Understanding your dog is very important to his well being. Taking care of him is actually so much more than just feeding him, walking him, and playing with him. It is also protecting him. Understand though, that there may be times in which you will not be able to protect him. One of the most prominent times that you will not be able to protect him is when he is displaying dog to dog aggression.
There are several reasons that he will show dog to dog aggression. One of the biggest reasons is if he is feeling threatened or if his alpha status is being jeopardized. It is always important for your dog to feel that he is the next in line to be leader other than you. Often, other animals will feel the same way and feel that your dog is invading on their territory. This will cause them to attempt to show the dominance. They will show this in a variety of ways. One way can be circling around each other while staring each other down, the hair raising on the back of their necks and growling and in extreme situations, then they may attack. If this happens, get out of the way. Do not get between the animals. This can be dangerous for you.
If your dog displays this form of aggression, you need to get back and do not try to get between them. If the aggression does not get past the circling, try to get him away gently. Try calling to him or whistling to him with a familiar sound. Just as displaying his dominance is important, it is just as important to him that he does not upset you if he has respect for you. However, if he has no respect for you, then you have a serious problem. You are ultimately the alpha dog to him if you have done your job correctly. But remember, he is next on the hierarchy. It will be equally important for him to show his dominance just as it was important for you to show your dominance when you brought him into your home.
Remember the tricks that you learned to train him to be a friend and partner to you. Some of these tricks may work to break him away from a potentially volatile situation. If it does not look like either of the animals is going to lunge at each other, then get him to come with you. But be careful that the other dog does not attack when your back is turned. The other animal will feel that he won the battle and can still show that he is the dominant one. But it may not come to that. Often, if your dog is sure of his alpha dominance, the aggression can subside quickly and without a threat. Often one or the other of the dogs will walk away from the situation diverting possible aggression.
Dog on dog aggression is a natural thing, although it can be scary to watch. Make sure that you are out of harms way if this situation happens. You need to let them find out who is the alpha to stop the aggression. But it is all about respect as well. If your dog does not respect you, then seek help because aggressive behavior can get worse and possibly dangerous to you or other people.
Your dog is a confidant, a friend and often, your dog is an integral part of your family. You will share many memories with this beloved pet. But understand that he is a protector as well. You dog has an acute sense of when something is not quite right with another person or even an animal. You will see a lot of this with other dogs.
Most often, if your dog is behaving differently around other dogs, it is because they are both fighting for the alpha dog designation. This is similar to when you were young and had to deal with bullies in school. If you did not stand up for yourself, then you would consistently be berated. This is the same for dogs. Your dog does have a mind of his own as you do. He has feelings and a conscious. He knows when he has done wrong and remembers when you did wrong. You can easily tell if your dog is feeling threatened by you or another animal.
From the moment that you brought your dog into your home, there has been a constant battle for control in the house. You naturally think that you are the boss and he feels that he is the boss. It is all about respect. If your dog has no respect for you then he will not obey many of the things that you command. He will give you just enough rope to hang yourself per se. These interactions will carry over into other parts of his life as well. From the interactions with other people or to other animals.
There are several reasons that your dog will experience dog on dog aggression. They can be due to deciding who the alpha is, it can be due to feeling like the dog has to defend himself and it can be a form of bullying smaller or weaker animals. Either way, it can be dangerous.
Remember that your dog is feeling this aggression similar to when he came to your home and you needed him to understand that you were the alpha in the household. You had to show him who was boss throughout the training and directions that you took with him. This made him a viable member of your household. The same is true with other animals. He is not comfortable with other animals getting into his comfort zone and expressing dominance on him. You will need to help him with this both in the household as well as out of it. However, it will be important for him to express his dominance with other animals as well. Just be careful and understand that it is not the fault of your dog. He is expressing who he is. Because he has expressed a form of violence with this situation, does not mean that he will be violent to you.
Dealing with dog to dog aggression is all about respect and you. Also understand that is he shows serious aggression to other dogs, then chances are that he will to you or a family member as well. It is all about respect.
Kevin Salem has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dog Care, Pets. From dog training and breaking your dog's bad habits, to serious behavior issues Kevin has successfully trained over 8,000 dogs nationwide. Visit his award-winning website