aggressive males

[wildman]

Hey Corey its Bob. Hows it going? I wouldnt get to excited if that bitch is comming out of heat that is most likely his problem. He is fighting for dominince. I absolutely will not tollerate a mean hound. They have a whole set of different hormones when there is a bitch in heat. I dont have a mean dog in the yard but when there is a bitch in heat we occasionally have a scuffel. In my opinion put foot to ass and show him who is the boss and be careful when you have one in heat. Hope this helps

[robbyson99]

Ok. Same scenario except we used a different female last night. The two males were fine. No fighting. No growling. Nothing. I guess I don't really understand. I kept mine on a leash but I figured if he wanted to get after the male he would either way. Maybe not.

[Thunder Struck]

robby,i have a male that is one of my best hounds he was fighting with my males.i run shocking collars on all my dogs.when he started anything he go shocked.i even loaded him in the boxes with other males and shocked him.it worked for me. .i always have it in the back of my mind.it will never go away.i dont run him with other males only mine.thunder struck

[Benny G]

Corey, If you cut your dog I think you are on the right path. I had a 6 month old pup that was starting trouble with my buddy's dogs that he was being trained with. I told Brian to shoot him because he wasn't worth one of the older dogs getting hurt in a fight. Brian saw potential in my pup and talked me out of it. I paid to have him cut, and it changed his outlook. Derrick died last year of old age, and he will always have a very special place in my heart. When I'm setting on my mule watching my dogs work, I still look around for Derrick. You might need to give your dog some time for the testosterone to clear his body after he's cut, but it should make a big difference in time. Good luck.

[dhostetler]

I had an old Plott several years ago that I bought after my walker strike hound got killed on a bear. The Plott was an awesome bear dog and a decent strike hound. He would never fight with my hounds however he would fight with my buddies hounds and I never could break him no matter how badly I whipped him. I finally got rid of him and now I wish I would have cut him instead. He did train 2 of my other hounds to strike so I achieved my goal.

A couple of years ago my walker male started becoming aggresive and I broke him with whippings etc.

I believe a lot of guys problems are is they fall in love with there hounds. Shocking collars work great on pups but once I have a 3+ year old hound that needs to be shocked they know that is only the start of it and once I get my hands on them they will get a whipping. I use cable leashes that are plastic coated and a good whipping won't break any bones but will leave them sore for several days and give them something to think about for a few days.

[Hound_Crazy!]

I have two males that are 5 and 7 one is cut and one is not, they have hunted together for awhile and hunt great together never had a problem at the tree or in the box, but about two months ago I went to go feed them and one of them dug a hole and they were in the same kennel I had no females around and no food around and those two dogs tore eachother up worse then any bear or lion ever has. I just barly could start hunting one of them a week ago and they hunted together and were at the tree together and had no problems. I dont understand why they faught in the kennels. and I used to have them in the same kennel for a year and never had a problem.

[Emily]

This is a hard one, and may be impossible to do. Depends on why your hound was grouchy, which you may never know.
My suggestion is to get a male pup and let your newly cut hound socialize it, learning the limits of how far he can go without having to deal with a scary adult hound. Chances are good that he will give the pup a lot of lattitude until it gets to about 6 mos--1 year. At that point, there may be one fight to settle who is top dog. After that, enforce what they have decided. Make them eat near each other, but not on top of each other, and make each stick to his own bowl. Let them play together, but make sure you always slightly favor the one they have decided is dominant--probably the older one. Don't let either be too dominant. Make sure that YOU are dominant over both by making them do obedience things for no discernible reason. For instance, when they ask to come in the front door, I often call mine around to the side door. It just reinforces who is boss.
Some dogs that are house dogs just have bad manners with hounds that are only hunting dogs, always serious. Dogs that have never played can misinterpret an invitation to play, starting trouble. My two males have a sense of humor with each other and like to pester each other. For instance, they sometimes hump each other while playing at home, or steal toys from each other, but wouldn't do that while hunting with strange males or each other. They both do things that other hunters sometimes interpret as face barking, that are actually invitations to play. Know your dog and learn the difference.
My two males live in my house with me and play nicely with other breeds of dogs at Brooklyn, NY dog runs. When they are not in Brooklyn, they have a fenced yard in the mountains and spend the day play-wrestling with each other when they are not hunting or sleeping. They have learned that a lot of "pet" dogs in the city are ill tempered. They never forget one that has given them a hard time and start in as soon as they see one coming. I have never seen them growl at another dog when hunting or at a field trial, but occasionally when they are tied at a hound event, they will snap at another male hound that comes too close.
Sometimes, dogs just dislike one specific other dog--same as us. You may need to avoid only that specific other male.
Both of mine hunt fine with other hounds of both sexes, on both bear and coon, but can be suspicious of any leashed hound that crowds them when they are tied. They do the usual sniffing and pissing when hunting with strange males, nothing more physical.

A lot of times, aggression can't be cured reliably. I had to put down a rescued hound that started to chew on my husband. When they are trouble, the trouble usually starts when the hormones kick in fully, around two-plus years. By that time, cutting them may not work because the behavior patterns are already set, but sometimes it can. Whether you cut yours or not, a curable grouchy dog is usually insecure about who is in charge. If you make sure that is you, that helps the dog know his place, and he will look to you for guidance. That doesn't mean you need to beat the dog. It means you have to work extra hard on obedience issues so it has enough respect for you. Get yourself some books or videos on general dog obedience training, and make an effort to work with your ill hound daily to get the routines ingrained properly.
Good luck!

[houndnem]

how are things since you cut him? that will usually cure that shit in a hurry. my cut males will still fight, but nothing a good gut kick can't cure. I'm interested in hearing how it turns out for you.

[robbyson99]

I had him cut that same week. I haven't had him around any other dogs yet. I'm kinda wondering my self. He does seem to be a lot calmer in the kennel and hasn't been barking as much. I ve never had to cut a male so I'm praying to god it didn't kill his grit and desire to hunt. If it did well. He will be a lap dog hahaha. I'm hoping to take him out this weekend

[kordog]

he will be fine on the hunting part. if anything he will focus more on it and less on that patch of hair . hopefully it cured his dog agression. keep us posted

[robbyson99]

i will keep you posted. hes def calmed down a bit. so we will see what happens. im going to road him with the male he fought with sometime this weekend and see what happens. i will make sure it doesnt happen again though. thank you for the responses.

[rooster]

this may not certainly be the case in your position but, i have seen a lot of male dogs that were grouly and would fight some that could have all been taken care of by stopping all the problems when they were little and recognizing them before it was a problem, not every dog but a lot of them. as far as only hunting him by yourself that kinda limits you and how much fun is that. or even to worry once you turn him loose oooh boy i hope he doesnt do something tonight. there are a lot of dogs more focused on hunting than fighting that might cause you a lot less grief in the long run. nothing causes more tention than hearing a young dog tree for the first time and then hearing something drill him. that is and should be a real touchy area for everyone. as far as the question why, myself i dont spend much time wondering why a dog fights, did another dog do something? was he being protective? was there an east wind? i feel like if you get rid of the ones who like to fight pretty soon you dont have a fighting problem anymore. thats just me. good luck.

[HEKK]

Ill dogs are a result of a poor handler.

[Benny G]

HEKK-
That's a pretty blanket statement. Dogs are as individual as people or anything else that breathes. Maybe every now and then I'm just a poor handler too, but around here everone and everything has manners or gets them, and there are lots of different ways to give a dog manners. There are some dogs, as well as people, that the best way to get thier attention is to cut off the source of thier problems. It sure has worked for me in the past, and then I could become a good handler again.

[blueticker78]

I think this is key and anyone can say I am wrong but this is my theory. Hounds are pack animals so there for there is always a alpha male your male hounds need to first understand that is you and then they fall into the pecking order behind you. males will always fight over females that is a given its the natural order of life so avoid putting two males around each other when a female is in heat because there going to fight and if they dont then they are not really hounds. I house all my males together and females together and if there is a fight I dont get excited and yell because this tells the dogs that you are unstable and they are going to continue to fight for dominance typically if they squable I let them work it out as long as they are not cutting each other because they are establishing a pecking order if you seperate them or beat them the situation will always get worse when there is a serious fight I grab both dogs and pin them on there side right next to each other so they understand I am alpha if you correct only one dog the one not corrected believes he is the alpha male. I have had some food agressive dogs in the recent past I correct that by watching them in the kennel and find out who is where in the pecking order and feed in sequence from top to bottom and if they get growly after this I take there food away and leave them at home for a few hunts this reminds them that I am alpha and I make the decision on when we hunt and when we eat and in what order and how much I teach them to eat then leave the bowl and not touch another bowl. another big factor to all this starts with proper socailization males need to be around males as young pups and all this will fall into place but if not when you introduce a male to them at a year old they are going to want to fight it typically its a competitor in there territory and at this point they may never like each other.