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Milo is a 5 year old AB. I raised him from a pup, and have been as conscientious as I know how concerning bully breed tendencies. He has always been pretty well mannered towards other dogs, but he is an AB, and I'm aware of his power and his breed tendencies. He has had exactly one dog incident worth note before the arrival of the puppy; another dog, a female Akita mix with a history of dog fights, appeared to bite him, to which he reacted by latching onto the dog's neck and shaking violently. He scared everyone involved, myself included, but did no physical damage to the other dog before I separated them.
Recently, my girlfriend and I got a puppy - a female French / Olde English mix. Her name is Lulu. Obviously, Lulu will be considerably smaller than Milo and currently, at 4.5 months, weighs a little over 20 pounds - he is 115 pounds. He has played with her, and gently, since day one. When the puppy first came home, he did roll her, two times, accompanied by some pretty serious snarls. These incidents seem to occur not around food, but around people. He has not felt compelled to roll her in over a month. He also has seemed to become protective of her; when my girlfriend was walking them both one week ago, he latched onto the neck of a male Lab, perhaps in defense of Lulu. There was no physical damage.
As stated, Milo hasn't rolled Lulu for over a month, until today. Again, I wasn't present; my girlfriend was alone at the house with the dogs. Apparently, Milo was carrying an empty plastic peanut butter jar. Lulu grabbed onto the other end as though to play tug of war, which they have done, with the jar, before. Instead of playing, Milo grabbed her by the neck and shook. Again, no physical damage, but I'm very concerned. Lulu is a puppy, a female, and 20 pounds. She poses no physical threat, and I worry that even if he intends to real damage, she may be seriously hurt just because of his size.
Some potentially relevant facts:
He has never been protective of his food around Lulu, which strikes me as strange, as he is very food motivated; he allows her to approach him and his food while he eats. I try my best to "favor" Milo - he eats first and gets scratched first. However, and I hate to admit this, the puppy has been sleeping in the bed, something which I have not allowed Milo to do. Milo is submissive towards me, though I am not domineering. I don't think he and I have any Alpha issues. I do not allow Milo to beg from me; my girlfriend does allow him to beg from her. I would say I am more the disciplinarian whereas my girlfriend tends to spoil him. There are many toys scattered around the house for the puppy to chew on - possibly creating possession issues.
Why did he act so violently towards Lulu? Why wasn't a simple roll sufficient? Would he do this were he alone? How can I stop this from happening again?
Thank you for any input,
Forrest
Recently, my girlfriend and I got a puppy - a female French / Olde English mix. Her name is Lulu. Obviously, Lulu will be considerably smaller than Milo and currently, at 4.5 months, weighs a little over 20 pounds - he is 115 pounds. He has played with her, and gently, since day one. When the puppy first came home, he did roll her, two times, accompanied by some pretty serious snarls. These incidents seem to occur not around food, but around people. He has not felt compelled to roll her in over a month. He also has seemed to become protective of her; when my girlfriend was walking them both one week ago, he latched onto the neck of a male Lab, perhaps in defense of Lulu. There was no physical damage.
As stated, Milo hasn't rolled Lulu for over a month, until today. Again, I wasn't present; my girlfriend was alone at the house with the dogs. Apparently, Milo was carrying an empty plastic peanut butter jar. Lulu grabbed onto the other end as though to play tug of war, which they have done, with the jar, before. Instead of playing, Milo grabbed her by the neck and shook. Again, no physical damage, but I'm very concerned. Lulu is a puppy, a female, and 20 pounds. She poses no physical threat, and I worry that even if he intends to real damage, she may be seriously hurt just because of his size.
Some potentially relevant facts:
He has never been protective of his food around Lulu, which strikes me as strange, as he is very food motivated; he allows her to approach him and his food while he eats. I try my best to "favor" Milo - he eats first and gets scratched first. However, and I hate to admit this, the puppy has been sleeping in the bed, something which I have not allowed Milo to do. Milo is submissive towards me, though I am not domineering. I don't think he and I have any Alpha issues. I do not allow Milo to beg from me; my girlfriend does allow him to beg from her. I would say I am more the disciplinarian whereas my girlfriend tends to spoil him. There are many toys scattered around the house for the puppy to chew on - possibly creating possession issues.
Why did he act so violently towards Lulu? Why wasn't a simple roll sufficient? Would he do this were he alone? How can I stop this from happening again?
Thank you for any input,
Forrest
