aggressive around puppies
Hi, I'm a new Pet of the Day poster. My dog Georgia is an absolutely wonderful, 60-pound, chocolate lab, who just celebrated her year and a half birthday last week. She's great with people, good/great with commands, not possessive with toys, playful, great at retrieving sticks and balls, and very gentle with her mouth around people. All things considered, Georgia is wonderful.
Where she is not always so great is with other dogs. She plays wonderfully with some dogs (typically dogs her size, age, and disposition), but occassionally she can be nasty to older dogs, young puppies, very hyper dogs, and shepherds and huskies. I think this behavior is particularly pronounced when she (or the other dog) is leashed.
Minutes ago, Georgia met a really cute 12 week old lab puppy on the street. Both dogs were leashed. As I said hello to the new dog owner, Georgia showed her teeth to the puppy and then lunged forward, causing the little pup to squeal. I don't know if Georgia would actually hurt the puppy; she has a really soft lab play bite, but she didn't act like she was playing. This is not the first time she's been aggressive with a puppy, and I really don't like seeing her behave this way.
As for Georgia's background... Between her breeder and us, Georgia spent a week and a half with another family (which belatedly decided that they were unready for a dog; we rescued her from the name Chanel). As such, we never met the breeder, so we do not know the disposition of her parents. Georgia was a great puppy from the minute she joined us (excluding her unstoppable fondness for eating poop, but I'll save that for another day). She did puppy obedience class, and did fine. As a puppy, she was a rough player and wouldn't back down to an aggressive dog, but she herself didn't really cross the line. She used to attend doggie day care a few times a week, so she has been socialized from a pretty young age. She spends half her time in the country and half the time in New York City (where she plays off-leash in Central Park each morning), so she has the opportunity to do plenty of running and socializing.
I'm just concerned about this new aggressiveness, especially with puppies. I'd love any thoughts about what's bringing out this unprovoked nastiness in Georgia and what I can do to thwart it. Thanks!
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probably because he really dislikes their play styles. It just shows you that all dogs are different and have different likes and dislikes!! She could've also had traumatic experiences with a Shepherd or a Husky (pretty similar breeds in some ways, so she might just relate the two breeds as one) while she was in daycare - Gonzo has been attacked by a Black Lab and a Rottie, and now he still vehemently dislikes both breeds in most cases, while he loves most other dogs. The older dog thing, could very well be dominance. A lot of young dominant dogs go out of their way to show off to older dogs, especially since older dogs are much slower and weaker than a young pup. She probably likes dogs her size and age because she does not feel threatened by them.
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