Aggression towards female pug

Hi everyone,

Really hope you can give us some insight or advice on our situation.

Vader turns 1 years old in 2 weeks time...and lately (past month) he has become aggressive towards our female pug.
He takes her but doesn't puncture any skin. He manages to pull out her hair and bruises her, resulting in the areas oozing water and slight bleeding under her skin. She is soooo tiny compared to him and has become so frightful of him because of this.
We haven't witnessed him doing it ourselves, as he always does it when we aren't home, like most of the naughty stuff he does. My husband thinks he is acting out because we aren't there.

We are seriously considering having him neutered this week as we are hoping it will help with this aggression.

Our pug, Minki, is spayed so we weren't worried having him neutered until he was much older.

Has anyone experienced this? And do you think neutering him would help?

He was socialised as a puppy and does well with other dogs...and he isn't constantly aggressive towards little Minki...just once in a while. But we would like to stop it before it escalates.

Vader with Minki in the background...she'll be 10 years old this year...






Would never think this face could do such a thing

Hi Bron....

Its sad to hear he's acting out of character. You say he's only causing bruising, could this not be a result of play time gone too far? He could cause bleeding if he wanted to and if this was definitely aggression. Also you say you havnt witnessed it yourselves...so hes looking for attention else where when your out maybe? Has he got enough toys and enrichment to keep him entertained whilst your gone? it may be worth recording them with camera/laptop to see what goes on when you've left the house.

Having your boy neutered will not necessarily change his behaviour or calm him down. This is a behavioural problem. Can you separate them into two rooms when your out? I think he may be trying to become the dominant one now that hes found his feet.

Im sure many others will be along soon enough to give you some advice!

Also, both your dogs are so adorable!

Hi Kita,

Thanks so much for your reply

When we at work during the day they are in the backyard (high walls and gates) as there is plenty of space to run around and play compared to the house which isn't big.

They sleep separately at night...but during the day they are together. When growing up he was VERY playful with her and would tug and pull at her + bark trying to get her to play with him (thank goodness for the pugs tough skin) but she would get upset as she's an old girl and charge him to show she is boss. He would run away or go down on his back.

It could be play getting too rough you're right, and Minki retaliating as she did before, except Vader might not be backing down now that he is older. Will definitely have to find a way to see what really happens while we're gone.

He has a "chew" toy (tiny tyre) and ropes in the yard for him to play with during the day. We aren't able to leave him with any food type chews, as we're scared that there might be a fight over it and we're not home. The only food type toy we do leave, is a KONG type ball filled with treats or a plastic soda bottle filled with dry food. Do you think he needs something more stimulating? If so, anything you could suggest? We were thinking of getting him a car tyre and tying a big rope it it so he could pull it around the yard as he digs as well.


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Hello!

It sounds like play to me but it's obviously too rough for Minki bless her! I'd keep them separated while nobody's in the house and then keep an eye on them closely when they are playing, making sure you keep pulling Vader away if Minki is showing signs that she doesn't want to play.

By the way Vader is absolutely gorgeous! <3

So Vader used to be submissive towards Minki but now he's older hes pushing his limits. They are very playful active dogs and having another dog there is much more fun than any toy I guess. I would keep them separated whilst your out, you wouldn't forgive yourself if anything bad actually happened.

Regarding toys and stimulation....they probably don't play with anything unless your there anyway and I would be careful with what you do leave about because your not there to supervise. I would personally remove any food treats in case that's the problem! Is it possible you can walk your dogs before work to tire them out? That way they will sleep most of the time for sure and not bother with each other.

Id seperate them too while ur out never had 2 dogs together hopefully someone with experience will be along soon.

Thank you so much everyone!

Told my husband about your suggestions & advice and we will definitely be trying it.

I leave for work at 5:40am in the mornings, but my husband only leaves at 8:10am so he agreed to walk Vader before work and then again when we get home from work. We have also separated them today, Minki is indoors so she can heal up and have some peace. They get along so well normally...he usually sits or lies next to her and showers her with staffy kisses

I've never had this problem growing up...we had 3 staffies + a pug and they all got along wonderfully. But I suppose with having 3 of them they tired each other out and didn't bother with the little pug.

Thank you all once again for your advice...it really means a lot to us and we highly appreciate you taking the time out to give some pearls of wisdom.