Same sex aggression?

Boys don't like Fred. I'm learning this quite quickly!!! He's 14 months, intact, hormonal boy, and he's a big strong boy at that, so I'm not surprised by this....

The issue I have, is that Fred is starting to posture, stiffen, hackle and grumble at other young or intact males. He hasn't STARTED anything, but I also learnt that he's willing to finish things. I'm not really willing to test him to see whether he would start something.

I need an intervention and I need it NOW. I don't want him learning that this is OK, or that he has to make sure he gets in first with boys. The issue is, that boys really don't like him, so they do seem to get aggro with him... He's responding in kind.

He luuuuuuurves the girls. No issue there

Halp

Eta, he's fine with baby boys, old boys, ie non threatening boys. Please tell me he will grow out of this and it's just a phase!!

I wouldn't consider this SSA, he's just being manly. I think if you don't put him in situations were other boys are allowed to hassle him and work on focus on you around other dogs, you should be fine

I agree with her.

Thanks! I think I'm super paranoid..... He's not had many bad encounters with other dogs, but I noticed him grumbling at his bro when he met him a few weeks ago now. By the end of the day he wanted to jump on his head and play. He's also grumbled at other young males when he's seen them at the show, but never interacted with them. They don't have to be looking at him.

Then in the last 2 weeks, he's had 2 bad experiences with other males, both ending in fisty cuffs first one, the altered dog was walking with us first on lead then we let them off, fine for about 30/45 min, running and playing together happy. Then just went for him it's almost like the other dog suddenly realised Fred was intact. Fred continued walking with this dog as it was back on lead, and he didn't bother with it at all, and met lots of other dogs and was playful, happy chap.

Second, was yesterday in a group of dogs, another intact male, I saw the posturing etc, but didn't get to them in time to move Fred away. It was over in a few seconds, but the other dog came away with a minor cut. Yesterday was very exciting for Fred, new place, new dogs, and new for me, so he prob picked up in that too.

He growled then at the other intact males (we were on a group walk), but it felt more intense and upset, and obviously as I had him on lead, I'd tense and move him out of sight, which probably made him worse. For the rest of the walk we hung back and let the young boys move ahead. I let Fred mix with some bitches and two older senior dogs and he was absolutely great with them.

He was happy and relaxed sitting in a group having a picnic with these other males, as long as they weren't directly next to him, so that wasn't an issue! But if they were close, he'd growl, very deep snarly growly. And he'd do that unprovoked.

I've never dealt with boy stuff before!!! Bodhi can react to dogs, but it's not gender based at all, and it's not difficult, and it's all about having a proper introduction to them, then she's fine with any dog.

I know Fred's a baby still, but I'm terrified it will escalate!! I have got click to calm, I didn't even buy it for him, but I'm going to finish reading it!!

Think I need reassuring this isn't the end of the world and Fred's not going to be a devil child dog lol

Well we met an entire black lab on our walk today. I asked for a sit, and we did some eye contact, which went well till the lovely old couple stopped to chat to us "ooooh are you training him"

Then Fred saw mr dog and wanted to sniff him, so no more eye contact for me. I explained why I was asking him to sit etc, and they explained their dog is 11 (he didn't look it!!) and very soft, so we had a controlled sniff, and then we carried on walking.

Hurray for positive encounters

Any input would be appreciated as to whether there's anything more i can do! We don't meet many dogs in day to day life round here, so I need to take the opportunities that arise!

No ideas?

It sounds like he's "feeling his oats", and being a little insecure. It happens a lot with teenagers, but you don't want those behaviors to become habitual. Click To Calm and Control Unleashed are great books to help with dog-dog arousal. I highly recommend not just asking for eye contact, but ask him to look at the other dog! The second he does, click/treat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. It will make him happy to see another dog, rather than apprehensive.

I would definitely seek out only positive male dog encounters, and make sure he doesn't have any more negative encounters. One bad experience can REALLY negate lots of good experiences and training! Talk to owners first, observe the other male and make sure both dogs are relaxed. Walk away if the owner says one thing ("Oh he wants to say hi!"), but their dog is saying something else ("I'm gonna eat you!"). You can still use them as a training exercise, but Fred doesn't need to meet every dog you see if you aren't sure about them.

A great rule for meeting is give it 3 seconds then walk away. Don't pull him away, just call him to you happily and walk away, and if everything was fine, come back around and give him 3 more seconds. Make sure the dogs are greeting each other sideways rather than face-to-face and the leash isn't taut. Ask friendly male dog owners if you guys can walk your dogs parallel to each other, letting them sniff for 3 seconds then breaking away for a moment, praising and rewarding him for looking to you OR looking at the other dog calmly.

I LOVE GSP boys, they are such special dogs. But I know exactly what you're talking about!!! They are so goofy and fun, but they get serious really quickly when another dog pisses them off. Still, I've never seen one bite another dog, it was always a display and most dogs respected them.

Thanks! No matter what you know, that confidence can pop so quickly when you get something different to you expect!!

Sadly both incidents were older male gsp poor freddles!! we don't meet many dogs walking, Ive always kept him away from dogs in the village (male dogs) as they're not well socialised. But he went to puppy classes and other classes plus a few show and we've done well avoiding bad experiences.

Another thing is he had 12 weeks crated pretty much, so that can't help.

Feeling a bit happier with it being work in progress rather than oh no all is lost was just such bad luck having 2 things in 2 weeks!!!