Hi

I am the owner of 2 dogs. I have a male labrador who is 10 and a 2 year old male beagle. The labrador has arthritis in both front legs and is on painkillers for good and he has the stride supplement. Both dogs are very calm.....yes even the beagle!! They get a good walk every day and then are quite happy to sleep and just wonder around the house/garden for the rest of the day.

The first problem started about a year ago when the labrador would just start growling at the beagle for no apparent reason. The beagle gets very scared when the lab does this and tends to hide behind me. I can honestly say the beagle really doesnt push his luck. He knows not to steal food or toys and to generally keeps out of the labradors way. But we decided to chat to a behaviourist to nip this in the bud. We have done everything she said for example do everything for the lab first (give food,treats,put on lead etc) and seperate their beds a bit and feed in seperate rooms. This worked really well and have had no problems for a while.

But its started again. The beagle has recently been used as a stud dog. Now I know that at a certain age the dog will try and fight for top dog but I can honestly say the beagle has not done this he still knows not to touch the food and push his luck. But the growling from the lab has got worse and has now just gone for the beagle a couple of times. There were no skin punctures but it wasnt pleasant to seperate. My beagle is now frightened of the lab and I cant get them in the crate in the car together anymore. They used to be quite happy in it together. The other day I walked them both and got back to the front door and the lab just went for him again right by the front door. I took the lab out for a walk on his own yesterday and when I walked back in the house and he saw the beagle he just started growling again. Whilst on a walk it happened when 2 dogs barked at us as we walked past and the lab just started on the beagle. I wondered if he did it because he was startled by the dogs but we do walk past them every day and they bark every day and it never bothers him.

So im wondering how to stop this. I have never stopped doing what the behaviourist told us to do about a year ago. Both dogs are entire so I am aware of this top dog thing but I can really say the beagle isnt trying to steal that title from the lab. He is very wary of the lab and as I say for a beagle he is very calm and well behaved!!

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Having an un-neutered male can cause problems. One of the most common causes of aggression is inter-male aggression.

If the lab is the one being aggressive, then why are they being reiforced as top dog? Why not the beagle?

I would get the dog neutered and then work on building his confidence with the lab. To my mind you are telling the lab that his behaviour is ok because you are rewarding him by7 tending to him first everytime....

I'm sure somebody else will be along to give their advice soon.

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I would imagine it started a year ago because beagles puppy licence had run out. Up to then Beagle was a pup and not sexually mature, what an older entire dog will take off a pup is different to what he will take off a young buck fully mature entire male. It sounds to me that Lab now sees Beagle as a challenge and is contantly making a point. Even if the Beagle isnt challenging him back or starting it, he obviously feels a need to do it for some reason.

Another possible thing that could be making it worse, is his arthritis, dogs in pain and discomfort can get snappy and reactive due to this, and can re-direct it onto things in what appears to be aggressive. it might be an idea to take him for a check up and see if there is pain response in his arthritic joints on examination and manipulation, if there is then that could be your answer why it has suddenly happened again where they seemed to be OK before. Its possible that the meds/dose he is on now is no
longer working and he is in discomfort/pain and taking it out on the beagle.

If dogs are going to kick off and put up a challenge, then the main triggers are usually, food, chews,treats, confined spaces, attention, times of excitement like visitors coming. So they are all things you need to avoid. Being together in a confined space seems to fit with the arriving at the front door to go back in, they have to pass in a confined space, and as you brought the Lab back in if the beagle was there and it was another confined area then there may be your answer. I Deffinately wouldnt be putting them in a crate together, it would be setting them up to kick off. I would also be careful of giving beagle attention when Labs around too.

I would deffinately have your Labs joints checked out and see if he needs other medication and/or an increased dose, as that may be a lot of the trouble. Carry on avoiding all the known triggers. Maybe at the moment the walks are too much for the Lab if he has pain and discomfort, another reason maybe as its happened twice after he has had/being walked, if its too far and he waas in pain, maybe that contributed to his snappiness/aggresion.

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Sled Dog has just about said what i was thinking...
most entire males will resource guard and the fact that the lab may be in pain will most certainly contribute to this situation.

having said that....i have had 5 entire males living in the same house without any trouble as they all understood the "LEAVE IT", "ENOUGH" and "AWAY" commands which i used to break up any potential disagreements.

another option is to use NOISE AVERSION to distract the dogs if anything does kick off. I use an old bicycle horn (similar to an air horn) which instantly distracts the dog from performing an unwanted behaviour....timing is of course crucial!

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All posts are my personal opinions based on the knowledge and experience I have and should not be associated with any organisations I may be a member of



ZACK (1993-2007)
forever in sunshine

As growling is associated with wanting distance, that seems very likely. Displacement aggression seems like reasonable explanation for the incident, grumpy unhealthy old dog doing exactly what the OP suspected.

Rather than noise aversion, I'd prefer a postive interruptor & distraction of some kind. Punishing a sick old dog, seems of dubious worth to me.

The fact that the pack theory advice has been tried and failed, suggests it is not to do with the Lab needing to be reinforced as dominant, especially given the Beagles (correct) response to the signal.

According to recent work and experience of Dunbar, a small dog can retain it's ranking over even a Great Dane, which is not consistent with the past view of "constant challenging for status" theory. Actual observation by even the casually interested in fact casts huge doubt on that theory.

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For eager & reliable recall, be fun for the dog to come back to! Then often send them off right away to do what they wanted!
DT&B - Glossary of acronyms & jargon terms.
Encouraging good behaviours, whilst consistently avoiding practise of bad alternatives leads to extinction of the bad. So if dog sits 6/10 times it doesn't sit 4/10 times, encouraging with the right rewards (positively-reinforcing) enough for 9/10 times means it now fails to sit only 1/10 times, sit 10/10 means...

I have an arthritic timid neutered dog, and an entire male (can`t be neutered due to health issues) so I know exactly where you`re coming from.
The older dog gets very worried about the other boy sometimes - but it`s because he`s feeling a bit sore usually.
I provide enough beds for them both to settle , and when the Oldie gets grumbly, I suggest he go to a bed away from the other dog. It seems to work.
It would also be good to give the Lab supplements for his joints, (glucosamine & chondroitin, MSM and cod-liver oil etc). If he`s already getting these, it might be time for Metacam?

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