Dog aggression :-(

[Ducky23]

Please someone give me a suggestion

We have two male dogs, they have both been very well socialised as puppies and loved playing with other dogs in the park on walks.

Over the past year one of them has become very wary of other dogs and occasionally snapping at them, this is a recent thing (he is 3 years). I can't see anythig that could have triggered this behaviour.

Tonight he bit my other dog, he got his ear... There was a fair bit of blood.

I don't have a clue where this aggression came from he used to be such a friendly dog.

Does anyone have any training suggestions to stop this behaviour?

My dog is a bloody nightmare. But I use a spray water bottle and it stops his behavious and now I can actually walk down the street if another dog is about

Will give it a try thank you.

Do you just spray if he growls?

No no no no no no do not use a water spray on a dog showing aggression (unless you want to make things a 100 times worse)

Often dog aggression is down to fear. Sometimes dogs have been giving off body language which other dogs do not understand and they have to resort to lunging growling or "aggressive " behaviour to make the dogs go away.

No one on a forum can tell you exactly why your dog is behaving like he is but we can tell you that aversive punishment will make it worse.

I would go to the vet to get a physical check up (poor eyesight, hearing pain can cause a dog to be reactive) . Your vet should also be able to refer you to a qualified behaviourist who will need to see the situation in rl to help.

Generally these behaviours can be altered by changing the emotional state of the dog not by punishing them.

Ok will speak to the vet, he seems perfectly healthy

I'm getting extremely worried tht his behaviour will continue/get worse then I don't know what il do

Yes it will get worse if you ignore it or use punishment to prevent it. However a behaviourist will be able to give you a plan to help change your dogs perception and then he will not need to show aggressive behaviour.

For the time being do not put your dog into situations that he find difficult. So stay away from other dogs, do not force him to meet them, just see them in the distance and change directions.

What was happening before he bit your other dog today?

They had their dinner and had been out to the toilet as usual, then I didn't see what happened I was getting a drink and it all kicked off right behind me

Growling is a good thing - the dog is saying basically piss off. You don't want to interrupt a dog ever doing that. Just back off. If you do interfere with this you remove the warning altogether and could create a very dangerous dog.

Are the dogs the same age? Are they both neutered? Or both entire, or one of each? Could the argument have been about food? When you are with both dogs, how are they with each other? Our old dog used to wind up the younger boy big time. It always ended badly for him and we spent too much time at the vet with various bits of ear and stuff bandaged to his head. We were at the point of having to rehome the younger dog as it was becoming a welfare issue. Household dynamics change and so do the relationships between dogs. We had to muzzle our younger one for a while. When the oldie died and another dog came to live with us, the problem evaporated.

They are both the same age and both neutered. They are fine when out and about with each other. I don't think it was food as they had eaten and finished their food and both been in the garden