Sudden aggression towards other dogs.

[Murphys Law]

In the last two days Murphy has acted aggressively towards two different dogs. A giant snauzer and a Bull Mastiff pup. Both were on leads, entire males and much bigger than him.

I didn't see what triggered the growling and bared teeth as I was talking to the owners at the time. This is very unlike Murphy as he usually loves every dog he meets. Five minutes after having a go at the mastiff he was running and playing with a working cocker.

Health wise Murphy is fine.

The only thing that has changed is that I am feeding him less in the morning as our vet mentioned that he didn't want to put any more weight on. Both incidents occurred in the evening before his tea.

Can Murphy being hungry cause this sort of thing or is he going through some sort of phase?

[elaine.e]

I don't think it would be the change in the amount of food.

I think it's more likely to be feeling uncomfortable about being on lead and having other on lead male dogs close to him for more time than he could cope with. Maybe if he met them when he and they were off lead it wouldn't have happened because the dogs would have had the opportunity to behave naturally with each other.

Louis is the same on lead and as far as possible I avoid getting too close to other dogs when he's on lead. He becomes very stressed very quickly and goes over his self control threshold and growls and sometimes lunges.

If you're in the same situation again watch Murphy carefully and see if you can identify the distance at which Murphy feels safe and how long he feels safe for. Once you know, you can help Murphy by not putting him in a situation he won't cope with

[MIN]

Gemma is just the same. she went from being okay with all to now all teeth and shouting

[lescef]

If they were both on lead and got too close to one another then Murphy may have got too wound up which caused him to react. You will have to watch his body language carefully to see if he is frightened by the situation he finds himself in. 
Was he bothered by the fireworks going off on Wednesday?  I only ask as if dogs get frightened or worried by something  it takes several days for them to calm down again. That may account for the second lot of growling.  Treat him when he is good meeting other dogs.

[Helen]

Is your ticker right - is he around 15 months old?  If so he's not a puppy any more and he's an adult dog so his behaviour will reflect that.

Is he neutered?  It could be a little bit of fear aggression kicking in as well with as being on lead.

It needs monitoring but this kind of thing is not abnormal 

[KevWright]

Roly is the same. He's fine with other dogs generally, but there's a couple he goes berserk at. He has been on the lead when it's happened, but I don't know if that's significant, because he's OK meeting other dogs on the lead. Maybe he's seeing something in the other dog that isn't apparent to me. Or maybe dogs are just like humans and sometimes take a dislike to each other! As it's only these two dogs, I don't worry too much about it.

Kevin

[Murphys Law]

Thanks for the replies.

Murphy is 15 months so not a puppy any more.

This weekend things have been back to normal as in he has been friendly with every dog he has met. Maybe he just didn't like the two dogs he got aggressive towards. I think the mastiff jumped at Murphy which might have set him off, but he gets battered from pillar to post when playing with bigger dogs and usually just gets up and goes back for more.

[Murphys Law]

I have just had another incident where Murphy got a bit aggressive towards another dog. I was a gorgeous Weinarinarer pup, a bitch.

It wasn't much, just a warning really, (in fact it looked more like playing, but there was a growl in there too) but like pups do, she didn't get the message and kept coming back for more.

I think that there is one thing the incidents have in common. A bitch puppy jumping in Murphys face that he doesn't like.

Could this be the factor which sets him off? He plays fantastically with all the other dogs he meets, one particular Lurcher batters him from pillar to post but he loves it.

Is it that he just doesn't like puppies?

[Pearly]

It is possible I guess!  Personally I'm not keen on precocious children - maybe Murphy and I have a lot in common and he should come to live with me 

[Murphys Law]

It is possible I guess!  Personally I'm not keen on precocious children - maybe Murphy and I have a lot in common and he should come to live with me 

You can't have him.

But you are more than welcome to have my two kids. It may make you like children more (but I very much doubt it)

[elaine.e]

Louis is very uncomfortable around puppies, especially bouncy ones that are in his face and running and dodging around him. Sadly, his response is to chase them, growling all the time, and if they roll over in submission he stands over them growling . He doesn't actually bite them but needless to say he's not allowed near them.

It's a fear reaction on his part, but effectively he bullies them. He was fine until he was himself attacked by an adult dog when he was a puppy and although I've worked hard to build up his confidence and calmness with other dogs since then, I've had to admit defeat when it comes to puppies. So I have a strategy in place. When I see a puppy approaching I change course and walk away swiftly and calmly, keeping Louis focussed on me if possible. If the puppy makes a suicidal dash towards Louis, I put him on lead and ask the puppy owner to call their puppy back to them. If they can't, or they say those wonderful words "he only wants to play" I tell them very firmly but politely that mine doesn't and is afraid and will bark and growl.

Hopefully Murphy won't become like Louis, but now that you've recognised the trigger for his fearful and reactive behaviour you can help him by keeping him out of situations as far as possible and having an action plan of what to do when you can't avoid a situation.

[lescef]

We do very much as Elaine said, but with all dogs that head our way. It's quite good to practice a 'this way' command on a loose lead and off lead, when there is no trigger around so Murphy gets used to it and not just when dogs appear,  or he will make the association.
If you are talking about the Bromborough field there seem to be lots of bouncy runaway dogs at the moment, and not all owners like us asking for their dogs to be brought under control! I don't like the thought of Maddie growling at other dogs and scaring them as that is just what has happened to her to make her nervous in the first place. Hey ho!

[Murphys Law]

We do very much as Elaine said, but with all dogs that head our way. It's quite good to practice a 'this way' command on a loose lead and off lead, when there is no trigger around so Murphy gets used to it and not just when dogs appear,  or he will make the association.
If you are talking about the Bromborough field there seem to be lots of bouncy runaway dogs at the moment, and not all owners like us asking for their dogs to be brought under control! I don't like the thought of Maddie growling at other dogs and scaring them as that is just what has happened to her to make her nervous in the first place. Hey ho!

Yeah it's Plymyard. I don't really like going there but sometimes it is a case of having to as it is only a short walk from me.

I think I have seen you on the Leverhulme fields a few times with your dogs but realised you were trying to keep away from other dogs so kept our distance.

I just think that Murphy doesn't like puppies who bounce in his face. Adult dogs that want to run around chasing each other he loves.