Nutered and hates the Non nutered?!!??

[Capt_Jack_our_Basenji]

So at the dog park Jack does SOO well with the other dogs, ALL of them except any male non nutered dogs, He gets the nerve to go up to a 200 lb killing machine bull dog or something and gets aggressive, one of these times hes going to get BIT…i dont understand it, hes nutered and id think he would be submissive to the other males. He is getting better at it now, now he will just growl, But he also is agrssive to other dogs while on the leash..WHy? Anyone else have the same problem??

[WBL]

I know from experience that leash agression is more them feeling in a way that the other dog is invading their terratory, and you are part of it so they must protect you.

With the non altered dog agreesion I'm not sure what goes through their heads, my boxer is like that too. Fine with young pups that haven't matured and are not altered but adults are a whole different story if the dog is his size. I had a female dog that was like that too, she could not stand unaltered females.

This is something that is common to a lot of dogs and not a real breed specific issue.

One question I do ask is to please try and describe how he acts in detail, because there is HUGE difference between aggression and dominance

[Capt_Jack_our_Basenji]

well he will get his face right in the other dogs face and not look at him but deeply growl and bear his teeth and then if the other dog moves he might go to bit them, not hard and only once but still…i guess thats the best i can describe it...

[Quercus]

Not unusual amongst basenjis. They don't all care to be around other dogs. Leash aggression/reactivity is common, for a variety of reasons. I would be very careful with letting him approach dogs that you know he may react to. You are right, he is going to get bitten, or worse. And if I had a dog at the dog park, I would not appreciate a dog approaching mine in that way.

My guess is that he is reading subtle signals from the unneutered males, and reacting. Many/most basenjis don't take very well to being expected to submit by another dog that they don't know well.

[lvoss]

Leash aggression is very common. A dog on lead has limited options when it is approached by another dog. If it feels uncomfortable with that dog approaching and the other dog does not respond to its distance increasing signals, it can not leave and will escalate the signals trying to get its message across to the other dog.

As for your dog's response to unneutered males, I agree with Andrea that your dog is probably picking up on subtle body language that you may not be aware of. Basenjis expect very particular and appropriate language from other dogs. If you watch basenjis interact with each other there are definate social rules that they expect to be followed. I see many dogs that behave rudely and whose owners are clueless about how rude their dog's behavior is in dog language. Running directly up to another dog is rude behavior, appropriate behavior would be to approach on a curve. And yet many owners have dogs that run straight up on other dogs and then are surprised that their dogs are greeted with aggression by the dog that was so rudely approached.

[goldenfri]

@lvoss:

As for your dog's response to unneutered males, I agree with Andrea that your dog is probably picking up on subtle body language that you may not be aware of. Basenjis expect very particular and appropriate language from other dogs. If you watch basenjis interact with each other there are definate social rules that they expect to be followed. I see many dogs that behave rudely and whose owners are clueless about how rude their dog's behavior is in dog language. Running directly up to another dog is rude behavior, appropriate behavior would be to approach on a curve. And yet many owners have dogs that run straight up on other dogs and then are surprised that their dogs are greeted with aggression by the dog that was so rudely approached.

You make a good point here. I take mine to the dog park and they are very well behaved but will let another dog know when it is being rude or invading their space. They normally do this with a growl or quick growl and jump to the side. I have noticed that Bs are much more particular about how a dog acts and don't appreciate the overly excited/ hyper behavior of alot of the common dog types.

[Capt_Jack_our_Basenji]

ive been watching for movements of other dogs and such, but HONESTLY the other dogs (non nutered) come to the park all the time and as soon as jack sees them come in he immediatly tries to growl and attack…its bad. sometimes i have to leave the park. But its not as bad as it was in the beginning, so hes improving

[stacie]

I used to run my 2 b's every night at the lake near our house, off lead. They were great at first, (and LOVED swimming!) but then I think they thought it was THEIR lake and started nipping at cyclists and chasing other dogs away. So that was the end of that (off lead, anyway) I have actually been nipped by my male b at his frustration on lead to get to another dog.

[Capt_Jack_our_Basenji]

wow. well im glad im not the only one tho…

[kingmonty]

Our Monty was the same way. When he was a pup he was the runt of the litter and sickly to top it off. His aggression to other dogs started showing up after he was nuetered. It became progressively worse as he got older. He became very aggressive to other dogs and would never have been able to go to a dog park. He was the most aggresive to intact males and extremely aggressive to any dog if he was on a leash. We believe that it had everything to do with his pack order as a puppy, being sick he was picked on and isolated. His immune system was always weak, he was sick often throughout his adult life. He died at 6 from a fungal disease. Does Jack get sick often?

[Capt_Jack_our_Basenji]

no, only the lyme thing and since that, nothing else…i think hes too full of energy to let himself be sick, lol. but im sry to hear about ur pup...