My little Tyson is 17 weeks old. When I got him, he was kept with a few other dogs, his brother being one of them. A few weeks after I got him, I took him for a playdate with his brother & they didnt seem to like each other at all! His brother seemed to want to play, but Tyson just growled at him & kept trying to nip him anytime he came close. I thought maybe they would remember each other, but that didnt seem to be the case at all.

I also brought Tyson to another playdate with my friends two (bigger) dogs & he did the same thing! Barked and barked the whole time we were there. Anytime the other dogs got close to him or I, he would lunge forward and try to bite. Eventually, he was okay with the other two dogs being in the room but would still try to bite if they came close to us. At one point, he even bit the other dog's paw because the dog set it on my lap!

Anybody else have these issues? I'm not sure what to do about it. Tyson absolutely LOVES strangers, isnt afraid of anyone coming into the house & will lick just about any person who comes up to him, but if any other dog is around he turns into a growling/nipping machine. I'm not sure if he is just trying to "protect" me from them, or if he is just genuinely afraid of other dogs. He has 2 kitties at home whom he loves & plays with daily. I really wanted to get him a little brother or sister, so he can have another dog to play with, but now I'm second guessing it because of his behavior..

Hmm... Tiki is the same way. Very protective. But she is also like that with people and we are trying to work on this by introducing her to people in safe environments.

Probably he is very scared of other dogs. He is being 'aggressive' to them to get them to 'back off'. Take him along with you as often as possible and hold him close. Don't let him growl etc. Turn him away if he does. Give him a tiny piece of a good treat any time another dog comes near. You want to make him think, 'wow' when another dog comes close, I get a really good treat'. Try it. Try to anticipate when he is going to growl and prevent it. Good luck. Don't punish the growling---he'll think that another dog is making him be punished!

Yep definitely sounds like fear aggression. Honey is like this with strangers and dogs.
We are working on it by using a clicker, slowly getting closer and clicking and treating every time we are tag step closer, when she is quiet and calm she gets a treat. When she lunges or barks, we go back and try again! X


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Thanks everyone! I set up another play-date with my friend & her corgi. Hopefully it goes better!