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Bouvier Des Flandres / Poodle Mix Becoming Agressive with my other dogs

1790 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  3GSD4IPO
Greetings. I have an issue I hope you can help me with. I have 3 male dogs. 5 yo lab/shepherd, 2 yo lab/pit & the most recent addition a 11+ mo bouvie/poodle mix. All the dogs are neutered and get along great......until recently. My bouvie has started to aggressively attack my lab/pit mix Milo. Milo is the sweetest most gentle dog, and does not "fight" back. We have had the bouvie since March (got him from a reputable breeder when he was 16 wks). We just recently had the bouvie neutered as we noticed some aggression, but only with Milo. The breeder suggested we wait until he was 18 mo so he would receive all his growth hormones, he currently weights 82 lbs. I am guessing this is a pack dominance behavior but have to say I do not care for it. We do not use harmful training technics and the dogs are never hit. How do I stop this behavior before one of my dogs gets hurt? We do not have professional training centers in the small town I live in, the best we have is agility training. We have a large fenced in yard and all the dogs have plenty of exercise daily. Also the aggression only happens when the dogs are in the house. They play just fine outside.
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And I don't know why the breeder mixed bouvie with poodle. Around here the "doodle" is all the rage.
Well, I think you just answered the question of why the breeder crossed a Bouvier with a Poodle... Very few reputable breeders will breed crossbreds. If they do, it will typically be to either produce serious sport or hunting dogs, or else try and correct a health problem in one of the breeds.

As mentioned, a lot of dogs, once they mature, start to become either very selective about what dogs they like, or just generally dog aggressive. Some breeds are prone to same sex aggression (I'm pretty sure that Bouv are one of them), and no amount of neutering or training can stop it. Even in breeds not generally known for SSA, having multiples of the same gender can still be problematic.

While I'd separate them for feeding and not leave toys laying around, keeping a log of when it happens, what's going on right before it happens, and what happens afterward can be a good idea.

One other thing to touch on is pack dynamics. Two dogs can get a long fine, but adding a third changes things. It could be that one of the established dogs decides they don't like the newcomer. It could be the newcomer deciding that they don't like one of the established dogs. Even if the third dog is added as a puppy, there is no guarantee they won't grow up to hate dog number one or dog number two, or even both of them. And as an FYI, having to live in a crate and rotate situation is no fun. I've done it (twice), and hope to never have to do it again.
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