of a licker. Both his parents are lickers and so are many of his siblings (we gave them to people that we knew and trusted.) His father is probably one of the most lovey beagles you will ever meet. In fact, we call him Bo-Bo Love. His mother is also lovey, although she didn't used to be. She took a shining to my husband from the day we looked at her. She "tolerated" me, but loved him most. She used to growl at our friends when they would come over. All this changed when she had puppies. She's settled down immensely and now loves people more than her own offspring!
4.) Sammy is not aggressive every time I approach him, in fact, more often than not, he exhibits "happy" behavior (see above.) As I said, he is very intolerant of other dogs. We took him to play with his brother (who is owned by my parents.) Their dog is very playful. Sammy and Ringo got along for a while, but when Ringo accidently stepped on Sammy's tail while playing, Sammy "turned" immediately and did not want to play for the rest of the night.
5.) Concerning his father- I said his father is extremely mild-mannered. If Sammy is on my lap, he growls whenever Bo-Bo comes near (Bo-Bo loves attention.) If one of his sisters or mother comes near, I can tell he doesn't like it, but he doesn't growl. (His mother has "put him to the ground" on several occasions when he was younger.) Bo and Sammy have gotten into minor skirmishes before- I was able to end them by pulling them apart. After these "fights," either with his dad or sisters, Sammy is so "upset," that his fur stands up on his back, his whole body shakes and he runs and hides. I hate to see him like that. When he growled at my husband and my husband smacked his behind, Sammy refused to leave my side. He would not go near my husband for the rest of the day. I told my husband (or asked, rather) that he not reprimand Sammy in that way. I said if at all possible, maybe he should remove Sammy from the situation.
6.) I don't know if this matters or not- but when we take him to run bunnies, Sammy has been known to run just about anything- deer, grouse, turkey, dove, fox, etc. We've tried the shock collar (it worked with our other 5 beagles) but he doesn't respond well to it and I refuse to go to any setting higher than "3" on The Beagler by Tritronics.
7.) We do NOT want to breed him- a major factor in our decision to have him neutered.
Well, I know that is a lengthy post, but I felt it needed to be said to give you a slightly better idea what was going on.
Thanks again,
Tricolor

[Bev]

I'm leaning toward the notion that he is displaying more than one type of aggression right now - some that will work out on their own. Keep the log, but for now, let's address one form of aggression that's easily recognized, Possessive/Competitive Aggression. This doesn't occur in pack hounds such as beagles as frequently as is does in solitary type breeds, but it does occur. Let me preface all of this by saying at 16 months of age, Sammy is a juvenile and that alone will exacerbate many behaviors. A certain amount of squabbling among littermates - among any pack of dogs is normal. It usually sounds much worse than it is.

Possessive (or Competitive) Aggression will rear its ugly head most often when siblings are raised together. It is a subtle form of Dominance Aggression. Eventually, in the natural social order of dogs, one sibling is going to emerge dominant over the others. Dogs do not expect to live in equality - that's a human value and one that's very confusing to them. If you try to treat them as equals, none will feel secure in their respective places. Dogs don't care where in the social ladder they stand. They are as happy living on the bottom rung as the top - as long as they know upon which rung to stand. If we try to rearrange those rungs, we will cause undue heartache and insecurity all around. Sammy is starting to take his place as indicated by his possessiveness of you, resenting it when the siblings or others approach you.

The best way to chill him out is to play along and make him feel #1 when the others are around. They won't mind - they understand social order. When you go to the kennel to pet/feed dogs, make sure you pet/feed Sammy first, even if the others are in your face more. Make them wait. If you are out there when one of the sibling scuffles occur, tell them or make them "knock it off" and then immediately call Sammy to you for reassurance (even if he started it). If Sammy is standing on you for his petting and another sibling/dog approaches causing him to growl or hair up, hold his collar, lower your voice and tell him to hush, and shoo the others away. Continue to pet him for a moment, then shoo him away too. This tells him that you recognize his dominance over the others, but you won't allow poor behavior - you are dominant over him. Then after you've taken care of him, you can give the other dogs some attention.

Age will improve a lot of this possessiveness - it's a tough time when they are juveniles, because everything is "earth-shattering" for them. They are just learning who they are and where they belong.

The hardest thing for folks to recognize and do is to keep submissives submissive and reward the dominant dogs. We tend to feel sorry for the submissives and try to elevate their status by giving extra attention. If you do this, you will only cause them more grief when your back is turned. Many times folks mistakenly think the oldest must be the Alpha, therefore they always show them deference or give them top privelege. We see in your situation how untrue this is. Your old Jack dog is not loaded with dominance. He was probably born a submissive (dominance/submissivness is determined just before birth) and will stay a submissive regardless of his surroundings. Sammy doesn't have a problem with Jack because he's no threat to him. There is a big disparity in their self-recognized social orders. The siblings, on the other hand, and possibly sire, are closer in age, developement, attention given, etc., all of which keeps them close in social order too. Runners aren't worried about the guy running 400 yds. behind them, they are worried about the ones right on their heels. The same is true of Sammy and his sisters.

You can help Sammy (and his siblings) a lot by widening the gap between his and his siblings social order. You do this by elevating his standing as explained in the earlier paragraph. The wider the gap, the less the threat, the less Sammy's need to force what will eventually come anyway.

The one time he growled at your husband, hubby was correct in whomping his butt for that. The correct follow-up would have been for you to banish Sammy from your side the rest of the day for that. Banishment is the worst form of punishment a dog can suffer, and he will get with the program in recognizing all humans are Alpha Supreme over him before suffering banishment too many times.

[Tricolor]

First of all, thanks agains so much for replying back in such a timely manner. Your comments/ideas/suggestions really shed new light on the subject, as my husband and I read your post together. (He was a bit embarassed that I had mentioned Sammy ran deer, but felt better knowing he had done the right thing when Sammy growled at him.)
Social order is an interesting topic. I knew there was one- our oldest female, even though she is not the oldest dog in the pack, was definitely our alpha for the longest time. You would think Bo would have been, but he really had no interest in it and was too much of a lover anyway. However, I really had no idea how important it was to keep dogs in their respective places, not to mention they're content with it as long as they know where they stand.
You are correct when you say it will be hard to keep the submissives submissive. I guess I've been doing exactly the wrong thing when I try to give all dogs equal attention. I guess I'm placing more importance on it (equality) than need be. I just feel so darn bad, though! I feel as though if one is off by itself watching me "love up" Sammy, that they want some, too! It doesn't mean that I can't give them attention, right? It's just that Sammy's love needs to come first.
I will follow your advice- it really does make a lot of sense. It's also good to know that some of this may go away as he gets older and his dominance is shown.
Also- one question- seeing as how Sammy is to be neutered (we don't plan on breeding him and he's too tall to run in field trials anyway) where will that put him on the social ladder? Will he still long to be #1, or will he no longer care? His father is not neutered- will his dad recognize that Sammy is "different" and try to assert his dominance once this is known, if ever?
These may seem like silly questions, but I want to be as well-informed as possible.
Thanks again,
Tricolor

[Bev]

It shouldn't change a thing. Once he is neutered, the hormones in his system will come to a screeching halt, but the behaviors associated with being a young, intact male may take as long as 6 months to disappear.

Funny thing about dominance and submissiveness - no amount of training or any surgical procedure can change it. They are stamped in the womb with it. At or just before birth, a large rush of hormone (a brain/chemical thing) is transferred to the male puppies. Female puppies do not undergo the same masculinization. If one pup happens to get more than his fair share, he will be dominant. It's really easy to spot the dominant pup in a litter as young as 3 weeks, or as soon as they're on their feet good. The dominant pup is the playground bully; standing over the backs of the others, first to the tit, first to the food bowl, probably the first to get his hackles up. He will be this way the rest of his life.

The submissive, not receiving that same amount of hormone, will be the first to back out of a fight, belly up and show you his jewels when others approach, wet just a little when you pet him (female submissives will do this too at times) or be one of those eaters that takes a piece of food from the bowl and walks a few steps away to eat it. He will be this way the rest of his life. This "masculinization" at or just before birth has determined his fate in the hierarchy. No amount of training or attention will elevate him in his own mind.

I had a lone bitch in the house one time. I adopted her from the local shelter. I would sit often and watch her go to her food bowl, take a piece of food, walk in the other room to eat it, then return for another. She would repeat this scenario until she was 3/4 done with her meal. Even though there were no other dogs around competing for the food bowl! She was 13 when I adopted her. I deemed her a submissive for sure. The practice of leaving the food bowl like that is an old, old, eating instinct that has been perpetuated down through the years by virtually every breed of dog.

When dogs were all pack hunters in the wild, only the Alphas (and maybe a favored Beta) were allowed to stand at the carcass to eat. The subdominants and submissives had to wait until they were finished or if Alpha was tolerant, they could take a piece and leave with it, but they didn't dare eat side-by-side with the Alphas. To show you how cool and more socially advanced than we are (lol), Alpha males would often pull the soft belly parts out to the side to be brought back to an Alpha female and her young pups left in the clearing, too young to join the hunt but still needing to eat.

Snipping off Sammy's jewels will not change what occurred in the brain when he was born. The first time he struts through a pack of dogs with his ears alert and tail at 12 o'clock, the other won't care that there's a body part missing - they'll know where he stands.

Sorry I'm writing such a book on this - I've really just glazed the surface, though.