Rural mystic
New member
Ok friends need some advice. Ace [our Bulldog puppy 11wks old] is very energetic and playful and the mouthing and teething we expected. My question is the aggression he is showing towards our older dog Gabe. Gabe is a two year old neutered Maltese and before I brought Ace home I was concerned that Gabe would be jealous and be a bit too aggressive with Ace but thats not the case. When they are smelling each other Ace will allow Gabe [the maltese] to do so but when Ace wants to smell Gabe the maltese runs and Ace chases and nips at Gabe and has pulled some hair out at times. We always break it up but its impossible to stay with them all the time and prevent before it gets underway. Describing this to the Vet, she after listening carefully and observing their behavior in the examination room said that the problem was not with Ace but with Gabe that Ace's behavior was normal and Gabe's wasn't. That Gabe needed correction because he has learned to get away with unacceptable behavior and that Gabe is the one that really needs most of the correction. She mentioned that much of this they needed to work out themselves and to that to overly correct Ace [the puppy] for normal social behavior could cause the puppy problems down the road. She specifically said that Gabe the older dog was the problem. The vet ascribes to the positive reinforcement training as I do and she thinks submitting the puppy could cause a problem. Even though I ascribe to positive reinforcement the majority of time perhaps more is necessary in some cases. My question is should I submit the pup when he gets aggressive with the older dog and if so how much or do any of your guys have some other ideas that could help as well?