Like territorial behavior, protective aggression usually appears as puppies mature into an adolescence or adulthood, at one to three years of age. Many dogs show the tendency to guard their possessions from others, whether they need to or not.
Dog to dog aggression is likely to increase during sexual maturity as dogs become more concerned with establishing territory, social status and access to potential mates. Adulthood. This is the period when adolescence ends – usually sometime between 1-3 years of age depending upon the breed and individual dog.
Many older dogs show increased aggression, anxiety, or compulsive behaviors. These behaviors are aggravated by body inflammation, sensory changes, and cognitive decline.
The most common causes include conflict aggression, fear-based, defensive aggression, status related aggression, possessive aggression, food guarding aggression and redirected aggression.
Aggression to other pets can occur when a new pet is introduced to the family, as a younger dog matures or as an older dog becomes weaker or less assertive. Increased aggression toward unfamiliar people and animals can arise from your dog's increasing anxiety and sensitivity as he ages.
Dog aggression can be related to fear, prey drive, socialization issues, and guarding territory, among other things. Most aggressive behavior in dogs stems from fear and anxiety, rather than the desire to hurt others. A certified animal behaviorist can help you safely deal with your dog's aggressive behavior.
As with their human owners, dogs' personalities change as they age. But some traits stay the same. All dog lovers know that their pets in older age aren't the same as they were as puppies, but owners often can't pinpoint the exact personality changes brought on by the passage of time.
Straight off the bat you should be correcting your dog's growling and/or snapping with a firm “no” at the onset of the behavior. When he stops growling, reward him with a “good boy”, or in the beginning, a treat if it's handy at the exact moment of training so that he knows what he is being rewarded for.
Most puppies start to calm down as they approach their maturity age, which is usually around 12 months, but for larger breeds it can be more likely to occur between 18 months and 2 years.
Treatment. It's important to keep in mind that there is no such thing as a cure for aggression. Aggressive behaviors are managed and reduced through proper treatment with a veterinary behavioral professional. It's also essential to understand that aggression is a behavioral problem, not an issue of obedience.
Behavioral euthanasia is humanely ending a dog's life because of severe behavioral issues, such as aggression or extreme anxiety. Humane euthanasia is done by a veterinarian. Dogs who are put down due to behavior problems are often young and healthy, which makes this outcome so difficult for many to understand.
Aggression in dogs commonly includes body language or threat displays such as a hard stare, growling, barking, snarling, lunging, snapping, and/or biting. Aggression can be a normal form of communication in dogs, yet the display of aggression toward a person or animal is often considered undesirable or problematic.
Puppy difficulty at ages 7-10 months
It can vary a bit based on each dog, but your puppy likely will hit “adolescence” around 7-10 months, with 8-9 months being the peak described by most owners.
Dogs may progress to overt aggression within seconds during a single episode if the perceived threat occurs quickly and at close quarters, or learn to dispense with lower rungs on the ladder over time, if repeated efforts to appease are misunderstood and responded to inappropriately.
While it may sound obvious, growling at your dog is not likely to improve its aggressive behavioral problems, a new study suggests. Hitting it is probably worse. Researchers say dog owners who kick, hit or otherwise confront aggressive dogs with punitive training methods are doomed to have, well, aggressive pets.
You cannot punish an emotion out of a dog (or a human). Growling is just your dog's way of trying to tell you something important, and you should listen and genuinely thank your dog for the honest feedback. Growling is your dog's way of begging you to stop what you're doing and move away.
Don't Punish Growling
If you punish your dog for growling, you will only inhibit growling. You won't have done anything to address the underlying issue. For example, punishing your dog for growling in the presence of other dogs will stop the growling. However, your dog will still feel uncomfortable around other dogs.
For a dog who is acting out of fear or frustration (for example, a dog who is barking and lunging on leash), using the word 'no' to stop the behavior without helping to alleviate their fear or frustration will often lead to an escalation in behavior, such as growling, air snapping, or biting.
By the start of their second month of life, puppies are developing emotions. And at 6-8 weeks old, they start forming attachments to humans. At this point, they can be separated from their mother and go to their new home.
Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that dogs often take on the same personality traits as their owner. The study revealed that dogs are like humans in that they have personalities that are shaped over time.
They found that dogs generally reacted less to stimuli once they hit that middle age point, becoming less easily agitated by disturbances (or less likely to show it) or motivated by rewards over the course of the four-year period of testing.