Hmm.. ok.. Dief.. GSDxMal.. just turned 12 months.. I'm obviously hoping this was a one-off.. walking down a narrow alley.. Dief's on long-line.. 2 dogs come haring the other way. One is a very good friend of his.. the other he's only seen on a couple of occassions. They other dogs were playing.. full of beans. The not so well known dog is a neutered male ( Dief is still intact ).. apparently Dief met him before he was neutered and was fine. Dief acted aggressively towards the other dog ( I don't think he bit him ).. who rolled and submitted. I moved him on as quick as I could. This is pretty out-of-character for him but I suppose could be the start of something. I was trying to hold out for at least 18 months before he heard the sound of the clanking bricks. Any thoughts ?

A one off event is just that until/unless it happens again.

I would not fret about it, but maybe arrange that your dog meets the other two (one at a time) in less random and excited situations when you can.

Bricks ?

Yes:
- What does ACTED AGGRESSIVELY mean, specifically?

- too late; male-dogs go thru the highest testosterone-levels of their lives between 9-MO & 10-MO.
then testosterone levels fall, till at approx 12-MO they reach adult-male levels, & do not rise again.

the problem is not testosterone, per se; it's WHAT HE LEARNS to do, during that period of increasing androgens
from 12-WO to the middle of puberty at 6-MO, and then the rapid ramp-up of secretion from 7 to 9 & 10-MO.

once he's learned to posture at other males, give hard-stares, bully younger or smaller males, etc,
UN-learning it is exceptionally difficult - particularly if the male-dog is still intact; behavior modification
can help to change his habitual responses to other males [whether the other male is intact or not], but it's easier
if the dog that we're working with is desexed before the B-Mod starts - it makes the process faster & increases
the success rate. Trying to improve an intact-male's responses to other males, especially other intact males,
is definitely an uphill struggle.

that's not to say that intact-males CANNOT be taken thru their tempestuous high-testosterone stage & emerge
from the other side as testosterone falls, as friendly, dog-social, dog-tolerant individuals - but it's not easy,
& for a novice owner, it's practically impossible unless the breed or mix of dog they have is a highly-social
type: Cavalier-KCS or Shih-Tzu are a lot easier to guide thru this period & retain their dog-friendly natures
than are GSDs or Rotts or Boxers, and it's exceedingly unlikely that a novice owner will succeed in guiding
an intact-male Akita, Bouvier, Russian Giant, Bullmastiff, or other breeds well-known for Male to Male aggro
or reactivity, into a calm & happy sociable intact-male adulthood.

miracles do happen - but i don't count on them to get me out of a predictable, preventable jam.
if there's an obvious storm in the offing, i won't set out to cross the Chesapeake Bay in a rowboat.
similarly, i would not keep a male-dog of a breed known to often develop M:M aggro or reactivity
intact past 7 or 8-MO; it's simply not worth the hassle & the very-likely bad effect on the dog.


both GSDs & Malemutes are among the breeds which often show M:M aggro or reactivity, with the Mals
being much the worse than the GSDs; it's not rare in GSDs, but it's downright common in male Malemutes.

__________________
terry pride, APDT-Aus, apdt#1827, CVA, TDF
*wolves R wolves, dogs R dogs, + primates R us.*
tmp, sept-2007

Could be due to the restricted space that he found himself in as well as dealing with two bouncy dogs. My Mals would not have coped well in that situation either and they are older and both neutered. Your guy is still only a youngster so I wouldn't expect too much of him at the mo.

All mine were neutered at 18 months with the exception of Mat who was three. Personally I don't agree with neutering too early and even more so if the dog is showing signs of fear or aggression as it can exacerbate the problem, making it worse.

Put it down to the circumstances of where you were and the fact that he only partially knows the other dog. He still is just a baby and has a lot of changes going on at the moment, don't expect him to be able to handle every situation just yet.

Malamutes are known not to be too sure of any dog and same sex even less so try not to put him in a situation where he feels restricted in future.

__________________

Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

Aggressively means he lunged and growled.. the other dog submitted virtually on it's back.. he didn't back off.. head right in the other dogs neck/face area growling/barking.

I get conflicting information on right time to neuter.. so difficult to decide. The people leaving it longer do so by my understanding because there are growth type issues if done too early with 'larger' breeds. I'm open to argument or lesser of two evils.

What were your reasons for the timing at 18 months ?

Ruh-roh.

that the other dog gave appeasing signals & Dief did not cease aggressing would worry me
more than anything else, here. That's not good - ignoring the other dog's social-signals & persisting.

dogs that persist with aggro despite another dog's non-aggro or appeasing behavior are playing the bully.
it's something that were he my dog, would have immediately concerned me; it's not normal, i mean that literally.
normal dogs QUIT when the other dog cries, Uncle! - whether intact or not, male or female, they stop.

i hope it's a one-off, but with that added tidbit, i wouldn't lay money on it being a single event.

My trainer said it was best to wait for him to calm down and mature a bit first and being a Mal he was a bit hyper to say the least. Also have read about neutering interfering with growth plates and thought if it is true then best to wait and if it isn't then I have lost nothing - no rush really.

Many people on the Malamute forum say not to neuter before 18 months for maturity to be met. Retaining puppy behaviour is another possibility and I didn't want to chance having a hyper adult of 60kgs so just waited a while.

Thing is Flynn seemed to mature a lot later than Marty - who was neutered at three and is the calmest laid back guy around, so in a way now I wish I had waited til Flynn was two. Mals are very late at reaching maturity, some say as late as three and now at three and a half he is just beginning to calm down completely. Thought it would never happen, lol!

__________________

Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"