my golden retreiver attacked another dog

[Hypnotic]

I have a 9 mth old male Golden Retreiver. He goes over to my parents house all the time to play with their two pups. Gets along great with other dogs and people.
Today I was watching my parents dog with my dog over as well. Dakota, my golden, and Jack whos about 4 mths, also a golden (my parents dog) was out front doing their "business" when a guy we see all the time who was walking his Husky came up to greet our dogs. Well, Dakota then started to attack this dog. Luckily I got him away before anything got too ugly.
I dont understand, he has never done this before. I am so mad. What is wrong with my dog?

[fireworksinjuly]

First, Please Take him to the vet to make sure its not a disease causing this aggression. Diseases or neurological issues can cause agression in a lot of dogs. Especially if hes never been agressive at all before, it may be a sign of something physical wrong with him, rather then a behavhioral problem.

I hope everything is ok with him. And that the other owner isnt too upset over it, hopefully they wont press charges.

[Carrie]

I don't think there's anything wrong with your dog. Remember, they don't have the same social ways as we do. He may have been reacting to the husky as a threat to HIS possessions, his Golden Retriever friend and the yard. It was probably a resource guarding or protection behavior...absolutely not abnormal. Not all dogs are going to like all dogs. And we shouldn't put them in situations where they are forced to interact with all dogs. We have to be very careful about that. They aren't like human children...."Now, you get along and share." It doesn't work that way.

[flyndog]

Dakota didn't like the idea of the husky coming into his territory. Why he chose to show it by attacking could be for lots of reasons. Maybe the Husky looked at him the "wrong way". Who knows. That's pretty typical dog behavior. I'd suggest if there is no fence in your yard, that you supervise your dog so you can prevent him from doing that again. Don't get mad. Get training!

[IcyHound]

Is he altered or not?

Nine months is a classic time that males start to feel their manhood and start challanging life and things.

We assume the dogs want to say hi, but sometimes we are misreading their arguements as friendly bodylanguage.

[oc_spirit]

A lot of other breeds of dogs do not like Huskies. I don't know why, some people say it's because they can't read a Husky's body language too well and misinterpret stuff but I know Huskies can read other breed's body language fine....Others say that when Huskies play it is soooo rough and they're so exuberant that it's just too much for breeds that aren't rough like that to handle and they feel uncomfortable. I've had many dogs come up to my Husky boy and they sniff noses fine, and OC play bows then pounces (his typical play invite) and the other dog turns around and snaps (not an actual attack, just a warning). I find the dogs that get along the best with my boy are other huskies, mals, boxers, dobies, and any other hard rough and tumble breeds. Because of this I usually have to tell him to take it easy and play more gently in order for the other dog to accept him as a friend.

[Hypnotic]

thank you guys so much, i do feel a lot better. i would just never think my lovable dog would do such a thing. I am also 2 1/2 mths pregnant ( maybe dogs sense that , i dunno ) so he might of been protecting me as well. I do know that if my friends play around with me he gets very protective and stands in frt of me. thx again

[IceyBlueSibes]

Originally Posted by oc_spirit

A lot of other breeds of dogs do not like Huskies. I don't know why, some people say it's because they can't read a Husky's body language too well and misinterpret stuff but I know Huskies can read other breed's body language fine....Others say that when Huskies play it is soooo rough and they're so exuberant that it's just too much for breeds that aren't rough like that to handle and they feel uncomfortable. I've had many dogs come up to my Husky boy and they sniff noses fine, and OC play bows then pounces (his typical play invite) and the other dog turns around and snaps (not an actual attack, just a warning). I find the dogs that get along the best with my boy are other huskies, mals, boxers, dobies, and any other hard rough and tumble breeds. Because of this I usually have to tell him to take it easy and play more gently in order for the other dog to accept him as a friend.

I know how that is! The girls also like to talk alot when they want to go meet another dog, and it makes the other dog nervous when they're jumping around and howling. But there's one dog around the corner that just doesn't like the two girls. I have no idea why.. just the first encounter was not a pretty one, and the other two just wanted to say hi. But the other dog decided he was going to bare teeth and growl.

Hypnotic... that is a very good possibility too. I think dogs can really sense things that go on with our body alot better than we even can. When I'm not feeling well, Sarge is more clingy to me, and a lot more protective. The girls get really docile and careful around me. Or they either act goofy until I smile and laugh. But I agree with everyone else's advice. He's probably just guarding his territory...
Best of luck and just be out there to supervise in case another dog doesn't walk by, and desides that they don't want to take that from the pup!

[WingedFoal]

My friend's dog was REALLY protective over any pregnant female (that he knew, that is). When my friend was pregnant (both times), he would not let any dog near her, and cringed when he had to let people near her. He did the same for me when I was pregnant. He wasn't like that with us when we weren't pregnant. He also watched over the babies (under strict human supervision, of course), and wouldn't let any of the other dogs anywhere near the babies. It was an odd thing to watch....

[Carrie]

Hypnotic,

My dog is dog aggressive at times too. I'm taking him to a trainer to get help so that he'll learn to greet them (on a leash) in a civilized manner. That is the hope. He may never like all dogs, but the trainer said that we'll set him up to succeed. She has a plan. Forcing is not a good way, but some conditioning should help. Maybe you can get a trainer to help you too. Good luck.