g8erjackie
New member
Does anyone have any experience with your older bully becoming more confrontational with other dogs after getting a new puppy? Ruckus is 2 years 4 months old and we got Regina, who is 3 months old today, one month ago when she was 8 weeks old. Ruckus took quickly to Regina and loves having her around.
Ruckus has never been aggressive and really not even protective of himself -- he got bit pretty badly on the head at the park once and didn't fight back at all, he just looked at me like he was confused as I rushed over to rescue him. Over the past few days there have been a few incidents that I'm not sure if I should be worried about. Ruckus was never the aggressor, but he's seems much more willing to fight back than he used to. Also, Ruckus has had no issues with his group pals that we see frequently -- we go on walks together, they romp around, have a grand time. So he isn't instigating, but reacting.
Incident #1 was when Keith was walking the dogs. I wasn't there and was surprised when Keith told me that on their walk they ran into a dog with a slightly crazy owner who really wanted to see Ruckus and Regina. This woman's dog snapped at Ruckus a couple times and growled a little. Normally, Ruckus would put his ears back and run the other direction to remove himself from the situation. This time, Keith said, Ruckus stood his ground and when the dog came back towards Ruckus and Regina (and clearly the owner wasn't properly restraining her dog), he low growled and snapped in the dogs direction, but kept his footing.
Incident #2 was this morning when I was walking the dogs. A dog that Ruckus has played with numerous time was coming down the block and his owner said hi to me and was excited that we had added Regina to the mix. I don't know the owner well, but we chat when Ruckus and her dog play at the park or when we see one another with the dogs on the street. The dog is about 1 now, maybe a little older and we met him as a puppy. He's a huge dog with a super long tail being his defining feature (he's actually really cute and has always been sweet). Now I don't think I've seen this dog in a number of months, but all the dogs want to greet one another, and I always had a good experience with him so I went over to let Ruckus say hi to his buddy and let Regina meet him. In a split second that dog and Ruckus were tangled up and growling. No one got hurt but I had to pull Ruckus off of him and his owner had to restrain him and he kept growling. Poor Regina looked terrified because she got yanked back by accident and because of the growling. I scolded Ruckus and apologized thinking maybe he started it, but then the other dog's owner said she was sorry that her dog has become a bit leash reactive sometimes and that he started it. So again Ruckus was reacting, but this worries me because I grabbed him this time, and no one was hurt, no bites, no blood, but what if Ruckus had gotten hurt or what if 63.5 pound (according to the vet yesterday, haha) Ruckus had hurt the other dog?
What makes me think that Ruckus is protecting Regina is that I was walking him late at night last night before bed and Regina wasn't with us. Another very excited dog was lunging towards Ruckus and his owner apologized in advance for leash reactivity (is this the new "it" term for dog training because I've heard it a lot lately from people...) and said they're working on it and she just adopted him. I said no worries my dog is mellow and told Ruckus, "Ruckus, wait. Leave it." and he just chilled there while the other dog walked by.
My stories must make DC sound like one big dog fight, but I promise these incidents aren't the norm and Ruckus meets lots of super friendly pups all the time on his walks!
Am I overreacting? Has anyone experienced this? Any tips?
Ruckus has never been aggressive and really not even protective of himself -- he got bit pretty badly on the head at the park once and didn't fight back at all, he just looked at me like he was confused as I rushed over to rescue him. Over the past few days there have been a few incidents that I'm not sure if I should be worried about. Ruckus was never the aggressor, but he's seems much more willing to fight back than he used to. Also, Ruckus has had no issues with his group pals that we see frequently -- we go on walks together, they romp around, have a grand time. So he isn't instigating, but reacting.
Incident #1 was when Keith was walking the dogs. I wasn't there and was surprised when Keith told me that on their walk they ran into a dog with a slightly crazy owner who really wanted to see Ruckus and Regina. This woman's dog snapped at Ruckus a couple times and growled a little. Normally, Ruckus would put his ears back and run the other direction to remove himself from the situation. This time, Keith said, Ruckus stood his ground and when the dog came back towards Ruckus and Regina (and clearly the owner wasn't properly restraining her dog), he low growled and snapped in the dogs direction, but kept his footing.
Incident #2 was this morning when I was walking the dogs. A dog that Ruckus has played with numerous time was coming down the block and his owner said hi to me and was excited that we had added Regina to the mix. I don't know the owner well, but we chat when Ruckus and her dog play at the park or when we see one another with the dogs on the street. The dog is about 1 now, maybe a little older and we met him as a puppy. He's a huge dog with a super long tail being his defining feature (he's actually really cute and has always been sweet). Now I don't think I've seen this dog in a number of months, but all the dogs want to greet one another, and I always had a good experience with him so I went over to let Ruckus say hi to his buddy and let Regina meet him. In a split second that dog and Ruckus were tangled up and growling. No one got hurt but I had to pull Ruckus off of him and his owner had to restrain him and he kept growling. Poor Regina looked terrified because she got yanked back by accident and because of the growling. I scolded Ruckus and apologized thinking maybe he started it, but then the other dog's owner said she was sorry that her dog has become a bit leash reactive sometimes and that he started it. So again Ruckus was reacting, but this worries me because I grabbed him this time, and no one was hurt, no bites, no blood, but what if Ruckus had gotten hurt or what if 63.5 pound (according to the vet yesterday, haha) Ruckus had hurt the other dog?
What makes me think that Ruckus is protecting Regina is that I was walking him late at night last night before bed and Regina wasn't with us. Another very excited dog was lunging towards Ruckus and his owner apologized in advance for leash reactivity (is this the new "it" term for dog training because I've heard it a lot lately from people...) and said they're working on it and she just adopted him. I said no worries my dog is mellow and told Ruckus, "Ruckus, wait. Leave it." and he just chilled there while the other dog walked by.
My stories must make DC sound like one big dog fight, but I promise these incidents aren't the norm and Ruckus meets lots of super friendly pups all the time on his walks!
Am I overreacting? Has anyone experienced this? Any tips?
