Hi to you all

Alfie is now 18 weeks old and we have had him since the middle of July, we also have a 13 year old jack russell, Jess

Jess has never tolerated Alfie, growling at him (but not in a vicious way) when he gets close but we have managed this by keeping them apart as much as possible and there have been times when they are in the same room as each other and all has been fine. We have tried not to exclude Jess and keep her part of the family as much as possible.

Just recently though, most especially in the evening when Alfie is relaxed and curled up on the sofa, all Jess has to do is walk past him and Alfie growls. Alfie has also started doing this to my 14yr old son (Adam) who is in a wheelchair. Adam wheels past and Alfie growls. Adam is already very wary of Alfie although up til now he has had no reason to be, this growling is going to make him worse


For the first time last night and once today, Alfie and jess have taken it a step further by getting into a fight, quickly sorted, but frightening all the same.

I am sure this is just Alfie trying to show dominance, but i am also afraid that it could get worse. Is there anything we can do to put a stop to it.

Thank you
Cathy

Any new behaviour should be a vet check to rule out any physical problems. It's very possible he is just being a 'teenager' but far better to rule out any medical problem which may be easier to treat than going down the behaviour route.

At his age, many dogs do turn into 'Kevin' and push the limits, unfortuantly by not setting a good example, Jess has really brought this on herself. Are you 100% sure than he's not been caught either by surprise or run over by the wheelchair? As this would be just the sort of thing that would start a dog off growling.

I'd be inclined to watch him very carefully when he's in those situations when you know he can kick off. Teach and use a 'leave' or 'watch me' command, so he learns that when he's feeling threatened there are other things he should be doing instead of growling.

PS - Please don't ever punish him for growling - it's his best way of making other dogs and people aware he's not happy with the situation he's in - our job, as the 'intelligent ones' is to teach the alternative.

I did wonder whether this might be the start of his 'Kevin' years cause the growling does just seem to be grumpyness, in fact Adam is exactly the same!!!

I have been keeping a very close eye on him today, and thats now so much easier now that the children are at school, in fact in writing this i have just realised its been the past two days that we have had these issues and the past two days when kids have gone back to school, maybe there is a connection there.

I have also been trying to encourage positive interaction between Adam and Alfie because as i said before Adam is very wary and he needs to realise that every time his mouth opens he isn't going to bite, alfie that is

Thanks for the point about punishment, we would never do that, but its always good to be reminded

Yes, children going back to school is often an unsettling time for puppies, their playmates have gone!

I'm sure this is just a 'blip' and remember, he doesn't want to be agressive, it isn't inhis best interests as he may be the one who gets hurt, but for some reason he feels he has to give a warning......

Do you know what the trigger was for the fight ?

I expect it is the chair that is worrying alfie rather than your son - maybe when your son isn't using the chair you could place treats on it for alfie to take, if the chair is big enough maybe other family members could sit in it and feed treats too, My two don't like pushchairs and growl at them when we are out - we found a dolly one in the cupboard and have pushed it up and down with treats in until now they don't bat an eyelid - not sure how this will effect greeting the real thing on a walk,but we'll see... Good luck