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sableg
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sableg is offline  
Location: Ft. Worth TX
Joined: Jan 2007
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14-01-2007, 03:36 PM

Female Lab agression towards other dog in the house

6 YO Female Black Lab in a house with a 13 YO Male Miniature Schnauzer. The schnauzer was 7 when we brought the lab home as a puppy. They have lived together happily playing with each other for last 6 years. Within the last year there has been three incidents where the Lab would get aggressive toward the Schnauzer. The first incident the mom of the house was eating at the table with both dogs beside her at the floor and the Lab growled and snapped at the schnauzer for no apparent reason. The second incident we were watching T.V. and they were both laying down close to each other and again the Lab growled and snapped at the Schnauzer again for no apparent reason. The third and final incident so far was just this morning when the Lab was laying on the couch the Schnauzer came up and was sniffing the floor underneath where the lab was laying and again the Lab growled and then jumped off the couch snapping and chasing after the Schnauzer for no apparent reason. This is very out of character for the Lab as she is the sweetest dog to people and is very submissive usually rolling over on her back when she knows she has done something wrong. Just wandering if anyone else has ever experienced anything like this or has any adivce as to what might be the problem and how we might be able to prevent further incidents because they seem to be getting more frequent and has some of us starting to worry about her. Thanks Concerned Dog Owner
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Meg
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Location: Dogsey and Worcestershire
Joined: May 2004
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14-01-2007, 04:50 PM
Originally Posted by sableg View Post
6 YO Female Black Lab in a house with a 13 YO Male Miniature Schnauzer. The schnauzer was 7 when we brought the lab home as a puppy. They have lived together happily playing with each other for last 6 years. Within the last year there has been three incidents where the Lab would get aggressive toward the Schnauzer. The first incident the mom of the house was eating at the table with both dogs beside her at the floor and the Lab growled and snapped at the schnauzer for no apparent reason. The second incident we were watching T.V. and they were both laying down close to each other and again the Lab growled and snapped at the Schnauzer again for no apparent reason. The third and final incident so far was just this morning when the Lab was laying on the couch the Schnauzer came up and was sniffing the floor underneath where the lab was laying and again the Lab growled and then jumped off the couch snapping and chasing after the Schnauzer for no apparent reason. This is very out of character for the Lab as she is the sweetest dog to people and is very submissive usually rolling over on her back when she knows she has done something wrong. Just wandering if anyone else has ever experienced anything like this or has any adivce as to what might be the problem and how we might be able to prevent further incidents because they seem to be getting more frequent and has some of us starting to worry about her. Thanks Concerned Dog Owner
Hi Sableg first of all if there is ever any sudden change in behaviour in an older dog it is always wise to investigate in case there is some unseen medical problem, so that means a trip to the vet .
It could also be that the Mini is getting older and the Lab is aware of a lack of strength/resistance there.


Assuming there is no health problem I can make a couple of general suggestions about what I would do in this situation

I would guess the Lab is resource guarding ,you mention food and the couch both good examples of this. It would be a good idea to make both dogs appear more equal, this means no dog sits near when you are eating, they both stay in bed, no dog gets on the couch when the other is around.

It would also be a good idea to make them both sit before they are fed/receive attention in any way and that includes having their leads on to go for a walk.

When there is a scrap it is best not to shout at one of them, this can make the situation worse.
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