male Aussie question

[dobesgalore]

Are male Australian Shepherds same sex aggresive? What about if neuterd? Aussie and Saban (a male dobe) were playing over the weekend and suddenly the playing turned serious. We separated them, and will stay that way. Male dobes are same sex aggressive, but Saban is SUCH a goofeball(and neuterd), he has never shown aggression. From what Wayne & I saw, Aussie started it.(he's not neuterd,yet). IF all goes well, this summer we are getting an Australian Shepherd pup. I had wanted another male, but after seeing shift gears like he did, I am reconsidering. What do ya'll think? Two males both neuterd, or best to be safe and go with a female? I havn't heard of the breed being aggressive, but...

[xpaeanx]

How old is Aussie? How old is Saban?
How long have they "known" each other?
Do they live together? For how long?
Where there any toys or food or anything like that around?

[Lizmo]

Are you sure Saban didn't accidently bite Aussie in the wrong place at the wrong time?

[dobesgalore]

Originally Posted by Lizmo

Are you sure Saban didn't accidently bite Aussie in the wrong place at the wrong time?

That is entirely possible, because they have played fine otherwise. They had just been playing chase around the whole yard, 100 miles an hr! They would bouce and jump, play bow etc...It just came out of the blue, and Aussie was the one really trying to tear Saban up! I thaught the same thing you just said, but I am an over protective mommie.

[Laurelin]

Well if it's just the one incident then there could be so so many factors going into things. My past shelties lived together peacefully 99.9% of the time but there were two instances in their entire lives when they went after each other. Since dogs are animals even dogs that have lived together quite happily can suddenly decide they're not going to take it that day.

So it's not necessarily DA if they fought this one time. Who knows what could have triggered the fight and who knows if it is an isolated incidence or something else like DA.

[xpaeanx]

If she plans on keep the Aussie intact, and even adding another male... she still needs to watch her dogs to learn their triggers(which is why I listed a bunch of questions).

intact males are generally more aggressive... so you want to make sure you aren't setting them up to fail. You have to get to know your dogs and their personality.... so asking yourself exactly what was going on every time there is a fight really helps you avoid fights in the future.

And as a side note, I've noticed that any fights starting over a nip that was a little too hard usually end just about as quick as they start....

[Toller_08]

I can't answer the question as to whether or not Aussies are same sex aggressive, but I am very concerned that you have a male Doberman with another male dog. That's not a risk I personally would ever take, regardless of the male Dobe's temperament. Dobermans are notoriously same sex aggressive, regardless of whether or not they're neutered. There are very, very few homes out there able to have a male Dobe and another male dog living peacefully together. Most that choose to make that decision end up with a severe (or deadly) dog fight, or need to go the crate and rotate route. At this point I don't feel it matters which dog started the fight, but I would be prepared for it to happen again in the future unfortunately. I hope that your boys will continue to play nicely together and that this one squabble will be an isolated incident, but based on my experience with Dobermans, I'm a bit worried for you and your boys.

[dobesgalore]

They have played fine up until this, so I hope Saban just pissed Aussie off for some reason. I just want to make sure the breed as a whole is not a same sex aggresive type. I have been investigating the breed for about six months or so, and I've never heard anything about it.

[Zoom]

As a whole, no. Aussies are typically not same sex or dog aggressive, it had zero use in stock work when you've typically got a couple of dogs in high drive out working together. If they were more concerned with killing each other than rounding up/moving stock, they'd be useless.

Now, there ARE DA Aussies out there, don't get me wrong. But as a general rule they're not supposed to be nor is it common. The play styles between Aussies and Dobes are fairly different though and sometimes that can lead to problems i.e. "miscommunication".

My next Aussie is going to be another male as well.

[dobesgalore]

Thanks Zoom! I think miscomunication was the problem here. I will still consider a male.